1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: today's best minds. And Joe Manchin says he may run 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: for president in twenty twenty four, even though it chose 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: he will hand the election to Trump. We have such 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: a fun show for you. Today, we'll talk to Democratic 7 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: primary candidate for governor of Montana, Ryan Bussy about how 8 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: Democrats can win in red states. Then, live from this 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: weekend's Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas, we will talk 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: to the Washington Post Jason Resian on imprisoned journalists and 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: he knows because he was imprisoned in an Iranian prison 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,239 Speaker 1: for five hundred and forty four days. But first we 13 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: have Arizona Congressman Ruben Diego on his Senate run. Hello 14 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: Ruben gayegout, Hello Molly, I haven't seen you in such 15 00:00:58,840 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: a long time. 16 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 2: Actually haven't seen you in a long time. 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I do think we've everd in As the kids say, 18 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:05,479 Speaker 3: we haven't been in IRL in a while, right. 19 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: We haven't, but we saw each other like a congressional 20 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:09,919 Speaker 1: d something fancy. 21 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 2: Welcome to Fast Politics. 22 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 4: Welcome back. They get the treatment fly. 23 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: So you're running for the Senate in Arizona. Discuss, Well, 24 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: it's going great. 25 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 3: We kicked off about nine months ago and already we've 26 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 3: you know, gone through the state up and down a 27 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 3: couple of times to you know, the red states, red 28 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 3: parts of the state, the bluest parts of the state, 29 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 3: the states have been ignored, some of the hardest places 30 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 3: to get to, like the Navajo Nation. Really, it's just 31 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 3: been great meeting people and meaning people that remind me 32 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 3: of me, Like and I what I, you know, wanted 33 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 3: in elected officials when I was struggling to you know, 34 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 3: figure out how to pay for school or trying to 35 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 3: figure out how to help my family. And what we're 36 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 3: hearing is a lot of people out there are excited 37 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 3: about this campaign. Is they finally feel that there's someone 38 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 3: running that understands what they're going through right now. 39 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: One of the things I want to talk to you 40 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: about was you were an infantryman, like that. I have 41 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: a kid, Darwin, who's a Republican. Hopefully that he'll that 42 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: he'll grow out of maybe not, but he's like obsessed 43 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: with being an officer. 44 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 2: Explain to us you went into the army sort of 45 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 2: the American dream. 46 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 4: Sure Marines. 47 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 3: First of all, mari Marines take that very special. I 48 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 3: joined the Marines because I wanted to give service back 49 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 3: to my country. Yeah, this is before nine to eleven. 50 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,519 Speaker 3: You know, I'm the son of immigrants. I was able to, 51 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 3: you know, really lived the American dream, go to college 52 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,519 Speaker 3: on scholarships, everything else. I felt, especially as you know, 53 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 3: the son of an immigrant, that I owed something to 54 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 3: the country, right, and as a young man at that 55 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 3: point that what I knew I could do was service, right, 56 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 3: and and I didn't. 57 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,079 Speaker 4: I never looked for war, never wanted war. 58 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 3: I figured, you know what I could what I can 59 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 3: do is I could be a reservist, a Marine Corps reservist, 60 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 3: and if something comes up then the country to do 61 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 3: a course, then then I'll go to war whatever they 62 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:55,679 Speaker 3: want me to do. 63 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 4: So that's what it. 64 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 3: I just went signed up. I wanted to be in 65 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 3: the infantry because if you're going to join the Marines, 66 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 3: might as well been the infantry. If not, then you know, 67 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 3: go there for it's just something else. And I like 68 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 3: the challenge. You know, it's tough. You know, for those 69 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 3: that are Marine Corps infantrymen, they'll tell you the training 70 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 3: and stuff, and even when you're in it's still tough. 71 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 3: But the most important thing for me was I was 72 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 3: I was, you know, returning service to my country. Now, 73 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 3: unfortunately I got sent into Iraq, which a war that 74 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 3: I disagreed with, and even there was even worse in 75 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 3: terms of what happened with my men and me. 76 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 2: And you lost a lot of your battalion, lost. 77 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 3: My best friends, we lost a lot of in my company, 78 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 3: we lost about twenty four marines. One third of everyone's 79 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 3: either killed or wounded in that my company, it's a 80 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 3: company base out of Lima Company three twenty five, Ohio. 81 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 3: But you know, if people asked me, like would you 82 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 3: do it again? Like absolutely do it again. Not because 83 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 3: I like war, not because I even enjoyed that, but 84 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 3: also I could not imagine not being with my men. 85 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 3: I could not imagine not being there to do the 86 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 3: things I did to make sure they stayed alive, or 87 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 3: the opposite that they kept me alive. And I you know, 88 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 3: as much as I still carry the wounds of war, 89 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 3: I still have PTSD. 90 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 4: I'll have that for the rest of my life. I 91 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 4: don't regret my my service to the country. 92 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 2: And you raised your siblings too, I mean like I 93 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 2: got to get pay in my mouth. I helped yourself. 94 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 5: She's like that. 95 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 3: But you know, Mom, I had a single mom and 96 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 3: she had a job. Got blessed her. She had a 97 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 3: job and she had to work. And you know, when 98 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 3: you have four kids, the only way you make it 99 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 3: through that when you're poor is when you all pull together. 100 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 3: And so once my father kind of stepped out of 101 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,600 Speaker 3: the picture, I had to come to the realization that 102 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 3: I had to, as we say, you had to step 103 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 3: up through the man of the house and being in 104 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 3: being an Latino family. 105 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 4: So that's what I did. 106 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 3: I had to be like a father figure and a 107 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 3: brother and a big brother, and so I had to 108 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 3: do a lot of the stuff that I when you're 109 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 3: at the age of fourteen that most men boys, they 110 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 3: take on a little more responsibility than I think most 111 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,279 Speaker 3: boys are used to. And in some regard it probably 112 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 3: was helpful for me because I had to skip stupid 113 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 3: teenage shit, because I had to make sure that I 114 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 3: couldn't mess up, I couldn't get arrested. 115 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,160 Speaker 4: I couldn't like go out and party. I had to 116 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 4: take care of my sisters. 