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Speaker 1: Hello.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Fast Politics. I'm Molly Jongfast, and we have

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Speaker 2: a great show for you today. Later in the show,

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Speaker 2: we'll talk to veteran Fred Wellman about his run for

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Speaker 2: Missouri's second congressional district. But first, we have former congressional

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Speaker 2: candidate Isaiah Martin on Trump saying Kansas will burn if

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Speaker 2: he and Republicans don't hold Congress. Welcome, welcome, Isaiah.

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Speaker 3: What's up, what's up, what's up?

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Speaker 2: So Donald Trump was in Kansas yesterday, and I think

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Speaker 2: this is such a good example of how worried Republicans are.

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Speaker 2: We saw him do everything from bribing to cajoling. One

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Speaker 2: of the things he did was he offered $ 8 billion

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Speaker 2: in farm assistance and payout for the diesel prices that

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Speaker 2: he made so expensive.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's just another example of just how

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Speaker 4: desperate he is, right? This is a guy who is

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Speaker 4: ignoring the very obvious reason why the prices are high.

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Speaker 4: He got us in a stupid war, right? When you

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Speaker 4: go get us in a dumb war, which is the

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Speaker 4: reason why these prices are high, and just like you

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Speaker 4: refuse to acknowledge the elephant in the room, well, that's

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Speaker 4: what leads you to what we have. So I know

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Speaker 4: he's trying to do everything he can to try to

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Speaker 4: offer bribes, but at the end of the day, his

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Speaker 4: Republican senator, Roger Marshall, refuses to vote to end the

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Speaker 4: Iran war, which is the principal reason why prices are

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Speaker 4: high in the first place.

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Speaker 2: I have to say, I, like, kind of love Roger

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Speaker 2: Marshall because he's such a bad candidate. Like, he did

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Speaker 2: six years in the Senate, and he's out there, and

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Speaker 2: you're like, has this person never done any public... You know, like,

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Speaker 2: he comes out there, he's screaming at them about Johnny B.

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Speaker 2: Goode very loudly. You know, he's got, like, these... I mean...

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Speaker 2: He's got like the whitest teeth you've ever seen. You're

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Speaker 2: like like his veneers are like four or five shades

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Speaker 2: too white.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 2: And he's out there like and Donald Trump is like

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Speaker 2: he the my favorite moment.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: Because he's like, you know, this is Kansas. They should

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Speaker 2: not be pouring money like just to pull back the

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Speaker 2: structural problem of them pouring money into Kansas.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you know, like I said, it's just what

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Speaker 4: I think with Roger is. You know, he's never had

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Speaker 4: to run a competitive race. You know, he comes from

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Speaker 4: a safe Republican area. And then he went and goes

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Speaker 4: to the Senate and he thought this was going to

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Speaker 4: be a breeze.

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Speaker 3: Right. So, look, his whole political career, he's.

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Speaker 4: Been running where he can just throw red meat toward

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Speaker 4: the Republican base and they would just eat it.

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Speaker 3: But now when you've got, you.

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Speaker 4: Know, tariffs that are raising the cost of everything, you've

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Speaker 4: got gas prices, diesel prices, all of this elevated by

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Speaker 4: the war.

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Speaker 3: That he voted for. He doesn't know how to defend it, right?

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Speaker 4: So it leads to him doing crazy and wacky things

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Speaker 4: like what he's doing now.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it reminds me of Mike Collins with the

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Speaker 2: Epstein trial, right? Trying to get John Ossoff on Reid

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Speaker 2: Hoffman and the Epstein files. And, And, uh, and John

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Speaker 2: off stuff is like, you voted not to release.

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Speaker 3: He was pointing at him. He was like, you voted.

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Speaker 4: Like what are you talking about? You voted to literally

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Speaker 4: hide the evidence of the Epstein stuff.

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Speaker 3: So, You know, it's just crazy.

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Speaker 2: One of the other candidates who's really not ready for primetime,

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Speaker 2: who is like my favorite not ready for primetime because

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Speaker 2: he was attorney general in the state of Texas forever

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Speaker 2: and did everything he could, is my man, Ken Paxton.

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Speaker 4: You know, as a former Texan, Ken Paxton is honestly

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Speaker 4: one of the most interesting figures, I think, to ever

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Speaker 4: live in Texas. This is a man who was impeached

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Speaker 4: by his own party in Texas.

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Speaker 1: Like.

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Speaker 3: Above everything, just take a step back for a second.

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Speaker 4: Do you realize how crazy you've got to be to

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Speaker 4: be impeached by Republicans in Texas?

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Speaker 2: And they went to trial.

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Speaker 4: They went to trial over it, right? I mean, it's just,

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Speaker 4: it's insane. The amount of corruption that Ken Paxton has

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Speaker 4: is crazy. And even further than that, he has no

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Speaker 4: message on anything. It's just, I will go fight for Trump.

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Speaker 4: I will be 100% in line with his agenda. Well,

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Speaker 4: what the heck does that make any sense for the

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Speaker 4: farmers that are living in rural Texas that have this

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Speaker 4: diesel problem that they have? What sense does that make

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Speaker 4: for the people that are trying to do business with

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Speaker 4: Mexico and with Canada and ultimately now have tariffs because

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Speaker 4: they ripped up the USMCA?

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Speaker 3: Like, what does that do for any of them? You know,

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Speaker 3: it's like, That's why he's struggling.

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Speaker 2: But even Trump, who knows that like, right, like Trump's

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Speaker 2: whole thing is he's the best attorney general we've ever

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Speaker 2: had because he did the crimey stuff I wanted, is like,

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Speaker 2: he's not very good looking. He doesn't speak that well.

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Speaker 3: He has bad suits.

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Speaker 4: That's just brutal. I mean, you know, it's like, He

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Speaker 4: gets roasted by his own people.

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Speaker 3: It's crazy.

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Speaker 2: So in Ohio, we have this very close. Speaking of

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Speaker 2: very close races that are not supposed to be so

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Speaker 2: close and are showing Republicans panicking. The great state of Ohio,

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Speaker 2: which has gotten redder and redder and redder, has both

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Speaker 2: a very competitive Senate race with Chair Brown. And then

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Speaker 2: this totally fascinating gubernatorial with Amy Acton and Vivek. And today,

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Speaker 2: Vivek went full abusive mother.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that was, I think, one of the most shameful

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Speaker 4: things I've ever seen, especially when you know that Amy

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Speaker 4: Acton was abused as a child.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 4: And her mother effectively sided with the person that abused her, allegedly.

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Speaker 3: That is absurd.

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Speaker 4: And the fact that Vivek would try to capitalize on

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Speaker 4: that I think it's shameful. I mean, it's also disgusting

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Speaker 4: to show, again, that they have no message. You know,

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Speaker 4: the Republicans do stuff like this because they always want

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Speaker 4: to distract from the real issues, which is that they

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Speaker 4: always want to go cut taxes with the richest people

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Speaker 4: on earth. And they know that that agenda is not popular.

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Speaker 4: If they had to go run on the fact that

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Speaker 4: they're going to go cut Elon's taxes, they're going to

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Speaker 4: go cut taxes for a trillionaire, nobody would vote for them.

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Speaker 4: But they do this stuff because they're trying to distract people.

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Speaker 4: From what their agenda really actually is, it's pretty sad.

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Speaker 2: So Amy Acton's brother has a statement on the Vivek

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Speaker 2: ad that he did with the abusive mother where the

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Speaker 2: abusive mother says she's a liar. Amy Acton's brother released

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Speaker 2: the following statement condemning it. It's not a surprise that

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Speaker 2: Vivek has stooped to such a despicable low as to

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Speaker 2: turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old

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Speaker 2: from our birth mother's husband into a political talking point.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just sad. It's really sad and pathetic.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean, it's such an interesting, Vivek is

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Speaker 2: such an interesting character because remember, do you remember when

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Speaker 2: he worked in Doge?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, for like two weeks.

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Speaker 2: And then Elon was like, he's running for governor of Ohio.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: So, like, I just wonder how much of these midterms

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Speaker 2: are like Elon's funding them or Elon's directing people.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: So, like, the reason Vivek is running in Ohio is

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Speaker 2: because he couldn't make it in Doge. Right. Really? Maybe,

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Speaker 2: you know. And then we have Ken Paxton, who's getting

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Speaker 2: all this money from Elon because he did all these

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Speaker 2: favors for Elon, right?

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Speaker 3: Right, right, right, right. Yeah, you know, what's fascinating to.

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Speaker 4: Me is, you know, that they're viewing the governorship of

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Speaker 4: the state of Ohio as like a consolation prize. It's like, hey,

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Speaker 4: you know, Vivek sucked in D.C., you know, we're going

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Speaker 4: to ship him off to Ohio.

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Speaker 3: Like, what is this?

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Speaker 1: Right?

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Speaker 3: Like, when you really peel back the end, you're like,

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Speaker 3: what is this? I hope that the people of Ohio

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Speaker 3: don't fall for this.

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Speaker 2: And what's interesting to me is like the Vegas having

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Speaker 2: the same problem that we're seeing in Florida with the

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Speaker 2: gubernatorial Byron Donalds, which is this is a base that's

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Speaker 2: pretty racist.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: So like you need them to vote for someone.

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Speaker 4: Who's not white.

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Speaker 2: And they're like, and and like even and we've heard

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Speaker 2: even Republicans say this, like you have the white nationalists

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Speaker 2: who are just not going to vote for someone who's

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Speaker 2: not white. Just insane.

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Speaker 4: You know, and I think the other thing here, though,

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Speaker 4: is that Trump installed effectively these people to become the

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Speaker 4: Republican nominees.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: These were not people that if you were to ask,

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Speaker 4: you know, Ohio political people or Florida political people who

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Speaker 4: would be the frontrunner for governor for their party this year,

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Speaker 4: I doubt any of them would have ever said Vivek

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Speaker 4: Ramaswamy or Byron Donald, right?

