1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 1: today's best minds, and unemployment has hit its highest rate 4 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: in four years. We have such a great show for 5 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: you today, The New Republics Meredith Shiner stops by to 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: talk about White House Chief of Staff Susie Wilde's insane 7 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: interview about what happens in the Trump White House. Then 8 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: we'll talk to MS now As Paula Ramos about Latino 9 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: voters and their Trump regret. 10 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 2: But first the news, Molly, you're going to be discussing 11 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 2: with Meredith Shiner this absolutely bonkers interview with Susie Wills 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 2: and Vinny Fair about her feelings on the Trump White House. 13 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 2: But one of the things we didn't get to do 14 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 2: is just read some of the many, many quotes that 15 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 2: the American people really should have burned into their brain 16 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 2: from this absolutely bonkers. 17 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: Interview eleven bonkers interviews she sat for eleven interviews. 18 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 2: Personally, Trump having an alcoholics personality rang so true to 19 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 2: me because even when I was reading that disgusting, disgusting 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 2: Rob Reiner quote, it sounded like a belliger and drunk 21 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 2: clashing out. 22 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. 23 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 1: I mean, I think there's an argument to be made 24 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: that my man has the personality of a dry drunk. 25 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: So she said that Trump has an alcoholics personality. She 26 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: is a woman Suzu Weill's staged in intervention for her 27 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: famous father got him into rehab. So that was how 28 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: she opened the door to those questions. She said a 29 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: lot of really interesting things. She said that Musk was 30 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: an odd, odd duck. That seems generous. She said that 31 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: he's an avowed kademine user who slept in a sleeping 32 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: bag in the executive office building in the daytime. The 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: challenge with Elon is keeping up with him. He's an odd, 34 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: odd duck, as I think geniuses are sure, Okay. She 35 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: was initially aghast with Musk's solution of you and that 36 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: no rational person could think his process was good. She added, 37 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: there are details of the response the president doesn't know 38 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: and never will nice While said she would support a 39 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: Vance twenty twenty eight presidential run. I guess that's one person, 40 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: She said. She will be one of the first people 41 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: to support it, and she might be one of the 42 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: only ones. She added if he ran, he'd secure the 43 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: GOP nomination. Vans's conversion from Mega Trumper to Mega Diehard 44 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: was quote sort of political. No, really, Susie, we had 45 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: no idea. While discussing the Epstein files, she also said 46 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: he'd been a conspiracy theorist for decades. Vance in an 47 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: interview with The Vanity Fair Piece, praised Wiles for not 48 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: trying to control or manipulate Trump like his first Rump staff. 49 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: Yes we know. 50 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 2: I'm personally partial to this one that said Trump and 51 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 2: Epstein were young single playboys together. 52 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: Trump is mentioned in what Wilds calls the Epstein Files, 53 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: but he's not documented doing anything quote awful. Oh well, 54 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: in that case, she said the president and the convicted 55 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: sex offender were young, single playboys together. She denies that 56 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: Trump drew a nude sketch for Epstein's fiftieth birthday book, 57 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: despite the fact that it looks like the other sketches 58 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: that Donald Trump has drawn. She said Trump was wrong 59 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: to say there was incrimining evidence against former President Clinton 60 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: and the Epstein files. There's no evidence Clinton visited Epstein's 61 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: private island, she said. She criticized Attorney General Bondi's handling 62 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: of the Epstein records. That's because she's terrible, and you know. Look. 63 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: She also talked about Trump's bombing of drug boats and 64 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: his trying to go to war with Maduro, saying that 65 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: the drug boats were actually about his war with Venezuela. 66 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: She said that she and Trump had a loose agreement 67 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: to and so called score settling by the of his 68 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: first ninety days, which, FYI, in case you're wondering, has happened, 69 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: so me and I would not be bragging about that. 70 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 2: He's like, I gave you all a thousand names I 71 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 2: wanted to sell the score with for within the first 72 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 2: ninety day. 73 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know, like you know, this is. 74 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 2: Like when I say that I'm not going to eat 75 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 2: steak after ten pm. But I just made that day, right. 76 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: I mean, good for her for blowing this up. Good 77 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 1: for her. 78 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 2: Speaking of blowing things up, that's what our economy is 79 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 2: having happened to it. So the US economy added sixty 80 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 2: four thousand jobs in November, but the employment rate is 81 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,559 Speaker 2: at a four year high because the math not so good. 82 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 2: When we don't have some job numbers from some months. 83 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: I'm going to go out a limb here and say 84 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: I don't think Donald Trump is doing a great job. 85 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: And you know when you are I'm going to tell 86 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: you a secret here. When you're the president, you get 87 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: blamed for the economy. The economy is good, you get blamed. 88 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: If the economy's bad, you get blamed. They really had 89 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: a lot of excuses from Trump World. These are not 90 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: good numbers, and they are going to I think that 91 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: Trump World is going to have to defend these numbers. 92 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: By the way, this is so annoying to me. They 93 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: could get out of this, Like the tariffs aren't off 94 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: ramp for Trump, Like the Supreme Court could offer Trump 95 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: an off ramp with the tariffs. I mean, he's not 96 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: going to take it, but he should seriously think about it, 97 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: because there's no world in which this doesn't just get 98 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: worse and worse. Right, it's not like people are on 99 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: touring manufacturing, there's no they're there on this. 100 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, but I think like one of the things we 101 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 2: keep seeing is all their policies are how to get 102 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 2: more wealth to the top so that they'll hopefully donate 103 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 2: to them. And we see this with another great headline, 104 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 2: which is the GOP is now going to force eight 105 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 2: million student loan borrowers into repayment. So that's a bunch 106 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 2: of people who are not going to put money into 107 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 2: the economy in small local businesses and instead get the 108 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 2: rich off the hook of their tax burden. And that's 109 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,159 Speaker 2: what the Trump economy is all about. 110 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, so Trump World is trying to get these student 111 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: loan borrowers back into repayment. Some of these loans have 112 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: been forgiven, some of these loans were not meant to 113 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: be repaid. But Trump World is all about the bottom 114 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: helping the top. So basically, the One Big Beautiful Bill 115 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,600 Speaker 1: will eliminate SAVE and other income driven repayment programs, forcing 116 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 1: borrowers to change plans by July first, twenty twenty eight. 