117 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I had to go to work, I had to 118 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 3: get good grades, like all these things that just I 119 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 3: could not I did not have the luxury of doing. 120 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 3: And you know that really kind of it's say, molded 121 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 3: me for a while, but more importantly it me and 122 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 3: my family's life easier, right, And that's you know, that 123 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 3: was the whole But I guess my whole mentality as 124 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 3: a young man then was like I just didn't want 125 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 3: to be a burden to the family because there. 126 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 4: Was just a lot going on right now. 127 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: So one of the things that Democrats are struggling right now, 128 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: and I was actually talking to Ron Brownstein about this, 129 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: and I was talking as upholstered Ben Tulchin about that, 130 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 1: is that Democrats are having trouble winning Latino voters. 131 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 2: And that is a really important block here. 132 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 1: You are very successful Latino congressional candidate finger on the pulse, 133 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: tell us what we're doing, what they are doing, what 134 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: we're doing wrong. 135 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 3: Well, I'll tell you this, Like Democrats look at the 136 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 3: Latina vote and they think about them in the last 137 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 3: two months of an election, right instead of thinking about 138 00:05:57,720 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 3: them throughout the whole year. 139 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 4: And what does that mean? Like, yeah, you should start 140 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 4: running campaign commercials earlier, but. 141 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 3: Also you should be going on the Luniviton, telemundos and 142 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 3: the radio stations, am rail stations, and you should be 143 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 3: talking to them ahead of time about what you're doing 144 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 3: and why you're doing it. When we talk about Democrats 145 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 3: representing the working class, Latinos are working class, right. The 146 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 3: wealth of a Latinos decided about how many hours they work. 147 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 3: That's something that we forget, right. And a lot of 148 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 3: the politicians that go and talk to Latinos are very 149 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,599 Speaker 3: well spirited, they want to be helpful, but they don't 150 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 3: truly understand, right, they don't understand how excited you get 151 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 3: when you get overtime. Right For some people, especially like 152 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 3: a lot of constituents of the Democrats, you know, they're 153 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 3: salary workers. 154 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 4: They don't get overtime. 155 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 3: They're all salary, right, Like Latinos sometimes survive or not 156 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 3: survive whether they get enough overtime, they financially survive. And 157 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 3: so when we're talking to them, and actually when we're 158 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 3: drawing and creating policies, we need to remember that. 159 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 2: Right. 160 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 3: So why does a minimum wage increase matter? Well, the 161 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 3: difference between fifteen dollars an hour and nineteen dollars now 162 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 3: is huge, right, Whether you're going to be poverty or 163 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 3: successful if you're going to be able to have affordable healthcare, 164 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 3: huge child tax credit. 165 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: Right, I was about to ask you about the child 166 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: Are you hearing from people on the ground you're going 167 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: through Arizona? 168 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 2: Are you hearing people missing that child tax credit? 169 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 4: Absolutely they are. 170 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 3: And the fact that we don't talk about it, we don't, 171 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 3: you know, like I talk about it, acknowledge I'm on 172 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 3: my camera because like number one, if you want to 173 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 3: be Latino, it's always great to be pro family. 174 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 4: There's nothing more pro. 175 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 3: Family than a child tax man, a child and financial stability. Right, 176 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 3: there's nothing more stressful to a family. It's unfortunately someone 177 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 3: that grew up in a household with financial shows there's 178 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 3: nothing that you know, can really tear a part of 179 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 3: family more than trying to figure out where are the 180 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 3: next shoes going to drop? And that's what a lot 181 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 3: of people are feeling a lot of Latinos are feeling 182 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 3: right now. They just don't know what's going to happen next, 183 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 3: Like is my car going to bust? And if that 184 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 3: car bust, can I pay? You know, I'm not gonna 185 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 3: be able to get to work. Am I going to 186 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 3: be able to pay rent. I mean, it's all these 187 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 3: things that's right, that's being that's being important. They're living 188 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 3: that experience. Yeah, And the problem is that it's not 189 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 3: that they haven't lived that experience, but right now they 190 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 3: don't actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. 191 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 4: And so that's even more just stressing. 192 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 3: Like when ye as bad as things were when I 193 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 3: was growing up, you know, like my first bad and 194 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 3: I think seven or eight years was my college bad. 195 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 3: My dormer bed, and I remember always thinking, like, you 196 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 3: know what, just suck it up, put your head down, 197 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 3: keep going. This will all get better, right. I can't imagine, well, 198 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 3: I can't imagine what these families are feeling right now. 199 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 3: Like wait, I got to keep working and working and 200 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 3: working and nothing changes, right. That is that is I 201 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 3: think you know that that is so psychologically damaging and 202 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 3: it has an effect, and there's a reason why there's 203 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 3: a lot of working class people that are giving up 204 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 3: on Democrats, but I was just giving up in general, 205 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 3: and Latinos aren't exempt from that. 206 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: Do you think that the child tax credit, like Cinema 207 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: was one of the people who was instrumental in having 208 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: that fail, And you know, whittling down the Yeah Inflation 209 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: Reduction Act. If you were elected Senator from Arizona, you 210 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: would be a progressive vote. 211 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 3: I would absolutely be pushing the child tax credit right away. 212 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 3: I can't lay the ending of child tax credit entirely 213 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 3: on cinema right now, But what I can't lay in 214 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 3: the fact is like, when there was a time to fight, 215 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:19,839 Speaker 3: she chose to fight for hedge fund managers and private 216 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 3: equity managers to get their tax supole instead of saying, 217 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 3: you know what, I'm going to fight to bring the 218 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 3: child tax credit. That's where her priorities are so messed 219 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,959 Speaker 3: up that instead of fighting for those that need it, 220 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 3: the people that desperately need just a little help and 221 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 3: just want to succeed, she went to help those that 222 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 3: are already doing very, very well. 223 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,599 Speaker 4: And that's the diers between me and her, Like, the 224 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 4: people that need. 225 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 3: The child trade are not gonna be my afterthought, They're 226 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 3: gonna be my only thought. 227 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 2: Why do you think she was a progressive original? 