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 4: The reality is that you've got these people that Trump

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Speaker 4: basically helicoptered in who don't have those homegrown roots, who

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Speaker 4: don't have those homegrown, you know, connections to suddenly try

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Speaker 4: to go and take over things. And I think that's

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Speaker 4: what leads to as many fractures as you see. I mean,

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Speaker 4: I know for me, I spent a lot of time

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Speaker 4: in South Florida. And, you know, it's very clear that

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Speaker 4: like someone like Byron does not have like that strong,

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Speaker 4: you know, local presence that, you know, someone else might

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Speaker 4: have had. So it's really interesting kind of how that

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Speaker 4: Talk to me about.

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Speaker 2: That, because that's really interesting. I'm not in Florida and I,

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Speaker 2: you know, just have a very sort of 10,000 foot

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Speaker 2: view on the state. So tell me what you think

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Speaker 2: is happening there, because there's an interesting gubernatorial, too. Yeah.

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Speaker 4: You know, especially because you've got, you know, Graham, who's

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Speaker 4: running as his lieutenant governor, who was who represented more

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Speaker 4: of the northern part of Florida.

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Speaker 3: And her father, I believe, was a U.S. senator in Florida.

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Speaker 4: So that ticket with Jolly is. you know, working together,

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Speaker 4: it's definitely something that's formidable. You know, in the end,

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Speaker 4: the question is whether or not people will just, you know,

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Speaker 4: especially in Florida, you know, because of so many people

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Speaker 4: that have moved there, kind of just bite the bullet

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Speaker 4: and vote for the R. But Byron Donalds, per se,

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Speaker 4: is not someone who has this strong amount of support

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Speaker 4: amongst the Republican base, at least from what I can see,

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Speaker 4: like someone that just has.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 4: Someone like DeSantis that, you know, had more of a

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Speaker 4: Florida type picture.

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Speaker 2: And DeSantis isn't really interesting because you have this $ 10

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Speaker 2: million of Florida Hope money that has disappeared. And there

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Speaker 2: was a grand jury and the grand jury said they

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Speaker 2: didn't have enough evidence to prosecute. So it's just going

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Speaker 2: to go bye bye. But, you know, that seems like

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Speaker 2: it's something that should hurt the inheritor of that DeSantis mantle.

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Speaker 2: In a way, I feel like Democrats have not been

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Speaker 2: able to weaponize that the way they've weaponized fraud in Minnesota,

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Speaker 2: where the fraud was actually prosecuted. And you have Tim

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Speaker 2: Walz sort of getting a ticket drag from that. And

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Speaker 2: we're seeing it in the polls. And again, I also think, like,

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Speaker 2: do not underestimate anti-incumbent sentiment, too.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think that is something that I 100%

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Speaker 4: agree with you on. I think that it should have

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Speaker 4: been weaponized more against them for this because, again, when

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Speaker 4: they had their situation in Minnesota with Shirley, they had

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Speaker 4: all their influencers lined up. They had everybody from Trump

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Speaker 4: all the way down to their lowest influencer talking about

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Speaker 4: this stuff. And DeSantis has this situation with Hope Florida.

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Speaker 4: And it's almost like, you know, it's another day on the.

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Speaker 3: Beach, right?

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Speaker 4: So I think that we've got to do a better job,

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Speaker 4: you know, as a party of saying when crazy stuff

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Speaker 4: like this happens, you've got to pounce. You've got to

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Speaker 4: define it because the opportunity, I think, really kind of

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Speaker 4: passed by, I think, to do that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. And the only person you really see talking. And

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Speaker 2: it's funny because, like, if you think about the DeSantis legacy,

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Speaker 2: he was supposed to be the future of the Republican Party.

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Speaker 3: He was.

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Speaker 2: Casey was going to run for governor next. And they

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Speaker 2: had a whole thing. And Hope Florida really did derail it.

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Speaker 2: So even though Democrats have been unable to message it,

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Speaker 2: it is actually a real thing. And the only person

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Speaker 2: I've heard talk about it. And I don't think she

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Speaker 2: is actually the person to be talking about it has

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Speaker 2: been the Senate candidate.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, no, Angie Nixon. That's right.

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Speaker 4: She is the only person that, you know, I have seen.

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Speaker 4: I'm sure Jolly has talked about it, too. But, you know,

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Speaker 4: it's it's I think something that that should have came

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Speaker 4: more from like the national side to make this a

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Speaker 4: big dominating conversation moment. You know, the Republicans have this

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Speaker 4: this this thing that. whenever anything happens when they know

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Speaker 4: even that it's a complete and total lie they will

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Speaker 4: pounce and they will just repeat the narrative over and

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Speaker 4: over and over and over again and if you're not

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Speaker 4: relentless in one fighting back against it it can kind

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Speaker 4: of define things i think that's kind of what happened

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Speaker 4: in minnesota i don't think that they were as rigorous

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Speaker 4: to push back against a lot of the stuff as

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Speaker 4: they really needed to be at that moment which is

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Speaker 4: what let it kind of seep into the discourse there

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Speaker 4: and when it comes to the situation in florida you

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Speaker 4: know i don't think that nationally, we were aggressive enough

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Speaker 4: in like pounding out, okay, this is an actual legitimate

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Speaker 4: situation of fraud. This is actually something that happened. We

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Speaker 4: need to go and define this and make this a

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Speaker 4: part of DeSantis' legacy.

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Speaker 3: And I don't think nobody really did.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think, and look, I mean, part of

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Speaker 2: that is that the Democratic Party in Florida is small

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Speaker 2: and the media is so fragmented. But I do think, like,

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Speaker 2: what we're seeing the top line here is two weeks

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Speaker 2: to the midterms and Donald Trump is basically just doing

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Speaker 2: everything he can. And so we have the $ 8 billion

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Speaker 2: gas relief program for farmers, right? That's what he announced

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Speaker 2: in Florida to prop up his lame Senate candidate. And again, like,

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Speaker 2: that's a question of... candidate quality as much as anything

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Speaker 2: with adam hamilton like i've had him on the podcast

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Speaker 2: he's a really good candidate and he's like a hyper

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Speaker 2: local and this is what you were talking about in

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Speaker 2: florida a hyper local pastor of a mega church like

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Speaker 2: that's not a candidate that grows on a tree you know.

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Speaker 4: Exactly exactly you know the kansas situation like i said

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Speaker 4: is another example of that that's why i really do

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Speaker 4: hope that the message especially you know this just happened

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Speaker 4: you know uh Not so long ago. So I hope

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Speaker 4: the message back is, well, the reason why you have

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Speaker 4: to pay more is the war. It is because the

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Speaker 4: Republicans refuse to end the war. It is because they

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Speaker 4: vote 100 percent in lockstep with him and they never

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Speaker 4: disagree with him why we are in this mess. So

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Speaker 4: they can talk about eight billion dollars all they want.

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Speaker 4: But the reality is if they were just in the war,

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Speaker 4: there would be no need for any of that stuff.

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Speaker 2: And they're truly hilarious. And again, nobody likes the Iranians, right?

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Speaker 2: I mean, like, this is a... First of all, there

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Speaker 2: are two fractions. One is the military guard, religious zealots.

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Speaker 1: The other.

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Speaker 2: is this kind of monarchy. Both are repressive and bad

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Speaker 2: for the country of 80 million people. But they all

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Speaker 2: hate Donald Trump. And so they're constantly, you know, they

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Speaker 2: just want him to lose in the midterms. And we

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Speaker 2: all are sort of waiting. I mean, this is really,

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Speaker 2: I think, the sort of worst thing about Trumpism is

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Speaker 2: Trump has this imperial presidency. The Congress has pretty much

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Speaker 2: given up all of its checks and balances rights. Right.

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Speaker 2: They just let him do whatever they whatever he wants.

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Speaker 2: And so we're waiting to see if he's going to

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Speaker 2: do something terrible during the midterms, do something terrible after

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Speaker 2: the midterms, bomb Iran. You know, like, I mean, pretend

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Speaker 2: that he won. I mean, like there's no it's just

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Speaker 2: like the imperial presidency on steroids.

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Speaker 3: It really is.

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Speaker 4: You know, and it's just, you know, an example of

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Speaker 4: of how. sad it is that the Republicans have completely

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Speaker 4: abdicated all forms of their responsibility to actually govern, right?

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Speaker 4: The Constitution was effectively built off of the idea that, well,

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Speaker 4: if somebody crazy were to get in, people would have

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Speaker 4: common sense to stand unified against it, to get that

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Speaker 4: threat out, because a country is what comes first. And

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Speaker 4: I don't think that anyone ever really thought about, well,

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Speaker 4: what happens if you've got someone who has complete control

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Speaker 4: over their own party and they refuse to do.

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Speaker 3: Anything about it?

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 4: So that is what is giving Trump the ability to

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Speaker 4: have unchecked power to do whatever he wants. And, you know,

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Speaker 4: like I said, that's why we've got to go and

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Speaker 4: beat the final message that these Republicans have literally done

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Speaker 4: 100 percent. And the reason is because they're afraid of

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Speaker 4: the Trump endorsement. The Trump endorsement in Republican primaries is

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Speaker 4: 99 percent effective.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 4: So they know that they're making a choice between their country.

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Speaker 4: Or their job. And when faced with that choice every

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Speaker 4: single time, they choose their job. And that's why the

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Speaker 4: economy is as messed up.

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Speaker 3: As it is.

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Speaker 2: Right. And that's the problem that Susan Collins is having, right?

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Speaker 2: She says she's an independent. Mainers have voted for her

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Speaker 2: six times because of They like that she's an independent.

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Speaker 2: But the reality is, and we've seen reporting on this,

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Speaker 2: she's sort of a pretend independent. So she only votes

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Speaker 2: against Trump when Trump has the votes somewhere else.

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Speaker 3: Exactly. When she's not the deciding vote.

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Speaker 4: And so, for example, that's why she also voted for

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Speaker 4: Howard Lutnick. Howard Lutnick is the person that is working

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Speaker 4: with Trump on the tariffs and are instituting them in

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Speaker 4: the way that he is. So by doing that, she

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Speaker 4: approves effectively everything. Then Susan gets out there and says, well,

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Speaker 4: I got some road salt off of the tariff list.