117 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: This is the cruelty is the point, right, make it 118 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: harder for people to pay off their debt. You know, 119 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: eventually these guys are not going to be empower Let's 120 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,799 Speaker 1: hope that when they're not empower, voters remember the many 121 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: which ways they have screwed working people. Over at our 122 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: YouTube channel, we have some really exciting stuff. Jesse and 123 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: I have made a documentary. It's called Project twenty twenty nine, 124 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: A Reimagining. It's a series about how democrats can deliver 125 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: popular policies when they regain power. The first episode is 126 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: up now. It's the first part of the series, and 127 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: we're going to examine what went wrong with some of 128 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: the Biden administration's approach to policies that may have prevented 129 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: Democrats from being able to deliver the broad anti corruption 130 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: legislation that needed to happen, and by the way, that 131 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: would have prevented some of the corruption we're seeing right now. 132 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: The first episode dives deep into the first step of 133 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: fixing American politics. It may sound unsexy, but it's a big, 134 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: important issue, and that big subject is campaign finance reform. 135 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: For this episode, we talk to some of the smartest 136 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: people we know, professors and academics, people like Lawrence Lessig, 137 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: Tiffany Mueller, Michael Waldman, and Tom Moore. Republicans were prepared 138 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: for when they got the levers of power. Democrats need 139 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: that same kind of preparation. That's why we need to 140 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: start the conversation on how Democrats can do the same thing. 141 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: So please head over to our YouTube channel and search 142 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: Molly John Fast Project twenty twenty nine or go to 143 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: the Fast Politics YouTube channel page and you'll find it 144 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: there and help us spread the word and stay tuned 145 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: for more episodes. Meredith Sheiner is a contributing editor at 146 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: The New Republic. Welcome to Fast Politics, Meredith, Mollie, thank 147 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: you again for having me so a giant story this morning. 148 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 1: Chris Whipball, who has interviewed many a chief of staff, 149 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: there's eleven interviews with Susie Wiles. She says a lot 150 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: of stuff. I'm going to couch this. I have always 151 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: thought that Cecie Wilds was uniquely talented at doing what 152 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:12,479 Speaker 1: she does. Again, this is in no way a positive 153 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: attribute because the administration she's working for is doing a 154 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: lot of pretty scary stuff. But I thought we saw 155 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,719 Speaker 1: a real moment in the campaigns when she left De 156 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: Santis to go work for Trump, and it was like 157 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 1: the moment that Trump started to really catch fire in 158 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: the primary. And I just think it's so. I do 159 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: think of her as being very talented. But let's talk 160 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: about this interview. 161 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 3: Well, I can't really speak to her talent, but I 162 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 3: can't speak to the substance of what she said and 163 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 3: why I think this matters. Over the course of these interviews, 164 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 3: she's said some incredibly incriminating things about the President of 165 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 3: the United States, about all of the high level people 166 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 3: within this administration. And one of the things that I 167 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 3: want us to consider is if she is talented, as 168 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 3: you say, or she has experience dealing in politics. When 169 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,320 Speaker 3: you say these things, I think that you have some 170 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 3: understanding of the ramifications of what you're saying. And for 171 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 3: me for her to just say on the record that 172 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 3: in the first three months of this administration, the President 173 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 3: of the United States was completely animated, woke up pretty 174 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 3: much every morning thinking about political retribution. The kinds of 175 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 3: things she's articulating on the record are things that should 176 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 3: be incompatible with public service. They are things that were 177 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 3: traditionally not considered legal in this country for our political leaders. 178 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 3: And I want us to think about the kind of 179 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:49,319 Speaker 3: brazen attitude these people need to possess to outline these 180 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 3: things to a reporter knowing that they will be shared 181 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 3: for publication. To me, what that says is they look 182 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 3: back at the first Trump administration, They look back at 183 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 3: January sixth, and saw that there was no political accountability. 184 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 3: She tries to add this caveat that she tried to 185 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 3: encourage President Donald Trump not to release all of the 186 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 3: rank and file Trump supporters who had gone to prison 187 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 3: after attacking the Capitol on January sixth. But what this 188 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 3: doesn't say but shows us is that you can articulate 189 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,599 Speaker 3: all of these things that aren't within the bounds of acceptability, 190 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 3: which aren't legal, and you feel like there are no 191 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 3: consequences for you or the people you're working with or 192 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 3: around for having done those actions. And so part of 193 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:39,479 Speaker 3: this was incredibly stunning to read her sort of assertions 194 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 3: about Elon Musk, who was like shadow running the government 195 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 3: at some point, being like posting and being on drugs, 196 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 3: or comparing Donald Trump to an alcoholic, which I think 197 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 3: does alcoholics at disservice to say that you know he's 198 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 3: not in control of his impulses and that she's comfortable 199 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 3: being around him because she had some experience being around 200 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 3: people with alcoholism. Like so many of these things are 201 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 3: deeply disturbing, she's saying them out loud. They rose to 202 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 3: the level. I saw someone post this on Blue Sky 203 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 3: that if the New York Times is writing up almost 204 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 3: verbatim and aggregation of things that were reported another outlet, 205 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 3: we should really think about how serious those things are. 206 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 3: And to do this to say these things, I think 207 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 3: that you think that there's going to be no consequences 208 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 3: for that. But if you leave office, and after you 209 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 3: leave office, both of those things are big questions that 210 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 3: you just get to keep living your life. And I 211 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 3: think that that is actually at the heart of the 212 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 3: problems and the rot that we are seeing in our 213 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 3: politics and in our government right now. 214 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: It's interesting you say that that was not my take 215 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: from this. My take was that she is the most 216 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 1: powerful person in the admin and that was what she 217 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: was trying to show now, And maybe she had gotten 218 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: a little too comfortable, because I'm not convinced. I mean, 219 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: there's so many things that are going to be problematic 220 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: for this administration going forward. I'm thinking about the deportation, 221 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: I'm thinking about the many times in which we've seen already, 222 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: you know, courts telling the administration to do one thing, 223 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: in the administration doing something else, right, Like, there have 224 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: been so many instances where just what we're seeing, you know, 225 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: with not a ton of leaks, has been sort of 226 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: shocking that I don't think of her as like the 227 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: most and I'm not a defender on any which way, 228 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: but I just thought if I found it interesting that 229 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: she and I wondered were she slipped? Did she get 230 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: slipped up from the eleven interviews. Did she you know, 231 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: did she did she just get too comfortable or was 232 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: she doing this on purpose? Right? Because she's cutting the 233 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: knees off of like Elon clearly Jadie Vance and Marco, Right, 234 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: Marco's a real believer, JD is a political animal, and 235 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: Elon is on drugs. 236 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 3: Right. 