WEBVTT - Angelo Carusone & Rep. Greg Casar 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:04.160 Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:07.120 where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:12.240 today's best minds and Vice President Harris will not run 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:13.600 from California governor. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:15.640 We have such a great show for you today. 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:20.920 Media Matterson, Angelo Kearrasone will join us to talk about 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:22.520 how the right is trying. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:23.800 To silence the left. 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:29.000 Then we'll talk to Congressman Greg Kassar about Greg Abbot's 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:33.920 in Sane Texas redistricting map, which involves a whole new 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:35.400 level of jeremandering. 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:40.200 But first the stories the media is missing. Molly. 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.680 There's this thing called the Rule of five that is 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.400 not a cheesy show that was on NBC in the 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:50.000 two thousands. That is a way that the Democrats can 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:52.920 use a rule to force the release of Epstein documents. 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:55.240 Voters have been mad at Democrats. 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:59.840 We have been very cranky with Democrats, and this is 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:02.360 a kind of stuff we wanted. We wanted them to 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:06.800 do stuff like this. Congressional Democrats are trying to capitalize 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:09.480 on the Epstein issue, which has dogged President Trump for 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:13.319 almost a month and opened fissures between him and some 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.679 of his most ardent supporters. This is good you know, 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:21.160 good for Schumer for doing this. Schumer says, it's not 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:25.600 a stunt, it's not symbolic, it's formal exercise of congressional 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:26.720 power under the law. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:29.440 And you know, we really have been talking about this 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:30.040 a lot. 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:37.119 Congress is being unable or unwilling to exercise its congressional power, 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:39.360 and it's pretty cool to. 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:40.360 See them doing this. 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:44.039 I'm really I'm glad, like this is what we wanted, 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:48.400 this is what we needed, We wanted Congress to do this, 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:52.080 so it's very cool, like this is exactly the right thing. 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.240 And I'm really just. 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.160 Thrilled about this and thrilled to see them do this, 0:01:57.360 --> 0:01:59.960 and it's really good, So very excited. 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:01.280 We'll see what happens. 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.040 But the Committee on Government Operations of the House of 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.640 Representatives can actually do the same thing. With a group 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:09.799 of seven members, Schumer says he could force the release. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.760 And again, by the way, if you're trying. 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.400 To block the release of these of these files, the 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.920 question has to be why why are you trying to 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.560 do it, because I think you should just let all 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:25.120 the files be released. It's this is a really good 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:27.840 issue for Democrats in a lot of ways because it 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.840 really does to vote against it means you have some 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.400 kind of feeling that you want Jeffrey Epstein to have 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:35.280 gotten away with this. 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.880 I just don't understand how you can be against this. 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:38.639 Yep. 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.639 Well, speaking of DEM's fighting, I can't believe I have 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.760 two instances of this in the segment. But the said 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.760 that dums are launching a lastage bid to block Trump's tariffs. 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:48.359 Yeah. 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:51.239 Again, another thing that we had just sort of been 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:55.079 begging Democrats to do is that they're now doing. And look, 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.480 maybe it doesn't work, but the point here is that 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.280 you have to try. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't work, 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:03.120 but you have to try. We need you to try, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.680 and trying is the is the goal here. And so 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.040 this is very good good to see them trying. I mean, like, 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.040 this is the thing, like when you look at these numbers, 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:16.160 it says the tariff could add about twenty four hundred 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.760 dollars to the average Americans household expenses. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:21.880 That's a lot of money. 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:26.280 Like twenty four hundred dollars for someone who's making you know, 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:31.239 thirty forty fifty thousand dollars, that's a huge, huge amount 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:35.440 of money. Jean Shihei from New Hampshire on Wednesday, evening, 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.400 we'll ask lawmakers to unanimously pass a bill affirming the 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:44.280 tariffs cannot be authorized under the International Economic Emergency Economic 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.080 Powers Act. Why this is important, and I think it 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:51.320 really is important, is that, believe it or not, Congress 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.760 has the tariff power. Trump doesn't have this power. He 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:59.320 took it from Congress using this emergency powers declaration. 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.600 Again, like emergency. 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:06.360 Powers, these are not his powers to use, right Like, 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:10.280 one of the big mistakes I think that politicians have 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.240 done is they've allowed emergency powers to continue on and 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.920 if that is created place where the executive was easier 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:21.320 for the executive to take power, and it's really bad. 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.800 So Sheen said that, you know, she has a group 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:26.520 to do this, So we'll see what happens. 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.839 Yes, unfortunately, something bad has happened, which is the Senate 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.680 has confirmed a well I'm trying to think of words 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:35.400 that won't get me in trouble for a wibel. But 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:37.880 a person that I really don't think should be in 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:40.159 this office, mil beauvais. 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:45.159 Yeah, another Trump lawyer, which I think is important to remember. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.920 This is his second Trump lawyer. There were tons of 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:52.040 whistleblower complaints. There are any number of reasons not to 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:56.320 put him in this lifetime appointment. Three different complaints in 0:04:56.440 --> 0:05:00.280 recent weeks, two alleging he suggested violating court orders. They're 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:05.880 saying he reportedly misled Congress on the dropping of bribery charges. 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.320 So basically, this guy's a liar and now he has 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:13.560 a lifetime appointment. Republican Senators Murkowski and Collins crossing the 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.840 isle to join the Democrats but knowing. I mean, this 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:20.840 thing where the two Republicans vote with the Democrats but 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.680 they still know they have advanced to break the tie 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:31.480 is just absolutely so fucking corrupt, right Like it's like 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:35.000 they're pretending they care. It's so shitty, and a lot 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:37.280 of people are really worried. This is the runway for 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.400 Trump to nominate him to the Supreme Court. When Alido 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:41.600 or Thomas goes. 