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Speaker 3: Well, you know what?

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Speaker 4: If you didn't have the tariffs to begin with, then

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Speaker 4: this wouldn't have been a problem in the first place.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 4: But you voted for the very person that is going

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Speaker 4: in and implementing these tariffs.

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Speaker 3: As it is.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 3: We can't eat road salt, is what Troy Jackson said.

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Speaker 2: We had a whole news cycle about Troy Jackson telling

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Speaker 2: Susan Collins to shut up because Susan Collins actually sort

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Speaker 2: of smartly grabbed the news cycle and said, like, he

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Speaker 2: was so rude to me. I mean, like we have

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Speaker 2: a president who has called women. I mean, really, like

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Speaker 2: Susan Collins, who supports Donald Trump, is complaining about someone

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Speaker 2: being rude to women. Like, what are we doing here, man?

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Speaker 4: Well, like I said, Susan Collins wants to play the

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Speaker 4: victim card because she doesn't want to defend her record.

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Speaker 4: And I think that's what Troy is so, you know,

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Speaker 4: calling out because it's like, look, he's not going to

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Speaker 4: let Susan talk down to him, number one. And number two,

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Speaker 4: when Susan refuses to talk about the vote that she

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Speaker 4: had for the Commerce Secretary or for anybody else, then

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Speaker 4: she doesn't have any leg to stand on. So she

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Speaker 4: wants to make the conversation on everything in the world,

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Speaker 4: except for what she's done inside the.

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Speaker 3: United States Senate.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. And it is. And I mean, I don't know

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Speaker 2: that she defies political gravity. She has historically, she won

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Speaker 2: in 2018. Yeah. And Sarah Gideon has so much cash. Like,

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Speaker 2: I don't know what she's doing with all that cash.

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Speaker 3: I don't get it either.

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Speaker 4: I mean, she's got millions and millions and millions of

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Speaker 4: dollars that she could be using to help Troy.

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Speaker 3: In this fight.

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Speaker 4: Because look, if she wanted to sit on that money,

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Speaker 4: she should have, you know, done something with it.

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Speaker 3: But I think.

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Speaker 4: That's another frustration that people have with politics is that

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Speaker 4: every election cycle, you get all these texts for money

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Speaker 4: and all these things. People try their hardest to give

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Speaker 4: what they can, a few dollars here or there. And,

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Speaker 4: you know, to see someone basically sit on that money

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Speaker 4: that one, the donors could have been able to use

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Speaker 4: on anything else that they made the sacrifice to give. And,

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Speaker 4: you know, she refused to do anything with it to

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Speaker 4: help the very cause that they are effectively supporting.

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Speaker 3: I think it's shameful.

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Speaker 2: Donate that money to Troy Jackson before the election is over. Isaiah,

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Speaker 2: will you come back?

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Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely. This is so much fun. Molly, it's time

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Speaker 3: for the headlines.

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Speaker 5: So the DOJ is admitting that its list of non-citizen

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Speaker 5: voters is faulty as it's going to start arresting people.

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Speaker 1: That's nice.

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Speaker 2: So, again, Republicans are desperate. to find non-citizens voting because

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Speaker 2: they want to throw out your vote. And this is

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Speaker 2: how they are hoping to do it. The problem for

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Speaker 2: Republicans is that this is not a real thing. And

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Speaker 2: so arrests were announced in the Department of Justice's press release.

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Speaker 2: They are going for California. It's called Operation Protect the Vote.

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Speaker 2: And they are going to arrest California citizens because they're

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Speaker 2: going to say that they're not citizens. In what is

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Speaker 2: likely one of the stupider moments in American history, the

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Speaker 2: Golden State has they have they've identified nearly 200,000 likely

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Speaker 2: non-citizen voters. They are probably citizens, but they will get

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Speaker 2: a again, this is so stupid. It's stupid, but it's

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Speaker 2: also racist, right? Because this is they're trying to target immigrants,

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Speaker 2: trying to make people scared. They're trying to make people

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Speaker 2: not vote. And also, look, would they like to have

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Speaker 2: a Republican? I mean, there's a Republican running for governor

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Speaker 2: of California. And, you know, would they like to have

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Speaker 2: a Republican as governor of California?

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Speaker 1: Probably.

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Speaker 2: It's the fifth largest economy in the world. So do

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Speaker 2: we think this is going to work? Probably not. But

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Speaker 2: if it scares some people, it works for them, right?

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Speaker 2: And they're trying to weaponize voter registration data. They're trying

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Speaker 2: to make it so that people are scared to vote.

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Speaker 2: They're trying to do all the stuff that we warned

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Speaker 2: they would do.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: Somali, you and I have both been quite disturbed by

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Speaker 5: the insane amount of Islamophobia. When ever any candidate is

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Speaker 5: asked about Israel, they seem to find a way to

440
00:21:48,700 --> 00:21:55,280
Speaker 5: make it anti-Semitic yet. Somehow, when Trump says an anti-Semitic slur, whoop-dee-doo.

441
00:21:56,660 --> 00:22:01,020
Speaker 2: So, Jonathan Greenblatt, if you're watching this show, you are

442
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:03,240
Speaker 2: the head of the ADL. I know you're very concerned

443
00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:08,270
Speaker 2: with anti-Semitism. We found some anti-Semitism, and it's coming from

444
00:22:08,369 --> 00:22:13,510
Speaker 2: Donald Trump, so-called protector of the Jews, Donald Trump. He

445
00:22:13,609 --> 00:22:18,389
Speaker 2: says Marshall was given a bum rap because he was

446
00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:22,740
Speaker 2: mandated by law to request strongly money owed from patients.

447
00:22:22,820 --> 00:22:25,180
Speaker 2: By the way, that's not true. You're not mandated by

448
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:29,070
Speaker 2: law to arrest your patients. That's not how any of

449
00:22:29,109 --> 00:22:29,590
Speaker 2: this works.

450
00:22:29,930 --> 00:22:32,350
Speaker 3: But, you know, Donald Trump— Mollie, I saw it in

451
00:22:32,369 --> 00:22:33,230
Speaker 3: the Hippocratic Oath.

452
00:22:33,890 --> 00:22:36,850
Speaker 2: Well, Donald Trump believes you need an ID to buy milk.

453
00:22:36,930 --> 00:22:40,699
Speaker 2: Remember that? That was in 2016 in season one of

454
00:22:40,740 --> 00:22:41,480
Speaker 2: this fiasco.

455
00:22:41,580 --> 00:22:42,660
Speaker 3: Many such cases.

456
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,550
Speaker 2: He says you have to go by law, go after

457
00:22:47,570 --> 00:22:50,080
Speaker 2: these people. And they made like, oh, I love reading

458
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:53,660
Speaker 2: a Trump verbatim quote. They made like, oh, he was

459
00:22:53,740 --> 00:22:58,600
Speaker 2: some kind of Shylock type guy. So Shylock is a

460
00:22:58,700 --> 00:23:02,940
Speaker 2: Jewish character in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice who is portrayed

461
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:07,540
Speaker 2: as a cunning moneylander fueled by stereotypes about the Jewish people.

462
00:23:08,140 --> 00:23:13,290
Speaker 2: As a Jew, I am very, very offended by this.

463
00:23:14,750 --> 00:23:18,970
Speaker 2: Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, you may

464
00:23:19,010 --> 00:23:23,400
Speaker 2: know him as the guy who said that Elon Musk's

465
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 2: Nazi salute was not a Nazi salute. It was just

466
00:23:26,660 --> 00:23:31,760
Speaker 2: a straight armed gesture. That guy has not condemned Donald

467
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:36,949
Speaker 2: Trump for using the term Shylock because he maybe he

468
00:23:36,990 --> 00:23:37,889
Speaker 2: didn't see the tweet.

469
00:23:38,990 --> 00:23:40,730
Speaker 5: I think it's because he only has a left punch

470
00:23:40,790 --> 00:23:41,629
Speaker 5: and no right punch.

471
00:23:42,010 --> 00:23:43,889
Speaker 2: What? That can't be.

472
00:23:45,820 --> 00:23:50,210
Speaker 5: So, Molly, the more I learn of Trump, What Trump's

473
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 5: doing to Zelensky in Ukraine and how he's, you know,

474
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:59,379
Speaker 5: treating him very unfairly in his words and coddling up

475
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,300
Speaker 5: to Vladimir Putin. I just keep getting this feeling that

476
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:03,540
Speaker 5: he might have.

477
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:04,280
Speaker 1: A dog in this race.

478
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,920
Speaker 2: Again, we get back to the is Donald Trump a

479
00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:15,540
Speaker 2: Russian asset? You'll remember this storyline from Trump 1.0, where

480
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,510
Speaker 2: everyone thought he might be. be a Russian asset. Again,

481
00:24:19,530 --> 00:24:24,150
Speaker 2: you know, look, who am I to say it does

482
00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:27,350
Speaker 2: certainly seem like Donald Trump is very concerned with pleasing

483
00:24:27,390 --> 00:24:32,470
Speaker 2: Vladimir Putin and not so concerned with the free people

484
00:24:32,540 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 2: of Ukraine. Look, again, we had someone on this podcast

485
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 2: recently who talked about this, and I think it's really

486
00:24:39,180 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 2: important to reiterate. If Russia stops the war, Ukraine goes

487
00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:48,690
Speaker 2: on to be free. If Ukraine Stops the war. Russia

488
00:24:48,730 --> 00:24:53,320
Speaker 2: goes on to kill everyone there. So I don't think

489
00:24:53,540 --> 00:24:57,760
Speaker 2: that taking Russia's side, especially when Russia is aiding the

490
00:24:57,900 --> 00:25:04,940
Speaker 2: Houthis and the Iranians while they bomb us, is a

491
00:25:05,020 --> 00:25:08,949
Speaker 2: good play. But, you know... There we are.