237 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 1: She says that she says she she says she's kidding, 238 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: or she has some caveat But like I just wondered, 239 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: was this intentional or was this accidental? 240 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 3: I can't speak to her motivations, right. 241 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: I think when you make a. 242 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 3: Decision to speak with a reporter in the protracted and 243 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 3: intentional sense that she did, you have an understanding that 244 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 3: you're trying to create an image to the world about 245 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 3: who you are and how you act. And maybe that 246 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 3: image that she had over what she was doing and 247 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 3: how she was showing up diverged from the reality of 248 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 3: how we might receive it. So I think that there 249 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 3: were certain points, for example, in this interview, where she 250 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 3: tried to say that she had disagreements with the president, 251 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 3: which she probably believed were in her strategic interest to 252 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 3: express because what he's doing is so on popular, But 253 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 3: ultimately like she also is telegraphing and indicating that she's 254 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 3: going along with everything that he's doing. She's never at 255 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 3: one point overruled him. She says that if it's ever 256 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 3: a disagreement between the two of them and there's a tie, 257 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 3: quote quote, it always goes to the president. 258 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: Even in a follow up for the. 259 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 3: New York Times write up of the Sanity Fair interview, 260 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 3: she was asked about some of her comments, and when 261 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 3: The New York Times asked for follow up, she said, well, 262 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 3: I never said that, and then they went to the 263 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 3: Vanity Fair and played a recording of her saying those things. So, 264 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 3: I think when the White House breeds a culture of disloyalty, 265 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 3: when the culture in that White House is based on 266 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 3: lies and what is also based on the whims of 267 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 3: one person, and the entire universe running the government collapses 268 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 3: to six or seven people. I mean, that was the 269 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 3: thing that was so interesting to me about the editor's 270 00:15:54,480 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 3: note describing Vanity Fair's decision making process behind running the piece. 271 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 3: And we can unpack some of that decision making process 272 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 3: in a little bit later, but you know, they talked 273 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 3: about how when you were in the room with these 274 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 3: six people, including Susie Wilds, jd Vance, Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, 275 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 3: Russell vote. You've got the sense that the entirety of 276 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 3: the federal government was being run by this half dozen 277 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 3: group of people or so. And it is and it is, 278 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 3: And that's really scary to think about, because I think 279 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 3: that some of those people had a serious agenda, probably 280 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 3: more serious than the President of the United States. 281 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: Resavant was a zealot. 282 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, go on, And you know, like I think 283 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 3: I think Donald Trump cares about building his ballroom and 284 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 3: being beloved and getting to post whatever he wants on 285 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 3: the Internet. And you see this room of people in 286 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 3: the White House being photographed in a certain way. I mean, 287 00:16:55,040 --> 00:17:00,080 Speaker 3: I feel uncomfortable with them being like part of a 288 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 3: glamor photo shoot at the White House, because we have 289 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 3: to think also about like the image that projects, right, 290 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 3: Like those sorts of photos, those post portraits like these 291 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 3: are people who are hateful. They're ruining the government, they're 292 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 3: ruining the country. And ye. 293 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: So, but let's stop for a second, because I want 294 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: to there are two things happening here. One is that 295 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: piece did not help them, right, That was not a 296 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 1: puff pe. That piece was not a puff piece. That piece, 297 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: I mean, I agree the photos. I mean, I don't know, 298 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: first of all, I don't know, if you're Stephen Miller, 299 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: why are you posing for photos? Like obviously this does 300 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: nothing for you. I mean, I guess he thinks he's 301 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: become you know, he's getting glossy magazine treatment. But like 302 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: it's just like, you know whatever. But I want you 303 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: to talk. But that piece was actually, like the Chris 304 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,160 Speaker 1: Whipple piece, there is no world in which those people 305 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: are happy with that piece. 306 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 3: I don't think that the piece is a puff piece. 307 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 3: And and I think how we present these people and 308 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 3: the kind of treatment that they get, and how we 309 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 3: make sense of what it is that they are saying, 310 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,439 Speaker 3: how we provide context for what they're saying, is really 311 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 3: an important and significant step. And I don't really know 312 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 3: that we've seen a lot of that contextualization or that 313 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 3: we've seen like the roles that these people are playing 314 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 3: like really articulated, unpacked, communicated in a way that helps 315 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 3: us understand like the actual state of this country. And 316 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,199 Speaker 3: for the people who are the subjects of it, Like 317 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 3: I think that they're happy with it because this is 318 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 3: who they want to be and this is how they 319 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 3: want to be known. Like I think a lot about 320 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 3: Stephen Miller, who is two years ahead of me in college, 321 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 3: and I think he loves every piece of coverage that 322 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 3: quote unquote attacks him because in his mind, like that's winning. 323 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 3: So for him to post for these photos and vanity 324 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 3: fair and to feel like he's getting this treatment, it 325 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 3: doesn't really matter how he is described, because any sort 326 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 3: of negative description you would put of him in that 327 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,719 Speaker 3: format is like something that I think builds him up 328 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 3: in some way. 329 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,639 Speaker 1: But he's not getting negative. I mean he's getting like 330 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: glossy magazine treatment. Like the photos are you know, Desert Rose, right, 331 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: they're like they put the fun in fascism. It's the article, 332 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 1: but the photos are. I mean, you have those people, 333 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: you have Stephen Miller, the architect of the child separation, 334 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: like in a BRIONI suit being like it's a you 335 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: know like that for sure that is not you know 336 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: you take those photos, you go down that road, but 337 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: the whipple piece is actually eleven really you know pretty. 338 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: I mean that's what we do here is try to 339 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: get people to say incriminating things. I mean, especially when 340 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: you're doing an interview like that and he gets her 341 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: to say them, Yeah, for sure. 342 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 3: And I think that the biggest question now is again 343 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 3: what I was thinking at the beginning of this, which 344 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 3: is that she felt free to say those incriminating things 345 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 3: in some way, and whether or not she went too 346 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:10,119 Speaker 3: far or got too comfortable, like again, I can't speak 347 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 3: to that, but I do think that there is a 348 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 3: sense of security that you can say these incriminating things 349 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 3: and nothing will happen. And to me, that is the 350 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 3: biggest indictment of the overall system, whether it is the 351 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 3: check and balances that once existed within the government or 352 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 3: overall the attention span of the Fourth of State and 353 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 3: journalisms more broadly. But you know, for reporters to read 354 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 3: what she articulated, it's one thing to you know, to 355 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 3: aggregate the top hits and quotes and things that seem 356 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 3: most incriminating in this day one New York Times piece. 