WEBVTT - What Matters to AAPI Voters? 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:14.520 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to OKP Daily with me 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:19.040 your girl, Daniel Moody recording from the home bunker, folks. 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:25.080 So some global news to start out. First of all, 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:33.240 anytime that a news story leads with a helicopter crash 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:40.000 of an elected official in another country or frankly, in 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:46.440 this country, my eyebrows are always raised. And so apparently 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:55.560 Iran's president, Ibrahim Rasisi racy excuse me, was killed in 0:00:55.600 --> 0:01:02.680 a helicopter crash that had his helicopter crash against the mountains. 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:08.119 What is really interesting about this helicopter crash that would 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:13.440 kill who was going to replace the aging Ali Kamenni 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:21.240 in Iran? Really fascinating because Raci was presumed to be 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:27.600 the next leader, moving out of the way a other 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:32.399 successor who was you know, a family. 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:34.000 Related like a Nepo baby, if you will. 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:40.720 And now that this man has been killed, which is 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.920 what I'm going to say, it leaves the door wide 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:50.120 open for the other person that was in the running 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:58.760 to be the successor, which is Ali Kamenni's son, Moshtaba, 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:06.200 who is fifty who people didn't necessarily want his candidacy 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:11.840 because of what they termed monarchical succession right that it 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:13.560 shouldn't just go to. 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:18.240 A family member NEPO baby essentially. 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:23.440 And so now that the current president of Iran has 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:27.920 been killed in this helicopter crash, guess who has a 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:33.880 clear path to succeed his father. I'm just saying they 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:40.520 said that there were technical difficulties. I'm saying, okay, And folks, 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.560 the reason why I bring this up is because I 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:50.079 honestly think that more things like this will be happening 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:54.160 in the coming months, and I just kind of want 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.120 people to start to see the patterns of things that 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.919 are going to be happening. So let me switch gear 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:04.080 out of the Middle East for the moment and come. 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:06.000 Stateside to. 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:14.400 The place where Biden finds himself and Donald Trump finds himself. 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:17.160 So apparently Donald Trump was in the middle of his 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:21.120 speech where he completely glitched like Mitch McConnell for thirty 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:25.480 seconds and just like stopped talking and music was playing, 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:30.080 and then he finally got back into his thoughts. A 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:35.880 Twitter account that supports Biden retweeted and said, Glitchen Froze 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.000 clearly unfit for office. I mean, Donald Trump is unfit 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:42.200 for office in so many ways, but I will say 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:46.560 that the behavior that he has been exhibiting over the 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:51.400 last several months are alarming and should be. But of 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.640 course we'd rather focus on Biden's stutter. 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:58.080 Or you know, him being old, or what have you. 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.680 But we're not also putting the same end energy into 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.760 what our obvious trip ups that Donald Trump has been 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:08.000 having and should be raising alarms, but do not. Biden 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:15.800 spoke at Morehouse College over the weekend as a commencement speech. 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:21.719 Shenny talked about January sixth and drawing people's attention to 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.919 the fact that if January sixth insurrectionists had looked like 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.880 black people, can you imagine what would have happened? We 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.720 all don't have to really imagine. We see what happens 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.800 to unarmed black people on a regular basis, whether they're 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.160 playing on the playground, pulled over in their car, walking 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.719 down the street, standing in their backyard. We know exactly 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.160 what happens and exactly what would have happened. The steps 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.599 of the Capitol Building would have been covered in people's blood, 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:49.640 nor would they have even gotten that close to the 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:50.440 Capitol Building. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.920 So, you know, this commencement. 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.640 Speech, as well as other stops that Biden took over 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:00.160 the weekend is to gin up support in the Black 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:03.640 community where he is lagging. He is losing support, and 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:10.880 that support is dwindling because of his ironclad support for 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:16.640 genocide in Gaza. And frankly, the American people, whether they 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:20.200 are Black or latinax, young or old, are looking at 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:23.160 what is happening in Gaza and looking at this administration 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.159 continuing to send billions of dollars to net Niyaku, who 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.480 continues to embarrass this motherfucker on the Maid stage, and 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.480 Biden just says, yes, sir, can I have another? And 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.880 so these attempts at tough talk and painting pictures that 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.800 black people have long seen and no will it do 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.880 much to bolster his image and appearance in the black community. 