492
00:25:09,450 --> 00:25:10,310
Speaker 3: Yeah.

493
00:25:10,690 --> 00:25:14,609
Speaker 5: So we last heard about the Trump FBI killing a

494
00:25:14,630 --> 00:25:18,609
Speaker 5: probe into Susan Collins bribery scheme. And we have a

495
00:25:18,670 --> 00:25:22,070
Speaker 5: new one where they were going after the late Lindsey

496
00:25:22,090 --> 00:25:24,920
Speaker 5: Graham and Democratic rep Jim Clyburn.

497
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:26,700
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is interesting.

498
00:25:28,030 --> 00:25:33,910
Speaker 2: More really good reporting from ProPublica. And this is like

499
00:25:33,990 --> 00:25:41,820
Speaker 2: a really in-depth thing. So basically, there's this CEO, Martin Kao,

500
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:47,859
Speaker 2: who is actually in jail now. And he's basically been

501
00:25:47,900 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 2: the source in all of these stories of, like, trading

502
00:25:52,550 --> 00:25:59,150
Speaker 2: government contracts for donations to super PACs. And he donated

503
00:25:59,150 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 2: $ 150, 000 to Susan Collins' super PAC. And he has also

504
00:26:08,820 --> 00:26:13,130
Speaker 2: had he's donated to dozens of politicians from both parties,

505
00:26:13,250 --> 00:26:21,830
Speaker 2: including Biden, Durbin, Gene Sheehan, Tulsi Gabbard, Clyburn, Lindsey Graham. So, look,

506
00:26:21,850 --> 00:26:25,969
Speaker 2: these are all these allegations that he made donations. He

507
00:26:26,010 --> 00:26:30,840
Speaker 2: did pay for play, which is illegal. And it's coming on.

508
00:26:31,020 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 3: It's coming.

509
00:26:31,500 --> 00:26:36,800
Speaker 2: The calls are coming from both parties. sides of the aisle.

510
00:26:37,100 --> 00:26:43,159
Speaker 2: And it is both worrying, but also like absolutely, you know,

511
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,640
Speaker 2: Democrats have to look at both sides of this. They

512
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 2: have to be open if there's corruption on their side, too.

513
00:26:51,859 --> 00:26:57,590
Speaker 2: So this is really this is important. And this and

514
00:26:57,670 --> 00:27:00,170
Speaker 2: it and again, ProPublica, none of this stuff, we would

515
00:27:00,190 --> 00:27:03,340
Speaker 2: know none of this stuff if ProPublica was not on it.

516
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 2: Fred Wellman is a veteran and the Democratic nominee for

517
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:13,889
Speaker 2: Missouri's second congressional district. Welcome, welcome, Fred Wellman.

518
00:27:14,090 --> 00:27:15,410
Speaker 1: Great to be here. It's good to see you, Molly.

519
00:27:15,430 --> 00:27:17,129
Speaker 1: It's been too long. We got to connect.

520
00:27:17,390 --> 00:27:21,170
Speaker 2: Yes. So you are an area podcaster like myself, but

521
00:27:21,210 --> 00:27:25,510
Speaker 2: you are also now a congressional candidate. So talk us

522
00:27:25,670 --> 00:27:31,070
Speaker 2: through your race for Congress in the now swing state.

523
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,419
Speaker 1: Of all things, yeah. Honestly, when I grew up, it

524
00:27:35,460 --> 00:27:37,200
Speaker 1: was a swing state. There was actually a joke. As

525
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,850
Speaker 1: Missouri went, so went the nation. We were truly a bellwether.

526
00:27:41,310 --> 00:27:43,670
Speaker 1: And it changed over the years, obviously, with the Republicans

527
00:27:43,690 --> 00:27:46,729
Speaker 1: now have been in control of our state supermajority for

528
00:27:46,850 --> 00:27:50,250
Speaker 1: two decades, shockingly. They've had unified control for 10 years.

529
00:27:50,510 --> 00:27:52,230
Speaker 1: The seat that I sit in Missouri, too, is where

530
00:27:52,260 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 1: I grew up. I'm from here. I was born in Georgia,

531
00:27:55,060 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: but raised here. I went off to West Point, did

532
00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,270
Speaker 1: 22 years in the Army, veterans advocate for a decade.

533
00:28:00,369 --> 00:28:02,050
Speaker 1: You know, I did the Lincoln Project. I came home

534
00:28:02,090 --> 00:28:04,550
Speaker 1: five years ago for my fiance. And you could tell

535
00:28:04,570 --> 00:28:07,830
Speaker 1: there's hunger for change here. And I think where we

536
00:28:07,990 --> 00:28:09,910
Speaker 1: are in my district has changed quite a bit. There's

537
00:28:09,930 --> 00:28:12,919
Speaker 1: been a very mid-shift in just the demographics and the

538
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,859
Speaker 1: political makeup and the frustration with the Republican leadership. And

539
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,139
Speaker 1: we've got a Republican incumbent named Ann Wagner who refuses

540
00:28:19,180 --> 00:28:21,399
Speaker 1: to meet with her constituents. She's been in office going

541
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,310
Speaker 1: on 14 years, has never held a town hall. has

542
00:28:24,450 --> 00:28:26,090
Speaker 1: never done a debate with any of her opponents, even

543
00:28:26,130 --> 00:28:27,909
Speaker 1: the first time she ran. She just expects to be

544
00:28:27,970 --> 00:28:31,020
Speaker 1: coordinated every year. And we really looked at it and said,

545
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,440
Speaker 1: you know, there's a race here. The times have changed.

546
00:28:33,660 --> 00:28:36,149
Speaker 1: The mood has changed. And people are tired of being

547
00:28:36,170 --> 00:28:39,110
Speaker 1: ignored by the representatives. So I took the... took the

548
00:28:39,150 --> 00:28:41,470
Speaker 1: leap and we are really doing well, man. I think

549
00:28:41,490 --> 00:28:43,080
Speaker 1: people are going to be shocked America when we flip

550
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:43,440
Speaker 1: this seat.

551
00:28:43,700 --> 00:28:47,980
Speaker 2: So you have some polling that you can talk about

552
00:28:48,020 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 2: and some other polling that you can't talk about. So

553
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,560
Speaker 2: talk to us about the polling you can talk to

554
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:52,820
Speaker 2: us about.

555
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,190
Speaker 1: Well, we're in a dead heat. A Republican firm three

556
00:28:56,210 --> 00:28:58,250
Speaker 1: weeks ago did a poll showing that Ann was up

557
00:28:58,270 --> 00:28:59,090
Speaker 1: 43-42 with a whopping 12% undecided.

558
00:28:59,110 --> 00:29:06,120
Speaker 2: Now look, And the Republican, just explain, the Republican polls

559
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,740
Speaker 2: tend to be a little more friendly to Republicans. The

560
00:29:08,790 --> 00:29:11,290
Speaker 2: Democratic polls tend to be a little more friendly to Democrats.

561
00:29:11,330 --> 00:29:11,830
Speaker 2: So go on.

562
00:29:12,230 --> 00:29:15,110
Speaker 1: And if she's incumbent of 14 years and she has 12%

563
00:29:15,110 --> 00:29:17,350
Speaker 1: of her voters are undecided, that's a very bad sign

564
00:29:17,390 --> 00:29:20,380
Speaker 1: for her. And so we knew from there. So we've

565
00:29:20,390 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 1: been pounding our TV ads. We've been doing it everywhere

566
00:29:23,100 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 1: I can. My goal when I started was I could

567
00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 1: out-hustle my opponent by any measure. And I've been out.

568
00:29:27,900 --> 00:29:29,540
Speaker 1: I'm out every day in the district, if not twice

569
00:29:29,580 --> 00:29:32,630
Speaker 1: a day, doing events, town halls, meeting with voters, talking

570
00:29:32,650 --> 00:29:34,580
Speaker 1: to folks. I just came here for this interview from

571
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,760
Speaker 1: the early voting polls. I like to duck out of

572
00:29:36,820 --> 00:29:38,370
Speaker 1: the polls during early voting just to say hi to

573
00:29:38,410 --> 00:29:40,590
Speaker 1: folks when I can. And it's working. I think we've

574
00:29:40,610 --> 00:29:42,910
Speaker 1: got folks who are ready for change. They're ready for

575
00:29:42,950 --> 00:29:45,330
Speaker 1: someone who actually cares about the people in the district.

576
00:29:45,350 --> 00:29:48,670
Speaker 1: They're ready for someone genuine who's had hard times and

577
00:29:48,730 --> 00:29:51,170
Speaker 1: good times, has served their country and understands that public

578
00:29:51,210 --> 00:29:54,660
Speaker 1: service is not public enrichment or personal enrichment, if you will.

579
00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 1: And Anne has been personally enriched. She's quadrupled her net

580
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,980
Speaker 1: worth in Congress. She sits on the Financial Services Committee,

581
00:30:01,070 --> 00:30:04,930
Speaker 1: where she oversees the Capital Markets Committee, the SEC, which

582
00:30:04,970 --> 00:30:08,510
Speaker 1: has its lowest number of investigations in 16 years. Her

583
00:30:08,810 --> 00:30:12,230
Speaker 1: biggest donors are the corporate PACs of the largest financial

584
00:30:12,290 --> 00:30:15,590
Speaker 1: services firms, which she oversees in Congress. And I don't

585
00:30:15,610 --> 00:30:17,990
Speaker 1: know about you, but I've never known a bank to

586
00:30:18,030 --> 00:30:20,670
Speaker 1: invest in something without getting a return on investment. So

587
00:30:20,690 --> 00:30:23,270
Speaker 1: whatever reasons, they really like my opponent. So we're pushing

588
00:30:23,310 --> 00:30:25,650
Speaker 1: very hard for regular working people to get a break

589
00:30:25,670 --> 00:30:26,030
Speaker 1: for once.

590
00:30:26,290 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 2: Tell us what your district is. It's a sort of

591
00:30:29,860 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 2: interesting district because you're running on the 2022 map, right?

