WEBVTT - And, This Is Trump’s Attack on Voting Rights With Jasmine Crockett 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.200 This is Gavin Newsom. She's been called a rising star. 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:14.680 Donald Trump referred to her as the future of the 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.400 Democratic Party. Couldn't think of someone better to talk about 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.959 what's going on in Texas and the jerry mandering, what's 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:25.560 going on in Washington, DC with the National Guard than 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:32.120 the one and only Congressman Jasmine Crockett. Thank you for 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:36.040 doing this. I appreciate Eily at this remarkable time. So 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:39.680 we'll just we'll jump right in because I you know, 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:44.200 I can't even imagine you spent time in the Texas Legislature. 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.360 I was watching last night a brief interview one of 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.400 the members of the legislature, Nicole Collier, was in the chambers. 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:53.640 She's not walking out because she doesn't want to be 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:59.320 assigned a member of law enforcement to watch every move. 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:03.680 And I just I couldn't even imagine what that experience 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:05.840 is like. But I couldn't imagine a better person to 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:10.120 talk about it than you. Watching all of this from afar, 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:15.400 the impacts indirect to democracy, the direct impacts to you 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:22.520 as a representative watching your own district lines changing, give 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.640 us a sense of what you're feeling right now, what 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:27.080 this moment means to you. 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.320 So I'm feeling overwhelmed, and if you are paying attention, 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.440 you should also feel that way. This isn't about me 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:38.000 as an individual. This is about our collective democracy. It's 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.280 one of the reasons that I think the country has 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.360 galvanized behind what California has decided to do, because this 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.040 isn't just about Texas. It's not just about the representatives 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:50.600 in Texas. It's about the people. And so when you 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.920 look at the lengths that they will go to decimate 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:57.480 our democracy, that is when people should really have their 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.800 hair on fire. And I don't care what kind of 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.520 you live in and I personally don't care what your 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.720 political affiliation is, because we are setting a dangerous precedence, 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:12.120 one that could forever dismantle our democracy. So here we are, 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.920 as a black woman's civil rights attorney, and I'm looking 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.760 at a state that is taking state actions against a 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:24.640 duly elected black woman to basically incarcerate her against her 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:28.200 constitutional rights, and everybody is just kind of like, ah, 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.480 you know, Texas gets to do whatever they want to 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:34.800 do because we have a minion for a governor instead 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.600 of a governor for the people of Texas. And so 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.280 now because he wants to do everything that he can 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:43.799 to kiss the raggedy. 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:45.000 Feet of Donald Trump. 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:47.480 This is where we stand to the extent that he 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.480 is disrespecting Texans over and over and over, whether we're 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.400 talking about the map, or whether we're talking about the 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.560 threats that were waged against these members and their family members, 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.720 or whether we're talking about a woman, a black woman, 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.320 that decided that she wanted to be free in the 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.280 year of twenty twenty five, and basically she had someone 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:10.840 who decided that he wanted to act like she is 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.960 on a plantation, and so therefore she had to sign 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:17.040 documents if it was that she was to have some 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:18.240 semblance of freedom. 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:23.680 And look, I appreciate how you you just laid that 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.800 out and with vivid and clear lines. I mean, a 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:32.359 black woman being told she has to have someone from 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.080 a white governor. I mean, you can't. The racial components 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:39.080 of this cannot be overstated. And as you say, people 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.520 are kind of rolling there, I mean, shugging their shoulders, 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.520 rolling their eyes. I mean the fact that not everything 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.320 is stopped in real time to sort of measure this moment, 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:52.560 the fact that so much is being normalized in this 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:56.440 country as we're watching democracy slip through our hands. I mean, 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.640 what do we need to do to create the proverbial 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:01.800 pattern interrupt? What do we need to do to wake 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:05.280 people up to understand what's really at stake, what the 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.040 hell is really going on, not just in Texas, increasingly 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:08.960 across this country. 