228 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 4: I look, it's not my place to psychoanalyze her. 229 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 2: We'll do that later on. 230 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:55,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, what do we know is when we're out there 231 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 3: talking to voters, they are done with hers they want 232 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 3: someone that's going to fight for them. They want someone 233 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 3: that they feel is answerable, that talks to them, someone 234 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 3: that's understanding what they're going through. And that's that's all 235 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 3: we have to do. And at the end of the day, 236 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 3: we continue where we are in this campaign, continue having 237 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 3: those conversations. We're gonna win. And you know, it doesn't 238 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 3: matter who's running. 239 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 2: That's so important and good. What does your campaign look like? 240 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 1: Now? 241 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:21,079 Speaker 2: What's next for you? 242 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 3: You know, we're continue to go where we are. We've 243 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 3: built out a great team. We have more than one 244 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 3: hundred and twenty thousand individual donors. Average donation is thirty bucks. 245 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,199 Speaker 3: If you want to give money, go diego for Arizona 246 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 3: dot com please. But we're gonna continue, you know, going 247 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 3: out and meeting voters. A couple of weeks ago, I 248 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 3: drove six hours to the Navajo Nation Fair, you know, 249 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 3: picked up my son after after school. I'm eventually going 250 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 3: to work a policy on school pickup, school drop off, 251 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 3: because that's mayhem, as you know aware. 252 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:51,559 Speaker 4: Yeah, so it was. 253 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:53,959 Speaker 3: It's actually a five hour drive. It was forty five 254 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 3: minutes to get out of the school. But we drove 255 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 3: up there, got to gallop New Mexico, checked into La 256 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 3: Quinta in at eleven am and woke up five am 257 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 3: and drove an hour, another hour and a half to 258 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,719 Speaker 3: the novel Nation Fair, and we proceeded to shake, you know, 259 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 3: thousands of hands and introduce ourselves to that community because 260 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 3: they vote and they deserve representation. 261 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:16,959 Speaker 2: And they vote yeah Democrat. 262 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 3: And we were the only Senate campaign that was there. 263 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 3: And so that's the kind of attitude we're going to have. 264 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 3: We're going to be moving around the whole state. You know, 265 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 3: red red parts, been in red parts of towns and 266 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 3: red parts. We had our townhalls and blue parts gone 267 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 3: to the rural areas. We've gone to the Native areas, 268 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:32,439 Speaker 3: and we're just going to keep going. 269 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:34,559 Speaker 2: Ruben Diego, thank you. 270 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 4: Yes. 271 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: Ryan Bussy is the author of Gunfight and a Democratic 272 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:50,079 Speaker 1: candidate for governor of Montana. Welcome back to Fast Politics. 273 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 6: Ryan, It's so good to be with you. 274 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 7: Molly. 275 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: So you're running for governor of the great State of 276 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: Montana as a Democrat because you've been on this podcast before, 277 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:06,439 Speaker 1: you've written a book, you are a friend of the Pods. 278 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 5: Jesse is obsessed with you in a good way. 279 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: In a good way. In a good and totally healthy way. 280 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: Tell us your backstory and how you have gotten to 281 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: this decision. 282 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 6: Thanks Molly. I grew up on a ranch, very rural ranch, 283 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 6: long ways from any pavement. A lot of the best 284 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 6: times in my life were spent with guns in a 285 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,839 Speaker 6: healthy way. I think a lot of Democrats across the 286 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 6: country struggle to understand the cultural connection to guns. For 287 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 6: so many people across the country, well, I was one 288 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 6: of those kids. I grew up hunting and shooting with 289 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 6: my dad and my grandfather. I eventually got in the 290 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 6: firearms industry. It was kind of like a dream job 291 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 6: for me. And then I figured out that I was 292 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,079 Speaker 6: inside the industry that was helping radicalize the country. So 293 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 6: the good parts for me of firearms ownership were being 294 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 6: used and twisted into what I think became trump Ism. 295 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:52,319 Speaker 6: I wrote a book about that. I was in the 296 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 6: firearms industry for twenty five years, but I wrote a 297 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 6: book about that. That's why you and I have chatted before. 298 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 6: And I'm highly critical of obviouslyized Republican politics. And I've 299 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 6: been a Democrat for a long time, and I think 300 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:06,839 Speaker 6: we have to stand up and save the democracy. 301 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 2: So here we are so let's talk about. 302 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: What your what Montana looks like right now. You have 303 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: a Democratic senator running for reelection. You're very small state, 304 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: but a very red state. 305 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't think it's as red as people think 306 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 6: it is. Obviously, we have Senator John Tester. A lot 307 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 6: of people know him, three finger dirt farmer right. He's 308 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,839 Speaker 6: a good guy and a good friend. But we have 309 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 6: a very libertarian, kind of populist purple history in our state. 310 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 6: Until just a few years ago, both of our senators 311 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 6: were Democrats. We had sixteen years of Democratic gubernatorial rule. 312 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,599 Speaker 6: So I just don't think it's as red as it 313 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 6: looks like. And I think, frankly, I think Democrats have 314 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 6: kind of lost the ability to communicate with working folks. 315 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,199 Speaker 6: And I grew up as one of those folks, you know. 316 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 6: I grew up on the ranch and in sale barns 317 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 6: and driving tractors. It's time we figure out how to 318 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,679 Speaker 6: win again, and that's what I'm going to do. 319 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:08,079 Speaker 1: So let's talk about blue governors winning in red states. 320 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: Because from Kentucky's Andy Baschard to Kansas to right Laura 321 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: Kelly to Pennsylvania not as red. But I wonder if 322 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: this phenomenon is todd. We see red governors experimenting with 323 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: their states, and they're pretty repressive rules. If you look 324 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: at Florida and Texas, I mean, do you think that 325 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: helps Democrats? 326 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 6: They are experimenting, right, I mean, and it's borderline fascist, 327 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 6: if not over the line fascist. This governor believes that 328 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 6: humans and dinosaurs co existed and that humans basically farmed dinosaurs. 329 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: Wait, heylo, Hello, humans farmed dinosaurs. 330 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 6: Yes, he's funded one of his pet projects, so to speak, 331 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 6: is he funded a creation museum that shows humans and 332 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 6: coexisting with t rex is out in the back forty 333 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 6: and I'm not making this up. He has funded quite 334 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 6: aggressively gay conversion therapy. I mean, you know, we want 335 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 6: to take every gay kid in the country and convert 336 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 6: them into something that they're not. I mean, it's detestable. 