WEBVTT - Meredith Shiner & Michael Calderone 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:04.160 Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:07.160 where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:12.680 today's best minds and Trump Media CEO, former Congressman Devin Nunas, 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:16.239 has stepped down after the company lost seven hundred and 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.520 twelve million dollars last year. We have such a great 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:24.560 show for you today. The New Republic's Meredith Shiner stops 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.240 by to talk to us about the enormous vibeshift changes 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.480 in Congress. Then we'll talk to the wraps on Michael 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:35.519 Calderon about the upcoming White House Correspondence dinner and the 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.080 immense drama we may see. But first the news. 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.240 So, Molli, you know you and I live in mom 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:45.200 Donnie Stan the Social State, and you know we're always 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:46.400 hearing about these giveaways. 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:47.200 But it's funny. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.839 The place where all the corporations get the giveaways is 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:53.159 really from the Trump administration. And we're seeing this with 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.240 half a billion dollars going to Spirit Airlines to build 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:58.440 them out. Now you can argue this is an essential 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.920 way people get around this country, especially people. 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.559 No, you can't, No poorer people use Spirit Airlines. 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:06.959 Doesn't give him a fact, No, he doesn't terrible and 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.640 also this is socialism. But the thing is, because it's 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:15.080 the Trump administration, the question is why is the Spirit 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:19.360 CEO making a donation to Like, if we look at 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.120 Trump World, then we look at Mega. We know that 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:25.319 there's something rotten in the state of Denmark. So what 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.680 is it? Is it that the Trump administration has some 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:33.160 kind of relationship with Spirit? Why is Donald Trump using 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.240 our tax dollars to bail out Spirit Airlines? Earlier in 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:40.479 this season of Donald Trump destroys America, we saw him 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:45.080 use some of that money to bail out Latin American countries. 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:48.560 We've seen him use our tax dollars for any number 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.840 of sortied things. But my big question is what is 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.640 he getting back? The deal will be five hundred million 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.440 dollars for Spirit equity warrants for the government, because what 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:05.600 our business to spend tax payer dollars? And then airlines 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:10.680 notoriously stable. Actually, Donald Trump has already lost his shirt 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:15.679 once with airlines. You'll remember the Trump shuttle. So of course, 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:19.359 if there's an airline on the wall in the first decade, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.600 it will go off sooner rather than later. 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:23.440 Yep. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.959 Okay, So there's lots of people questioning mister Trump's mental 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.680 health these days. So this is where we get into 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:32.280 some very fun modern stuff. So there is this man 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.600 known as al Yakobe who's been caught many times making 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:39.200 pro Israeli propaganda out of AI. So he today shared 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.200 a meme that said breaking the Islamic Republic is preparing 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.880 to hang out women and people who are good at 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.840 detective AI are all digraphic saying this is the most 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.720 AI that has ever AI imaged of all time. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.000 The thing that's amazing to me about this story is 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.880 that this is Internet people on acts. But the thing 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.520 that they don't realize is that those of us whose 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.600 son subscribed to the New York Post know that this 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:06.960 was the cover of the New York Post today. So 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:12.200 these women, quote unquote, if they're women, if they're not women, 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:15.800 we're on the cover of the New York Post this morning. 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:20.560 So maybe there AI. It certainly seems like they may be. 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.280 But either way, they were on the cover of the 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:27.800 New York Post. So I don't know what is happening here. 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.320 Yeah, So Trump demanded that Aron not execute them, and 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:34.920 now the White House has put out a statement saying 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:37.760 that they've just been informed that they're not going to 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.440 be killed and taking a win for saving AI lives. 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.560 We think that they're not real anyway, I think is 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:45.640 the net net right? 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:48.800 It seems that the consensus on the Internet as of 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.040 now is that this was made up, and because the 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.960 person who initially spread this as such a bad past 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.400 of making AI images and getting caught for it, it 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.600 is not seeming very likely. And if that is the case, 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.600 this is a real egg on the face of mister Trump. 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:08.840 Yes, welcome to post truth America, where who even knows 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.120 what the fuck is happening? Did you really look very 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:15.440 AI ish? One of them looks like Alena Habba, one 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:17.800 of them looks like Kai Trump, one of them looks 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:19.839 like none of them look like actual people. 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:20.280 Yeah. 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.400 Like my thing would be is like, if these are 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:24.720 people who are captured, did they go to a bodilely 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:26.760 agency into a kidnapping. 