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.760 I don't think so unless Joe Biden actually takes some 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.760 real action, and I have yet to see that. But 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.680 what I will continue to say is that if you 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.840 look at the actions that not just taken by Donald Trump, 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.760 but taken by red state governors around the country, whether 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:04.760 it just Glenn Youngkin in Virginia that vetoed legislation that 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:09.080 would you know, secure contraception for women and people with 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.600 uterses in the state of Virginia, whether it is you know, 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:17.279 Greg Abbott pardoning a white supremacist murderer, Daniel Perry, whether 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.799 it is Ron de Santis, you know, giving the green 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.240 light for vehicular homicide as it you know, pretends to 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:28.400 protesters in the streets, whether it is denying people access 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.240 to IVF in Alabama. We have to be able to 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:34.520 look at the full picture of what the Republicans are doing, 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:38.200 as Steve Bannon said, state by state and village by village, 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:42.880 and understand that if given Kart Blanche over the executive branch, 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.080 that all of these things that we are seeing pop 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.279 up state by state will in fact be nationalized. So 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.240 while I find it difficult to stomach what it is 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.840 that Biden is doing in Gazen, what he is using 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:58.520 our hard fought for dollars and sending them over to Israel, 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.080 I also know exactly what it is that the Republican 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.960 Party will do if they take control of the White House, 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.440 and what Donald Trump will do in the first one 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.160 hundred days, as outlined in Project twenty twenty five. So 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.960 as I continue to say, my friends, do not play 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:19.080 with your vote, because Republicans are not playing with your rights, 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:23.040 they're taking them away one by one. Coming up next 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:29.440 in my conversation is my interview with Varun Nekoor from 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:34.880 AAPI Victory Alliance to talk about the importance of AAPI 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:39.840 History Month and why it is important for us to 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:47.080 look more closely into this demographic that his organization represents 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:51.360 and where they are in the electorate. That conversation is 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:52.160 coming up. 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:57.960 Next, folks. 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.560 I am very excited to welcome back to wok F 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:08.440 Daily the executive director of AAPI Victory Alliance, Varunnicor. During 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:14.240 AAPI Heritage Month, which you know, I got to tell you, Varun, 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.240 it's a month that doesn't get the same amount of 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.560 play as a lot of us, as a lot of 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.720 other you know, it's like Black History Month, as Women's 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.800 History Month, like it just you know, so talk to 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:30.880 us about the importance of AAPI Heritage Month and what 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:34.880 you all have been focused on and are focusing on 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.240 at AAPI Victory Alliance. 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.960 It's a milestone. I don't think it was frankly on 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:44.240 the radar screen as you sort of alluded to of 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:49.360 most Americans until more recently. And we're obviously honored to 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:55.440 have this month to sort of celebrate our history, our accomplishments, 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.559 which I think very much lean to. I would say 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:03.560 the immigrant experience. And you know, I was I was 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.839 asked by someone the other day, in fact, what this 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:10.920 month meant to me and how sort of ordinary folks 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:14.200 could celebrate the month or think about the month. And 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.800 I responded by, well, first reflecting on it and then saying, 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.760 you know, I think you know, everyone has an immigrant 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:25.199 story in this country, whether forced or unforced of immigration, 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:29.520 and to just reflect on their immigrant experience, and then 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.720 from that, I think you can get connected to how 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:36.800 the vast majority of APIs today in this country sort 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:40.600 of live and breathe and work and sort of interface 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:41.280 in society. 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.520 You know, we know in our conversations that we've had 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.839 that the AAPI community is the fastest growing community in 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.720 the country, made up of so many different countries, so 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:59.240 many different ethnicities and cultures, and I oftentimes feel that 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:03.840 one the recognition of marginalized groups matter. But then I 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.559 sometimes think about the lumping in that we do that 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:12.360 doesn't allow for there to be more distinction between how 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:16.080 these different cultures and ethnicities and groups fit. And so 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.760 how do you tend to I guess the needs of 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:25.280 such a vast and diverse community with this umbrella right 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:27.559 of AAPI, I. 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:29.920 Think, and that's such a great point, you know. I 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:34.520 was actually looking just yesterday in fact, at sort of 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.079 all the countries of origin that make up the API population, 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:41.520 and it is staggering, right. If you look all the 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.960 way from the west, it includes you know, Iran, Afghanistan, 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.800 et cetera. To the east, you know, the Pacific Islands, 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:56.720 Hawaii to the north, the Mongolia to the south, Indonesia, 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.880 Sri Lanka, and everything in between, right, nations of origin, 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:05.480 hundreds of languages and dialects. And so I think the 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:09.440 best the way that we can lift up me as 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:14.440 I would say a privileged Indian American is to, is 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.840 to lift up those folks that we don't and countries 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.240 of origin that we talk about very often, right, like 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:26.800 Southeast Asians that have a completely different immigrant experience, being 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:32.840 largely refugees or folks displaced for more. Right. And then 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.679 you know, Persian Americans and Iranian Americans have their own history. 