592
00:30:35,980 --> 00:30:38,300
Speaker 2: Explain this story. Okay.

593
00:30:39,090 --> 00:30:41,170
Speaker 1: There's nothing more fun than running for Congress and having

594
00:30:41,210 --> 00:30:43,730
Speaker 1: your district go to the Supreme Court three times. So

595
00:30:43,950 --> 00:30:46,150
Speaker 1: it's been an interesting year. When I decided to run,

596
00:30:46,210 --> 00:30:48,750
Speaker 1: so as people may know, Missouri tried to give Donald

597
00:30:48,770 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 1: Trump one more district. They broke Emanuel Cleaver's seat over

598
00:30:53,020 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 1: in Kansas City. But to do that, they also gave

599
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: my opponent, Ann Wagner, about three more points on the

600
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,260
Speaker 1: Republican side by adding four. Which she needs. Which she needs.

601
00:31:01,380 --> 00:31:04,290
Speaker 1: She's that close. Right, exactly. So the idea was to

602
00:31:04,310 --> 00:31:06,650
Speaker 1: give her four rural counties to the south and break

603
00:31:06,690 --> 00:31:09,550
Speaker 1: up my district, too. Well, obviously, we fought that tooth

604
00:31:09,630 --> 00:31:11,550
Speaker 1: and nail and went to the Supreme Court not once,

605
00:31:11,650 --> 00:31:15,190
Speaker 1: but three times. They lost three times. So we're on

606
00:31:15,290 --> 00:31:18,190
Speaker 1: what was already a gerrymandered map, as it was, from 2022,

607
00:31:18,170 --> 00:31:21,460
Speaker 1: the last redistricting after the census. That map gives me

608
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,180
Speaker 1: a lot of it's the same. 70% of my vote

609
00:31:24,260 --> 00:31:26,580
Speaker 1: resides in St. Louis County, which is the county that's

610
00:31:26,620 --> 00:31:29,780
Speaker 1: the suburbs of St. Louis City. I've got western part

611
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,640
Speaker 1: of that, which is a huge portion, south county of mine.

612
00:31:32,940 --> 00:31:34,990
Speaker 1: My friend Wesley Bell has the city and north county.

613
00:31:35,380 --> 00:31:39,810
Speaker 1: Then the district extends to rural Franklin County, St. Charles County,

614
00:31:39,830 --> 00:31:41,670
Speaker 1: which is more of an exurb at this point. And

615
00:31:41,690 --> 00:31:45,030
Speaker 1: then we've got Warren County, which is rural. So four counties, essentially,

616
00:31:45,790 --> 00:31:49,450
Speaker 1: a very interesting dynamic. It is fairly well off. It's

617
00:31:49,470 --> 00:31:54,260
Speaker 1: a very affluent district. There's about 759,000 folks, 300,000 households.

618
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:56,820
Speaker 1: But it's an interesting district. We've got a lot of change.

619
00:31:57,020 --> 00:32:00,630
Speaker 1: Our fastest growing demographic here is South Asians. We've had

620
00:32:00,650 --> 00:32:04,990
Speaker 1: a wonderful influx of Pakistani and Indian and Yemeni and

621
00:32:05,070 --> 00:32:07,850
Speaker 1: others giving us a really beautiful patchwork here in the

622
00:32:07,890 --> 00:32:09,630
Speaker 1: district that I've had the pleasure for the last year.

623
00:32:10,050 --> 00:32:12,690
Speaker 1: Just really get to know. Also labor. I made a

624
00:32:12,730 --> 00:32:15,660
Speaker 1: decision when I ran to really get our labor unions involved.

625
00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:17,860
Speaker 1: They actually sat out the last two elections because of

626
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,100
Speaker 1: the gerrymandering. And I'm real proud that today 21 of

627
00:32:21,180 --> 00:32:23,540
Speaker 1: our labor unions have endorsed me and are out knocking

628
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:25,980
Speaker 1: doors for me now, telling their members to vote for

629
00:32:26,020 --> 00:32:28,420
Speaker 1: me and being part of this campaign. So We've built

630
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,160
Speaker 1: a really cool coalition for a unique district that's in

631
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,010
Speaker 1: flux right now. And my opponent, Ann Wagner, she just

632
00:32:35,050 --> 00:32:38,490
Speaker 1: can't keep up. She just can't manage the change. She

633
00:32:38,530 --> 00:32:40,490
Speaker 1: just thinks she's going to get re-coordinated every two years.

634
00:32:40,890 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: So I'm really proud. And I heard the best quote

635
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,430
Speaker 1: the other day. I think Abdul Alsaid used it. which

636
00:32:44,490 --> 00:32:47,010
Speaker 1: was if your coalition doesn't make you uncomfortable, it's not

637
00:32:47,050 --> 00:32:50,990
Speaker 1: big enough. We've got a very big, uncomfortable coalition to

638
00:32:51,030 --> 00:32:53,030
Speaker 1: take back the seat that I'm really excited about. I've

639
00:32:53,050 --> 00:32:53,910
Speaker 1: got two more weeks to go.

640
00:32:54,260 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 2: So two weeks ago, early voting started already. Talk us

641
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,100
Speaker 2: through what that's like. Have you gone? You went?

642
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 1: I was there this morning, actually.

643
00:33:03,580 --> 00:33:03,840
Speaker 2: Yeah.

644
00:33:03,860 --> 00:33:07,440
Speaker 1: So a no excuse absentee voting started today. I went

645
00:33:07,460 --> 00:33:09,450
Speaker 1: to the library that's not far from my home and

646
00:33:09,590 --> 00:33:13,040
Speaker 1: I was kind of mobbed. I mean, it's It's actually humbling.

647
00:33:13,220 --> 00:33:15,570
Speaker 1: You know, somebody asked me recently, so Anne's been running

648
00:33:15,590 --> 00:33:18,070
Speaker 1: these terrible attack ads about, you know, the ones everybody

649
00:33:18,090 --> 00:33:21,090
Speaker 1: else is running, transgender, radical socialist, you know.

650
00:33:21,630 --> 00:33:24,170
Speaker 2: You were a 22-year veteran.

651
00:33:24,170 --> 00:33:27,530
Speaker 1: 22 years Army. You were an Army? Army officer for

652
00:33:27,530 --> 00:33:30,790
Speaker 1: 22 years, four combat tours, earned my Ranger tab laws

653
00:33:30,850 --> 00:33:33,890
Speaker 1: in the Army, retired out of the Pentagon, spent 10

654
00:33:33,890 --> 00:33:36,810
Speaker 1: years as a veteran's advocate with a small business outside

655
00:33:36,830 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 1: of D.C., You know, I'm not a socialist, but it

656
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,310
Speaker 1: pounds you down.

657
00:33:41,550 --> 00:33:43,209
Speaker 2: What branch of the Army were you in?

658
00:33:43,530 --> 00:33:45,910
Speaker 1: I was an Army aviator. So as a matter of fact,

659
00:33:45,930 --> 00:33:48,450
Speaker 1: I flew this helicopter right here, the Scout in Desert Storm.

660
00:33:48,550 --> 00:33:51,250
Speaker 1: And then for Iraq 1, I flew Blackhawks with the

661
00:33:51,550 --> 00:33:54,530
Speaker 1: 101st Airborne Division. And then late in my career, I changed.

662
00:33:54,610 --> 00:33:57,710
Speaker 2: As a mom, dangerous. Yes, go on.

663
00:33:57,750 --> 00:34:02,980
Speaker 1: Yeah, a little bit challenging. Yeah, it was a high adventure,

664
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:04,790
Speaker 1: needless to say. But So it's been a little bit

665
00:34:04,810 --> 00:34:06,690
Speaker 1: of a pounding seeing that, you know, I can't even

666
00:34:06,710 --> 00:34:08,690
Speaker 1: watch the Chiefs game without hearing what a socialist I am.

667
00:34:09,130 --> 00:34:12,030
Speaker 1: So it's gratifying. And somebody said to me recently, they said, Fred,

668
00:34:12,070 --> 00:34:13,920
Speaker 1: are those attack ads keeping you up at night? Does

669
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,339
Speaker 1: it stress you out? And I said, no. What gets

670
00:34:16,380 --> 00:34:18,060
Speaker 1: me is like the conversation I had today with a

671
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,980
Speaker 1: woman and recently at an event, a lady came running

672
00:34:21,020 --> 00:34:23,279
Speaker 1: up to me to get a selfie. And afterwards, she

673
00:34:23,300 --> 00:34:26,200
Speaker 1: grabbed my hands and she said, Fred, I'm so excited

674
00:34:26,219 --> 00:34:28,470
Speaker 1: because for the first time since living here for 20 years,

675
00:34:28,670 --> 00:34:30,390
Speaker 1: I have hope. And if you ask me what keeps

676
00:34:30,410 --> 00:34:32,009
Speaker 1: me up at night, that keeps me up at night,

677
00:34:32,530 --> 00:34:35,430
Speaker 1: you know, that that this movement we're building very quietly

678
00:34:35,489 --> 00:34:39,350
Speaker 1: here beneath the national spotlight has built something that so

679
00:34:39,390 --> 00:34:42,009
Speaker 1: many people here have been struggling for so long, have

680
00:34:42,070 --> 00:34:45,240
Speaker 1: hoped to win and take back the seat. So what

681
00:34:45,260 --> 00:34:46,880
Speaker 1: keeps me up at night is the idea that I've

682
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:49,880
Speaker 1: inspired people to have hope. So I work really hard

683
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 1: and I go to bed at night thinking about, did

684
00:34:52,219 --> 00:34:55,640
Speaker 1: I do enough today to earn that hope? But we've

685
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:58,719
Speaker 1: done really well. I mean, we've got a wonderful coalition.

686
00:34:58,820 --> 00:35:02,160
Speaker 1: We've raised over $ 2 million. We out-raised Ann Wagner last quarter.

687
00:35:02,980 --> 00:35:04,840
Speaker 1: which is a first for her. She's never been outraged,

688
00:35:04,860 --> 00:35:07,489
Speaker 1: I think, since 2020 at least. So we're really pushing

689
00:35:07,530 --> 00:35:08,850
Speaker 1: hard to take back the seat.