337 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 6: I don't know how to check off all the really horrific. Look, 338 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 6: they want to completely upend abortion in a women's right 339 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 6: to choose here, a women's right to choose our own healthcare. 340 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 6: We have a right to privacy written into our constitution, 341 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 6: which is a beautiful thing. But they literally want to 342 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 6: call a constitutional convention to rip that out. Of our constitution. 343 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 6: And so you're right, Republican weirdos and radicals across the 344 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 6: country are trying to do things on a statewide basis. 345 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 6: They're reprehensible. And if we run the right candidates and 346 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 6: run to win, and if Democrats stand up and really 347 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 6: espouse our values instead of being ashamed of them, which 348 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 6: I think sometimes often happens, we can win these people back. 349 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 6: I can tell you you know, reasonable Republicans are very 350 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 6: worried about how far off the rails this thing is going. 351 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: So how do you run in a state like Montana. 352 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: You are on the ground talking to people, what are 353 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: they saying? 354 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 6: If you haven't watched it, you should. It's on Twitter. 355 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 6: My launch video has been viewed over a million times, 356 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 6: which is amazing. But we run just like the people 357 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 6: we are right. I'm not some buttoned down coastal democrat. 358 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 6: I'm not some attorney. I grew up on a ranch. 359 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 6: I love to hunt and shoot with my boys. The 360 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 6: video shows us shooting targets with despicable policies on them. 361 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 5: We are who we are. 362 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 6: We lean into freedom. I don't understand how Republicans have 363 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 6: embraced both the word freedom and then all of these 364 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 6: politicians who want to rip their freedoms from them. It's craziness. 365 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 6: And so I think Democrats have to stand up and 366 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 6: give the stark contrast, force the choice, because the choice, 367 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 6: I mean it is, we're staring down the barrel of 368 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 6: fascism here, and that's how I think we run. And 369 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 6: I guess I most often am going to run as 370 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 6: a Democrat who cares about winning, because winning this election 371 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 6: against these sorts of Republicans it's a dire situation. 372 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, when you talk to people, though, like what are 373 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: they the most concerned about? 374 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 6: Well, we've interestingly enough here and here's a path the victory. 375 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 6: I know some of your listeners might think, oh, yeah, 376 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 6: how are we going to win this? But these Republicans 377 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 6: are so arrogant that the first thing they did with 378 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 6: a two point eight billion dollar surplus in this state 379 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 6: is gave it away to big corporations and tax breaks 380 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 6: for the wealthy. And then they were foolish enough to 381 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 6: institute a huge tax increase on every single Montana homeowner. 382 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,919 Speaker 6: Right when have you heard this? Republicans? What have they 383 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 6: always said, we won't raise taxes we want Well they did. 384 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 6: They raised taxes on every single homeowner and Montana's are 385 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 6: pissed off about it. Lots of Republicans are pissed off 386 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 6: about it, and that has opened the door to them saying, 387 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 6: wait a second, we're just being lied to. Yes, yes 388 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,120 Speaker 6: you are. There really is a huge path to victory here. 389 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 6: It's important though. This guy is a self under He 390 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 6: flies around in his own private jets two thousand bucks 391 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 6: an hour. You can't run a single Beterom apartment in 392 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 6: Bozeman for two thousand bucks a month, but he flies 393 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 6: around in a two thousand dollars an hour private jet. 394 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 6: He's totally detached from the people. He's going to fund 395 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 6: his own campaign. We're going to have to do it 396 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 6: little pieces at a time, but we're going to do it. 397 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: What are the most important things that you feel like 398 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: people in Montana want from their governor? I mean, what 399 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: are the things like do they want rural hospitals? I mean, 400 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: what are the sort of needs in Montana? 401 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 6: Molly, what's happened here? And it just happened here on 402 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 6: steroids and this is you know, Montana is an important state. 403 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 6: I know you said we're small, We're a big geographic state, 404 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,399 Speaker 6: but we're one point one million people. I know that 405 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 6: sounds small, not. 406 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: As small as Wyoming. 407 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 6: Right, that's right, but we play a big, outsize role 408 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 6: in national politics. 409 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: Right. 410 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 6: There's famous TV shows as you know, John Betton running 411 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 6: for governor there on Yellowstone, there's Montana is really important 412 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,680 Speaker 6: to people. And what's happened here is just good governance, 413 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,400 Speaker 6: good basic governance from our state government, which is what's 414 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 6: supposed to happen. Fiscal responsibility, staying out of people's lives, 415 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 6: not ripping apart our right to privacy or our right 416 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 6: to a clean and healthful environment that's in our constitution. 417 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,199 Speaker 6: Keeping weirdos out of women's doctors' offices, trying to tell 418 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 6: them what they can do with their bodies. It's really 419 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 6: about that. It's also about keeping equal opportunity in public schools. 420 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,679 Speaker 6: These people want to trash our public schools and they 421 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 6: want to create this kind of Betsy Devas for profit 422 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 6: education network, and that's going to leave tons and tons 423 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 6: of kids out in the open, you know, without good schooling. 424 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 6: So they're defunding that, they're letting real health care fall apart. 425 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 6: We are a rural state, yeah, we have, I mean 426 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 6: we call it three or four cities, but they're not 427 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 6: cities in the way you guys think our cities. Our 428 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 6: rural healthcare across the eastern two thirds of our state 429 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 6: is falling apart. Why because GM Forte doesn't care about that. 430 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 6: He flies over that in his jet. 431 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: You know, do you think that like there is a 432 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 1: sort of libertarian play for Democrats, right, because, like the 433 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,160 Speaker 1: this new Republican party is very involved, and like if 434 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:07,360 Speaker 1: you look at these Republican governors, you look at DeSantis 435 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: de Santis or Abbott in Texas has a bounty hunter 436 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: thing he's trying to do when it comes to abortion. 437 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: So do you think there's a play to pick up 438 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: those libertarians? 439 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 6: Yeah, you know libertarians in the state of Montana, we 440 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 6: are in a lot of ways a libertarian minded state. 