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.840 We don't see too many Indonesian Americans or Mongolians. But 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.360 I like to talk about it because I think that 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:46.000 I think one of the things that binds us all 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.640 as people is food, and so by going into restaurants 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.800 and sort of exploring, we get tied to the cultures 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.760 and connect to the people and just really realize not 0:11:55.800 --> 0:12:01.280 only how vast API as a community are, but how 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:04.000 we can all get maybe a little bit more in 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.080 tune to say, world geography, and how we can get 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.560 better connected as people, even in this country. And so 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.840 I feel, you know, I feel privileged, honestly to be 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.600 part of this larger family. It's like I feel like 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.600 I've got cousin in some place that I don't even 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:23.720 know it, and it's sort of it warms my heart 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.400 to think that, you know, I didn't create this term. 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.160 I probably wouldn't come up with another term had it 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:35.040 been me. But I will accept it fully and allow 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:40.040 myself to sort of explore all these nations and certainly 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:42.600 get a chance when i'm a little when I have 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:45.000 time to explore the countries themselves. 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:50.760 Right right, you know, with such a vast and rich community, 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:53.680 how do you go about And I know that I 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.960 ask you this, but particularly as we're heading towards, you know, 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:01.800 the most consequential election, I think of our lifetimes, how 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:06.079 do you part and parcel out what issues are most 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:11.880 affecting this very diverse population and how your community kind 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:17.479 of measures against with what, let's say the larger democratic priorities, 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:21.000 values and such are for this term. 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.920 It's so important that you're bringing this up because it 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.480 certainly requires research and polling, right, which is done in 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:31.320 politics every single day. Our community doesn't have the robust 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:36.720 amount of polling as say mainstream politics. But that being said, 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.600 when we are able to get access to research and 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:44.559 data on what is moving the AAPI electorate, and frankly, 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:47.040 we really have to segment it by the ethnicity to 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:52.200 know because certain ethnicities feel stronger or weaker on issues. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.920 But I'll give you one example. Gun violence, which is 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:57.800 one of the key issues that we're working on in 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:02.120 our community, has risen to the top. Some polls have 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.520 it number one as the number one issue going into 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.319 this election. So think about it for a second. This 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:10.880 is not an issue that was even in the top 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:15.120 ten three years ago, four years ago, and now it's 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.360 risen to number one, and we believe we've had a 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.600 little bit of data to back this up, but the 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:25.360 numbers started to really move in terms of the importance 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:29.160 of this issue after Uvaldi in Texas two and a 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.880 half years ago, and it was the intersection of historically 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:39.920 important theme and issue, education and schools right and the 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.680 fact that this was a shooting in an elementary school. 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.080 It really was the I would say that Netsu's point 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.640 for when the numbers started to rise in terms of 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.440 issue of importance, and we've seen similar parallels in the 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.240 Latino community as well. And that's not something you hear about. 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.040 I would say when you if you reading political news 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.080 or you're reading about you know, Biden Trump or the 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:08.080 fall matchup, is how far this issue has come. Now, 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.360 reproductive freedom is going to be front and center, part 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:16.080 and parcel like central to this election. And a sleeper issue, 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.720 I believe is it's going to be gun violence. And 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:23.400 these issues they don't get talked about in an election 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:27.760 without an impetus, without a push, just like the crime 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.040 narrative is being pushed very hard on the other side 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.800 right now that you know Democrats and the left or 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.880 weak on crime, frankly, they're making that up. But the 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:42.760 core of the issue for our community is gun violence. 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.120 And if we decide to put some money behind this 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.960 messaging and this narrative, I think that we can win 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.160 on this issue as well. And I believe once again 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:55.200 that this is a once in a fifty year, once 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.640 in one hundred year opportunity when you have two very 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:03.440 galvanizing issues like the basic rights that women have had 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:07.400 in this country for fifty years just taken away, as 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.320 well as gun violence. And I think a lot of 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:14.800 API's view view gun violence in the frame of crime, 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.160 and so it may not be the winner issue that 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.400 the Republicans are I think, really trying to hit us on. 