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:43.200 Yeah, it's so bad. 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:47.520 Well, something that could turn out well, but probably won't. 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.000 Josh Holly had a stock trading band that originally included 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.680 banning the president and the vice president from them, but 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.560 you'll be shocked to hear they carved those offices out, 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:58.880 but it has gone on to a vote in the Senate. 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.440 Look, man, I'm no Josh Holly fan but you know, 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.560 if you can get this done, do it. 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:04.840 Man. 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.560 I'm delighted. If they can get this pass, that would 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:12.760 be amazing. Good for them. If this works, good for them. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:14.359 If this works would be amazing. 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.159 Well we should say why this is important too, because 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:19.200 do you believe the way I believe that this will 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.040 get us much better candidates if they are not going 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:23.960 into office just the trade stocks. 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:28.440 I believe that nobody should make money while working in government. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.640 That I mean, I think that the worst possible thing 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.680 is to have members of Congress trading stocks. 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:36.039 I think it's wrong. 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:38.720 I think it's morally wrong, I think it's ethically wrong, 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.680 and I think that they're not serving the people, they're 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:42.560 serving themselves. 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.840 So yes, I think we'll have better people running out. 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.160 So just think it's not okay, right, Like, it's not 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:55.640 how any of this should work. So I agree. Angelo 0:06:55.839 --> 0:07:00.880 Kirasone is the CEO of Media Matters. Welcome to Fast Policy's. 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:01.960 Antelo, Thanks for having me. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:06.240 I want you to talk about this legal battle that 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.680 you guys have been in, which is basically the legal 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:14.400 battle that all of us are going to be in 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:17.360 in the media right talk us through exactly what happened 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:18.520 and where you are right now. 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:19.480 Yeah, I mean, I. 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.480 Think what makes this significant is exactly what you said 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.120 in the intro. It's not just a lawsuit, right, you know, 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.840 we're not just getting sued by Twitter, you know, more 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.200 x whatever. That itself would be a hefty thing, right, 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.160 And we've seen that type of action play out all 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.640 the time, you know, to devastating consequences, even if it's 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:39.720 designed to suppress participate speech. 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:39.920 Right. 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:42.080 But this is so much different and bigger than that, 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.600 And I think it's hard for people to really understand 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:48.040 appreciate what's happening because this all started back in twenty 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:49.720 twenty three, and we don't have to get into the mechanics. 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.960 We published reports, we got sued for the reports by Twitter. 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:56.400 But beyond that, and this is why it's turning into 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.560 a significant battle for all of us, is that when 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:05.560 that took place, Steven Miller encouraged Elon Musk publicly to 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:10.200 encourage republic and state ags to launch investigations into media 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:14.840 matters that were parallel to the litigation, and that happened. 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.720 Ken Paxton launched an investigation, Andrew Barely launched an investigation 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:23.120 from Missouri, and the way that those investigations play out 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.240 typically is that they launched an investigation. You then argue 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:28.080 about whether or not you're going to give them the documents. 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:30.600 Eventually they go to state court. They sue you in 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.800 state court, and you eventually either win or lose, but 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.880 you have to go through this protracted battle there. We 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.000 sort of knew that there was a new playbook being written. 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.000 This is before Trump got elected, and because this is 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.040 what we do, we literally lived in these fever stops. 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:47.920 So we did something proactive. We said, wait, we can't 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:49.640 fight this out in the multi front war. We have 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:55.319 to actually be really engaged and sue the AGS to 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.760 shut that down, right, We need to actually start developing 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:00.520 new laws to this playbook. 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:01.760 So that happened. 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:06.920 But so the litigation was in excessuing US in Texas, 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:11.080 also suing US in Singapore and the and Ireland threatening 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.760 to sue US in the UK. That's the civil litigation, 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.080 and there were state Attorney general investigations. We have been 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:17.800 successful there. 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:18.080 We won. 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.720 The court agreed that it was a campaign of government harassment. 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:26.120 We won against Ken Paxton. Andrew Bailly lost and then 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:28.360 asked to settle with us. He has to settle with 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.280 us Paxston appealed to the d C Circuit Court. We 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.800 just won that victory back in May, so those are gone. 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.280 But then Trump got elected. Stephen Miller is now the 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:41.320 Deputy chief of staff. All of these MAGA figures are 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:44.240 spread around government, and we've seen them weaponized government against 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:47.319 a whole bunch of media properties and all their civic institutions. 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.480 The FTC launched an investigation into media matter as well 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.559 that was very similar to the State of g investigation 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:55.920 and so in totality, and this is part of the 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:59.560 calculus that we see with even the media companies. It's 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.240 not just oh, it's a really bad civil lawsuit and 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.080 nobody wants to fight it. Yeah, nobody wants to fight 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.360 it because civil lawsuits suck. But what everybody forgets when 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:11.040 they talk about CBS and ABC and Paramount is that 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:16.720 in the first week in office, Trump's FCC Commissioner, Brendan 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:20.360 Carr launched investigations into all of these media properties, the 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:24.120 same types of investigations we're receiving now. And the idea 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:27.880 is it's a one two punch. You drain people, you 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.720 drain resources, and civil litigation you leverage federal and government 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:36.120 power for rapid investigations and then all the potential consequences 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.760 that could flow from that. And by leveraging those two 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:41.840 things hand in hand, you have a lot of leverage. 