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.440 I think we all have to collectively fight back, and 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.040 I think that we have to take it back to 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.719 elementary school, where everything legitimately was black or white, it 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:20.800 was right versus wrong. We right now are having a 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:29.600 moral catastrophic, you know, combustion, right like it is insane 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.240 to see the lack of morality like this really isn't 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:37.479 about whether or not you believe in, you know, the 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:42.440 democratic platform or the Republican platform. This is truly about 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:47.080 whether or not we believe that as Americans, that freedom 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:51.920 should be real, that we should treat everyone as equals, 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:56.880 that we should not diminish our democracy, because that is 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.320 why we stand out and why we have been a 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.320 beacon of hope around this entire world, not just in 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.000 this country for people that are here. The reason that 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.840 we've had so many immigrants that have always decided that 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:09.760 they want us to come to the United States is 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.559 because historically we have been the Land of the free 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:16.720 and the land of opportunity. We are slowly just losing 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:20.440 our standing on the national stage, whether we're looking at 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.479 a president that is rolling out a red carpet for 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.600 a war criminal, or whether or not we are looking 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:30.240 at a governor that has decided that a woman would 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:32.919 be stuck and could not leave because she had the 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:37.760 audacity to think that her colleagues would engage in real 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.200 debate and they would come back and they would fight 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.760 for fair maps. Not fair maps for her, but fair 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:47.800 maps for the thirty million Texans whose voices deserve to 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.000 be heard. Considering the fact that we are a majority 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:54.040 minority state, we're sixty percent of the people that are 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.040 there are people of color, Yet every single day they 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.680 are so happy to take in people of color, day 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.640 after day, to the extent that we ended up gaining 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:05.960 two new seats in the last time that we did 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.960 the census. We took those seats from other states that 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.080 were growing, and those seats were taken because there were 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:16.120 black and brown bodies that came into the state of Texas. 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.200 Yet they then minimize their voices. So, yes, they want 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.920 their bodies, but they absolutely do not want to hear 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.760 from them, and that is wrong. And again it is 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.600 why we applaud California and your leadership because you. 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.920 Said not on our watch. Two can play this game. Now. 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:34.960 Should we be playing a game when it comes to 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.800 something like democracy, Absolutely not. But can we afford to 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.880 take the high road as they continue to take away 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.560 more and more rights and we start to look more 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:48.320 like a government that is run by Vladimir Putin than 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.039 a government that is run by a respected and honorable 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:55.240 President of the United States. No, we shouldn't stand ida we. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.800 Buy, and so you don't buy the argument two wrongs 0:06:58.880 --> 0:06:59.600 don't make a right. 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:01.279 No, I don't. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.640 Two bongs are about to make your right in two seconds, 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.400 that is for sure. And I appreciate the level of 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:11.360 thoughtfulness that went into this because I think at the 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:14.320 core of who we are as Democrats, regardless of what 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.480 others may say about us, we really want to do 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.800 what's right. The question is usually whether or not we 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:24.480 have the courage to push forward, even in the face 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.480 of adversity, to get it done. And this is ugly, 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.320 this is messy, that is for sure, but it is 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:34.200 the right thing. If you're going to take away five 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.320 voices in a state in which I have been engaged 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.920 in litigation since twenty twenty one over the current lines, 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:46.560 because we have argued that these lines were terrible and illegal, 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.320 and the state consistently argued for the last four years 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.280 that they were racially neutral, that they were perfect and 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.120 beautiful lines. And then all of a sudden they get 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:58.920 a letter from the Attorney General of the United States. 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:03.320 Imagine that the Attorney General of the United States decides 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.720 that instead of say, building up the Civil Rights Division, 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:11.160 that she decided to tear down. The Attorney General of 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:14.240 the United States that is under pressure to release the 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:18.200 Epstein files that are within her control, she decides to 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:22.040 prioritize going after Texas and telling Texas that they actually 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.680 have not been race neutral, and they decide to act 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:30.000 based upon her instruction. And we know that her instruction 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:34.960 came directly from him. And so now we're looking at 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.080 a situation in which, no. 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.160 Matter what happens, I can tell you that these maps 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:39.960 are illegal. 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:44.520 The question is, will we have these branches of government 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.760 continue to fail us, Will we have a court that 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:53.400 will strike this down in time and say never mind. 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:54.679 We're going to have to draw the maps. 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.520 Because historically, when we've had all three branches working. That's 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.880 what happens when one of the states does wrong, and 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:04.840 there's no way to say that the State of Sexes 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:05.520 is doing right. 