441 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:29,439 Speaker 6: We're a live and let live state. We always have been. 442 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 6: I know, it seems to people like it's the wild 443 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,200 Speaker 6: wild West out here. We respect our neighbors. This bunch 444 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,120 Speaker 6: wants to make us hate our neighbors because apparently who 445 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 6: they love or who they want to be, how is 446 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,119 Speaker 6: that freedom or liberty they want to be in you know, 447 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,120 Speaker 6: people's bedrooms, which kind of freaks me out a little 448 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 6: bit when you look at greg Ganfote's kind of forced 449 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,120 Speaker 6: weird smile. I think about him being in bedrooms. It's 450 00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 6: a bit strange to me. They want to take away 451 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 6: the liberty of women to make their own health care choices. 452 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 6: They want to take away the liberty that comes from 453 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 6: a good public school edge Oca, you know, the liberty 454 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 6: to make your own way. Yeah, there's a libertarian play. 455 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 6: You know, these radical Republicans that have leaned on this 456 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 6: word liberty or freedom and then do exactly the opposite, 457 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 6: just like you said, DeSantis or Texas Friends or here 458 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 6: in Montana. There's nothing libertarian about it. So, yeah, there 459 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 6: is a libertarian play. 460 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: So let's talk about what your primary looks like. 461 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 6: My primary looks pretty good right now because I'm running 462 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 6: a general campaign. I'm running against Janfote from day one. 463 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: Yeah. One of the great friends of this podcast is 464 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: my friend Amanda from Run for Something, and she talks 465 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,360 Speaker 1: about how important it is the Democrats run in red 466 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:41,200 Speaker 1: states and that even if they don't win, which again, 467 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,919 Speaker 1: there's no evidence to support the idea that you won't win, 468 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: right because you do have a Democratic senator on the ticket, 469 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: which also helps. And also you have Jane Forte who 470 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: has a history. I mean, do you want to talk 471 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: a little bit about his history. 472 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 6: Well, I don't know how many governors, Well, actually I 473 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 6: do know how many governors have body slammery play order 474 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 6: for asking him about healthcare. 475 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 4: It's one. 476 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 6: It's this one. Ben Jacob just says, hey, can you 477 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 6: tell me about healthcare? And gim Forte flips out and 478 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 6: literally starts beating the hell out of him while there's 479 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 6: Fox News reporters in the room, and then lies about it, 480 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 6: and then the believe me if the Fox News reporters 481 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 6: are saying you're wrong. The Fox News reporters then said, no, 482 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 6: he's lying about it. He really did body slam the guy. 483 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 6: That kind of tells you the sort of unbelievable arrogance 484 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 6: of this guy. And again he's like, I told you 485 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:32,679 Speaker 6: he's funded gay conversion therapy. 486 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: I'm surprised at how stupid he is. 487 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 6: Well, they've misplaced this idea where we all know we 488 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 6: had something kind of weird happened in our politics in 489 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 6: twenty twenty, Right, there was a wave that washed over 490 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 6: some parts of the country. 491 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 2: We were one of them. 492 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 6: COVID was involved, Trump was involved, All this stuff was 493 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 6: involved that doesn't mean it's permanent here. In fact, it's not. 494 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 6: I have Republicans all the time reaching out to me 495 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 6: and saying, I can't take this guy anymore. I got 496 00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 6: to figure out a way out. My neighbor, he's probably 497 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 6: got the world record for Trump flights. He's had one 498 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 6: up since June of twenty fifteen. He came over to 499 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 6: me the other day and said, Hey, man, I just 500 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 6: want to tell you I'm so proud of you run. 501 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 6: This is happening to me all the time. I think 502 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 6: it's really important that Democrats be genuine and authentic and 503 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 6: that we message to people where they are, and let's 504 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 6: be square, like a lot of Democrats across the country 505 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 6: haven't been very good at messaging our values, and we 506 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 6: share so many values with so many Republicans that are frustrated. 507 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 6: Right it's very difficult to live in Montana right now 508 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 6: because it's so expensive. The average house is four hundred 509 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 6: and sixty thousand dollars. Our starter teacher pay is thirty 510 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 6: four thousand dollars or fifty. We've got one thousand teacher 511 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 6: vacancies across the state. We're not educating our kids. Those 512 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 6: are Republican kids too. So we can make a call 513 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:47,719 Speaker 6: to those Republican voters and we will and we can 514 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,239 Speaker 6: win this thing. I mean, I'm going to need help 515 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:50,159 Speaker 6: to do it, but we can win it. 516 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: So, people listening to you right now, what would it 517 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: mean to have a democratic governor in Montana? 518 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 6: It's huge right first off, we would put a stop 519 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 6: to so many of these crazy policies that are coming 520 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 6: out of our Republican majority legislature. Up until Ganefte was elected, sadly, 521 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 6: we had a democratic stop gap in Governor Steve Bullick 522 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 6: and before him, Governor Brian Schweitzer, who vetoed that stuff. 523 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 6: If we don't have a democratic governor, you're going to 524 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:19,879 Speaker 6: see you're going to people who are listening to this 525 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 6: are going to click on the news or listen to you, 526 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 6: and you're going to hear some of the most fascist, repressive, 527 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 6: ugly book banning, anti gay like you name it. It's coming. 528 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 6: They're going to go after our right to privacy in 529 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 6: our constitution. You're going to read about it. So it's 530 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 6: a stop gap here. This is a firewall for democracy. 531 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 6: They've already tried to do the same thing. The other 532 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,639 Speaker 6: states have repress voting rights. They've done all the stuff. 533 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 6: It's coming here, and it's really important Montana. If for 534 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 6: no other reason, you know, people love Montana. 535 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 5: It is the West. 536 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 6: It's the thing that TV shows are made about. It's 537 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 6: where you want a vacation. And it's important that we 538 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 6: hold the line on democracy. 539 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: If you're listening to this podcast right now, what should 540 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: people be doing if they want to support you? 541 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 2: Well, I need help. 542 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 6: And I know everybody gets tired of hearing about money, 543 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 6: and I wish money wasn't in politics, but money is 544 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 6: in politics. This guy is worth a billion dollars. He 545 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 6: flies his jet around. Last election, he bought the seat. 546 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 6: He spent about five million dollars of his own money 547 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 6: to buy the seat. He has no limits on his contributions. 548 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 6: Montana has a very low contribution limit. It's one thousand 549 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 6: dollars per person. We're going to have to buy back 550 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,439 Speaker 6: the state. It's going to be hundreds or one thousand 551 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 6: dollars at a time. Believe me, we are going to 552 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 6: do it. We're going to shop the system. We're going 553 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 6: to be an incumbent Republican governor and that's going to 554 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 6: be a huge, huge deal. But I need help, and 555 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 6: my website's bussy for Montana dot com. Bussee for Montana 556 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 6: dot com. But I need help, you know, I need 557 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 6: a few dollars. 