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:30.159 It is very strange. They're so attractive and they're also 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:31.440 so blonde. 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:33.960 Well, that's what mister Trump loves to save. 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.800 That's right, He's very into saving blonde people. 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.480 Okay, So we saw a congressional here yet again this 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.480 week with RFK Junior, and there was noises made that 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:46.839 I didn't know humans could make from his mouth. 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:54.280 Yeah, the Darth Vader. This is we'll remember he's zinned. 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.520 He did zin. We saw him zin before. 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:59.279 For people who don't know what zin is, it's a 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:02.919 tobacco pouches you too. Mostly popular with twenty year olds 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:06.640 who have millennial perms. But the line that is really 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.280 sticking out to people is that he said I've never 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:11.520 been anti vaccine. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:13.320 That's the fucking brand. 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:19.279 Yeah, here's what's happened. Okay, Donald Trump is pulling through 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:24.040 the floor. He's pulling is bad. He's not popular. Things 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:30.000 have really gone off the rails. Now. Donald Trump has 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:36.520 this guy RFK Junior. He represents MAHA. He helped Donald 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:41.080 Trump win the anti vax stuff. It's super unpopular. So 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.160 what does Donald Trump do. He's got RFK Junior out 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.120 there doing a sort of was I anti vax? Maybe 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:50.680 I wasn't anti vax and he's lying. These people really 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:54.240 like to lie. But you've heard him under oath line before. 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:56.960 I mean, RFK Junior has lied under oath pretty much. 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.440 That's sort of one of the central themes of this whole. 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.159 So don't believe any of these people. I mean, this 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.800 administration is just completely shock a block with people who 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.599 don't tell the truth. But here's the quote, I have 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:14.359 never been anti vaccine. It's like when Sean Hannity says 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.440 he's not a reporter, he's a talk host. He has 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:21.160 been anti vaccine. And later in the hearing he denied 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:26.680 things he said, he has spread lies. He is trying 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.279 to get them to not use the know what's going 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:33.599 on here. This guy is a total liar. 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.280 Yeah, And this is what he does every time, is 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:38.839 he denies things he said on podcasts that we have 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.760 tape of every time. This is just what he does 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:43.400 because he doesn't want to actually have to answer for 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.120 these things because I'll shock you here. He would not 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:47.680 go so well on the stand up. He had to 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.520 defend things like what he says about black children and 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.239 being raised and things like that. On podcasts. You can't 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:58.320 defend the indefensible, but MAGA tries anyway. The Southern Poverty 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.600 Law Center, which many people may know as being the 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.120 investigative body that goes after extremist groups, has been targeted 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:05.839 by the DOJ and Cashpitel. 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.200 Yeah. So the Southern Poverty Law Center is a really 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:13.560 incredible organization that has been around for a long time 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:20.520 and works on trying to expose the KKK. Now, Donald 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:24.240 Trump doesn't like that, because I don't know why he 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:28.160 doesn't like people who expose the KKK. It's odd, but 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.840 he doesn't like this is the guy that's good people 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:35.240 on both sides. That guy does not want them to 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.640 go after the KKK. So here's the idea. Southern Positarity 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.680 Law Center has paid informants the way the FBI does. 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:46.240 They're called field sources. They engage in their informants and 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:50.720 they get paid and they inform and thus this organization 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:54.880 learns about the KKK and stops them from doing crimes. 0:07:54.920 --> 0:08:00.520 And also more importantly, they are able to monitor them. 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:05.000 Now this administration doesn't like people to monitor the KKK. 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:10.440 Another interesting thing, and so they are going after the 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:14.600 Southern Property At Law Center. Again, like, this is Todd 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.680 Blanche trying to keep his job. This is Todd Blanche 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:22.640 knowing that Pam Bondy got fired because she did not 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.400 do the kind of what hunts that Donald Trump wanted. 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.560 So Todd Blanche has cooked this thing up. It's never 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.840 going to go. You know, he got an indictment from 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:36.680 Alabama from the Trumpiest part of Alabama. It's not a 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.800 real case, like they're going to go after them for wirefraud. 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.680 I mean, it's just completely ridiculous. And this is what 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.200 Trump World does. They twist the laws and the rules 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:56.280 to give the guy something. So there we are. Meredith 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:58.760 Shiner is a contributing editor at The New Republic. 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:03.319 Welcome, Thank you, Mollie, it's so great to be back. 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:11.360 Let's talk about Virginia. Yesterday, Democrats Republicans Virginians voted on 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:15.640 whether or not to redistrict Democrats one. It is now 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.280 it has to be signed off on by the court, 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:20.680 but it looks like it's going to be a ten 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:28.679 to one map, which is really something. Republicans are very mad. 