357 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 3: It is another thing to actually focus on those things 358 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 3: in a sustained way and ascribe some sort of value 359 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:57,040 Speaker 3: to them, like this isn't this isn't a neutral position 360 00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 3: that she's outlining, Like this is a position that has 361 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,719 Speaker 3: taken now president previously. And what I worry about is, 362 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 3: like all of these quotes all of these things that 363 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 3: she was saying getting washed out into the ocean. Is 364 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 3: I think she believes that that's what will happen with 365 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 3: what not only what she's said about what they've done, 366 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:17,360 Speaker 3: but what they've done generally. 367 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,479 Speaker 1: Clearly, there's going to be, you know, some kind of 368 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 1: reconciliation after this is over, where we take stock of 369 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 1: the many ways in which this administration has broken the 370 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: law and flattered our norms and any number of things. 371 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: And so I think there are like so many questions 372 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: when we look at this, like are they elevating people 373 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: who are aspiring autocrats and treating them like their normal 374 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: it's politics as usual? Also, you know, is this the 375 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:55,199 Speaker 1: beginning of the unraveling of this administration? Because you know, 376 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: one of the things Trump has done really successfully this 377 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: time is he has you know, the first administration, he 378 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:06,479 Speaker 1: fired a lot of people because uh why not? And 379 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: then this and that created a number of problems for him. 380 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: And this time he's kept a lot of really sinister 381 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: characters because he knows that if he fires them, it 382 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: will be messy. 383 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 4: Or I want to go back to the first question 384 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 4: you pose, which is this idea of like are we 385 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 4: sort of platforming or normalizing want to be autocrats or 386 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 4: like staffers. 387 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,439 Speaker 3: To an autocrat versus is this a sign of the 388 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 3: beginning of the end of the administration. That's an interesting question, right, 389 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 3: because one, I actually don't think that that's a dichotomy. 390 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 3: I do think by writing the editor's note and contextualizing 391 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 3: this as we've gone to every White House and we've 392 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 3: always taken these photos and you know, posing these people 393 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 3: in the way that they did, I do think it 394 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 3: creates this patina of normalcy. But like, this is just 395 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 3: what a White House is, and these people they're evil, 396 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:05,719 Speaker 3: but they're just coworkers. I feel like that was one 397 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 3: of the lines maybe in the editors note that like, oh, 398 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 3: we were just in a room of co workers and uh, 399 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 3: that's a little alarming. Yeah, for the beginning of the 400 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 3: end question, I think that the policies of this administration 401 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 3: are deeply unpopular. And also I think the depth of 402 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 3: the destruction of this time has not even be it 403 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 3: been fully reckoned with or understood, and our challenges the 404 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,400 Speaker 3: degree to which the government was torched. Like, I think 405 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,200 Speaker 3: that there's this general sense in Washington that every administration 406 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 3: is a pendulum wing that you know, but within the 407 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 3: bounds of reason, you go from a Democrat to a Republican, 408 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 3: and the government was so big that it would not 409 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,400 Speaker 3: be movable and we would have changes within the margins. 410 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 3: And that's not what we've seen. We have learned that 411 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 3: every single good faith check and balance it has not 412 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 3: really held. And the amount of destruction we've done to 413 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 3: higher education, to public health, to scientific research to international aid, 414 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 3: there's no switch flipping that's going to get us back 415 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,680 Speaker 3: to where we were before. And so that was sort 416 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:18,920 Speaker 3: of what I was indicating when I was talking about 417 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 3: this first comment, of the freedom to say these things 418 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 3: and not to feel like there will be consequences, because 419 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 3: I think about those first few weeks of the Biden administration, 420 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 3: which I actually think are some of the most revealing 421 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:34,760 Speaker 3: weeks in the history of our country, where there was 422 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 3: this focus on kumbaya and unity and moving huge, huge mistake, 423 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 3: and accountability was absent from that process. There was no 424 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:49,120 Speaker 3: political accountability for the Republican members of Congress who voted 425 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 3: to reject a free and fair election, and there were 426 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 3: almost two hundred of them, right, And so this culture 427 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 3: where we don't have accountability for actions has not actually 428 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 3: allowed us to have a politics or a government that works. 429 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 3: And so this might be the beginning of the end 430 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 3: of this administration. 431 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 5: But how we. 432 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,960 Speaker 3: Sort through what has happened and how we rebuild is 433 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 3: what we will understand and know and live of the impacts. 434 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:17,920 Speaker 1: Of this administration. 435 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,160 Speaker 6: And when you just get to this place where you know, 436 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,919 Speaker 6: these people can speak freely about this project, where they 437 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 6: can pose for these photos, where they can actually project 438 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 6: this image, I feel like they think that they're living 439 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,679 Speaker 6: in a world divorced of accountability and divorced from the 440 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 6: reality of what they've created. 441 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: Yes, agreed, and that was a failure on the part 442 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: of Democrats too, oh for sure. Yeah, like they needed 443 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:48,479 Speaker 1: what needed to happen, there was real accountability and not 444 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: but they're all they you know, Project twenty twenty five. 445 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: They told us what they were going to do, Yeah, and. 446 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 6: They're doing it. 447 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 3: Also, I will also say, like the last thing is 448 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:58,479 Speaker 3: like not just a failure of Democrats, but a failure 449 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 3: of the mainstream political media who wanted to continue to 450 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 3: give voice and platform members of Congress who voted to 451 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 3: reject a fury free and fair election that like some 452 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,360 Speaker 3: of the boundaries that were drawn even corporate boundaries at 453 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 3: the beginning of that time, they eviscerated because they were 454 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 3: no longer convenient or necessary. And living in a country 455 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:23,199 Speaker 3: where that is possible is what brought us here, and 456 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 3: also I think what gives me sort of the biggest 457 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 3: fears and reservations about our future. 458 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:33,120 Speaker 1: So you're in the city of Chicago. Let's talk about 459 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: what's happening. It was cold in Chicago, so ICE went 460 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: away because they are laser focused on whatever it is 461 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:46,359 Speaker 1: they do, mostly harassing people. They came back talk to 462 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:46,919 Speaker 1: us about that. 463 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, So just today Custom and Border patrol ed Greg 464 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 3: Babino came back to Chicago. 465 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 5: Is going around. 