558 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: I know this is like a little bit in the weeds, 559 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: but your media market is actually cheaper than like a 560 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: DC media market or a New York media market, so 561 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: it ultimately will actually go far. 562 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 6: Yeah, so the money will go far. And also because 563 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 6: we are this kind of small state. People joke like 564 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 6: it's just a bunch of little towns with one big, 565 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 6: long main street. That's kind of true. In Montana. You 566 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 6: go from town to town and everybody knows somebody in 567 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 6: the next town or several towns over. And so a 568 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 6: lot of my expense in time is going to be 569 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 6: on the road meeting people and I am I'm going 570 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 6: to go to where they are. So, yeah, we're going 571 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 6: to need media help. But it's not like your as 572 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 6: you point out, it's not like you're buying ads in La. 573 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 6: Thank god, we can really efficiently use the money, and 574 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 6: we can use the money for staff and me traveling 575 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,640 Speaker 6: around and setting down in coffee shops and hopefully quite 576 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 6: a few micro brews. I like to do that, or 577 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 6: micro here joints, because we have a lot of them 578 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 6: here in Montana. But those are the sorts of thing 579 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 6: we're going to do, and that's why we're in the 580 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 6: race early, because we're going to have to break it 581 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,160 Speaker 6: down and inspire people. 582 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 2: Ryan, thank you so much. 583 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,439 Speaker 1: I hope you will come back before your general. 584 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 6: Well, I'll be on anytime you want. Thank you, guys, 585 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 6: and I'll do everything I can to keep Jesse obsessed. 586 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: Jason Resian is a writer for the Washington Post Global 587 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:05,400 Speaker 1: Opinion section. Welcome to Fast Politics Special Texas Tribune Festival Edition. 588 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 5: Jason, wonderful to be here, Mollie. Thanks for having me. 589 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,679 Speaker 2: I'm so excited to have you. And we just met 590 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 2: this morning. 591 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,200 Speaker 1: We ran into each other at breakfast when I was 592 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:19,119 Speaker 1: regaling poor Margaret Sullivan with all of my many moral 593 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: and ethical journalistic dilemmas. Actually not really, but so I 594 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 1: wanted to talk to you. You have been a foreign correspondent. 595 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about your backstory. So I 596 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: moved to Iran, of all places, in two thousand and nine. 597 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,200 Speaker 1: My father was from Iran. My mom is from the Midwest. 598 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:37,679 Speaker 1: I grew up in northern California. 599 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 7: It's fascinated by travel and journalism from a very young age, 600 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 7: and when I finally had the opportunity to travel to 601 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 7: Iran in my twenties, fell in love with the place, 602 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 7: fell in love with the culture, realized that this is 603 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 7: a really incredible place that is backwards politically and really 604 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 7: messed up in a lot of ways, but also has 605 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,679 Speaker 7: a lot to love about it, and that the way 606 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:03,160 Speaker 7: it was reported on in our media was not very insightful. 607 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 7: Granular thought to myself, if I can get myself there 608 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 7: in the capacity of a journalist, there's gonna be work 609 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 7: for me to do. 610 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:09,200 Speaker 4: So. 611 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 7: Fast forward to twenty twelve, the Post hired me to 612 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 7: be there a bureau chief in Tehran. I did that 613 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 7: for a couple of years until my wife and I 614 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,640 Speaker 7: she's Iranian, also a journalist, were arrested at gunpoint from 615 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 7: our own home, accused of being spies for the US, 616 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 7: thrown into one of the most notorious prisons in the 617 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 7: world in solitary confinement, subjected to crazy, long interrogations over 618 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 7: the most ridiculous allegations. Ultimately, I was held for five 619 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 7: hundred and forty four days. My wife was held for 620 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 7: about three months, all of them in solitary confinement. And 621 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 7: when we were finally released and freed and the negotiated 622 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 7: settlement between Iran and the US, I came back to 623 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 7: the US and press freedom issues and issues around hostage 624 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 7: taking globally have been main beats that I've focused on because, 625 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 7: for better or worse, I know a thing or two 626 00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 7: about both. 627 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: One of the things you were saying when we were 628 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: having breakfast was just that you come out of spending 629 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 1: five hundred and forty four days in imprisonment in a 630 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: notorious Iranian prison a different person. 631 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 5: First of all, I lost and you know we're doing 632 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 5: audio here you can't see me. 633 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 2: You look good. 634 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:16,959 Speaker 5: I feel pretty good. 635 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 7: But you know I lost about forty pounds in the 636 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 7: first forty days that I wasn't in prison. I kept 637 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 7: that off throughout gained most of it back since my 638 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 7: wife and I joke that the only thing that we 639 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 7: miss about those days is Jason's prison body. 640 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 5: And it's not too late. You know, I'm in Texas. 641 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 5: Maybe there's the reason to lock me up, but no. 642 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 7: But you know, I joke about these things because it's 643 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 7: the only thing that I can do to kind of 644 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 7: make it all acceptable. You know, as I mentioned to you, 645 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 7: I feel like I've won the lottery of life experience. 646 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 7: That's just one way to say that I've been through 647 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 7: some really hard shit and it leaves a mark, and 648 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 7: I could sort of wallow in that very easily. 649 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 5: Some people do. 650 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 7: For me, felt like they've taken enough of my time already. 651 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 7: I got to move forward and use this thing to 652 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 7: propel my life for the good of other people, which 653 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 7: makes me feel good. So the short answer to your 654 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 7: question is, yeah, it really messes you up, but you 655 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 7: know I'm doing the best I can with it. 656 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 2: When you were freed, can you just walk me through 657 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 2: what that experience was like. 658 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 7: Yeah, So the day that I was freed, my captors 659 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 7: had told me about ten days earlier that I was 660 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 7: being freed and the negotiated deal with us. It's very 661 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 7: difficult to believe anything that they told me because they 662 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 7: told me so many different lives throughout the year and 663 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 7: a half. They would tell me that I would spend 664 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 7: the rest of my life in prison. Sometimes they would 665 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 7: tell me that you're going to be freed this afternoon, 666 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 7: and then nobody would show up for days on end. 667 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 7: You just redeposited in solitary. They told me I'd be executed. 