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:21.320 They're going to view it in the issue in the 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.520 framework of gun violence, and they're losing on that issue. 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.920 And I like this issue specifically because the Republicans don't 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.480 have a message right now. They don't even have a response. 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.240 They decided that they don't even want to respond at 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.360 least on reproductive's freedoms. They're kind of trying to figure 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.360 out what the magic number of weeks that might be 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:44.240 palatable to restrict amortionis. Right, it's like pick a dart 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:49.320 and choose on gun violence. They've chose to unilaterally disarm. 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:51.360 And I like that political equation. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:17:00.400 From a math perspective, I wonder too as a tains 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.160 to gun violence. I mean, the you know, community was 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:07.040 visited upon right by a mass shooting. You know, god, 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.920 what was it, maybe three or four years ago at 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.640 this point, And I wonder that since that time, coupled 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:18.359 with the UVALDI and that being you know, children being targeted, 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.440 you know, has there also been a rise or would 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.919 your polling show in gun ownership like because you know, 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:29.040 on both sides as violence, you know, escalates when it 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:33.359 is directed towards a particular community, like the AAPI community. 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:38.439 Both people want gun reform, right, but then they also 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:41.840 tend to actually go ahead and purchase guns. So what 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:44.240 is what does that look like for you? Well, what 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:46.080 have you seen in your research? 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:52.480 So we went from being the demographic with the least 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.640 amount of gun ownership now on a per capita basis 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:00.600 one of the fastest growing communities of guns. And it 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:05.679 all started, frankly, with this cycle that really started with 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:10.960 Donald Trump and his spewing of vicious rhetoric and hatred 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:15.479 that led to sort of the next part of this 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.800 was that it led to mass acts of hate and 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:24.719 violence all across the nation, and correspondingly, it led to 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:30.040 the direct marketing by the NRA because they saw their 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.879 gun sales started to Flatten in the latter half of 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.760 the Trump years, and they were looking for new markets. 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.880 They said, hey, in the Asian American community, they've got 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:42.680 high net worth income, they've got high incomes, they're low ownership. 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.600 And they started marketing in all their magazines and doing 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:51.639 some advertisements essentially towards the API community. So we responded 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:55.119 in kind by buying guns now at very high rates. 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:58.960 And now where we are, and everyone knew this was 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:02.280 going to happen, that we have some of the highest 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:07.200 suicide by gun rates in the country. Sixty of all 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.439 the suicides that happened in the APAC community are suicide 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:15.720 by gun. Right, So we also know that by any measure, 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.960 that when a gun is in the home, that it 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:25.119 leads to a number of negative consequences intentional homicide, accidental death, 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:30.240 accidental injury, intimate partner violence, all of that. And so 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.600 this is what it's led to. And it started with 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.280 the vicious rhetoric, and I would say sort of the 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:40.280 white supremacist frankly, the white supremacist elements of not only 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.760 the NRA, but I would say the gun industry. They 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:47.000 use this and they capitalize on the sphere, and we 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.360 respond because we think this is the only way we're 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:51.720 going to be able to protect ourselves and our protect 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:52.360 our families. 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:55.919 I mean that, And you're right, as you had opened 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:59.000 up with saying the vicious cycle, right, because the more 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:02.359 gun violence that we experience, then the more that people 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:05.040 are triggered in their mind that, well, there's so much 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:07.280 gun violence. Now I need a gun because I need 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:11.000 to protect myself because clearly I'm not protected, right. And 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.080 the more that your community is targeted, then the more 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.080 that you you know, you feel inclined to want to 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.120 go kind of run in that direction, which is really 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.600 terrifying because what we know is that the NRA, you know, 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:27.200 prides itself off of operating out out of chaos. Right. 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.360 The more chaos and devastation that there is, the more 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:35.680 that they see sales opportunities as we too. You know, 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:38.800 you talk about gun violence being a top issue, you 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:40.159 talk about abortion. 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:43.359 Where does democracy fall? 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:44.000 Right? 