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.600 They have all the cards, and so I think that's 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:48.240 the big picture here. And everyone is folding. Everyone is folding, 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.720 and we're fighting. So it's gonna suck. We are definitely bruised. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:54.320 We've done a lot of big work and good work, 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:55.800 so I'm not discounting that. But I'm not going to 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.280 hide either. We are not We're bruised, but we're still fighting. 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.480 And the last thing else say on because I think 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:02.760 I keep thinking about this comment that Steve Bannon said 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.920 in a PBS interview last week. He was talking about 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.040 the fact that the reason why they're doing all that 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.079 they're doing is and why they're going to win is 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.119 because everyone's gonna fault. And he points to every civic, institutional, 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:20.719 law firms, right, media, and education, and his point is 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:23.360 you just don't have the stomach for a fight. Well, 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.560 we don't, and I think that and if we don't fight, 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.440 then everybody else will then receive the same type of attack. 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:33.720 It's inevitable. And you know that's it. So that's the summary. 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.880 I mean, they're running, they're building a new playbook, and 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:38.520 we're really on the front line of that. 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:43.400 Yeah, and I think it's I mean, Steve Bannon is 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:49.079 quite smart and he is absolutely knows exactly how to 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.120 get what he wants, and he's We're watching it happen 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:56.480 in real time. And the thing that I'm struck bot, 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:02.760 which is so crazy in this whole thing, is that 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:08.199 they are trying to silence people. And why I was 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.800 so glad that you did this article on the New 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.520 York Times where you talk to them about this, or 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:17.880 where you were engaging with this, is that a lot 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.120 of this stuff is going on and nobody knows. 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.000 Yeah, because it's scary, you know. That's the other part 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.000 about it, you know. I always tell this some of 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.440 my stabmins. People think history doesn't have a lot of heroes. 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.240 That's what we know about them, right, Because people's natural 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.560 reaction when you're under attack is to duck and cover, 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:35.839 or when the people around you are under attack is 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.240 to duck and cover. It's an honest and understandable reflex. 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.720 And so when you are under attack in this level 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.880 of intensity, especially for an organization like ours, I mean 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.800 the shad fraud of us, you know, even is like 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.400 the right just could not be more excited, right, I mean, 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:52.839 the Shatonfoy is there, but when you put that to 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:56.559 the side, it's like you just you they have not 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.719 just civil litigation, so all the expansive discoveries against the 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:04.160 world richest person, but now the federal government stiffing art. 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.480 And again there are people involved in these investigations that 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:12.480 a year ago were outside in Model World telling my 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:14.280 staff and me that they were going to put us 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.760 in the gulags if Trump got a let kid, sending 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.120 us notes that they were going to put us in jail. 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:21.520 And now they're in power doing the very thing that too. 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.040 Janine Piro is the US attorney, you will be deciding 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.160 whether or not to prosecute us. Yeah, and that is 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.320 I mean, this is so I think to the point 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:32.600 that nobody knowing it, You just you hope you can 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:35.520 get through it, and so you're quiet. That's the first thing. 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.280 The second is your you. And I think we shouldn't 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.640 discount this, and this is partly why it's so significant 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:42.400 and where the soul what is for everyone. I don't 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:43.920 think people should care about it. I think they should, 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:45.160 but if it doesn't matter of the dot. I always 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.679 tell people be selfish. Here's the thing. Part of the 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.240 reason you don't talk about it is because you're being 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:53.800 brutaliated against. It is a retribution campaign. We like the 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.240 whole point of the First Amendment. It's not some academic thing. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.839 It's so that you can say things and free from 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.240 retribution from the government. This is literally them doing it brazenly. 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:04.880 And if you look at history and look at in 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:08.200 recent history, in places like Hungary and El Salvador, where 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.920 lawfare is very effective, you close off civic spaces by 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:16.040 making an example out of a few parts in individual sectors, 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:18.839 and you shrink what is acceptable. Are people going to 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:20.560 do the same thing. Are they going to be as 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.000 willing to criticize and be vocal as we have been. 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:23.480 Of course not. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.840 They'll self censor to avoid the types of assault that 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.520 we're experiencing. That's the other part is there's a genuine 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.880 concern that the more you talk about it. I know, 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.480 even internally when we have these discussions, we very rarely 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.200 engage on it. Even now, I say no to discussions 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:41.600 about it publicly more than I say yes, because I 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.200 know that anytime I say something, it will lead to 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.080 more letters, more demands, more at tax from the government 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:51.239 and elsewhere, and potentially more consequences. 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:52.240 And it's worst. 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:53.760 And this is the last thing I was just say 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:55.880 on the second again spun up, is that we're not 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:57.480 just doing this in a vacuum like at a video game. 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:58.840 But we have all the money we need to do 0:14:58.960 --> 0:14:59.280 this fight. 0:14:59.600 --> 0:14:59.720 Right. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.040 I imagine this thought experiment where George Soros and Barack 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.960 Obama got together to leverage money and the government against 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:10.240 Charlie Kirk six years ago, right ago, it would be 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.560 the biggest thing in the world. Everything he would be 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.880 swimming in cash because the right wing would never allow 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:20.200 that tactic to be legitimized. Right, But the left has 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.520 not done that. Right, what they think that they've tried 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:24.240 to do. And I don't just mean individuals, I mean 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.400 like the foundations, the places that are celebrating that they 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.840 raised a quarter billion dollars to protect civic spaces. Everyone 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.240 is saving it for a rainy day while standing in 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.160 two feet of water. I mean, the water is after 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:37.960 their needs and they are talking about how they're saving 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.760 these resources for a rainy day. And that's the real 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.320 tension here, I think is that you're not just being 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:45.440 asked to do it, you're asked to engage in an 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:49.040 environment where you're on a razor thin amount of resources. 