466 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 3: It looks like the southwest side of the city and 467 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,120 Speaker 3: different just border suburbs around the city. You know, one 468 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 3: of the things that these federal forces and agents really 469 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 3: rely on is when the most acute, egregious and violent 470 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 3: actions fall away from our attention, they keep executing some 471 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 3: of these operations in a way that's persistent. I mean, 472 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 3: I think we saw this in the Los Angeles area, 473 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,919 Speaker 3: where you know, months ago they were getting a lot 474 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,679 Speaker 3: of attention for being out in certain areas of the city. 475 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 3: A lot of those operations persisted, but they weren't as 476 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,719 Speaker 3: concentrated or they didn't feel as egregious as before. And 477 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 3: so one of the things that we're seeing here in 478 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 3: the Chicago area is that this vigilance that we have 479 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 3: or need to have, it needs it needs to continue 480 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 3: because these people are going to find random times to 481 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 3: continue to show up and to terrorize our city because 482 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 3: part of the design, the main feature of the design 483 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 3: is randomized terror. And so for him to land here 484 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,439 Speaker 3: and to show up and to see from some of 485 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 3: our independent journalists here Chicago, like Unravaled Press that they're 486 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 3: they're roping around the city and trying to create content 487 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 3: and try to take people off the streets. Their mission 488 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,879 Speaker 3: is pretty clear and they're pretty consistent on it. And 489 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,639 Speaker 3: our ability to resist and to be out there and 490 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,520 Speaker 3: forced is reliant on us actually knowing where they are 491 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:19,919 Speaker 3: and when and when they're there. And so all of 492 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 3: these networks that have created been created in Chicago, these 493 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:28,040 Speaker 3: like group techs, these organizations like IER which is one 494 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 3: of the immigrant organizations here that sends out alerts where 495 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 3: based on where ICE or CPB is confirmed found in 496 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 3: the city. All of these things were lying and waiting 497 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 3: based on what they had said about coming back in March. 498 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 3: But it's clear that every once in a while they're 499 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 3: going to want to come here to remind people that, 500 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 3: you know, they're able to disrupt the way that we're living. 501 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 3: And one of the things that I would really love 502 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 3: to see from our state leaders is that, you know, 503 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 3: businesses here haven't fully rebounded. There are restaurants or grocery 504 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 3: stores that haven't gotten all of their employees back because 505 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,840 Speaker 3: people are still living in fear. And so when those 506 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 3: fears are still real in the people who are experiencing them, 507 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 3: I think we need to continue to acknowledge and uplift 508 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 3: the reality of the situation. And you know, it reminds 509 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 3: me of like when we were at the height of this. 510 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 3: It did really remind me of being at the height 511 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 3: of COVID, where there were people who were afraid to 512 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 3: leave their homes and there was a whole constellation of 513 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 3: small businesses and communities that were impacted, people not being 514 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 3: able to show up to work, both emotionally right but 515 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 3: also like financially logistically. And I think some of the 516 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 3: damage that's been done to cities where they've been more 517 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 3: aggressive also has sort of gone under reported because we 518 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 3: haven't looked at the totality of the impacts, the people 519 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 3: who are too afraid to come to work, the businesses 520 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 3: who don't have full employees, like, all of these things 521 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,560 Speaker 3: are still really real and we can't let those get 522 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 3: lost in the headlines either. 523 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: HM. Such a good point. Thank you, Thank you, Meredith. 524 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. 525 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: Paula Ramos is an MS NOW contributor and co host 526 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: of The Moment with Jorge and Paola Ramos and the 527 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: author of Defectors, The Rise of the Latino Far Right 528 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: and What It Means for America. Welcome to Best Politics. 529 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 5: Powell, Thank you for having me again. 530 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: I'm such a fan. I wanted to talk to you 531 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: because we have talked about Latino voters so much. So 532 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: you came on this weekend show on MS and you 533 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:39,400 Speaker 1: said something that stunned me. And I want to work 534 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: backwards from your very stunning statement. So let's start with 535 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: Cuban voters. I feel like Cuban voters are so interesting, 536 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: so different than the rest of Latino voters and are 537 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: so important to the makeup of the Florida electorate. So 538 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,360 Speaker 1: and what you said about them was stunning. So but 539 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 1: I want you to talk us through Cuban voters and 540 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 1: where you got to with that, because it's fascinating. 541 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 5: Okay, So, just even for context, you're right to say 542 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 5: that Cuban American voters have always been, historically been a 543 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 5: very big part of the Republican base, always have this 544 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 5: the sixties and other crucial part of the MAGA base, 545 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 5: particularly in South Florida. And I think one of the 546 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 5: reasons why Miami did County flips for Donald Trump in 547 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 5: twenty twenty four is precisely because of that, that Cuban 548 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 5: American vote, and they make history, right, It was the 549 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 5: first time in decades that this county flips towards the 550 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,560 Speaker 5: Republican Party because of Cubans. So I think for background, 551 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 5: there's a couple of reasons there that make this interesting. 552 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 5: Number One, Cubans, of course carry this like political trauma 553 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 5: from the island, right, the trauma of playing the castor regime, 554 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 5: and that trauma for years has always translated in a 555 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 5: message that has that has always helped Republicans, right, which 556 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 5: was this idea that a vote for Democrats was a 557 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 5: vote for quote unquote communists. Obviously that's not true, but 558 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:03,560 Speaker 5: that kind of feeds into a paranoia that makes it 559 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 5: easy to exploit, to exploit that trauma. 560 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: Right, just explain the sort of history of this. They 561 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: came over, Yeah. 562 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,160 Speaker 5: Yeah, of course, so so and I'll speak for myself. So, 563 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 5: my mom is Cuban, My mom was born in My 564 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 5: grandfather was a political prisoner under Gastro. My grandfather and 565 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 5: I believe, like many Cubans at the beginning were pro 566 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:28,080 Speaker 5: the revolution, right, they were pro firell And then once Fidel, 567 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 5: you know, started started really repressing people and becoming who 568 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 5: he was, a lot of people turned on him, including 569 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 5: someone like my grandfather, who then ended up obviously becoming 570 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 5: a prisoner. And so in the sixties you see this 571 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 5: wave of Cubans going to South Florida. Now, what makes 572 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 5: and of course that waves continues to this day, but 573 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,719 Speaker 5: it's the people that leave in the sixties and sixty 574 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 5: five and the seventies, we were slightly more privileged because 575 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 5: they had their resources to leave. Well, makes Cubans very 576 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,520 Speaker 5: different from the rest of immigrants. Is that because of 577 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 5: US policy, Right, because of this sort of amicable relationship 578 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 5: we've always had with Cubans fleeing the communist regime, which 579 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 5: is you know, the the quintessential American enemy. Because of 580 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,360 Speaker 5: that relationship, Cubans have always had a direct line to 581 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 5: citizenship in this country. Right. It was always like, you 582 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 5: come to this country, you set your feet in this 583 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 5: in American soil. Within a year, you can get residency. 