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:32.840 Yeah, I mean, this is a really big deal. First 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.439 and foremost Republicans are mad because they thought they were 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:37.079 always going to be the only ones. 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:37.679 Who could do this. 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:41.040 Republicans have been jerrymandering these maps. They've been trying to 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.840 have mid cycle redraws of maps for a very very 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.560 long time. And one of the things that they banked 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.360 on was that Democrats were going to be so committed 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:54.160 to the rules and democracy and looking like they were 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.320 above it that they would continue to take state houses 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:00.520 across the country that they would continue to read house 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:04.319 maps to shape the power in the United States Congress. 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:07.440 And what you're seeing, I think in Virginia is a 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:11.040 recognition from the electorate that that no longer serves us. 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:13.800 It does not serve democracy. It doesn't serve the people 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.800 of Virginia, and it doesn't serve people in purple states 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.440 across the country. You know, it exists sort of on 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.360 two levels. Even saying purple state, I had to take 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.680 a pause because I think our conception of what a 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:29.280 Republican state is, a blue state, a purple state, and 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:33.800 a red state is actually really informed by which states 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.680 are overly jerrymandard and which aren't. States like North Carolina 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:42.400 where Republicans permanently tried to entrench a super majority with 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:44.800 the way that they drew lines. So I think this 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:47.079 is a big step in the right direction in terms 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:50.360 of how we think about local politics. 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:52.040 But I also think it's. 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:55.560 Really important in terms of how we think about national politics, 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:59.040 how democrats can act across the country, and the kinds 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.920 of steps were quiet to actually reclaim democracy that we 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:07.160 have lost, because it no longer is beneficial to pretend 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.520 like we live in an ideal world and. 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:11.079 Hope that it bounces back. 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.560 What you're seeing in Virginia is that fifty one percent 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:18.080 of voters there see the world we're living in, don't 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.840 like it and want to do something about it. And 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:24.760 they're doing that in a world where there's been rampid misinformation, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:29.400 where the information ecosystem about what's even happening is completely broken. 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.400 I saw a really great video from Jammel Boui yesterday 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.160 and he was talking about the kinds of mailers and 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:37.680 ads that he was seeing, right because he lives to 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:42.960 ma genulate democratic voters against this choice. And I think 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:46.520 the overwhelming sentiment about where the country is going and 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:50.199 that we need to actually act to do something superseded 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.880 all of the other bad factors in play in order 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.480 to send this message not just to people in Virginia, 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.040 but I think people across the country. 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.720 And I want to talk about one of these sphereheads 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:07.400 of this legislation, a woman called she's the President pro 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:12.400 temp for of the Virginia Senate. She's a Democrat. Her 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:17.480 name is Lois Lucas. She is eighty four years old 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:23.880 and has been just a powerhouse, very tough black woman 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:28.880 who has who represents Chesapeake Bay and has been in 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:34.240 the Senate from nineteen ninety two. She represents the eighteenth district. 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.320 The reason why I want to bring her up is 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.120 any number of reasons. But she's got a very good 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:44.320 Twitter game, which again is cool, but she also just 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:48.320 is very tough. And you know, sometimes we criticize the 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.360 older members, and we're going to talk about that in 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.040 a minute, because there's a member of Congress who has 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:58.280 died in office. But this woman is just awesome. And 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.280 she did push back, you know, a lot. There was 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.240 a real tension in Virginia between Democrats who wanted a 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.839 jerrymander that was like the California jerrymander where you get 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.800 it five seats and not like a jerrymander, which is 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.880 like a killer jerrymander, which is ten seat, ten to one. 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:20.240 And she pushed back and was like, no, we are 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.160 going to fight back the way Republicans are fighting back here. 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:26.559 And that gives Democrats a little bit of a buffer 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:31.760 in case the Supreme Court does something really insane or Florida. 