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.520 Yeah. And also that there's a certain denial right. People 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:57.480 don't want to see what's happening. It's scary and it's 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.200 you know what. I've been so struck with the difference 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.640 between Trump one point oh and Trump two point Zho 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.400 is Trump one point oh? The reason why Trump wasn't 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:08.120 able to do a lot of stuff was because it 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.960 was a resistance. And then we were told that the 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.960 resistance was cringe and that nobody wanted to resist, and 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:21.520 so nobody resisted. And now the voting public is furious. 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.080 I mean I everywhere I go, normal people are like, 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:29.320 what the fuck? Why are people doing anything? And you 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.360 have to say, well, look, we had this intellectual conversation. 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.200 We decided resistance was cringe. I'm sorry, I don't know 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:36.120 what to tell you, but. 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:37.960 The trends have changed. 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.480 I mean, it's an insane way to be, and especially 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:43.840 when we can see Russia and Hungary and all the 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:48.480 different places where this playbook has worked. 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:52.920 It's kind of wild, it is, and I think you know, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.200 you're totally right that I think about that comparison a 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.600 lot too, because I think about what it means and 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.200 about how much people have already internalized where we're going, 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:03.440 you know, and some of it is that people have 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:05.680 already given up. And the part that the two things 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:07.560 that I take away from this is one I constantly 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.800 remind myself that today will be the freest day we 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.760 feel that every day we will feel less safe, less free, 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:16.200 less secure unless we intervene. 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:16.520 Right. 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:18.760 The only way to slow that down is to fight, 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.639 is to is to defy and to stand on very 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:25.080 basic principles like the First Amendment. 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:30.320 I fight. What we mean is fight for our First 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:31.160 Amendment right. 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:35.400 We don't mean fighting in any sense other than continuing 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.560 with the first Amendment right we have that are being 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:40.560 stripped away from us by this government. 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.240 That's right. Advocate is what I say. Right every fight, essentially, 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:46.960 I say advocate. And you know the second thing is 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.080 that you know it's it's that in a way, twenty 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.439 seventeen of this, if we were doing this all over 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:53.880 again and the same stuff was happening to us, people 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:55.680 wouldn't have taken it into seriously and we would be 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:57.640 a cause to Leb maybe you know, we'd be because 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.080 it would be it would be like part of this 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:01.320 badge of honor thing. But now in a way people 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.320 have internalized, oh, this is different, this is darker. They're 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:07.720 serious now, and I think that's the fear. The fear 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.200 has sort of already started said. And the thing that 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.960 kind I feel is important to consider is that power 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.000 perceived is power achieved, and they're still in the perception 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.119 place right now. They're they're doing this on purpose to 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.240 create a sense of inevitability. 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:22.080 Yeah. 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.440 I think that's a really good point, that that this 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:28.200 is power perceived, is power achieved, and that this is 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.760 all a kind of shell game at this minute. Right 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:33.040 they don't have the power. They certainly don't have his 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:37.600 longest country, but most people are not on board with this. 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:41.800 Much of the vote republic is still wants the Epstein 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.600 files released. I mean, they're not even they're not even 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:48.480 in this conversation. So I yeah, So I think that's 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.600 a really good point. So Elon and Trump together were 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:57.080 this unbelievably powerful force. Elon is no longer in the admin. 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:01.080 He can no longer ask for favors. Did you notice 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:05.280 a change in it because remember, your original lawsuit is 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:09.640 Elon and Matt just explained to us the original how 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:15.159 you got on the wrong side of Trump's ire so 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:15.760 to speak. 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:18.080 Look, I mean what the original thing is we wrote, 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:22.320 We wrote, we published some articles about Twitter that they 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:24.440 sued us about back in twenty twenty That Twitter suit 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:25.760 us about back in twenty twenty three. 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:29.000 That was when Twitter was newly bought by Elon. 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:32.200 That's right, that's right. And you know, at that time, 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.320 you know, he was talking about us a lot. You know, 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.080 it was calling us the most evil organization and the world. 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:41.120 And you know, you know, Tucker was out there telling 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.840 everyone of the three greatest risks were the Washington Post, 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.119 the German government, and media matters. And I mean like 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:48.240 it was this moment where it just felt like media 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.359 matters needed to be stopped. And that's kind of what 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:54.880 he fell into. Obviously that overlapped with musks ascent into 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.080 Trump World. The thing to consider about these individuals is 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.000 that it's so much bigger than them. Worth remembering that 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:02.760 Steven Miller was out of the deputy chief of SAFF 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.000 when he was outside of the administration and he was 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.960 setting up his legal institute received a significant portion of 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.479 the funding for that institute from Elon Musk, right, I mean, 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.320 and so it's not just him. There's a whole constellation 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:19.200 of these individuals who are now in positions of power. 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.400 So you can the fallout between Musk and Trump is real. 