690
00:35:09,130 --> 00:35:13,810
Speaker 2: She's not a candidate who campaigns. Talk us through no debates,

691
00:35:13,969 --> 00:35:17,230
Speaker 2: no events, no candidate forums. Go.

692
00:35:17,610 --> 00:35:17,950
Speaker 3: Nothing.

693
00:35:18,090 --> 00:35:20,170
Speaker 1: It's really strange. I mean, honestly, I don't get it.

694
00:35:20,350 --> 00:35:22,620
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're if you're If you're getting polls

695
00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:24,680
Speaker 1: showing you losing, and there are polls showing her losing,

696
00:35:24,860 --> 00:35:27,190
Speaker 1: if you got models showing you're losing, I would do

697
00:35:27,230 --> 00:35:29,210
Speaker 1: more than I am. But she can't. I don't even

698
00:35:29,230 --> 00:35:31,810
Speaker 1: know what it is. She refuses to hold. She's never

699
00:35:32,030 --> 00:35:36,350
Speaker 1: held an open, nonpartisan town hall in the 14 years.

700
00:35:36,630 --> 00:35:38,830
Speaker 1: She's never debated one of her opponents in the entire,

701
00:35:38,930 --> 00:35:41,430
Speaker 1: even her first campaign, she skipped the candidate forums. She

702
00:35:41,469 --> 00:35:43,610
Speaker 1: just is so used to having an R next to

703
00:35:43,650 --> 00:35:46,489
Speaker 1: her name and getting coordinated every two years because she

704
00:35:46,530 --> 00:35:48,330
Speaker 1: has an R next to her name and throwing millions

705
00:35:48,350 --> 00:35:50,339
Speaker 1: and millions of dollars of money. She started off with

706
00:35:50,430 --> 00:35:52,700
Speaker 1: four and a half million dollars. As of this last

707
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,380
Speaker 1: reporting cycle, she's burned $ 4 million to stay in office,

708
00:35:56,660 --> 00:36:00,410
Speaker 1: and she burned $ 2. 5 million just last quarter to stay

709
00:36:00,430 --> 00:36:04,810
Speaker 1: in office. It's estimated, according to Quiver, that she's worth

710
00:36:04,850 --> 00:36:07,130
Speaker 1: about $ 26 million. I don't know why she wants the

711
00:36:07,150 --> 00:36:08,950
Speaker 1: job at this point. I mean, if you don't want

712
00:36:08,969 --> 00:36:11,910
Speaker 1: to talk to your constituents, she doesn't believe in earmarks.

713
00:36:12,070 --> 00:36:13,569
Speaker 1: I literally had a folks grab me the other day

714
00:36:13,610 --> 00:36:16,780
Speaker 1: at an event, Molly. It was a police organization, support organization.

715
00:36:17,190 --> 00:36:19,000
Speaker 1: And they said they went to her to name a

716
00:36:19,060 --> 00:36:22,299
Speaker 1: highway in honor of a police officer who fell in

717
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,700
Speaker 1: South St. Louis County. And her staff told them that

718
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:27,390
Speaker 1: she doesn't believe in earmarks. So she wouldn't put the

719
00:36:27,430 --> 00:36:30,169
Speaker 1: grant in to do that. I mean, you know, it's like,

720
00:36:30,489 --> 00:36:32,670
Speaker 1: why would you, it's like, she won't bring money home.

721
00:36:32,690 --> 00:36:33,630
Speaker 1: I don't know what the hell she does.

722
00:36:33,989 --> 00:36:39,910
Speaker 2: And constituent services are such an important, uh, Constituent services

723
00:36:39,969 --> 00:36:43,969
Speaker 2: are such an important element for this, right? Like they are,

724
00:36:44,370 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 2: you know, we've seen in red states like in Georgia

725
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,720
Speaker 2: or purple states that John also has gotten a huge

726
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,680
Speaker 2: boost from the fact that he does such good constituent services. Right.

727
00:36:55,350 --> 00:36:58,109
Speaker 2: there is an opportunity there for Democrats. Like maybe this

728
00:36:58,190 --> 00:37:00,149
Speaker 2: is a way of election, but once you get in there,

729
00:37:00,190 --> 00:37:02,990
Speaker 2: if you have great constituent services, you can show yourself

730
00:37:03,030 --> 00:37:04,129
Speaker 2: as a nonpartisan, right?

731
00:37:04,190 --> 00:37:06,529
Speaker 1: It's all I want to do. And I tell folks

732
00:37:06,550 --> 00:37:08,880
Speaker 1: all the time, look, I understand that I'm a Democrat

733
00:37:08,940 --> 00:37:11,480
Speaker 1: and I'll be a blue dot, you know, and, you know,

734
00:37:11,540 --> 00:37:14,460
Speaker 1: one of three Democrats in the state. My two senators

735
00:37:14,500 --> 00:37:17,040
Speaker 1: are Republicans and they're not great, but they're Republicans. My

736
00:37:17,100 --> 00:37:20,180
Speaker 1: governor's Republican. If I really am committed to helping the

737
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:21,790
Speaker 1: people of this district, I'm going to have to work

738
00:37:21,810 --> 00:37:22,969
Speaker 1: with those people. It was funny. I was in a

739
00:37:23,010 --> 00:37:24,910
Speaker 1: town hall about three weeks ago. I said, look, I

740
00:37:24,930 --> 00:37:26,390
Speaker 1: just want to tell you folks, if you're Democrats, I'm

741
00:37:26,410 --> 00:37:28,230
Speaker 1: going to make you mad by working with our senators.

742
00:37:28,330 --> 00:37:30,630
Speaker 1: But that's what I have to do. That's the job.

743
00:37:30,810 --> 00:37:31,930
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? I don't have any choice.

744
00:37:32,310 --> 00:37:34,130
Speaker 1: For me to do good things for the people of

745
00:37:34,150 --> 00:37:36,890
Speaker 1: this district, I have to actually work with people, whether

746
00:37:36,910 --> 00:37:39,740
Speaker 1: you call it bipartisanship or not. I call it pragmatic leadership.

747
00:37:39,780 --> 00:37:42,060
Speaker 1: What pragmatic leadership means, for me to get things done

748
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:43,739
Speaker 1: for the people of this district, I'm going to have

749
00:37:43,780 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: to work with whoever I can to get it done.

750
00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:47,600
Speaker 1: And so we're going to have to be very smart

751
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:49,319
Speaker 1: about that. And we have to make a difference too.

752
00:37:49,380 --> 00:37:51,879
Speaker 1: I call myself a day one Democrat. My friend Billy

753
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:54,480
Speaker 1: Ray gave me that idea. And a day one Democrat

754
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:56,340
Speaker 1: means I got to get there on day one and

755
00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,839
Speaker 1: get things done for the people. And that means one,

756
00:37:58,860 --> 00:38:00,799
Speaker 1: we're going to ban stock trading. We're going to ban

757
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,279
Speaker 1: crypto trading. We're going to ban prediction market use by

758
00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:05,739
Speaker 1: the government and by Congress. Then we're going to do

759
00:38:05,780 --> 00:38:08,629
Speaker 1: things like repeal the big billionaire bill so that people

760
00:38:08,670 --> 00:38:11,450
Speaker 1: can get their taxes, you know, actual fair, get the tax,

761
00:38:11,489 --> 00:38:13,489
Speaker 1: the right people for once. We're going to put the

762
00:38:13,570 --> 00:38:16,490
Speaker 1: ACA subsidies back in because right now I've got people

763
00:38:16,810 --> 00:38:19,230
Speaker 1: who literally have lost their healthcare completely over 21,000 in

764
00:38:19,250 --> 00:38:21,730
Speaker 1: my district. And a joke I make a lot, but

765
00:38:21,770 --> 00:38:24,350
Speaker 1: it's a real thing. There's a little town here called Japan.

766
00:38:24,469 --> 00:38:26,870
Speaker 1: It's spelled Japan, but we call it Japan because it's Missouri.

767
00:38:27,510 --> 00:38:31,020
Speaker 1: And Japan's got about 400 people in far Franklin County.

768
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:33,319
Speaker 1: And I assure you that if you get cancer and

769
00:38:33,340 --> 00:38:35,560
Speaker 1: you live in Japan and you don't have health insurance,

770
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:37,840
Speaker 1: you're not going to have enough people in your circle

771
00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:39,839
Speaker 1: to get you a GoFundMe to pay for cancer. So

772
00:38:39,860 --> 00:38:42,149
Speaker 1: the luxury that so many people have of not having

773
00:38:42,190 --> 00:38:44,690
Speaker 1: health care doesn't exist in my district. So we have

774
00:38:44,710 --> 00:38:47,600
Speaker 1: to fix that really fast. to make sure people aren't

775
00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:49,700
Speaker 1: literally dying. And then we're going to move on to

776
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:51,839
Speaker 1: some really big stuff. But for me, if we don't

777
00:38:51,860 --> 00:38:54,650
Speaker 1: get to Washington, D.C. and get stuff done fast, then

778
00:38:54,690 --> 00:38:55,690
Speaker 1: we have no business being there.

779
00:38:56,050 --> 00:39:00,569
Speaker 2: And I do think there is just an opportunity here, right?

780
00:39:00,610 --> 00:39:03,969
Speaker 2: Like there is something happening at the, I mean, I

781
00:39:04,250 --> 00:39:06,310
Speaker 2: would love you to talk about, because I'm not talking

782
00:39:06,350 --> 00:39:08,270
Speaker 2: to a ton of people on the ground in Missouri.

783
00:39:08,290 --> 00:39:09,410
Speaker 1: No way.

784
00:39:10,989 --> 00:39:14,080
Speaker 2: You'll be shocked to hear what voters are telling you

785
00:39:14,580 --> 00:39:15,299
Speaker 2: in Missouri.