668 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 7: I mean, so, you know, I just didn't know what 669 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 7: to believe. And when it finally happened, they said that 670 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 7: my wife would not be allowed to travel with me. 671 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 7: I learned later at the airport on the way out 672 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 7: that she had been a part of this negotiated deal 673 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 7: from the very beginning. So she's an Iranian citizen as well. 674 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 7: She had been released from prison on house arrest, but 675 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 7: they weren't going to let her leave the country with me. 676 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 7: And it turned out that the State Department and the 677 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 7: Swiss government, who acts on the US's behalf, had, you know, 678 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 7: from the very beginning of negotiations fourteen months earlier, included her, 679 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 7: and the Iranians tried to pull a fast one right 680 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 7: at the end, you know, presumably to try and keep 681 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 7: me shut up when I when I got out, And 682 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 7: the nuclear deal and all of this stuff was predicated 683 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 7: on a whole bunch of things coming together, including this 684 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 7: prisoner exchange, and it almost all fell apart in the 685 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 7: last hours because the US said, no, Yeggy, resign, that's 686 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 7: my wife, you know, no deal. So she's pretty precious. 687 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 2: And then will you just talk me a little bit 688 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,080 Speaker 2: through getting on the plane, and. 689 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 7: I think it's very difficult for people to put themselves 690 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,320 Speaker 7: in my shoes. I had chosen to move to this 691 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 7: country that is our number one adversary. I had fallen 692 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 7: in love with that place. I've met my wife there, 693 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 7: I had deep friendships and connections, and my whole career 694 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,640 Speaker 7: was built in this place. And sitting on the runway 695 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 7: in Tehran looking out at the city, you know, it's 696 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 7: built on mountains. 697 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 5: It can be sort of ugly city. There's a lot 698 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 5: of smog, but there's also a beauty to it. 699 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 7: On the one hand, there was a feeling of real 700 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 7: relief and joy, but also of incredible loss closing a 701 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 7: chapter in my life. My wife, who you know, almost 702 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 7: didn't come on that plane, only had a couple of 703 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 7: hours of notice, right saying goodbye to her parents, to 704 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 7: her neighborhood where she'd lived her entire life. 705 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 5: It was very, very, very difficult. 706 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:38,280 Speaker 2: It's never going to come back, no, you know. 707 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 7: And the emotions are still seven and a half years later, 708 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 7: very mixed. Right, We appreciate everything that was done for us. 709 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 7: It never should have happened, though, right. 710 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: So the five hostages who are just released, can you 711 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: just talk about have you talked to them, and also, 712 00:32:57,400 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: do you feel your experience can help. 713 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 5: Three of them are. 714 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 7: People who we know publicly. Two of them asked to 715 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 7: remain anonymous for the time being. The three whose names 716 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 7: were known publicly, I've been communicating with their families for 717 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:15,920 Speaker 7: quite a long time. As you can imagine, we're small 718 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,840 Speaker 7: community people that deal with this. There's several dozen American 719 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 7: citizens who are being wrongfully detained in different countries around 720 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 7: the world, and that's a pretty small community. Specifically to Iran, 721 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 7: it's even smaller, and we were all taken by the 722 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 7: same group within Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, probably the same 723 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 7: people in some cases, the same cells. So I've tried 724 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 7: to put the family members in the shoes of somebody 725 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 7: who would be on the ground visiting as much as 726 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 7: I could, And you know, I've reached out to them 727 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 7: and for me, I've written about all of their cases. 728 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 7: I'm not going to be the guy pounding on their 729 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 7: door asking for an interview, because you know, people were 730 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:59,240 Speaker 7: pounding online and I didn't really appreciate that. So you know, 731 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,280 Speaker 7: I've just sort of said I'll be here for you 732 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 7: however I can be. You know, these are some of 733 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 7: the things that I dealt with in those first days 734 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,400 Speaker 7: and months. Here's some things that helped me. The truth is, 735 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 7: they have a really long road to recovery, and they're 736 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 7: going to need folks like me who've been through something 737 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 7: similar to sort of be their friends. And the same 738 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:24,280 Speaker 7: goes for Evan Gershkovich Wall Street Journal's reporter and imprisoned 739 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,120 Speaker 7: in Russia. Right now, I try and make myself available 740 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,360 Speaker 7: to any family who's going through this, not just Americans, 741 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 7: you know, you know, there's Brits and Canadians, Australians, other Europeans. 742 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 7: If there's something that can be learned from from our 743 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:39,719 Speaker 7: horrific experience, I want to pass that along. 744 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,919 Speaker 1: Can you just talk for one second about the VA 745 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,799 Speaker 1: and the hospital, the army hospital and how it. 746 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 7: Served So I ended up. I wasn't at the VA. 747 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 7: I was in a military hospital in Germany Langtool, Okay. 748 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:53,439 Speaker 1: Yeah. 749 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 7: For me, that experience was very meaningful. You know, it 750 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:02,320 Speaker 7: was the first opportunity to talk to somebody who was 751 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,880 Speaker 7: not connected to the situation but had knowledge of this 752 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 7: kind of trauma. I remember when I asked the doctor 753 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,320 Speaker 7: who I still communicate with, I said, Doc, am, I 754 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,680 Speaker 7: gonna be okay, right, And he told me, he said, 755 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 7: you know, healing is possible, but it's not guaranteed. He's 756 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,239 Speaker 7: very honest, right, And I said, you know, how do 757 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,120 Speaker 7: you treat these cases? He said, you know, if you've 758 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 7: seen one case, you've seen one case, right, you know, 759 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 7: each one of them is different. And you know he 760 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 7: might have been blown smoke, but you said, you know, 761 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 7: feels like you have the sort of mental makeup to 762 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 7: get past this. I encourage you to take time to 763 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 7: go slow, to really process the experience before you go 764 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,680 Speaker 7: out and talk about it publicly, which is really sound 765 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,839 Speaker 7: advice on the sort of practical, sort of bureaucratic level. 766 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:52,839 Speaker 7: You know, there were parts of it which I didn't appreciate, right, 767 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,840 Speaker 7: I mean, you know these folks work for the FBI. 768 00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 7: You know, nobody kind of came out and told me 769 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:02,120 Speaker 7: that I was talking to FBI until I found that 770 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 7: out separately, and then I confronted them and we dealt 771 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,680 Speaker 7: with it at the point. But it's like, hey, you 772 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,719 Speaker 7: know what I have just spent the last year and 773 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:11,480 Speaker 7: a half being lied to, relentlessly, being kept in the 774 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:15,040 Speaker 7: dark about so many aspects of my life being threatened. 