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.240 But then in all these layers of government, you have 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.440 people that have these these sort of dual loyalties in 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:33.560 a way or at minimum and affinity for both. You know, 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:36.480 they're not they weren't forced to choose the side they've 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:38.639 you know, they obviously must still has a lot of 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:41.000 influence in juice, and but that's how we sort of 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:42.679 got on the radar. And look, I've been on Trump's 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:44.560 raider for a long time. Media matters has been all 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:46.399 the way back before he was president. So it's not 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:49.000 like it's a total uh in the middle. Have any 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:51.840 sense that we're a target. I think the biggest thing 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:53.600 is that we've made a lot of right wingers mad. 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:55.919 And this is the thing to remember. It's more than 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:59.280 two dozen Fox News figures in senior administration officials. 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:01.359 They all know us, you know. 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:05.560 It's like and Dan Bongino. I remember when Dan Bongino 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:07.960 was starting out as a podcaster when he was a 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:10.240 guest on Alex Jones's show, we sign used to read 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:13.360 those flags, and then he got a podcast on nra 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:17.280 A TV. We've been with dam Bongino his entire career. Yeah, 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:19.520 like all of these figures, we have a very long 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:21.760 history with and they don't like us, and they've been 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.560 very open about it. So that's how we're on the radar. 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:27.280 And I think the other thing is that they see 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.400 us as Look, if you break us, who are built 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:30.639 for this. 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:32.359 Is in our DNA to have you right right? 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:34.440 What does I mean for the next group that's actually 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:38.359 not We're designed to have this type of back and forth. 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.040 What happens when the other organizations that do different types 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.040 of work, important work, they're actually not in their DNA 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:45.919 is not fighting with the right right? What happens when 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:48.280 you go after them? And I think that's the other 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:51.400 piece of this. So there's so much connective tissue within 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:55.040 this space that even independent of this fallout, it hasn't 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:58.040 actually changed the trajectory, which is to break us. 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:00.760 One of the many great things about you is that 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:05.880 you understand this world almost better than anyone. Like I'm 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:10.160 very online, though less so lately which is is weird, 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:11.840 but but you are. 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:13.720 You really know everyone. 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:18.920 So explain to me why Dan Vongino and Cash Battel 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:23.560 are the heads of like these major the FBI, right that, 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:27.480 I mean, these guys are like there, they are like 0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:31.800 the heads of this incredibly powerful, enormous agency. 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:34.520 Why have they sort of disappeared? 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:37.040 Dan Bongo is the deputy director of the FBI and 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:41.040 yet his principal concern right now is his credibility as 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:44.399 a podcaster. So that is one and that explains your question, 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:46.920 which is that that for a lot of these figures, 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:51.440 you know, they're not civil servants who were going toward 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:53.719 a public life to do this type of work, right, 0:22:53.880 --> 0:22:56.240 especially the positions that you described, you sort of you 0:22:56.359 --> 0:22:57.560 have a trajectory to get there. 0:22:57.720 --> 0:22:57.840 Now. 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:00.240 I think a lot of the status called needed breaks 0:23:00.280 --> 0:23:03.440 them out romanticizing that. But the point is it's a 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:05.520 certain type of work to be a civil servant for them. 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:09.280 This is part of their continual mess characters in this 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:11.439 right wing story that they've been a part of us 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:13.200 so long. We're gonna get in, We're gonna break the 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:15.639 deep state. We're gonna you know, we're gonna train our 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:18.360 mill operators to do better work. We're gonna we're gonna 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:22.200 expose all these secrets. So they get into these positions 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:24.159 because part of it is just it's just it's just 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:28.480 character development for their podcast career. And so that's the 0:23:28.560 --> 0:23:30.760 reason why they're a little bit back, is that they 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:33.480 were forced to go out there up front and sort 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:36.080 of take the first hit, uh, you know, from a 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:38.879 public relations perspectives, to sort of soften the ground. They 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:40.640 were supposed to soft from the ground about the Epstein 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:42.120 stuff when they went out there and did this joint 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:45.120 interview saying that Epstein killed himself. We've seen the files. 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:47.600 That was the soft launch of all of this, you know, 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:50.320 well before it became a controversy. They just don't want 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:53.080 to put themselves on the line publicly. And I think 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:54.000 that calls you a lot. 0:23:55.080 --> 0:24:00.280 It's so interesting that like the possible thing that might 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:04.919 sort of save American democracy if we're gonna, I mean 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:10.560 that we if this ends up being that, like democracy continues, 0:24:10.680 --> 0:24:13.240 it will be because of things like these guys in 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:14.080 their podcasts. 0:24:14.480 --> 0:24:15.680 Yes, because they have to. 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:20.040 That is their goal. They even though they left their 0:24:20.119 --> 0:24:24.119 podcast role, they are still the same character. They're now 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:26.600 just in a different environment, but they're still thinking about 0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:30.800 that business, that audience relationship and how do you go 0:24:30.960 --> 0:24:33.840 on after this? Like they're not going to go join boards, right, 0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:35.840 and even though they want to be, they want the 0:24:35.920 --> 0:24:38.320 same influence that they had before they became they had 0:24:38.359 --> 0:24:41.800 this job, and and that that is very revealing, even 0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:44.360 people at Toulsi right, who didn't go all in on Epstein. 0:24:44.440 --> 0:24:48.160 Instead she helped support the cause by trying to deflect 0:24:48.520 --> 0:24:50.359 by putting out all this Obama stuff and. 0:24:50.600 --> 0:24:54.720 Insane Obama treason thing, which is like, by the way, 0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:58.000 if you're Tulsi, like that's all you cook up. 0:24:58.160 --> 0:25:02.480 I mean, but it's like it's Obama, like there's no like, 0:25:02.600 --> 0:25:03.640 at least go after. 0:25:04.119 --> 0:25:06.400 Bill Clinton, Like that makes a little you know, he's 0:25:06.440 --> 0:25:09.280 in the flight logs, like go after someone where there's 0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:12.120 some churum of believability. 