584 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 5: Within a couple of years, you can have a direct 585 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 5: line to citizenship. And so a majority of Cubans are 586 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 5: US citizens, and so they have not had to go 587 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 5: through all of the different loops that other immigrants have 588 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 5: to go through to be citizens or even to be residents, right, 589 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,880 Speaker 5: And so we've always had a very privileged relationship in 590 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 5: that sense. So I say all this to say because 591 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 5: Cubans then in Miami, you know, ended up kind of 592 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 5: growing into this this huge political power and have always 593 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 5: felt sort of indebted to a Republican party because it 594 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 5: all fits into, you know, into this this narrative that 595 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 5: can car to this day, which is that you know, 596 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 5: Republicans view themselves as the anti communist party and that message, 597 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 5: you know, the red scare is like the oldest American tail, right, 598 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,680 Speaker 5: and it works particularly it works with Cubans. 599 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: What you told me on this show was that Cubans 600 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 1: voted for Trump and this makes sense, right, they've been 601 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 1: here longer, they don't necessarily identify with the rest of 602 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:25,520 Speaker 1: go on. 603 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 5: Right, Okay, Yeah, so that's kind of the historical context 604 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 5: of the Cuban American vote, and so this, you know, 605 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,319 Speaker 5: you see them citing with Republicans time and time again. 606 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:38,360 Speaker 5: What's interesting is that Barack Obama becomes the first Democratic 607 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 5: president to almost win the Cuban American vote. He doesn't 608 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 5: quite win in but he becomes super close. After that, 609 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:47,759 Speaker 5: it was downhill from there for Democrats. Where we are 610 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,880 Speaker 5: right now, right, you see ice rates happening across the country, 611 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,880 Speaker 5: including in Miami Dade County, including in neighborhoods where a 612 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,399 Speaker 5: lot of these Cuban American families are. And I think 613 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 5: what's happening now is that for the first time ever, 614 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,520 Speaker 5: these Cuban Americans that were always sort of to the 615 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 5: side and immune to immigration are now feeling it for 616 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:08,919 Speaker 5: the first time. And what does that mean. It means 617 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 5: that very very different things. Number one, even those with citizenship. 618 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,279 Speaker 5: And I've heard this from a lot of people. They're 619 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:20,680 Speaker 5: now walking around stores scared of being racially profiled, you know. 620 00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 5: And I've heard this from like many people. It also 621 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 5: means that Cuban Americans that have loved ones that are 622 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 5: still not necessarily citizens are seeing their own loved ones 623 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,720 Speaker 5: and family members and husbands and cousins and sons being 624 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,840 Speaker 5: detained and many of them being placed in two of 625 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,400 Speaker 5: the worst detention centers in this country, one being Alligator 626 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:43,720 Speaker 5: Alcatraz and the other one being Chrome in Miami DD County. 627 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,000 Speaker 5: And that is different, right, Like that is something that 628 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,400 Speaker 5: for the first time in like forty fifty plus years, 629 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 5: like that's changing the dynamic. Now we can get into 630 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:55,319 Speaker 5: the other side of the story, which is then what 631 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 5: happens when Amarco Rubo or heag Seth sort of continues 632 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 5: implying that they're going to be the ones to take 633 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 5: out Nicolas Madro Minezuela. And so there you have these 634 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,360 Speaker 5: two very confret messages. Yeah. 635 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, so they're being racially profiled and they're being deported, right, 636 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: that's what you said. 637 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:16,759 Speaker 5: Yes, So there's a couple of things happening, right, Like, yes, 638 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 5: Number one, Cuban Americans are announcing their love was being 639 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 5: rated and detained and deported. The only way you can 640 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,160 Speaker 5: be deported back to Cuba is from what I keep 641 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 5: hearing is if you don't have any criminal record. But 642 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,040 Speaker 5: I have met people that have been deported back to 643 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,200 Speaker 5: the same communist regime that the Republican Party claims to 644 00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:38,040 Speaker 5: be kind of saving Americans from. So I have met 645 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 5: Cubans that are literally in Cuba right now. And I 646 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:44,360 Speaker 5: have now met a growing community of Cubans from Miami 647 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 5: that are now in Mexico that have been deported to Mexico. 648 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,040 Speaker 5: And when I tell you, they're not Mexican, not Mexican. 649 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,839 Speaker 5: And it was one of the wildest scenes I've ever 650 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 5: walked in. So I was in Cancun in October, and 651 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 5: every single day there are literally hundreds of Cubans that 652 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:03,799 Speaker 5: are being deported from the United States, many of them 653 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,760 Speaker 5: coming from Miami Did County, that are now as we speak, 654 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 5: taking over Cancun. So when I tell you that Cancun 655 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,600 Speaker 5: is becoming like the Little Havanah, like what Miami is like, 656 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,520 Speaker 5: we know it as Little Havana, Cancun is turning into 657 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:18,560 Speaker 5: Little Havna because there are so many Cubans from Miami 658 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 5: that are starting to settle in Cancun because they have 659 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,799 Speaker 5: nowhere else to go, and they must be pissed they're 660 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,840 Speaker 5: very pissed. But you know what's interesting. They're pissed, but 661 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,839 Speaker 5: this guy, Raoul, he's actually a TikToker. It. Raoul has 662 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:34,080 Speaker 5: become this like Cuban TikToker that's helping all these Cuban 663 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,640 Speaker 5: migrants kind of navigate the new Mexican system. And he 664 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 5: told me, he's like, we were always kind of like 665 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 5: removed from this and they finally got us. 666 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:42,279 Speaker 4: Now. 667 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 5: We always thought that nothing would ever happen to us, 668 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,279 Speaker 5: and here we are. So that's kind of this like 669 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:50,480 Speaker 5: the nuanced part of this story where like many of 670 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 5: them are realizing and look, some of them do have 671 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 5: criminal records, right, They've they've committed a couple you know, 672 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,240 Speaker 5: they've got in and out of the criminal justice system. However, 673 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,840 Speaker 5: they were always immune to him because they're Cuban, right, 674 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 5: And so that's happening. Yeah, So there. 675 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,359 Speaker 1: Are Cuban families with multiple people in the family who 676 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,160 Speaker 1: have status, who have relatives who are not in the 677 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,160 Speaker 1: country legally, who are being deported. You were seeing multiple 678 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,440 Speaker 1: people like that. So are those people like, we're not 679 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:20,960 Speaker 1: going to vote for Republicans anymore. 680 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:23,239 Speaker 5: I think it's too really to tell. This is where 681 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 5: I think that Democrats get really cocky, right where they 682 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:29,880 Speaker 5: think that because of these raids, right, that because of 683 00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:32,839 Speaker 5: this pain, that that in and of itself means that 684 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:35,680 Speaker 5: the Latino vote is back for them. And I think 685 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:39,719 Speaker 5: we forget the true power of Trump is that when 686 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 5: we least expected, the resentments and the grievances and the 687 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:46,719 Speaker 5: like anti immigrant sentiment like kicks in. And so what 688 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,400 Speaker 5: I always go back to is like, whatever made you 689 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,920 Speaker 5: vote for Trump wants like how does one undo that? Right? 690 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:56,800 Speaker 5: And I think in Cuban American community, as in the community, 691 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:58,960 Speaker 5: in the Bronx, as in anywhere we are, there was 692 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:03,040 Speaker 5: something about Trump beyond economics that really resonated with Latinos, right. 