786
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:18,180
Speaker 1: So when I decided to run, I started calling some, like,

787
00:39:18,540 --> 00:39:20,180
Speaker 1: before I ran. I wanted to really research it before

788
00:39:20,219 --> 00:39:22,130
Speaker 1: I got this bright idea. And I talked to a

789
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,370
Speaker 1: wonderful guy who's the state rep for my hometown where

790
00:39:24,390 --> 00:39:26,570
Speaker 1: I grew up, Kirkwood, Missouri, which is a little Mayberry-ish

791
00:39:26,610 --> 00:39:29,770
Speaker 1: town about halfway to St. Louis City. And I asked Mark,

792
00:39:29,810 --> 00:39:31,510
Speaker 1: I said, Mark, when you dock doors in your district,

793
00:39:31,530 --> 00:39:33,410
Speaker 1: because he's famous for being what you just talked about,

794
00:39:33,469 --> 00:39:37,050
Speaker 1: very engaged with the citizens. And Mark said, unequivocally, Fred,

795
00:39:37,390 --> 00:39:40,080
Speaker 1: the number one thing I hear is, Mark, I can't

796
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:42,040
Speaker 1: afford to live in, my kids can't afford to live

797
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,399
Speaker 1: in Kirkwood. My kids can't afford to live in my town.

798
00:39:44,820 --> 00:39:46,259
Speaker 1: And I took that with me. And I got to

799
00:39:46,300 --> 00:39:48,480
Speaker 1: tell you, everywhere I went in the district, and I

800
00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:52,730
Speaker 1: mean everywhere, Rural, city, suburban, it's the same thing. I'm

801
00:39:52,770 --> 00:39:55,930
Speaker 1: worried about my kids' future. My kids can't afford to

802
00:39:55,989 --> 00:39:58,009
Speaker 1: live on their own. My kids are worried about getting

803
00:39:58,050 --> 00:40:01,110
Speaker 1: a job. We did a town hall at University of Missouri,

804
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:05,339
Speaker 1: Mizzou's students, Democrats. And I went there, Molly. I expected the,

805
00:40:05,380 --> 00:40:07,839
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of the questions of our young

806
00:40:07,860 --> 00:40:09,860
Speaker 1: people right now have to do with perhaps Gaza, perhaps

807
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,460
Speaker 1: LGBTQ community, all those things. I got to tell you,

808
00:40:12,950 --> 00:40:15,549
Speaker 1: not one student asked me about any of that. They

809
00:40:15,690 --> 00:40:18,029
Speaker 1: asked me about the economy. Will there be jobs for

810
00:40:18,070 --> 00:40:20,529
Speaker 1: me when I graduate because of AI? Will there be

811
00:40:20,570 --> 00:40:22,669
Speaker 1: ability for me to afford my own place? I mean,

812
00:40:23,030 --> 00:40:26,549
Speaker 1: we have got generations of Americans, and Missourians specifically, who

813
00:40:26,590 --> 00:40:29,009
Speaker 1: are afraid for the future because they can't afford to live.

814
00:40:29,390 --> 00:40:32,390
Speaker 1: It's without question, cost, cost, cost. The second thing that's

815
00:40:32,410 --> 00:40:34,950
Speaker 1: been very interesting to me as the campaign's progressed, and

816
00:40:34,969 --> 00:40:36,190
Speaker 1: I've been doing this a year and a month now,

817
00:40:36,610 --> 00:40:40,049
Speaker 1: is corruption. It was an issue on their radar when

818
00:40:40,070 --> 00:40:43,580
Speaker 1: we started, but my goodness, now... I call them the

819
00:40:43,620 --> 00:40:46,549
Speaker 1: three Cs, cost, corruption, and chaos. The cost and the

820
00:40:46,590 --> 00:40:49,190
Speaker 1: corruption are tied at the hip because as John Ossoff's

821
00:40:49,230 --> 00:40:52,950
Speaker 1: been really pointing out well, the corruption is costing us, right?

822
00:40:53,510 --> 00:40:56,310
Speaker 1: The corruption is costing us money, but it's also costing

823
00:40:56,350 --> 00:40:58,989
Speaker 1: us lives. When there's people in government betting on the

824
00:40:59,050 --> 00:41:02,450
Speaker 1: Iran war, they're literally betting on our kids' lives, right?

825
00:41:02,510 --> 00:41:05,320
Speaker 1: So it's really been interesting to me. Those two issues dominate.

826
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:10,080
Speaker 1: The cost is everything. I actually kept healthcare separate, Molly.

827
00:41:10,460 --> 00:41:13,509
Speaker 1: When I started, it was I had it was affordability, accountability,

828
00:41:13,550 --> 00:41:15,830
Speaker 1: health care. But the health care issue blended in the

829
00:41:15,870 --> 00:41:17,790
Speaker 1: cost issue because it's not even the people can't afford

830
00:41:18,190 --> 00:41:22,830
Speaker 1: quality health care anymore. They can't afford health care at all. Right.

831
00:41:22,870 --> 00:41:25,049
Speaker 1: And so the cost issue covers the fact that so

832
00:41:25,070 --> 00:41:27,430
Speaker 1: many people have been priced out of health care. And

833
00:41:27,489 --> 00:41:30,410
Speaker 1: that should be terrifying to everybody because an unhealthy it's

834
00:41:30,430 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 1: just it's a death spiral for a country, in my opinion.

835
00:41:32,550 --> 00:41:35,300
Speaker 1: You can't say you want a workforce, an American workforce,

836
00:41:35,590 --> 00:41:37,500
Speaker 1: and then cut off their healthcare so they're dying of

837
00:41:38,260 --> 00:41:42,160
Speaker 1: preventable diseases. For me, it really has been about cost, cost, cost.

838
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:43,880
Speaker 1: And I didn't need a poll to do that. I

839
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:45,680
Speaker 1: just need to knock doors and I need to sit

840
00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:49,180
Speaker 1: around at the bar. There's a wonderful brewery owned by

841
00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,370
Speaker 1: two veterans out in Sullivan, Missouri. And the wife of

842
00:41:52,390 --> 00:41:55,250
Speaker 1: the Navy veteran runs the front end. And I said,

843
00:41:55,270 --> 00:41:57,710
Speaker 1: how do you get your healthcare? She's like, Medicaid. And

844
00:41:57,910 --> 00:42:00,489
Speaker 1: they're not lazy. They're working hard. They just don't make

845
00:42:00,530 --> 00:42:03,700
Speaker 1: enough money otherwise. So- That's really dominating the conversation here.

846
00:42:03,739 --> 00:42:05,960
Speaker 1: People are afraid of the future and they're afraid of

847
00:42:05,980 --> 00:42:07,580
Speaker 1: the future for their kids, especially. Yeah.

848
00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:10,500
Speaker 2: And I mean, it's cost, cost, cost, cost.

849
00:42:10,540 --> 00:42:12,850
Speaker 1: Cost, cost, cost. And, and we're in a very, we're

850
00:42:12,870 --> 00:42:14,770
Speaker 1: in a fairly well-off district. Now, honestly, it is the

851
00:42:14,830 --> 00:42:17,569
Speaker 1: most affluent district in Missouri. We're not, you know, we're,

852
00:42:17,590 --> 00:42:19,509
Speaker 1: we're pretty good from, but not everywhere, obviously. I mean,

853
00:42:19,530 --> 00:42:22,109
Speaker 1: obviously I've got some wonderful rural folks, but nonetheless, that's

854
00:42:22,140 --> 00:42:23,799
Speaker 1: what kind of surprised me the most is in the

855
00:42:23,860 --> 00:42:26,649
Speaker 1: good parts of town. I heard the same thing, you know?

856
00:42:26,830 --> 00:42:29,410
Speaker 1: I mean, because everybody's struggling at a different level of

857
00:42:29,450 --> 00:42:30,509
Speaker 1: pay at this point, you know?

858
00:42:30,750 --> 00:42:32,970
Speaker 2: And you were a small businessman.

859
00:42:32,989 --> 00:42:34,210
Speaker 1: I was, 10 years.

860
00:42:34,510 --> 00:42:34,770
Speaker 2: Yeah.

861
00:42:34,950 --> 00:42:37,570
Speaker 1: Tell us that story. So when I left the Army,

862
00:42:37,730 --> 00:42:41,790
Speaker 1: I saw a real opportunity to talk about, help organizations, corporations,

863
00:42:41,830 --> 00:42:44,129
Speaker 1: and nonprofits connect to the veteran community. So I started

864
00:42:44,150 --> 00:42:46,590
Speaker 1: a little company called Scout Comms. It was based outside

865
00:42:46,830 --> 00:42:50,270
Speaker 1: of D.C. And we spent 10 years helping businesses and

866
00:42:50,290 --> 00:42:53,180
Speaker 1: nonprofits support the veterans community. I had clients like the

867
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:57,160
Speaker 1: Home Depot Foundation, USAA, GE was a client, but also

868
00:42:57,469 --> 00:43:00,410
Speaker 1: Wounded Warrior Project, National College for Homeless Veterans, and many more.

869
00:43:00,969 --> 00:43:04,230
Speaker 1: And it was tough times. Running a small business is educational.

870
00:43:04,270 --> 00:43:06,830
Speaker 1: I mean, I never got rich. And we were a

871
00:43:06,910 --> 00:43:10,090
Speaker 1: benefit corporation, which means we're a for-profit company with a

872
00:43:10,170 --> 00:43:12,110
Speaker 1: social mission, kind of like Ben & Jerry's is, by

873
00:43:12,130 --> 00:43:14,290
Speaker 1: the way. And so we were certified B Corp. We

874
00:43:14,310 --> 00:43:16,430
Speaker 1: won Best for the World. We won all kinds of awards.

875
00:43:16,969 --> 00:43:19,400
Speaker 1: And I learned a lot. And I saw the struggles

876
00:43:19,460 --> 00:43:21,440
Speaker 1: of my fellow veterans. I saw the struggles of being

877
00:43:21,460 --> 00:43:25,790
Speaker 1: a small business owner. And when the pandemic hit, we

878
00:43:25,810 --> 00:43:28,180
Speaker 1: had too many nonprofits and I had to transition out.