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:15.560 Yep. And that I think that's a good point here, 0:25:15.640 --> 0:25:17.600 you know that that it's revealing that if we do 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:21.360 ultimately get saved, this strong word, but they they will 0:25:21.359 --> 0:25:25.399 be their their own selfishness well be a part of that. 0:25:25.680 --> 0:25:28.600 It's not altruism, it's it is born out of this 0:25:28.760 --> 0:25:31.600 idea that they are characters in this larger right wing 0:25:31.680 --> 0:25:34.440 media story, and that is to me, the thing that 0:25:34.560 --> 0:25:37.160 drew me to this work, and key especially now keeps 0:25:37.200 --> 0:25:40.919 me here is that, Yeah, the politics are important, the elections, 0:25:41.320 --> 0:25:44.280 but elections take place in an environment, and that environment 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:47.080 is shaped by the media landscape, the information landscape, and 0:25:47.119 --> 0:25:49.840 the right wing it dominates it. Trump's power is his 0:25:50.000 --> 0:25:52.200 narrative dominance. And part of the reason why the Epstein 0:25:52.240 --> 0:25:54.479 story is so interesting is because he's losing his narrative 0:25:54.480 --> 0:25:57.480 dominance in this moment as a result of it. And 0:25:57.640 --> 0:26:02.240 so that that is so is so hard to escape 0:26:02.320 --> 0:26:05.280 the day to day work from these externalities because ultimately, 0:26:05.440 --> 0:26:08.399 part of the very check here why they've sort of 0:26:08.440 --> 0:26:11.200 retreated into the bushes while they let Trump try to 0:26:11.240 --> 0:26:15.119 sort this out himself, is that they are they are 0:26:15.200 --> 0:26:18.880 more loyal to the larger information and media landscape than 0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:19.480 even Trump. 0:26:19.840 --> 0:26:23.600 It It is wild, I mean, it's just wild. We 0:26:23.760 --> 0:26:27.560 are in just I can't figure out if we're in 0:26:28.200 --> 0:26:33.320 end times or if this is I don't know, will 0:26:33.359 --> 0:26:35.080 you please, I just got got a sandwich between two 0:26:35.080 --> 0:26:39.040 realities right one retail, Yeah, and we're like we somehow 0:26:39.080 --> 0:26:41.280 bounce it between and it's very disorienting. 0:26:41.520 --> 0:26:45.280 All the time basically, and yeah, that's that's kind of 0:26:45.560 --> 0:26:46.359 how I feel about it. 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:54.240 Congressman Greg Kassar represents Texas's thirty fifth district. Welcome to 0:26:54.640 --> 0:27:00.560 fast Politics, Congressman Gazarre, Hey, here we are. We're like 0:27:00.800 --> 0:27:06.440 reacting to the breaking news that your state, Texas is 0:27:06.680 --> 0:27:11.000 somehow going to do this insane redistricting. Which will I 0:27:11.040 --> 0:27:13.800 think we can all take a top line here and go, Like, 0:27:14.080 --> 0:27:17.879 Donald Trump is worried about losing the House of Representatives 0:27:18.280 --> 0:27:21.520 because he's doing a lot of wildly unpopular stuff. So 0:27:21.680 --> 0:27:25.520 he's decided to make Republicans and they're happy to do 0:27:25.640 --> 0:27:30.080 it because they're because they're completely just in an arm 0:27:30.200 --> 0:27:34.440 of the Trump presidency now redistrict in order to make 0:27:34.480 --> 0:27:37.040 it so he won't lose the House of Representatives. 0:27:37.160 --> 0:27:39.480 Is that fair? Is that what we're watching happen in 0:27:39.560 --> 0:27:40.000 real time? 0:27:40.320 --> 0:27:40.480 Yeah? 0:27:40.560 --> 0:27:44.200 Basically, Trump doesn't have a plan for winning the midterm elections, 0:27:44.560 --> 0:27:48.520 so this is his plan for rigging those elections before 0:27:48.600 --> 0:27:52.160 we ever get a chance to vote. So all these folks, 0:27:52.240 --> 0:27:54.960 of course ask me a great question all the time, 0:27:55.119 --> 0:27:58.439 what do we do to stop all of the awfulness 0:27:58.560 --> 0:28:02.080 and the craziness? And we oftentimes have said let's organize 0:28:02.119 --> 0:28:05.639 for the midterm elections. Then now Trump wants to screw 0:28:05.720 --> 0:28:11.240 that up now by radically racially jerrymandering Texas in a 0:28:11.280 --> 0:28:14.119 way we've never seen before. And that's part of what 0:28:14.240 --> 0:28:17.080 I think is really scary and new about this is 0:28:17.160 --> 0:28:22.440 that Texas is already illegally jerrymandered to the hilt, but 0:28:22.640 --> 0:28:27.600 now Trump is pushing an even more illegal jerrymander, basically 0:28:27.680 --> 0:28:30.240 shredding the Voting Rights Act as we know it. And 0:28:30.359 --> 0:28:32.440 if he's allowed to do it in Texas and in 0:28:32.520 --> 0:28:35.080 Central Texas where I'm based, and he wants to spread 0:28:35.119 --> 0:28:36.760 that all over the country. He's already saying that. 0:28:36.960 --> 0:28:40.840 There is no precedent for this for a president saying 0:28:41.040 --> 0:28:44.080 I'm going to lose, so let's change the maps. It's like, 0:28:44.520 --> 0:28:48.000 I feel like Eric Holder, It's like, I don't know, 0:28:48.280 --> 0:28:51.840 it's like cheating plus plus plus right. I think Texas 0:28:51.920 --> 0:28:54.680 has really been this kind of lab where Trump has 0:28:54.760 --> 0:28:57.160 been able to sort of do crazy stuff and the 0:28:57.560 --> 0:29:02.080 end the leadership has really been so partisan and so 0:29:02.400 --> 0:29:05.480 insane that they've been happy to do it. But but 0:29:06.360 --> 0:29:08.760 talk to me about what this app looks like. 0:29:09.280 --> 0:29:10.240 This is really sick. 0:29:10.520 --> 0:29:14.880 Basically, this is a kind of map that was supposed 0:29:14.920 --> 0:29:17.480 to be made illegal by the Voting Rights Act of 0:29:17.600 --> 0:29:21.840 nineteen sixty five. You know what MLK marched for. LBJ 0:29:22.080 --> 0:29:24.960 signed it. Handed the pen to MLK after he signed 0:29:25.000 --> 0:29:27.840 the Voting Rights Act. This sort of activity was supposed 0:29:27.880 --> 0:29:30.680 to be banned by that. Basically, what they do and 0:29:30.800 --> 0:29:34.080 what Trump explicitly said he wanted to do was he said, 0:29:34.160 --> 0:29:38.479 had that DOJ send a letter to Texas saying there 0:29:38.520 --> 0:29:41.840 are multiple districts where most of the voters are people 0:29:41.880 --> 0:29:44.720 of color, and we don't like that anymore. 0:29:45.080 --> 0:29:45.760 Get rid of it. 0:29:46.520 --> 0:29:50.560 And Texas is supposed to be handling addressing the flooding 0:29:51.040 --> 0:29:52.160 that just killed. 0:29:52.560 --> 0:29:55.640 And that special sception, this special session. 0:29:55.400 --> 0:29:58.480 Is legislature supposed to be together about flooding, instead of 0:29:59.120 --> 0:30:04.400 respecting texans lives, instead of recognizing the deaths of young 0:30:04.520 --> 0:30:08.720 girls and so many others. They are just pushing through 0:30:08.920 --> 0:30:12.480 this plan. And like you just said, Molly, there's not 0:30:12.640 --> 0:30:17.480 even Texas Republican officials or congress people that say they're 0:30:17.520 --> 0:30:20.600 for this. They all privately say they're against it because 0:30:20.600 --> 0:30:23.000 they're screwing up their own districts and screwing over their 0:30:23.040 --> 0:30:26.600 own constituents. It's just one man in mar A Lago 0:30:27.240 --> 0:30:29.160 who is saying he wants to pick the members of 0:30:29.200 --> 0:30:33.000 Congress from Texas rather than Texas voters. And now they've 0:30:33.080 --> 0:30:38.200 released a map that does things like merge my district 0:30:38.480 --> 0:30:44.240 here in central Texas with joining Congressman Doggett's district, essentially 0:30:44.560 --> 0:30:48.840 getting rid of a Latino seat and merging it into 0:30:48.960 --> 0:30:51.680 just one Democratic seat. Now that we're put in the 0:30:51.760 --> 0:30:56.880 same place, they've gone and completely changed the historic district 0:30:57.000 --> 0:31:00.120 in Houston that was Barbara Jordan's and Mickey Leland in 0:31:00.160 --> 0:31:04.320 Shila Jackson Lee's and completely changed it. All of us 0:31:04.400 --> 0:31:07.160 is to say, they're suppressing the votes of millions of 0:31:07.200 --> 0:31:11.520 working class Texans and Latino Texans and black Texans and 0:31:12.000 --> 0:31:13.600 they think they can get away with it. And if 0:31:13.880 --> 0:31:17.200 the Supreme Court rubber stamps it. Trump has already said, okay, 0:31:17.320 --> 0:31:19.880 five from Texas, then he wants to go to Missouri 0:31:19.960 --> 0:31:22.320 and take one there, take a few from Ohio, and 0:31:22.440 --> 0:31:23.840 make it so that by the time we vote in 0:31:23.840 --> 0:31:26.760 the midterms, he's basically already made it so the House 0:31:27.080 --> 0:31:28.160 can't hold them accountable. 0:31:28.360 --> 0:31:32.160 Explain how jerrymandering works and why this is actually kind 0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:33.560 of a gamble for him the. 0:31:33.640 --> 0:31:36.960 Way jerrymandering usually works, and it should be illegal, to 0:31:37.040 --> 0:31:39.920 be clear, I believe was every Democrat I think in 0:31:40.000 --> 0:31:43.280 Congress right now has voted for getting rid of jerrymandering 0:31:43.320 --> 0:31:46.360 and just having independent commissions across the country. But our 0:31:46.440 --> 0:31:48.680 problem right now is you have blue states with these 0:31:48.720 --> 0:31:54.480 commissions and then states like Texas. Yeah, and that's a problem, 0:31:54.680 --> 0:31:59.520 but generally you have the Republican members of Congress jerry mander. 0:31:59.600 --> 0:32:03.360 They're men app which is bad, but it usually results 0:32:03.440 --> 0:32:07.200 in those Republican incumbents having their districts the way they 0:32:07.280 --> 0:32:10.280 want them and then making they make themselves safe by 0:32:10.320 --> 0:32:14.400 creating these democratic districts. In this case, Donald Trump's White 0:32:14.440 --> 0:32:16.440 House drew the maps, or maybe it was Mari Lango, 0:32:16.960 --> 0:32:19.480 and then they just we had a bunch of hearings, 0:32:20.000 --> 0:32:22.040 a three hearing, not a bunch, I mean it's actually 0:32:22.400 --> 0:32:26.600 poultry three hearings this last week, and the Republicans in 0:32:26.640 --> 0:32:29.480 the legislature kept saying, we don't have a map. We're 0:32:29.520 --> 0:32:32.080 just having hearings with no map. Basically they're still waiting 0:32:32.120 --> 0:32:35.600 on the email from the White House. And then today 0:32:36.000 --> 0:32:40.400 the email landed. They publish a map, and it's Trump 0:32:40.520 --> 0:32:43.200 that drew it, and so that means that some of 0:32:43.240 --> 0:32:47.320 these Republican members of Congress will represent totally different areas 0:32:48.120 --> 0:32:50.480 than they're used to, and that gives us the chance 0:32:50.520 --> 0:32:53.080 to run again, you know, run great candidates against them. 0:32:53.560 --> 0:32:56.840 But they did try to shore themselves up and basically 0:32:57.520 --> 0:33:01.479 crack minority communities apart into a bunch of different districts 0:33:01.560 --> 0:33:04.240 to delete their votes and get rid of Democratic members 0:33:04.240 --> 0:33:04.800 in the process. 0:33:04.960 --> 0:33:07.320 It's funny because it's like there's so many parts of 0:33:07.480 --> 0:33:11.440 this story that are like Trump knows he's losing, and 0:33:11.640 --> 0:33:13.960 so Trump is trying to figure out ways to cheat. 0:33:14.160 --> 0:33:16.120 They explain to us what the next step is with 0:33:16.200 --> 0:33:17.000 the gerrymandering. 