693 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:06,239 Speaker 5: And I think because there are so many grievances among us, right, 694 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:08,560 Speaker 5: and because the immigration system in this country is so 695 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:11,839 Speaker 5: messed up. Right, this idea that like we don't want 696 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 5: the next person to have the same thing that we have. 697 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,200 Speaker 5: It is a very ugly truth that is part of 698 00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:18,640 Speaker 5: our dynamic. And so the only thing that I keep 699 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:21,640 Speaker 5: telling myself is to is to to not you know, 700 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,880 Speaker 5: to not get ahead of ourselves. Right. Are they skeptical 701 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:25,320 Speaker 5: of Trump? 702 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:25,680 Speaker 3: Yes? 703 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:26,840 Speaker 5: Are they being led down? 704 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:27,240 Speaker 6: Yes? 705 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:30,560 Speaker 5: Are they now suddenly feeling like immigrants. Yes, does that 706 00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:32,080 Speaker 5: mean to vote for Democrats? 707 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:32,520 Speaker 3: Right? 708 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:35,279 Speaker 5: Maybe necessarily? And we don't know in two years what 709 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,480 Speaker 5: you know, like trump Ism will look like. But that, 710 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:41,120 Speaker 5: like the ugly sentiment is something that we're not immune to, 711 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,839 Speaker 5: and so I'm always kind of like cautious to make 712 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:44,919 Speaker 5: any big you. 713 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,640 Speaker 1: Know, yeah, well, no, that makes sense. The Argentina stuff. 714 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:51,440 Speaker 1: Explain that to us. How does that factor im with 715 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:53,239 Speaker 1: the Kuban population. 716 00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:57,319 Speaker 5: The Argentina, the Salvador with with Nabuke. So there's the 717 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,279 Speaker 5: you know, one of the things that that Democrats, and 718 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:02,359 Speaker 5: I think we've talked about this before may like one 719 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,400 Speaker 5: of the things that Democrats love to do in Miami 720 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,560 Speaker 5: Did County before elections is they love to kind of, 721 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,360 Speaker 5: you know, cast Trump as a strong man. Now I 722 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:12,759 Speaker 5: was like, I'll lead you, and it works often. But 723 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,759 Speaker 5: they think that by casting Trump as a dictator, that 724 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:18,440 Speaker 5: that in and of itself will sort of cause this 725 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:21,359 Speaker 5: like allergic reaction among Latinos that have fled from these 726 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,879 Speaker 5: sort of authoritained figures themselves, right. But I think where 727 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:28,200 Speaker 5: it gets really complicated is that we Latinas, we have 728 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:32,400 Speaker 5: a very very very complicated relationship with strong men. Strong 729 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,759 Speaker 5: men like Malay, strong men like Bukele, and like historically 730 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:38,600 Speaker 5: in the nineteenth century the twentieth century, we've always had 731 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,960 Speaker 5: super super nuanced, complicated relationships with strong men, where we 732 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,239 Speaker 5: have made to believe that there are certain times when 733 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,719 Speaker 5: democracy feels messy and when the economy is down and 734 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:53,600 Speaker 5: when things are violent, that under certain circumstances, strong men 735 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:57,200 Speaker 5: are necessary. On top of that, there's a US history 736 00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:02,160 Speaker 5: of intervention throughout Latin America, you know, from Chile to 737 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:07,879 Speaker 5: Ilsavador to Nicaragua, and the United States has which we're 738 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,160 Speaker 5: perhaps about to see in Venezuela. The United States has 739 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:13,760 Speaker 5: intervened in the face of in the name of getting 740 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:16,319 Speaker 5: rid of communism, to support strong men. And so I 741 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,520 Speaker 5: say all this because that's why Naibukele continues to be 742 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,920 Speaker 5: one of the most popular leaders in Latin America. Right 743 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:25,840 Speaker 5: That's why someone like me Lay may not be popular 744 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:28,160 Speaker 5: to many Americans, but he is in Latin America. That's 745 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:32,439 Speaker 5: why Chilea just selected a right wing president three days ago, 746 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:37,040 Speaker 5: you know. And so so that message doesn't always like 747 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,759 Speaker 5: kind of land the way that you know, democrats think 748 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:43,239 Speaker 5: it does. And I think that example that we're about 749 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:46,280 Speaker 5: to see in Minnezuela. That's where things get super super 750 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 5: complicated and interesting with Latino's. 751 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:53,640 Speaker 1: So Cuban's most complicated for any number of reasons, just 752 00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:57,760 Speaker 1: a very different vibe from other Latino voters. Let's talk 753 00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:03,160 Speaker 1: about Mexican voters, because I feel like Mexican voters, Mexican Americans, 754 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:06,320 Speaker 1: what's happening there? And I also have been surprised Trump 755 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:10,719 Speaker 1: hasn't been more antagonistic to Mexico. Haven't you been a 756 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,840 Speaker 1: little surprised about that, because like he hates He's like 757 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:15,719 Speaker 1: wants to go to world with Canada, but it's sort 758 00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 1: of ignored Mexico. 759 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:19,759 Speaker 5: It feels like, yeah, I mean he said mostly at 760 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:24,719 Speaker 5: the beginning, right, like labeling the cartels as these terrorist figures. 761 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:26,440 Speaker 5: Like I think at the beginning he was more aggressive. 762 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:29,120 Speaker 5: But I think there's something about Shanebaum that like kind 763 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,680 Speaker 5: of scares him. And I think she's done a very 764 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,560 Speaker 5: good job, very good job at kind of like you know, 765 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:38,759 Speaker 5: defending herself and drawing her own like boundaries. Look, we 766 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:42,719 Speaker 5: know that Trump loves a popular figure, and Galliasm is 767 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:44,560 Speaker 5: a very popular figure. The same way that at the 768 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,359 Speaker 5: end of the day Zora Mandani was able to court him. 769 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:49,560 Speaker 5: I think it's a similar dynamic with Mexico, where she's like, 770 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:51,520 Speaker 5: all right, people love this woman, so let me not 771 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:54,440 Speaker 5: like go too far with the Mexican American voter. As 772 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,160 Speaker 5: with every other vote, I think there were a lot 773 00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,200 Speaker 5: of people that didn't show up to the election, right Like, 774 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:01,960 Speaker 5: so much of this right worship obviously happened, but the 775 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:03,799 Speaker 5: other part of the story is that people were not 776 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,239 Speaker 5: mobilized enough to vote for a Democratic party that, in 777 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:13,720 Speaker 5: their eyes, many Mexicans and Salvadorians and Guatemalans like believe 778 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,719 Speaker 5: that at some point the Democratic Party would defend them 779 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:19,440 Speaker 5: right in and perhaps in a more public way. And 780 00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:21,359 Speaker 5: so I think there's a lot of people that didn't 781 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:23,440 Speaker 5: show up to vote. And I think what you're seeing now, 782 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:27,760 Speaker 5: I mean, from coast to coast, is this like growing solidarity, 783 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 5: this like awakening of masses of people that are now 784 00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:35,480 Speaker 5: like politically awakened again and again. It does not mean 785 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:37,839 Speaker 5: that it's to vote for for Democrats, but it does 786 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:41,239 Speaker 5: mean that it is like that something is happening. And 787 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:43,279 Speaker 5: I see that. I see that everywhere, and I think 788 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:45,719 Speaker 5: that's kind of what was missing for many years in 789 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:49,160 Speaker 5: my kind of opinion that we were losing. Now, this 790 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,440 Speaker 5: Latino community became very fractured and very divided, and now 791 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:55,319 Speaker 5: there's like a sense of solidarity that hasn't always been there. 792 00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:58,120 Speaker 5: And perhaps it took someone like Trump to to remind. 793 00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:00,560 Speaker 1: People some of the family separation that we saw in 794 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:04,640 Speaker 1: the first Trump administration. We're seeing much much worse than that. 795 00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:08,880 Speaker 1: This time, children deported at six. Talk to me just 796 00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:12,320 Speaker 1: about some of that carnage. What you're hearing talking to people, 797 00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:13,279 Speaker 1: et cetera. 