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.800 Push it in case or when with a Supreme Court, 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.320 it's more of a when or not if. Look, when 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.760 we talk about the jar intocracy. I think in a 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:43.559 lot of ways, what we're doing is using a technocratic 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:47.760 word for out of touch. And for some members, I 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.679 think the issue is not that they are old. It 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.360 is that they're completely out of touch with the lived 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.000 experience on the ground for the people that they are 0:13:56.000 --> 0:14:00.679 supposed to represent and paying attention to these issues, understanding 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.880 them fully. It's not necessarily a function of age. You 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.000 could have a twenty five year old in Silicon Valley 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.000 who doesn't really get the fall of democracy or the 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:12.080 rise of authoritarianism, and so I think what you saw 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:16.200 here was someone who has lived through some of the 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:20.440 changes that we've had in this country since the nineteen sixties, right, 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.960 and the process of progress and retrenchment, and is familiar 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.200 with the opposition and their tactics and wanted to adapt 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.240 in a way that was commensurate to the moment. And 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.320 that is not a function of age. I think that's 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.000 a function of awareness of living in some of these 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:40.560 state legislatures, like what happens in Washington, I think because 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.960 we see capitol buildings across the country, and we see 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:46.880 the US capital and we see politicians, there is this 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.680 tendency to flatten them, or to flatten what their work 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:53.360 is or how they engage with their constituents. And I 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:55.760 think what you saw here was an example of a 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.400 politician who saw the reality, who saw what was happening 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.960 across the country, and who recognized her own agency and 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:05.920 power to do something about it. And that's the second 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:07.880 piece of I think why people are complaining about the 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:11.520 gerontocracy or writers in Washington is because they're out of 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.480 touch with what's happening. They're trying to pretend that they're 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:16.760 living in a different reality than the one we live 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:20.600 in now because grappling with that reality is uncomfortable for them, 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:24.560 and they're denying their own agency in any context where 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.800 they could make a difference. They're not choosing to pull 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.320 every arrow in their quiver in the way that some 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:33.400 of these people in the States are, because we've been 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:35.760 living with the collapse of the federal government for a 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.840 really long time. And conversely, and I think this was 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:43.000 an embedded eater question. Also, Molly, we've seen what Republicans 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.800 do at the state level and how that can really 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:50.320 ladder up to national politics. Republicans forever have wanted to 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:54.280 use the states as a peatrie dish to practice some 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.680 of their policies or their oppression and try to export 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.760 it to the rest of the country. It has been 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:05.520 probably two decades since Gail Collins is as GHEs Texas, 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.160 But the entire theory of that book was how everything 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.960 that happened in the Texas State House and in the 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.280 governor's mansion in the eighties and nineties ended up in 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.560 some way creeping into our federal law making, you know, 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:18.400 decades later. 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:19.280 Yeah, And so. 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:22.680 We're looking at this map, we're looking at how everything 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.600 has become fractured. And I think the people who are 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.280 going to far the best in the eyes of history 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:31.960 are the people who look at reality, look at the 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:34.600 kind of tools they have available to themselves, and really 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:36.960 carve out of space where they can fight and make 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.840 a difference. And that's what you saw in Virginia, and 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:41.520 I think it's what you're going to continue to see 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.720 in states across the country, especially if we're not seeing 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:46.960 as much action in Washington as we should be. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:53.120 And Fox News, trying to silence her, made a big 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.880 graphic that had a picture of her face, right because 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.640 Fox they want you to know that she's a black woman. 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.080 They can harass her, And underneath there was a quote 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:08.240 that said you all started it and we fucking finished it. 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.199 And they were doing this in order to get Trump 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.280 to retweet it to harass her, and she just retweeted 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:18.760 it herself, which I think is such a great example 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:22.920 of what to do when mag verse comes after you, 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:27.560 which is to just because the moment you start apologizing 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:31.439 for yourself, the moment you start saying, oh, maybe I 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:35.080 did something wrong, that's the moment you engage them. But 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:44.680 the moment you are unapologetic about the about what pushing 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:49.040 back looks like, about meeting Republicans where they are, that's 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.879 the moment you have real power. Yeah. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.439 You know where my brain immediately went when you started 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.720 talking about Fox News was also this week, Fox News 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:02.000 has been attacking Elmo and Sesame st because Rommy Yusef 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:05.440 did a bit on Sesame Street where he called Elmhabibi 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:09.360 and it was just like it was such sweet, wholesome content. 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.600 And I remember the second that I saw that video 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:16.840 post from Sesame Street and Rommi Ramy's an Arab American comedian, 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:21.040 a Muslim American comedian, and I was like, Oh, Fox 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.320 News is gonna have a field day with this because 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:27.680 they have a formula, they have people that they're looking for, 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:31.200 they have things that they're looking for, and their rage 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:35.879 machine runs on just the most fabricated rage. 