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.880 You bring up twenty twenty one in your efforts in 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.680 relation to the maps, but you also for those that 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:14.880 may not be familiar. You really made a name for 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.600 yourself nationally the last time when you were in the 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.240 legislature I think it was twenty twenty one when you 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.400 guys did a similar quorum break, and that was on 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:27.200 different issues, but related to voting access and the like. 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:29.520 I mean, how do you paint? What do you paint 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:31.400 as a contrast or the paint the picture? Is this 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:33.480 part of the same narrative? Is this sort of the 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:38.440 extended narrative from twenty twenty one? Is this represents something 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.400 that's more dramatic from your perspective? Or is this the 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:43.920 same thread that's being pulled. 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:50.079 No, we absolutely try to ring the alarms, and unfortunately 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.760 we collectively did not rain those alarms loud enough. 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:55.360 When we left we went to d C. 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.120 When we went to DC, we asked a democratically controlled house, 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.160 a democratically can trolled Senate that had a Democrat and 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.280 the White House to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.680 Advancement Act. That particular bill would have replaced the current 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.400 Voting Rights Act. It would have short up everything that 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:14.280 we lost in Shelby the Holder, and we wouldn't be 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:16.719 sitting on the edge of our seats wondering whether or 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.800 not we would lose Section two. So, for anybody that's listening, 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:23.079 Section two just says, basically, we want to go ahead 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:26.280 and further codify what is in the Constitution as it 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.800 relates to people of color being able to have representation. 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:32.199 And so I have a Section two seat. 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:37.400 What we know came out of Louisiana and Alabama for 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.240 this last election was two Section two seats because they 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.960 looked at a state like Louisiana and said, hey, thirty 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.920 percent of the population is African American, and y'all only 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:52.040 gave them an opportunity to elect one lawmaker to the 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.240 federal level, so they had to add one. Same thing 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.880 happened in Alabama, so they had to add one. So 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:00.280 both states now have two seats where African Americans are 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.680 allowed to choose their representation. Well, what they are doing 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:05.720 right now, they got rid of all of the issues 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:09.160 around preclearance, which means that when states go through all 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:12.120 of this craziness and they've had, say, a history of 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:16.080 being racially discriminatory, such as Texas. Texas has been found 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:20.920 to be racially intentionally discriminatory every since the Voting Rights 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.000 Act was passed, which is so wild for me to 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.120 think of, considering the fact that it was a Texan 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:29.560 that signed their Voting Rights Act into laws sixty years ago. 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:33.840 So to see that, we basically were like, hey, we're 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:37.160 ringing the alarms past the jungle was Voting Rights Advancement Act, 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.559 and we wouldn't have to deal with this fight over redistricting, 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.439 past the Freedom to Vote Act, and we wouldn't have 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:44.959 had to deal with Elon must being able to actually 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.760 buy an election. We were trying to throw up our 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:51.120 democracy and screen to the top of our lungs at 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:55.240 that point, and unfortunately, at that time, the House did 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:59.960 their part. A democratically led House does their part. Unfortunately 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.360 it was in the Senate where we did not have 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.800 the support to go ahead and move past the filibuster 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.160 for the purpose of voting rice. And I think that 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:11.079 if we don't have voting rice, we get no other 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:12.240 rights whatsoever. 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:14.880 And so I think if there's ever a need. 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.960 For a carve out, it is on behalf of making 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.600 sure that we can expand access to the ballot box 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:24.360 for those that are eligible to vote. 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:29.760 The headlines never stop, and it's harder than ever to 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:32.560 tell what's real, what matters, and what's just noise. That's 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.000 where pot Save America comes in. I'm Tommy Vietor, and 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.080 every week I'm joined by fellow former Obama aids John Favreau, 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.760 John Lovett, and Dan Pfeiffer to break down the biggest stories, 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:42.960 unpack what they mean for the future of our democracy, 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.320 and add just enough humor to stay sane. Along the way. 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.160 You'll also hear honest, in depth conversations with big voices 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.439 in politics, media, and culture like Rachel Matdow, Gavin Newsom, 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.000 and Mark Cuban that you won't find anywhere else. New 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:56.839 episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday, with deep dives every 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:00.040 other weekend. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, watch on YouTube, 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.040 or subscribe on Apple Podcasts for ad free episodes. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:09.240 It begs the question of your reaction to what President 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:11.960 Trump said yesterday as it relates to mail in ballot 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.079 ballot where he now is asserting that he's got his 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.800 lawyers drafting and executive order and he's going after mail 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.720 in ballots, something that he is very well known for 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:27.600 having used himself in Florida. He was an absentee ballot, 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.160 meaning he was someone who went and got an absentee 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:35.000 mailed that in like millions and millions of Americans. By 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:39.000 the way, eighty percent in the last big election in California, 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:44.040 folks used mail in ballots overwhelming number. What do you 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.400 make of this latest effort by the president. 