798 00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:17,200 Speaker 5: It's exactly what we experienced in twenty eighteen under zero tolerance. 799 00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:20,960 Speaker 5: It's just happening literally in communities and the neighborhoods across 800 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:24,080 Speaker 5: the country every single day. And it's the same scene. 801 00:44:24,239 --> 00:44:26,880 Speaker 5: I've seen it in courthouses in Abaso. I've seen it 802 00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:30,080 Speaker 5: here in Brooklyn, where it's you know, these ice agents 803 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:34,600 Speaker 5: that are separating detaining family members, moms or dads. These 804 00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:37,400 Speaker 5: members are now being detained. And I think what I 805 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:40,560 Speaker 5: keep hearing that is painful is this uncertainty that you 806 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:43,319 Speaker 5: don't know how long you're going to be detained, You 807 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,239 Speaker 5: don't even know where you're going to be deported too, 808 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:49,560 Speaker 5: and that uncertainty I think is really really eating away 809 00:44:49,719 --> 00:44:53,640 Speaker 5: at people, and the same objective that they had in 810 00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:55,560 Speaker 5: twenty eighteen they're trying to do right now, which is 811 00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 5: inflict so much pain and so much uncertainty that at 812 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,080 Speaker 5: the end of the day you decide that self deportation 813 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:03,360 Speaker 5: is the best decision because you can't take it anymore. 814 00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:05,920 Speaker 5: Is I think it's kind of what's what's happening behind 815 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:08,960 Speaker 5: the scene where there are literally like thousands of families 816 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:12,080 Speaker 5: that are that are wrestling with that decision right like, 817 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:14,640 Speaker 5: is this uncertainty worth it now? Is it worth it? 818 00:45:14,719 --> 00:45:16,640 Speaker 5: I mean even in my building right now, I won't 819 00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:18,799 Speaker 5: even say where I am one of the women that 820 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:23,160 Speaker 5: works here, Like her mom isn't documented, and every single 821 00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:26,080 Speaker 5: day right there, every single day we talk, She's like, 822 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:27,359 Speaker 5: I don't know if it's worth it anymore. I don't 823 00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:28,799 Speaker 5: know if it's worth it anymore. So it's this like 824 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:32,040 Speaker 5: anxiety that is just weighing on people. We've been dealing 825 00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:35,040 Speaker 5: with this, like, of course it's more exacerbated under Trump. 826 00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:38,040 Speaker 5: This has been going on for like twenty plus years now. 827 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:40,880 Speaker 5: If people just like devoting their lives and careers and 828 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:43,560 Speaker 5: they're to this idea the one day they would be 829 00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:46,719 Speaker 5: relieved from this. All of this is culminating into I 830 00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:49,439 Speaker 5: think countless families that are like how much longer can 831 00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:52,920 Speaker 5: I take it? Like truly, Like what does dignity mean today? 832 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:56,080 Speaker 5: And I think part of the immigration movement is there 833 00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:58,280 Speaker 5: to do its job, which is like, you guys deserve 834 00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:01,520 Speaker 5: to be here and as the slogan goes, here to stay. 835 00:46:01,719 --> 00:46:04,200 Speaker 5: But I also think there's something there's some type of 836 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:07,799 Speaker 5: empowerment and people also deciding like there may be a 837 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,200 Speaker 5: better life out there, right, like maybe what I'm looking 838 00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:12,439 Speaker 5: for in the US can be found elsewhere, And that 839 00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,000 Speaker 5: movement is happening, you know this, like reverse migration, Like 840 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:16,240 Speaker 5: that's definitely growing. 841 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:20,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's wild, and that's problematic for any number of 842 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:22,640 Speaker 1: reasons for American government. 843 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:25,720 Speaker 5: It is like the long term implication of that is 844 00:46:25,719 --> 00:46:28,200 Speaker 5: is something that I don't think we can wrap our 845 00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:31,080 Speaker 5: heads around. You know what it means for generations of 846 00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:34,839 Speaker 5: immigrants and their family members to to kind of like 847 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,919 Speaker 5: let go of what has always been such a core 848 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,200 Speaker 5: part of this country. Like you know, my mom lives 849 00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:43,480 Speaker 5: in Madrid, my dad lives in Miami, But even when 850 00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:46,120 Speaker 5: I go visit my mom, I just found out a 851 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:47,920 Speaker 5: couple of months ago that there is a group of 852 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,239 Speaker 5: Dreamers that are self deporting to Madrid, and so I 853 00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:54,080 Speaker 5: met them for Thanksgiving. I had dinner with them and 854 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:57,919 Speaker 5: we were having dinner and one woman had just self 855 00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:00,359 Speaker 5: deported from Mexico. She just got to and she had 856 00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:03,879 Speaker 5: never been there. Another woman self deported during Trump's first administration. 857 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,880 Speaker 5: And it was this kind of beautiful and powerful and 858 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:10,400 Speaker 5: like sad moment where this one woman told her and said, 859 00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:12,600 Speaker 5: for the first time ever, You're going to be able 860 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:15,160 Speaker 5: to relax, and that's a feeling that you have never 861 00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:17,359 Speaker 5: felt in like twenty years. I can see that to you. 862 00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:19,440 Speaker 5: You'll be able to like breathe. And she said when 863 00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:21,640 Speaker 5: I first felt that, she was like, I broke down 864 00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:23,800 Speaker 5: for like a whole month because I hadn't been able 865 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:26,719 Speaker 5: to just like breathe in the United States in the 866 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:28,680 Speaker 5: thirty years. There's something to. 867 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:33,120 Speaker 1: That thank you, thank you saying you sayk you pawa. 868 00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:34,560 Speaker 5: Thank you for all this stuff. 869 00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:41,360 Speaker 1: No moment, Jesse Cannon Molly. 870 00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:44,680 Speaker 2: Earlier in the show, we were talking about how the 871 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,400 Speaker 2: Trump White House keeps making it so that the government 872 00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:50,439 Speaker 2: is not on the hook with as much of their 873 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:53,200 Speaker 2: budget and putting the burden back on the people. And 874 00:47:53,520 --> 00:47:55,680 Speaker 2: that is what we were seeing with these inactions in 875 00:47:55,680 --> 00:47:59,120 Speaker 2: the House with the ACA funding. And there's a lot 876 00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:02,080 Speaker 2: of GOP congressman if we're pretty pissed about this. 877 00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:05,360 Speaker 1: So I think it's worth a lot of what's happening 878 00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,239 Speaker 1: here is Mike Johnson is quite bad at his job, 879 00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:12,520 Speaker 1: you don't like, really fucking bad at what he does. 880 00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:18,319 Speaker 1: And these ACA tax benefits are about to expire and 881 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:20,480 Speaker 1: people are going to be fucked right. They're not going 882 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:23,520 Speaker 1: to be able to get their healthcare. It's going to 883 00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:27,879 Speaker 1: be fifty percent or seventy percent more expensive, and it's 884 00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:30,440 Speaker 1: real bad for any number of reasons. 885 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:30,719 Speaker 5: Right. 886 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:35,279 Speaker 1: So here's the thing which I think is so important 887 00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:40,160 Speaker 1: here is that they don't have any plan. I don't 888 00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:42,879 Speaker 1: get what the move here is, right, So you have 889 00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:47,840 Speaker 1: these moderates complaining about it because they know that this 890 00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:50,600 Speaker 1: is going to mess them up. Right, They're not going 891 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,839 Speaker 1: to be able to get reelected, and so maybe like 892 00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:57,880 Speaker 1: they come up with something. Jefferies has this clean cr 893 00:48:58,239 --> 00:49:02,040 Speaker 1: that has an expansion of the credits, and it's a 894 00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:05,960 Speaker 1: three year expansion. You know, it's not impossible that something 895 00:49:06,040 --> 00:49:10,200 Speaker 1: happens there I think also worth watching, Like we are 896 00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:14,080 Speaker 1: hurtling towards the government shutdown and that could still really happen. 897 00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:18,520 Speaker 1: So there's a lot going on here, all bad. That's 898 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:25,080 Speaker 1: it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, 899 00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:29,759 Speaker 1: Thursday and Saturday to hear the best minds and politics 900 00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:34,160 Speaker 1: make sense of all this chaos. If you enjoy this podcast, 901 00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:37,920 Speaker 1: please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going. 902 00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:39,520 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.