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:39.920 Yeah, and black women. It turns out people who. 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.400 Are super cool and contribute to our society but don't 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:44.760 look like old white men are people they don't want 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:48.960 actually in a discourse or us familiarized with. And I 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:53.520 just feel like there's a natural ceiling to that kind 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:57.480 of propaganda. And I mean, when you look at what 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.240 happened in Virginia, I think that that shows it that 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.920 they have a particular base that they are activating, whose 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:07.359 minds they are melting. But then the rest of us 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:11.200 are out here and in some ways reachable, And how 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:14.520 do we think about telling people concrete steps they can 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.200 take to make change? And I think that's sort of 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.159 the last part of you know, Okay, Republicans are creating 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:26.639 this cartoon version of who a state representative is versus 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:33.159 thinking about the people who are looking for change we are, 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:35.920 you know, I would say, like six seven months away 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:40.040 from a midterm and wanting to know concretely what they 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.960 can do to make a difference in our lives and 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.119 for our democracy and to make government work again. And 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.919 I think the cool thing in Virginia or California pursuing 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:54.639 this proposition is it something concrete, it's tangible, it's easy 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.200 to explain why it is necessary, and people are voting 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.920 for it. And so if there is there's a lesson here, 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.120 it's that Republicans sure they're going to continue to try 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.840 to find tweets or paint this reality that makes it 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.480 seem like Democrats are the aggressors now, even though they're 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:13.720 just showing up, you know, twenty five years late to 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:17.440 the table that Republicans set, and we can't take that bait. 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:20.720 You're right, you know, we can't. We can't let democrats 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:22.440 be like, well, we don't. We don't want to be 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:25.440 positioned as the bad guy, so we're not going to 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:28.159 be assertive. I don't think that's the right tactic. I 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:32.320 think the takeaway year should be voters want this, voters 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:35.240 want to fight, and they believe in a democracy in 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:38.320 a country that works, and so let's give them options 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:41.360 and let's state it clearly and let's see what happens. 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:43.960 And it turns out, at least this week in Virginia 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:49.320 it was successful and what kinds of ideas, platforms, messages 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:53.440 are you going to cultivate and expand upon in the 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:56.520 next half a year before midterm, And what kind of 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:59.400 promises are you going to make in order to motivate 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:02.120 people in the way that they were motivated at Virginia yesterday. 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:07.560 And I would add just to go into Fox News 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:12.560 for a minute, and it's anti Muslim racism for lack 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.480 of a better word, because that's what it is, xenophobia. Yeah, 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:19.920 we saw Obama this week and Obama has not done 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:23.480 a ton of campaigning, so I think is really notable 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:27.000 when he sort of gets involved in things. He went 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:31.600 with Zoran to do some photos with these pre k 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:33.879 kids in the South Bronx. This is a free pre 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:38.399 k It's a big thing that Zoran is highlighting, and 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:41.000 I think it's important. I have like two things I 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:43.359 want to say about it. One which is that I 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:48.760 think it's good politics, good retail politics, and seeing Obama 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:51.920 highlight it shows that I think Obama also thinks it's 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:54.960 good retail politics. But there was another thing that Zoran 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:57.240 did that I'm really impressed by and I want you 0:21:57.920 --> 0:21:59.680 to weigh in on it. He was on Meet the 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:03.240 pras yes this week and Kristen Walker, who I think 0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:05.760 it does a very good job in a very tough 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:08.600 job because this is not you know, network television is 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:11.840 really hard, pushing these people a lot of times, very hard. 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:16.040 But she did this question that journalists often do with Democrats, 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:19.800 and Democrats always fall for it, which is, who is 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:23.600 your twenty twenty eight pick? It is not the midterms yet, 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:28.440 it is an insane question, and I think even it 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:30.320 was worse than that. I think it was like, oh, 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:34.520 do you support Harris running for president? And twenty twenty eight? Yeah, 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:37.280 but it's a great if you're an interviewer trying to 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:39.960 get a viral moment, which is part I mean she is. 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:43.040 That's what she's doing, right, and that's what a lot 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:45.680 of people do when they're in this job. And he 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:50.080 said to her, I am laser focused on affordability, which 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:53.760 I think is the only way to answer that question 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:57.960 because it's not up to him, it's up to the midterms, 0:22:58.000 --> 0:23:01.200 it's up to primary voters, and honestly, who cares what 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:02.960 he thinks? What do you think about that? 0:23:03.359 --> 0:23:05.680 Well, to break apart the two parts of your question, 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:07.960 I frankly thought you were going to ask me about 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:10.240