0:33:17.200 --> 0:33:21.960 With the jerrymandering. They have one more hearing, supposedly this Friday, 0:33:22.680 --> 0:33:25.680 and so we are going to mobilize everyone we can 0:33:25.760 --> 0:33:28.280 who cares about our democracy to come out against the 0:33:28.440 --> 0:33:31.480 map on Friday. Then they'll try to jam it down 0:33:31.520 --> 0:33:36.200 everyone's throats. The hope is that we draw this out. 0:33:36.360 --> 0:33:38.920 We don't let them win here in the next few days. 0:33:39.360 --> 0:33:42.120 And Texas has a great tradition of filibusters, like Wendy 0:33:42.200 --> 0:33:47.920 Davis's filibuster against abortion, restrictions of quorum breaks where Democrats 0:33:48.000 --> 0:33:51.680 if they leave the state actually under our constitution, then 0:33:51.680 --> 0:33:55.280 the legislature shuts down. And so they could leave and 0:33:55.400 --> 0:33:58.200 quorum break and demand that the session be about flooding, 0:33:58.680 --> 0:34:01.560 not about carrying Donald Trump water. We can drag that 0:34:01.680 --> 0:34:04.560 fight out, and then we need everyone listening in today 0:34:05.040 --> 0:34:08.240 to be calling their governor calling their legislators to stop 0:34:08.320 --> 0:34:11.200 this from happening in Texas because if people like Governor 0:34:11.239 --> 0:34:15.880 Gavin Newsom keep pushing that, they'll retaliate against Greg Abbott. 0:34:16.120 --> 0:34:18.880 If more governors get involved, that's our real chance to 0:34:18.960 --> 0:34:21.400 stop this, because if they could just get away with this, 0:34:21.560 --> 0:34:23.800 I mean, Trump wants to spread it like wildfire. So 0:34:24.120 --> 0:34:27.120 we got to drag this out. Support right brave legislators 0:34:27.160 --> 0:34:29.120 that drag it out, and then get the whole country involved. 0:34:29.320 --> 0:34:31.080 This is a really good point, like this should be 0:34:31.160 --> 0:34:33.799 a line in the sand. If you care about democracy, 0:34:33.920 --> 0:34:39.279 you don't want governors fucking with congressional maps, period paragraph. 0:34:39.480 --> 0:34:43.560 If the sense says gives you more numbers in different districts, 0:34:43.640 --> 0:34:45.920 you change the maps. But you don't change the maps 0:34:46.000 --> 0:34:49.560 because you have an unpopular incumbent who might lose the House. 0:34:49.480 --> 0:34:53.560 That's right. I mean, right now, Trump is it knows 0:34:53.880 --> 0:34:58.799 that if the Democrats regain the House, then we're investigating 0:34:58.840 --> 0:35:02.640 the Epstein files and more, we could subpoena all of 0:35:02.760 --> 0:35:05.480 the folks that are doing corrupt business deals with his family. 0:35:05.560 --> 0:35:08.719 I mean, Trump remembers last time that we took the House, 0:35:08.800 --> 0:35:13.120 how he got investigated and impeached, and how that helped 0:35:13.200 --> 0:35:16.840 ultimately bring Trump's presidency to a halt. I mean, he 0:35:16.840 --> 0:35:19.160 wouldn't be able to pass all these horrible bills that 0:35:19.280 --> 0:35:22.280 kick people off their healthcare if Democrats take the House. 0:35:22.760 --> 0:35:24.920 And so instead of trying to win the election fair 0:35:25.040 --> 0:35:28.839 and square, he wants to change the lines right now. 0:35:29.000 --> 0:35:31.200 And we've got to We've got to stop it, and 0:35:31.239 --> 0:35:33.040 we all have to get involved and say, you know, 0:35:33.160 --> 0:35:35.480 there's got to be a cost to Trump and Abbot 0:35:35.719 --> 0:35:36.640 if they go through with this. 0:35:36.960 --> 0:35:39.520 There's a number of interesting things happening in your state, 0:35:39.600 --> 0:35:41.520 and I would love you to talk first about the flooding, 0:35:41.760 --> 0:35:45.359 because there seems like there's some breakdown of emergency communication 0:35:45.760 --> 0:35:49.800 with the flooding. Talk us through what you're seeing on that, 0:35:50.239 --> 0:35:53.200 what sort of culpability there with the flooding is and 0:35:53.880 --> 0:35:56.239 where you think that takes us. 0:35:56.480 --> 0:35:59.920 I think clearly there were failures at every level of government, 0:36:00.640 --> 0:36:03.400 and we need to look into those failures, not because 0:36:03.400 --> 0:36:06.600 it's a blame game or political but because if we 0:36:06.760 --> 0:36:10.880 want to respect the dead and then protect the living, 0:36:10.960 --> 0:36:12.759 we need to know what we did right and what 0:36:12.960 --> 0:36:15.800 went wrong. It seems clear there were issues at the 0:36:15.840 --> 0:36:21.200 local level. The state of Texas also denied grants to 0:36:21.640 --> 0:36:25.359 the local governments to put in alert systems that they needed. 0:36:25.600 --> 0:36:28.160 We need to ask questions about why. And then at 0:36:28.200 --> 0:36:32.200 the federal level, we have whistleblowers that said that Christy Noam, 0:36:32.520 --> 0:36:36.160 who's Trump's cabinet secretary above all of this, delayed search 0:36:36.239 --> 0:36:40.239 and rescue for seventy two hours before approving it. That's 0:36:40.280 --> 0:36:43.080 not something you should think about for seventy two seconds. 0:36:43.960 --> 0:36:46.360 So we've got to actually really look into why that is. 0:36:46.520 --> 0:36:49.880 The head of Search and Rescue at FEMA resigned over this. 0:36:50.520 --> 0:36:52.640 They're trying now to smear him, but I think it's 0:36:52.680 --> 0:36:55.520 important we look into that. And then also the National 0:36:55.800 --> 0:36:59.680 Weather Service and Noah, who are the scientists that help 0:36:59.760 --> 0:37:02.160 us know when a storm is coming and communicate that 0:37:02.239 --> 0:37:07.040 to local communities. They've been deeply understaffed, and so I 0:37:07.200 --> 0:37:11.160 myself and Converse Woman Jasmine Crockett led an effort to 0:37:11.520 --> 0:37:15.480 ask an independent Inspector General to do an investigation, and 0:37:15.600 --> 0:37:19.080 that independent investigator, who separate from the Trump administration, said 0:37:19.080 --> 0:37:22.680 they're going to look into that understaffing and how that 0:37:22.760 --> 0:37:25.920 affected our response to this storm. None of this can 0:37:26.000 --> 0:37:28.560 bring back the dead, but we know there's going to 0:37:28.560 --> 0:37:31.560 be more storms in Texas, more floods. We've got to 0:37:31.600 --> 0:37:34.799 protect people from that. And this understaffing is happening right 0:37:34.840 --> 0:37:37.239 now where there can be hurricanes and all sorts of 0:37:37.280 --> 0:37:38.759 parts of the country. So we've got to be looking 0:37:38.800 --> 0:37:41.320 into it now. This is what the legislators should be 0:37:41.360 --> 0:37:44.959 looking into. Instead, they're, you know, Republican members are trying 0:37:45.000 --> 0:37:49.640 to ignore the floods, cover up the Epstein files, and 0:37:50.200 --> 0:37:52.319 then just protect Trump in the next election. I mean, 0:37:52.400 --> 0:37:56.480 it's just cowardice at its core. And even worse, they're 0:37:56.520 --> 0:37:58.399 doing it by trying to shred the Voting Rights Act 0:37:58.440 --> 0:38:01.120 of nineteen sixty five. They took us bat PRE nineteen 0:38:01.160 --> 0:38:03.960 sixty five on medicaid, now they want to take us 0:38:03.960 --> 0:38:06.680 PRE nineteen sixty five on voting rights. It is the 0:38:06.800 --> 0:38:10.640 example of what it looks like when these just wealthy, 0:38:10.920 --> 0:38:14.560 powerful guys just do everything they can to protect themselves 0:38:15.080 --> 0:38:17.240 and don't care about who they screw over in the process. 0:38:17.640 --> 0:38:22.279 There's a lot of drama happening in Texas with the 0:38:22.480 --> 0:38:25.600 John Cornett and Ken Paxton drama. 0:38:25.640 --> 0:38:27.800 So Ken back, I get that whole bag of goons 0:38:27.840 --> 0:38:28.719 confused sometimes too. 0:38:29.120 --> 0:38:31.960 The man and the Ken Baxton story is so because 0:38:32.480 --> 0:38:35.120 I think of Ken Paxton as the guy who overturned 0:38:35.160 --> 0:38:39.480 grow Vy Wade. Really who was the person who enacted 0:38:39.880 --> 0:38:42.839 SBA the you know, the sort of guy who put 0:38:42.880 --> 0:38:47.040 the wheels in motion on that. But he also is 0:38:47.719 --> 0:38:51.000 an adulterer. Explain to us what's happening there. And by 0:38:51.040 --> 0:38:54.279 the way, just the story like you couldn't make it up. 0:38:54.320 --> 0:38:56.320 It's so incredibly craven. 0:38:57.160 --> 0:38:59.719 I mean, look at this point, pull after pull after 0:38:59.760 --> 0:39:03.560 pull seems to indicate that Ken Paxton, you know, who 0:39:03.600 --> 0:39:08.880 has been indicted for corruption, who was actually impeached by 0:39:08.920 --> 0:39:13.359 his own Republican colleagues in the House, is likely really 0:39:13.400 --> 0:39:17.120 the front runner for the Republican nomination by far. So 0:39:17.239 --> 0:39:20.360 I expect he will be the front runner. And so 0:39:20.680 --> 0:39:22.840 I just think that a very clear focus on the 0:39:22.880 --> 0:39:26.440 fact that he's been ripping off Texans, the fact that, yeah, 0:39:26.480 --> 0:39:29.399 he's the guy trying to deport dreamers, I mean, people 0:39:29.400 --> 0:39:31.320 who have been here their entire lives he wants to 0:39:31.760 --> 0:39:34.880 kick out. He was, you know at January sixth. 0:39:35.239 --> 0:39:36.160 You know, he's the guy that. 0:39:36.320 --> 0:39:39.920 Was trying to overthrow and overturn the election. You know, 0:39:40.040 --> 0:39:43.600 this is just this is Trump's guy. But he is frankly, 0:39:44.000 --> 0:39:47.400 you know, not supported by even some Texas Republicans, you know, 0:39:47.400 --> 0:39:49.759 who voted to impeach him. So it creates a real 0:39:49.840 --> 0:39:53.279 opportunity for us to take the Texas Senate seat. On 0:39:53.320 --> 0:39:55.799 the Democratic side, I know a few names have been 0:39:56.360 --> 0:39:58.400 tossed out there. I know Colin Allread is running. We're 0:39:58.440 --> 0:40:02.640 gonna you know, support are Democratic nominee strongly there. And 0:40:02.719 --> 0:40:05.080 of course, you know he's got all sorts of packs 0:40:05.120 --> 0:40:07.200 in of course, as you mentioned, has his personal issues. 