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.240 Yeah, so, first of all, I think that California, number 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.520 one is a direct target. We know that California has 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.520 expanded access to the ballot box in ways in which 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.680 some of us get frustrated to the extent that you 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.720 do of so many mail in ballots, and you definitely 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:07.720 had some nail bier congressional races that came down to, 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.560 you know, the last batches being counted. 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:12.160 And we know that this. 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:17.800 Postal service isn't necessarily the best run under the current leadership, and. 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:19.560 So yeah, it is. It is. 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.040 It can be frustrating because it can make it to where, 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:25.600 if there's tight races, it's going to take us a 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:29.160 little time, but I think that that is what democracy 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.960 looks like. It makes sure that you hear from everybody, 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.920 no matter whether or not you're home at the time, 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.960 no matter whether or not you are encumbered because if 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:43.120 you leave your job, you have fear of retaliation, even 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.160 though legally they're not supposed to. Whether or not you 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:50.320 are a caretaker for your children or you're ailing parents. 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:54.120 It allows you an opportunity to participate. And what they 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:57.880 have decided is that participating any elections should just be 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.120 reserved for the privileged few. They don't want it to 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:05.200 be something that allows the masses to participate in We 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.720 talked about twenty twenty one, but ultimately what it was 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.040 is they were passing new voting law standards in the 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.280 state of Texas because for the first time they weren't 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.280 going to have to deal with preclearance whatsoever and get 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.360 the authority, and so they decided to decimate access to 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:25.920 ballot boxes, especially after COVID nineteen, which in the midst 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.760 of COVID you had even in states like Texas, you 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:32.040 had very creative secretaries that were going out and they 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.440 were saying, hey, we need to make sure that people 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:36.920 can vote and be safe. You should not have to 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.800 risk your life to cast your vote. And so they 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.240 decided that they were going to expand hours in Harris 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.320 County where they had twenty four hour voting, they had 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.480 drive through voting, They did all these things to make 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.040 sure that it was easier. They had multiple drop boxes 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:53.080 so that you didn't have to worry about putting it 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.400 into the mail itself. You could drop it at a 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.960 drop box throughout the country, throughout the county. Well, they 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:03.960 didn't like that because the number showed that working class. 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.040 Folk were absolutely able to participate. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:08.840 And if you look at the platform or if you 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.840 just look at the actions of the Republicans, they don't 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.440 have anything good number one for people of color, and 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:15.880 definitely they don't have. 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.280 Anything good for working class people. 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.160 So the things that they are trying to do is like, yeah, 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.520 if you've got the luxury where you don't have to 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.600 worry about losing your job, you don't have to worry 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.520 about taking care of that kid, you don't have to 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:28.840 worry about taking care of your mom. 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.400 No, you can just go to the ballot box and 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:32.040 just vote. 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:34.400 And they feel like those are the only people that 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:37.960 they want to participate, and so it is very intentional. 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.880 It is disgusting, and it is one of the reasons 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.080 that people are so disenchanted, in my opinion, with politics, 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.280 because they'll say one thing and do another. And I 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.320 just want people to know that there is a difference 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.920 between Democrats and Republicans. Regardless of what it seems like. 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.280 Republicans will say whatever it is to convince you to vote. 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.320 They won't go out there and campaign say oh, yeah, 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.680 we're going to lower the taxes on the super rich, 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.720 the super wealthy. At the same time, we're going to 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.040 go ahead and take away your health care. We're gonna 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:13.280 go ahead and take away your access to education, which 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.280 is your pathway to upward mobility. They're not going to 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.240 tell you, like the real story, that they're going to 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.040 take food off the tables of people that are hungry 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.919 in this country while at the same time complaining about 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:27.359 unhoused people and trying to stuffle them off their streets. 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:27.919 They're not going to. 