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:50.000 We know that, right, the Biden campaign made democracy the 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:53.520 center of this campaign. We have to save our freedom, 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.040 save our rights. But some people have said it's two 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.119 up twos, right, what does that actually mean? And so 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:03.280 when you're looking at the issues that are our most 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:06.440 top of mind for the folks that you represent, where 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:09.639 does that fall and how and how did how does 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:13.679 the messaging around democracy actually hit them? 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.680 Ranks very high, and I think with the right messenger 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:22.080 and the right message, we can turn out people on 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:26.840 this issue. And the fact that I think many Asian 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:33.760 Americans saw January sixth as sort of this call to 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:38.800 action at a very sort of you know, personal personal 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:42.200 DNA level, because a lot of the countries that they 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:46.879 left APIs had left either did not have democracy or 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.600 did not have democracy in the forum that America represented 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:55.880 and was founded upon. And so when they saw that 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:59.840 insurrection happened before their very eyes, when they saw these 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:07.920 frankly traders, these treasonous acts go on, they you know, collectively, 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:15.800 were impacted. And I think this election will be very 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:19.040 pivotal on a number of levels. We'll get a chance 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:23.439 soon to see, you know, how America as a whole, 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.879 as a collective is going to you know, decide to 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:30.359 vote people in or people out based upon the issues 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:34.479 of the day. Democracy is very much an undercurrent of that. 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:38.000 Of course, there's the single issues like gun violence and 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:41.720 reproductive freedoms that are going to be I would say 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:45.320 a response if polsters ask people. But the subtext is 0:22:45.359 --> 0:22:48.960 going to be very much like which president or which 0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:53.359 a legislator is going to preserve America or try to 0:22:53.880 --> 0:23:00.600 wreck America or reshape America to their own, say, fascist ideals. Right. 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:02.720 That's really what this is coming down. 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:04.879 To, you know, And I think, Wow, you made a 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:08.159 point that I hadn't thought about, which is that a 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:12.760 lot of folks inside of the AAPI community come from 0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:17.840 countries that don't have democracy, right. And I think that again, 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:22.560 a really important voice and messenger right of people who 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:26.840 can testify firsthand as to what it is like to 0:23:26.920 --> 0:23:31.280 live inside of a country that doesn't give you know, 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:36.639 women a voice, right, that doesn't recognize LGBTQ people, that 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:40.480 doesn't you know, certify a vote. You know, I think 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:44.320 that that is really important to uplift that a community 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:47.879 of immigrants means coming from countries that were in some 0:23:48.040 --> 0:23:50.720 ways worse off than the United States in terms of 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:53.600 how their governments function. And don't want to see that 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:54.920 backslide here. 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:55.919 You know. 0:23:56.160 --> 0:24:00.840 I wonder too, again, as we are a handful months away, 0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:04.359 if you were to give a directive right to the 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:09.840 Biden campaign in terms of how they invigorate right, the 0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:15.080 AAPI community, how they engage and inspire the AAPI community 0:24:15.119 --> 0:24:17.080 to come out in robust numbers. 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:18.480 What would you say? 0:24:19.119 --> 0:24:22.639 I would say, start talking about the issues that really 0:24:22.800 --> 0:24:27.600 matter to the American people outside of just the economy. 0:24:28.440 --> 0:24:31.600 I think there's been way too much emphasis on the 0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:36.359 economy when the data points in other elections prior to 0:24:36.840 --> 0:24:41.160 this coming November has been that, yes, jobs are important, 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:44.719 the economy is important, Inflation is important. Right, every single 0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:48.520 poll has that as the number one or number two issue. 0:24:48.560 --> 0:24:53.119 But this administration, I believe in my bones, has so 0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:58.080 much accomplishments that they don't talk about. They have moved 0:24:58.119 --> 0:25:02.879 the needle more on gun violence than any administration in 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:05.840 modern times. I would say, since the assault weapons ban 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:09.960 in the Clinton administration. But they don't they don't talk 0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:12.000 about it. They need to get out there and spend 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:15.440 millions of dollars messaging on this because it will move 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:18.640 the needle. And they talk about climate, but they talk 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:21.680 about climate in a business frame. You know, they're out 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:24.840 there with hard, hard hats and shovels. We opened up 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:28.600 a new microchip plant, or we've you know, set up 0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:33.240 a new solar factory, or uh, you know, windmill and all. 0:25:33.280 --> 0:25:35.359 That's important. People care, but they need to know how 0:25:35.359 --> 0:25:37.800 it's going to affect their daily lives. And I'm not 0:25:37.840 --> 0:25:40.800 sure that connection has been made quite yet. They're getting there, 0:25:40.880 --> 0:25:43.520 they're I think they're doing a much better job than 0:25:43.560 --> 0:25:45.639 they have, but I think they need to be talking 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:49.400 more about those bread and butter issues, you know that 0:25:49.800 --> 0:25:52.600 folks can connect with, right, I'm not sure they're going 0:25:52.680 --> 0:25:56.760 to connect with you know, Biden necessarily with the visual 0:25:56.840 --> 0:25:58.840 of of him and a hard hat. They're going to 0:25:58.880 --> 0:26:02.320 connect with him like in a Chipotle talking to people, 0:26:02.600 --> 0:26:06.280 talking to line workers and talking to customers, you know, 0:26:06.400 --> 0:26:08.879 about the issues that matter, like how much has the 0:26:08.880 --> 0:26:11.840 price of guacamole gone up? And why has that happened? 0:26:12.000 --> 0:26:14.040 And how what I've done to make it go down 0:26:14.080 --> 0:26:17.840 and stabilized prices. That's I think, you know, where he 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:20.600