0:40:07.239 --> 0:40:09.640 But frankly, you know, you don't even have to start that. 0:40:09.680 --> 0:40:13.440 I mean, he is corrupt and you know, he literally 0:40:13.560 --> 0:40:15.759 was doing business deals with folks that have like wind 0:40:15.880 --> 0:40:19.960 up in jail. He's got federal indictments and federal investigations 0:40:20.200 --> 0:40:22.320 into the way that he's handled his money, and so 0:40:22.440 --> 0:40:25.279 it is just a disaster for him and creates a 0:40:25.320 --> 0:40:28.879 real opportunity for us. So if Republicans jerrymander and create 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:31.200 their seats a little bit more vulnerable, if they've got 0:40:31.280 --> 0:40:33.960 Ken Paxton at the top of the ticket, then we've 0:40:34.000 --> 0:40:36.280 got a run like we've never run before in Texas 0:40:36.760 --> 0:40:40.479 and we have some real pickup opportunities. At the same time, 0:40:40.920 --> 0:40:44.279 we've got to stop the jerrymandering plan, because even if 0:40:44.360 --> 0:40:46.920 we do an excellent job trying to flip some of 0:40:46.960 --> 0:40:48.960 these seats, at the end of the day, they shouldn't 0:40:49.000 --> 0:40:51.240 be allowed to suppress the votes of millions of people 0:40:51.880 --> 0:40:54.719 and frankly steal at least some of these seats away 0:40:54.760 --> 0:40:55.040 from us. 0:40:55.400 --> 0:40:58.040 I just don't see where this is fair at all. 0:40:58.600 --> 0:41:01.680 It's deeply unfair and should send a chill down the 0:41:01.719 --> 0:41:04.759 spine of every American. I mean, we talk a lot 0:41:04.800 --> 0:41:06.680 about gerrymandering. I just kind of want to give you 0:41:06.760 --> 0:41:09.800 a sense of what this looks like. What it means 0:41:10.600 --> 0:41:14.279 is you've got usually, you know, neighborhoods that have more 0:41:14.320 --> 0:41:18.040 black voters or more Latino voters. And what these guys 0:41:18.080 --> 0:41:20.279 in the White House go and do is they go 0:41:20.640 --> 0:41:23.160 and say this neighborhood. We're going to chop it into 0:41:23.239 --> 0:41:25.640 four or five or six little pieces so that those 0:41:25.640 --> 0:41:28.279 folks can't all vote together for the person that's going 0:41:28.360 --> 0:41:31.800 to represent them, and then they get stuck in districts 0:41:31.960 --> 0:41:34.360 with folks that do not care about them. You do 0:41:34.480 --> 0:41:37.360 not represent those neighborhoods, in fact, might resent those voters, 0:41:37.880 --> 0:41:41.160 and they're just a little slice of a district to 0:41:41.280 --> 0:41:45.880 be represented by you know, Chip Roy for example. You 0:41:45.920 --> 0:41:49.080 know that's not going to be his priority if some 0:41:49.160 --> 0:41:53.080 of these neighborhoods get put into his district or Troy Nell's. 0:41:53.120 --> 0:41:54.279 You know, you could look that up. 0:41:54.640 --> 0:41:56.560 You know, they just are not I. 0:41:56.560 --> 0:41:57.759 Don't need to look up Troy. 0:41:58.000 --> 0:42:01.440 Yeah, yeah, I mean, nor do I want to. 0:42:01.760 --> 0:42:05.920 For the folks that are listening, this isn't just about 0:42:06.160 --> 0:42:08.640 me as a member of Congress or somebody else. It's 0:42:08.840 --> 0:42:14.160 those voters get purposefully targeted because they are people of 0:42:14.239 --> 0:42:17.160 color and stuck into a district where their voices won't matter. 0:42:17.239 --> 0:42:19.160 That's literally what we try to get rid of in 0:42:19.239 --> 0:42:22.560 sixty five. And then on top of all that, the 0:42:22.719 --> 0:42:25.040 outcome that they try to get is that no matter 0:42:25.120 --> 0:42:28.279 how unpopular Trump's policies are, Trump gets his selected members 0:42:28.360 --> 0:42:30.680 of Congress. It's hard to not sound alarmist in this, 0:42:30.800 --> 0:42:31.880 but it's that alarming. 0:42:32.280 --> 0:42:37.920 Texas isn't like Missouri. It's a purple if state. It's 0:42:38.000 --> 0:42:42.160 becoming more purple. But you have a governor and an 0:42:42.560 --> 0:42:48.759 Attorney's General who who both are very crazy and very 0:42:49.680 --> 0:42:55.680 into enacting their own very right wing legislature or legislation. 0:42:56.239 --> 0:42:57.400 Why do you think that is? 0:42:57.960 --> 0:43:00.080 And I know there are a lot of talent to 0:43:00.200 --> 0:43:03.120 Democrats in the Texas State House. Do you feel like 0:43:03.239 --> 0:43:06.160 you're able to keep some of this at bay or? 0:43:06.320 --> 0:43:10.040 I mean, why is it so? It feels like it's 0:43:10.120 --> 0:43:14.640 just the state feels way more right wing than their 0:43:14.760 --> 0:43:15.640 constituents are. 0:43:16.200 --> 0:43:20.719 That's exactly right. That's the whole Texas contradiction is that, 0:43:21.360 --> 0:43:24.440 you know, demographically, we're not that different from say, California, 0:43:24.840 --> 0:43:29.440 We're just heavily under organized there. Our Democratic parties are 0:43:29.480 --> 0:43:32.760 so much more underfunded. Our state Democratic Party is puny 0:43:33.080 --> 0:43:36.680 in funding compared to traditional swing states that you could 0:43:36.719 --> 0:43:40.799 think of, like you know, Michigan or Nevada. And then 0:43:41.200 --> 0:43:43.560 you also have to recognize we're usually ranked at the 0:43:43.680 --> 0:43:46.560 very bottom of voter turnout of all of the states 0:43:46.960 --> 0:43:49.800 there are so many people who rightly say, you know, 0:43:49.840 --> 0:43:51.760 it doesn't matter if I vote or not. It seems 0:43:51.840 --> 0:43:54.799 like the same crazy stuff happens. And so we've got 0:43:55.000 --> 0:43:56.400 to get to a place where in this state of 0:43:56.440 --> 0:44:00.799 over thirty million people, we organize at scale. And right now, 0:44:00.880 --> 0:44:02.879 I know a lot of folks listening have heard about 0:44:02.880 --> 0:44:05.560 great candidates we've had, from Wendy Davis to bechel or Rourke. 0:44:06.160 --> 0:44:09.360 But if we just go in every four six years 0:44:09.840 --> 0:44:11.960 and hope that in the last few months of election 0:44:12.120 --> 0:44:14.160 we can rally as a country and pull it off, 0:44:14.880 --> 0:44:16.480 we just don't get there. We have to have a 0:44:16.719 --> 0:44:20.480 longer organizing strategy, and I think we could start it 0:44:20.600 --> 0:44:23.120 right now, you know, just up the road from where 0:44:23.160 --> 0:44:26.200 I am right now, we had an event in East 0:44:26.200 --> 0:44:30.720 Austin with Jasmine Crockett and betel Or Rourke and Juaquin 0:44:30.840 --> 0:44:34.440 Gastro and James Tall, Rico Gene and Ajosa myself. We 0:44:34.520 --> 0:44:36.400 were hoping, you know, maybe a thousand people would chill up. 0:44:36.719 --> 0:44:40.000 We had we blew past that, you know, well over 0:44:40.120 --> 0:44:43.600 three thousand folks on very short notice. And do you know, 0:44:43.760 --> 0:44:47.000 like planning anything else, usually you have an RSVP count 0:44:47.280 --> 0:44:48.920 and then you expect the numbers are going to go 0:44:49.000 --> 0:44:51.080 down a little bit. You don't usually think they're going 0:44:51.160 --> 0:44:53.480 to triple on you. So right now is when we 0:44:53.520 --> 0:44:56.080 can start organizing the state so that we have a 0:44:56.160 --> 0:44:59.640 real shot at beating Ken Paxton come next November. 0:45:00.000 --> 0:45:01.880 It just strikes me that it feels very out of 0:45:01.960 --> 0:45:05.160 whack over there. So how many sort of non voters 0:45:05.280 --> 0:45:06.879 voters do you have in your state? 0:45:07.120 --> 0:45:11.160 Yeah, in my state, the percentage of registered voters turn out, 0:45:11.160 --> 0:45:13.120 of course changes when it's a governor's race versus a 0:45:13.160 --> 0:45:16.560 presidential but we usually rank they're in forty eighth, forty 0:45:16.640 --> 0:45:17.480 ninth or fiftieth. 0:45:17.560 --> 0:45:19.400 Wow, yeah, turnout. 0:45:19.080 --> 0:45:21.920 Of the fifty states. And so what we badly need 0:45:22.000 --> 0:45:25.840 to do is, you know, if we got those folks participating, 0:45:26.360 --> 0:45:29.680 I think you'd have a totally different election. Folks argue 0:45:29.760 --> 0:45:31.759 Texas as really a blue state, or Texas a purple 0:45:31.800 --> 0:45:34.720 state or red state. I call it an under organized state. 0:45:35.160 --> 0:45:39.200 I means we identified after the last election that there's 0:45:39.239 --> 0:45:43.960 about one million anti Greg Abbott voters who we just 0:45:44.120 --> 0:45:46.839 never talked to. But it's a big state. It takes 0:45:46.840 --> 0:45:49.440 a lot of resources, and so part of what we've 0:45:49.440 --> 0:45:52.440 got to do is lift up the next generation of 0:45:53.400 --> 0:45:57.080 you know, leadership, be it elected officials and activists who 0:45:57.160 --> 0:45:58.560 are going to go out there and do the work 0:45:58.600 --> 0:46:00.279 of going and talking to folks, because I think too 0:46:00.360 --> 0:46:04.320 often we've kind of gotten comfortable in our existing democratic 0:46:04.400 --> 0:46:07.800 seats and people just govern over their democratic area, and 0:46:07.840 --> 0:46:09.879 we've got to be going out there and reaching out. 0:46:10.200 --> 0:46:13.759 That's why I've gone to multiple Republican districts myself and 0:46:13.880 --> 0:46:16.480 held town halls there. No I was, you know, out 0:46:16.560 --> 0:46:19.040 in the Texas Panhandle where they haven't seen their congressional 0:46:19.080 --> 0:46:22.440 Democrat in forever. It was just me and you had 0:46:22.800 --> 0:46:25.840 thousands of people in an auditorium. So we've got to 0:46:25.880 --> 0:46:28.800 be willing to go out there to those rural areas 0:46:29.239 --> 0:46:32.120 where you know, Democrats traditionally don't go, but people are 0:46:32.160 --> 0:46:34.600 waiting to hear from us. So that's what I'm committed 0:46:34.600 --> 0:46:37.360 to doing. We're going to fight this redistricting plan with 0:46:37.520 --> 0:46:40.720 everything we've got in US and here in central Texas 0:46:40.719 --> 0:46:42.759 where I'm sitting right now, you know, they're trying to 0:46:42.880 --> 0:46:46.200 merge me and my fellow congressman next door, and we're 0:46:46.200 --> 0:46:48.800 going to fight that like hell because it is just 0:46:49.000 --> 0:46:51.359 deeply wrong to try to get rid of us by 0:46:51.480 --> 0:46:53.040 merging districts together like ours. 0:46:53.360 --> 0:47:01.760 Thank you, Congressman, thank you, thank you. No Jesse Cannon 0:47:02.280 --> 0:47:03.160 my junk Fast. 0:47:03.280 --> 0:47:06.279 So this is, you know, really shocking news that this 0:47:06.320 --> 0:47:09.840 would happen under a Trump swatch. The Office of Civil 0:47:09.960 --> 0:47:13.920 Rights is now a place where white men replace minorities. 0:47:14.040 --> 0:47:15.600 Who would have thunk this would happen. 0:47:15.960 --> 0:47:20.600 So the education agency that investigates discrimination claims faces a 0:47:20.760 --> 0:47:25.080 sinister overhaul. Current and former staff telled The Times Donald 0:47:25.120 --> 0:47:28.719 Trump spent years raging against the Biden administration for elevating 0:47:28.760 --> 0:47:32.719 women and ethnic minorities into positions for which he said 0:47:32.760 --> 0:47:35.960 they were not qualified. Well, you'll be shocked to know 0:47:37.120 --> 0:47:42.360 now the president, that guy who was accused of bias, 0:47:43.000 --> 0:47:45.200 well now he's being accused of bias. 0:47:45.600 --> 0:47:49.560 I am shocked, I tell you shocked that this is 0:47:49.640 --> 0:47:50.279 what's going on. 0:47:51.280 --> 0:47:56.279 I am shocked, shocked, shocked, shocked, and by shocked I 0:47:56.400 --> 0:47:57.280 mean nater all shocked. 0:47:58.200 --> 0:48:01.399 That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. 0:48:01.920 --> 0:48:07.600 Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday to hear 0:48:07.920 --> 0:48:08.520 the best. 0:48:08.400 --> 0:48:12.680 Minds and politics make sense of all this chaos. If 0:48:12.719 --> 0:48:15.760 you enjoy this podcast, please send it to a friend. 0:48:16.239 --> 0:48:19.400 And keep the conversation going. Thanks for listening.