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.480 Tell you that they're going to decimate the economy as 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:32.879 they always do and then we have to wait on 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.160 a Democrat to come in and clean it up. They're 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.439 not going to tell you the truth, but they will 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:39.560 go after the things that they really want to go after. 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.720 Now that is now, that is real. But Democrats, we 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.040 will tell you, and we can give you a dissertation 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.160 of all the great things that we want to do. 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:48.960 But we also have. 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.000 This inclination to do things and be like, well we 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:54.040 want to be by partners. No, at the end of 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:56.760 the day, if we've got the numbers and they don't 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.120 want to get on board for not only taking care 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.200 of our constituents, but frankly, a lot of times we're 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.200 doing the hard work to take care of their constituents, 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.760 a lot more work and heavy lifting than they're doing. 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:11.000 And so what people want to see nowadays, and I 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.000 get it, is they want to see Democrats be just 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:17.479 as aggressive as Republicans are when they are trying to 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.439 introduce regression into this country. They want us to be 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.440 as aggressive trying to make sure that we can actually 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:25.600 uplift this country. 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.800 Well, there's so much unpacked there in the word regression. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.760 I mean, it's about rights regression. It's about rolling, putting 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.720 America back reverse, bringing us back to a pre nineteen 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.600 sixties world. As it relates to voting rights, women's rights, 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:42.719 LGBTQ rights across the spectrum. I don't think that's exaggeration 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.680 nor what you said about jobs. And for folks listening, 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:47.920 since nineteen eighty nine, the end of the Cold War, 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:50.600 it's important to be reminded of this. Bill Clinton made 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.600 this point at the DNC in his speech. Fifty two 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.080 million American jobs have been created since the end of 0:18:56.080 --> 0:19:00.719 the Cold War, three Republican administrations, three Democratic administrations. Ninety 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:06.200 six percent. Ninety six percent have been created under Democratic administrations. 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.280 The last three Republican administrations have one thing in common, 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:14.520 recessions one point nine million jobs creating the last three 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.960 Republican administrations over sixteen million in the Biden administration. Just 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:21.520 as another proof point to the extent you needed it. 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.480 But Congressman, I want to talk about another proof point 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:28.280 on democracy. We talk about jerry mandering. We talk about 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:30.320 what you guys did in terms of voting, that John 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:34.320 Lewis Act, which was about an independent National Redistricting Commission, 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.760 which the Democratic Party Republicans were nowhere to be found. 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:41.480 The Democratic Party has supported and they're on record supporting. 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:44.359 We talked about what he's trying to do on mail 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:47.480 in ballots, and I referenced the last election was twenty twenty, 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:49.199 and you reminded me of that where we were at 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.800 eighty percent coming out of COVID in terms of the 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.720 vote by mail, in the convenience and the opportunity and 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:59.679 the security that exists bar codes, requirements on signatures, there 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:02.720 is a process where you actually can track where your 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:06.240 mail in ballot is. And once one ballot is cast, 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:08.600 there is no other ballot that can be cast. All 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:13.400 the bs Trump is suggesting is a lie. Otherwise as 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.080 it relates though to the National Guard, it seems to 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:19.000 me all this stuff is connected. It's none of this 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:22.359 is in isolation. Everyone has to pay attention. These dots 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.240 need to be connected. You've got the National Guard being 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:28.479 sent now, and you talk about what Republicans don't tell you. 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:31.200 Those governors didn't tell you they were going to send 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.639 them from Tennessee, South Carolina, send them from all of 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:40.119 these other states into Washington, d C. You work there, 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.920 You spend your dating, a lot of your time there. 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.760 Tell me what it's like in d C. Tell me 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.880 what you think this is really all about, And tell 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:53.879 me if you think this is a preview of things 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:58.359 to come, particularly dare I say around election in the 0:20:58.400 --> 0:20:59.359 mid terms, and beyond. 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:04.879 Yeah, is very dystopian to see. It's funny because I 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:09.560 used to watch like The Handmaid's Tail and I can't right, 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:12.600 I never finished and I can't watch it because it 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:16.640 is too close to reality. And so what we're seeing 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:21.960 is this militarization. And obviously it started in your state. 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:26.200 That was kind of the testing grounds, going to your state, 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:31.920 going to a black woman mayor's city first, and now 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:36.680 we are in yet another black woman led city and 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:40.439 taking over. And to me, it goes again to the 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:45.040 level of racism and hate that is constantly spewed out 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:46.000 of this administration. 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:48.200 Now they hate for you to call them. 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:50.440 What they are, but listen, I mean, if it walked 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:52.560 like a duck, quack like a duck, then I guess 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.439