879
00:43:28,219 --> 00:43:31,060
Speaker 1: But again and again, I know the struggles, what it

880
00:43:31,180 --> 00:43:33,160
Speaker 1: is for a small business owner to make that decision

881
00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:35,200
Speaker 1: every month, are they going to get paid this month?

882
00:43:35,340 --> 00:43:38,860
Speaker 1: Because my employees never missed a paycheck, but man, did

883
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:41,660
Speaker 1: I miss a lot of paychecks. And I think now

884
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:44,219
Speaker 1: it's even harder. My daughter owns a small business in Richmond,

885
00:43:44,239 --> 00:43:47,469
Speaker 1: Virginia now, and she makes bath and body products and

886
00:43:47,510 --> 00:43:50,190
Speaker 1: she's struggling. I mean, the chaos of the Trump administration

887
00:43:50,210 --> 00:43:53,100
Speaker 1: is impacting my own daughter because She makes bath products.

888
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,920
Speaker 1: She gets her citric acid from Canada, right? She gets

889
00:43:56,940 --> 00:44:00,400
Speaker 1: her avocado oil from the South America, right? And those

890
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,680
Speaker 1: things are being taxed and tariffed. And so every month

891
00:44:03,700 --> 00:44:05,299
Speaker 1: when she orders supplies, she's not sure what the price

892
00:44:05,340 --> 00:44:07,299
Speaker 1: is going to be at any given time. That's the

893
00:44:07,340 --> 00:44:11,410
Speaker 1: chaos portion of my three Cs, the constant changing. So

894
00:44:12,070 --> 00:44:13,629
Speaker 1: it's tough to be a small business owner right now.

895
00:44:14,010 --> 00:44:18,030
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's such a good point. Fred Wellman running for

896
00:44:18,610 --> 00:44:20,290
Speaker 2: Missouri's 3rd District, right? 2nd.

897
00:44:21,020 --> 00:44:22,480
Speaker 1: Missouri 2, outside of St.

898
00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:22,880
Speaker 2: Louis.

899
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:26,390
Speaker 1: Wellman4MO. com. Hey, look, and I got to get the plug

900
00:44:26,430 --> 00:44:28,969
Speaker 1: in because it's two weeks in the election. We're up

901
00:44:29,010 --> 00:44:32,070
Speaker 1: against a well-funded incumbent. Ann started with $ 4 million in

902
00:44:32,090 --> 00:44:34,589
Speaker 1: the bank. She's burning it like crazy. She's throwing money

903
00:44:34,610 --> 00:44:36,649
Speaker 1: out the window right now trying to stop us. We've

904
00:44:36,690 --> 00:44:38,930
Speaker 1: raised over $ 2 million. We out-raised her last quarter. But

905
00:44:38,989 --> 00:44:40,680
Speaker 1: for me to keep this fight going, I'd be forever

906
00:44:40,719 --> 00:44:44,339
Speaker 1: grateful if people considered coming to our website, Wellman4MO. com, giving

907
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:46,419
Speaker 1: a little bit of a donation. We are in the fight.

908
00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:49,629
Speaker 1: I tell you, man, You know, I joke, Missouri sits

909
00:44:49,670 --> 00:44:51,549
Speaker 1: in the New Madrid fault line. People don't understand the

910
00:44:51,590 --> 00:44:53,570
Speaker 1: biggest earthquake in America was right here in Missouri in

911
00:44:53,590 --> 00:44:55,310
Speaker 1: the 1800s. And I got to tell you, I think

912
00:44:55,330 --> 00:44:58,290
Speaker 1: we're going to rock that thing on November 3rd because

913
00:44:58,410 --> 00:45:00,690
Speaker 1: no one sees this coming. We've been flying under the

914
00:45:00,710 --> 00:45:02,640
Speaker 1: radar like when I was a scout, but we have

915
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:05,060
Speaker 1: a real opportunity to flip a seat that nobody saw coming.

916
00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:06,340
Speaker 1: And I'm really proud of what we've done. And I'd

917
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:06,839
Speaker 1: love your help.

918
00:45:07,060 --> 00:45:08,219
Speaker 2: Thank you, Fred.

919
00:45:08,500 --> 00:45:09,620
Speaker 1: Thank you. Appreciate it.

920
00:45:11,540 --> 00:45:14,259
Speaker 3: And now your moment of suffering.

921
00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:15,510
Speaker 2: Jesse Cannon.

922
00:45:16,300 --> 00:45:17,060
Speaker 3: My junk fast.

923
00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:19,920
Speaker 5: So as we know, Barry Weiss and the Ellisons are

924
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:25,870
Speaker 5: degrading CNN and CBS constantly. We have an unprecedented announcement

925
00:45:25,890 --> 00:45:29,690
Speaker 5: that Christine Amapour is leaving CNN after 42 years. And

926
00:45:29,750 --> 00:45:33,150
Speaker 5: a story of Barry Weiss trying to say Tallarico was

927
00:45:33,170 --> 00:45:37,570
Speaker 5: an immense mental institution and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is somehow

928
00:45:37,670 --> 00:45:38,460
Speaker 5: responsible for 9-11.

929
00:45:39,420 --> 00:45:43,300
Speaker 2: Yeah. So this is this insane lie, which I've actually

930
00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:48,980
Speaker 2: heard normal people say, which is that Dr. Al-Said refuses

931
00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:54,529
Speaker 2: to condemn the Muslim Brotherhood. So we saw a guy

932
00:45:54,610 --> 00:45:57,710
Speaker 2: who works for Josh Hawley come and ask him if

933
00:45:57,989 --> 00:46:02,370
Speaker 2: he would condemn the Muslim Brotherhood. He then said, yes, absolutely.

934
00:46:02,410 --> 00:46:05,330
Speaker 2: But he tried to make a larger point about how

935
00:46:05,450 --> 00:46:08,790
Speaker 2: racist it is to ask a Muslim candidate if they're

936
00:46:08,810 --> 00:46:12,840
Speaker 2: a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. It's like asking a

937
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:15,880
Speaker 2: Black candidate if they're a member of the Black Panthers.

938
00:46:15,980 --> 00:46:22,799
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just racism. It's anti-Muslim racism. And it

939
00:46:23,140 --> 00:46:27,150
Speaker 2: is a dog whistle. Even the Atlantic is saying it's

940
00:46:27,230 --> 00:46:27,990
Speaker 2: a dog whistle.

941
00:46:28,130 --> 00:46:28,530
Speaker 1: Whoa.

942
00:46:28,770 --> 00:46:31,270
Speaker 2: So she is clearly putting her finger on the scale,

943
00:46:31,310 --> 00:46:35,890
Speaker 2: Barry Weiss, and trying to get her outlet, CBS, which

944
00:46:35,969 --> 00:46:38,810
Speaker 2: used to be the gold standard but is no longer...

945
00:46:39,860 --> 00:46:44,700
Speaker 2: that they should go after these stories, their internet lies

946
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:51,060
Speaker 2: about Dr. Al-Sayed and about James Tallarico, both doing things

947
00:46:51,100 --> 00:46:55,029
Speaker 2: that are not true, that James Tallarico was in a

948
00:46:55,090 --> 00:46:58,070
Speaker 2: mental institution when, in fact, he was sick with the flu.

949
00:46:59,310 --> 00:47:03,790
Speaker 2: And we know this because journalists saw the tape of

950
00:47:03,910 --> 00:47:07,989
Speaker 2: him at home, his ring camera tape, I mean, it's

951
00:47:08,050 --> 00:47:11,850
Speaker 2: so stupid. And El-Said, that he was a member of

952
00:47:11,870 --> 00:47:15,049
Speaker 2: the Muslim Brotherhood, which he is not. I do want

953
00:47:15,450 --> 00:47:17,989
Speaker 2: to add one thing, which I think is important here,

954
00:47:18,030 --> 00:47:23,259
Speaker 2: which is that James Tallarico had to release the ring

955
00:47:23,280 --> 00:47:27,660
Speaker 2: cam footage so that people could see. And again, like,

956
00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:30,080
Speaker 2: that's going to be more and more common. We're going

957
00:47:30,100 --> 00:47:34,759
Speaker 2: to need Democratic candidates. Like, You can't just take the

958
00:47:34,810 --> 00:47:37,330
Speaker 2: high road. You're going to have to do stuff like that.

959
00:47:37,510 --> 00:47:41,870
Speaker 2: And it's distasteful, but we're in a moment where people

960
00:47:41,910 --> 00:47:45,190
Speaker 2: are believing a lot of lies. And it's really important

961
00:47:45,790 --> 00:47:50,529
Speaker 2: that we have, that we really face this kind of

962
00:47:50,550 --> 00:47:53,890
Speaker 2: stuff and debunk it right away. Yeah.

963
00:47:53,950 --> 00:47:56,049
Speaker 5: And I think like the sad thing is, is we

964
00:47:56,170 --> 00:47:58,610
Speaker 5: are being governed by a fever swamp at times. And

965
00:47:58,650 --> 00:48:00,310
Speaker 5: there's times that you're just going to have to say,

966
00:48:01,070 --> 00:48:03,029
Speaker 5: The fever swamp needs to be shown for what it is,

967
00:48:03,050 --> 00:48:04,150
Speaker 5: which is a fever swamp.

968
00:48:04,550 --> 00:48:04,850
Speaker 3: Right.

969
00:48:05,450 --> 00:48:06,469
Speaker 1: Exactly.

970
00:48:07,610 --> 00:48:12,040
Speaker 2: That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in

971
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:17,740
Speaker 2: every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday to hear the best

972
00:48:17,820 --> 00:48:22,160
Speaker 2: minds in politics make sense of all this chaos. If

973
00:48:22,180 --> 00:48:25,270
Speaker 2: you enjoy this podcast, please send it to a friend

974
00:48:25,770 --> 00:48:28,910
Speaker 2: and keep the conversation going. Thanks for listening.