775 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:19,600 Speaker 7: What I need from people right now is radical transparency. 776 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 7: And I've sort of taken that into my livet with 777 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 7: my employment situations, with you know, relationships. 778 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:27,680 Speaker 5: I just tell people, hey, look, you. 779 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,719 Speaker 7: Know, whatever this thing is that we're dealing with right now, 780 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 7: let's just kind of cut to the chase and figure 781 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:33,920 Speaker 7: out what it is that you want from me and 782 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 7: what I want from you, because otherwise you're putting me 783 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,120 Speaker 7: back in prison. Everybody feels really bad when I say 784 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:43,320 Speaker 7: that some negotiations actor Jessie. 785 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:45,799 Speaker 2: But it's also like the. 786 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: Thing that seems and again, I haven't known you for 787 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,920 Speaker 1: three hours or something, but the thing that seems so 788 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 1: striking about you is that you using this. Because I 789 00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:59,600 Speaker 1: say this as someone who's been sober from addiction since 790 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:02,160 Speaker 1: I was a teenager for my life, like, the best 791 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:04,360 Speaker 1: thing I can ever do is share my experience. 792 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 5: This is the way I feel about it. 793 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 7: And you know, sometimes people are like, oh, okay, you know, 794 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:10,400 Speaker 7: Jason talking about prison again. I'm like, well, you know, 795 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,200 Speaker 7: what the fuck else am I going to tell you about? 796 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:12,799 Speaker 5: Right right? 797 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:14,400 Speaker 7: I'm certainly not going to tell you how to keep 798 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 7: the weight off, right, you know what I mean? Seriously, 799 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,000 Speaker 7: this is something that I know intimately that is going 800 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,120 Speaker 7: to be valuable for a select number of people who 801 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 7: are going to need that help. Yeah, you know, at 802 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,719 Speaker 7: the beginning of the pandemic, a week into it, this 803 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:32,239 Speaker 7: is really sort of funny to say, but people will 804 00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:34,600 Speaker 7: reaching out to me saying, Jason, you you know you 805 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:35,840 Speaker 7: were in captivity. 806 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:37,680 Speaker 5: How am I going to deal with isolating at home? 807 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 7: Like, well, you still got your Internet, you still got Netflix, 808 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,080 Speaker 7: door Dash, I mean, all that still works. 809 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:44,279 Speaker 2: You're gonna be okay, nobody's trying to kill you. 810 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:46,480 Speaker 7: But I've had, like, you know, I had a series 811 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:47,719 Speaker 7: of these and I thought to myself, you know what, 812 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 7: I'm gonna sit down and write a column about this, 813 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 7: about the things that help, one of the one of 814 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:56,440 Speaker 7: the most trafficked pieces I've ever written. Right, because everybody 815 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,480 Speaker 7: has trauma, you know, there's gradations of it, but like 816 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:02,160 Speaker 7: we don't get to decide, you know, whose trauma is 817 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:06,320 Speaker 7: more than somebody else's. So if there's something that anyone 818 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,800 Speaker 7: listening can glean from my experience that makes me really happy, 819 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,279 Speaker 7: it makes me feel like, Okay, my time on Earth 820 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,840 Speaker 7: wasn't wasted, and that helps me sleep a little bit 821 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:17,920 Speaker 7: better at night. Yeah, and we could all use a 822 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:18,720 Speaker 7: little bit more sleep. 823 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:21,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I mean I really relate to that. 824 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: As like I can tell you how to get sober 825 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:25,880 Speaker 1: and stay sober at nineteen, I can't tell you how 826 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,680 Speaker 1: to survive in Iranian prison. But it is when you're 827 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:31,120 Speaker 1: able to share your experience, it ends up giving your 828 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:32,279 Speaker 1: life purpose, I think. 829 00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:34,239 Speaker 5: I think so. I try not to be a one 830 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:34,840 Speaker 5: trick pony. 831 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,840 Speaker 7: I like to write about things that I enjoy sometimes 832 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 7: rather than all of this sort of stuff. And fortunately 833 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:45,720 Speaker 7: I have wise editors that allow me to explore different 834 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,400 Speaker 7: ideas and issues. But I keep coming back to this 835 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 7: because it's an opportunity to put issues that most Americans 836 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,399 Speaker 7: don't think about very much on the forefront. I find 837 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:57,960 Speaker 7: that if you know, people can be drawn into a 838 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 7: story and laugh about it a little bit, they'll remember it. Yeah, 839 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:02,959 Speaker 7: so the next time they hear about a journalist who's 840 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:04,799 Speaker 7: locked up in the other side of the world, they 841 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,439 Speaker 7: might give a shit, you know. And you know, it's 842 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,880 Speaker 7: just sort of this continuity of narrative and process that 843 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 7: I've tried to bring to it. 844 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:12,680 Speaker 5: For a long time. 845 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Jason, This was amazing. 846 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:16,840 Speaker 5: Thanks for having me. I really enjoy it. 847 00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:24,400 Speaker 2: No moment, Jesse Cannon, Molly jung. 848 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,880 Speaker 3: Fast that Bet Gates is really been sticking to his 849 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:28,359 Speaker 3: thub in Kevin McCarthy's eye. 850 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:29,840 Speaker 5: Told me what you saw when he was talking to 851 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 5: the buddy Huddy Maria Bartobo this morning. 852 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:38,719 Speaker 1: This morning on Maria Bartiromo's Fox Business show, we saw 853 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,680 Speaker 1: Matt Gates basically say that Kevin McCarthy hasn't done anything, 854 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:47,680 Speaker 1: and then Republicans in Congress are out of control and terrible. 855 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,839 Speaker 1: And then Maria was arguing that in fact, they had 856 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:55,000 Speaker 1: done all these things, which again they really hadn't done anything, 857 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,640 Speaker 1: but they had sort of passed some messaging bills or whatever. 858 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:01,479 Speaker 1: And Matt was like, no, haven't. And just to see 859 00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:06,680 Speaker 1: a right wing opinion host who you know, we've seen 860 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,160 Speaker 1: that she you know, these are people who have some 861 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:16,120 Speaker 1: relationship with the Republicans in Congress and a Republican congressman 862 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: fighting about the Republican GOP house GOP was really quite 863 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,880 Speaker 1: a moment of fuck Gray. And so for that the 864 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 1: money honey and our favorite botox congressman, it's too much, Matt, 865 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:33,120 Speaker 1: It's just too much. And I say this as a 866 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:39,280 Speaker 1: frequent flyer. You don't want to have it look completely frozen. 867 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:43,279 Speaker 1: They are our moment of Fuckray. That's it for this 868 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:47,080 Speaker 1: episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, and 869 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:50,239 Speaker 1: Friday to hear the best minds in politics makes sense 870 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:53,279 Speaker 1: of all this chaos. If you enjoyed what you've heard, 871 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,600 Speaker 1: please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going. 872 00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:58,680 Speaker 1: And again, thanks for listening. 873 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 6: Two