Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Molly john Fast and this is Fast Politics,
Speaker 1: where we discussed the top political headlines with some of
Speaker 1: today's best minds. And Speaker of the House Mike Johnson
Speaker 1: sent out a fundraising email where he lamented the number
Speaker 1: of queer kids in America. We have such a great
Speaker 1: show today. Former Congresswoman Debbie macarsole Powell tells us about
Speaker 1: her Senate run against one of the most unlikable members
Speaker 1: of the Senate, Rick Scott. And then we'll talk to
Speaker 1: Voto Latinos Maria Teresa Kumar about how Democrats can reignite
Speaker 1: voter enthusiasm from Latinos. But first we have the host
Speaker 1: of the Focus Group podcast, the publisher of The Bowork,
Speaker 1: Sarah Longwoll. Welcome to Fast Politics, Sarah Longwow.
Speaker 2: Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: It's great to be here.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to have you because I had a
Speaker 1: Republican thought yesterday. No so yes, I did. I had
Speaker 1: a moment of like, I mean, I am very much
Speaker 1: not a Republican and I very much do not agree
Speaker 1: holicy wise with anything Nikki Haley is selling. But again,
Speaker 1: last night you watched that debate and it feels to
Speaker 1: me like there are people in the Republican Party like
Speaker 1: Trump and De Santis who are really authoritarian, right. De
Speaker 1: Santis is like, you know, his whole thing is like
Speaker 1: Trump is not authoritarian enough.
Speaker 3: And then the.
Speaker 1: People like Nikki Haley, who's like and then that sort
Speaker 1: of is like more normal. And then you have Chris
Speaker 1: Christy trying to like stop the train almost. I mean,
Speaker 1: I am defending Republicans. What is wrong with me? Help me?
Speaker 2: Well, you're not defending Republicans exactly. I mean, so, I mean,
Speaker 2: here's the thing Chris Christie is it was his swan song, right,
Speaker 2: he is gonna probably drop out here not too long
Speaker 2: and hopefully, you know, Indorse Haley and all the polling
Speaker 2: indications I've seen, and just my gut says that the
Speaker 2: Christie people are going to go to Nikki because she
Speaker 2: is more normal. The thing is the reason that Chris Christy,
Speaker 2: for all of his attacks and all of his truth telling,
Speaker 2: the voters, Hay, Republican voters hate him, right, Like when
Speaker 2: you say you have a Republican thought, actually what you
Speaker 2: mean is is it's nice to watch Chris Christie attack
Speaker 2: and Trump and tell the truth about them. And so
Speaker 2: it's not quite a Republican thought, and look, yeah, Nikki
Speaker 2: Haley is funny because there's a world in which she
Speaker 2: looks like the future, but we don't live in that world.
Speaker 2: In the world we live in, she's a throwback. And
Speaker 2: for voters, you know, she is basically a pre Trump
Speaker 2: politician who they view as a rhino and an establishment
Speaker 2: candidate who they and actually, I think people don't hate Nikki.
Speaker 2: I think that what I've seen from voters is that
Speaker 2: they're like, she's fine, but like, I'm not going to
Speaker 2: vote for her. She's not what they're interested in.
Speaker 1: It's not red meat, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean she's up there talking about policies and foreign policy,
Speaker 2: and also she still believes in American leadership in the world.
Speaker 2: And I got to tell you, though, some of the
Speaker 2: weird stuff I hear in the focus groups, I would
Speaker 2: have told you actually maybe before this whole thing out.
Speaker 2: In fact, lots of reporters ask me, do you think
Speaker 2: that the Republican Party will take Nikki Haley seriously because
Speaker 2: she's Indian, because she's a woman, And I was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: Actually think that's going to be a huge deal.
Speaker 2: I actually can't believe how many voters I've listened to
Speaker 2: say they wouldn't vote for a woman, like just in
Speaker 2: the focus groups, they're like, and their reasoning is a
Speaker 2: lot of the people who say it are women, but
Speaker 2: it's women who say it oftentimes, and they're like, I
Speaker 2: don't think that a woman can stand up to these
Speaker 2: either stand up to these world leaders, or that they
Speaker 2: wouldn't be respected by these other world leaders.
Speaker 3: I don't know. These guys have never heard of Margaret
Speaker 3: Thatcher or many of the other women world leaders.
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you feel when somebody says that
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 2: I don't care for it. I think it's not great.
Speaker 1: It's like an internalized misogyny. That's like kind of insidious
Speaker 1: to have women saying that about other women.
Speaker 2: So this is something that when you do the focus
Speaker 2: groups all the time, you start to see as a
Speaker 2: real pattern in people's thinking, which is that they sort
Speaker 2: of don't own the thought themselves.
Speaker 3: They put the thought on somebody else.
Speaker 2: So what these women are saying, and it's not just women,
Speaker 2: but I hear plenty of women say it. They say,
Speaker 2: I'm worried that those other world leaders won't respect this woman.
Speaker 2: And so what they're saying is is not that they
Speaker 2: are misogynistic, but that they believe these other people are
Speaker 2: so misogynistic. And I usually hear this from Democrats more
Speaker 2: unlike I don't think that the country will elect a
Speaker 2: black woman, I don't think that the country will elect
Speaker 2: a gay guy. What they're doing is really just they're
Speaker 2: projecting their concerns onto their saying other people won't do this.
Speaker 2: But here's the thing though about Nikki, she is the
Speaker 2: most qualified person. I mean, Chris Christy I think is too,
Speaker 2: but she is I think the most qualified person to
Speaker 2: actually be president. And in a world where Donald Trump
Speaker 2: chokes on a cheeseburger or has like a major health event,
Speaker 2: I would be much happier if she were in second
Speaker 2: place than Rondo Santis.
Speaker 3: And Wall Street.
Speaker 2: Journal has a new poll out this morning, a national
Speaker 2: poll in which she has edged out Ronda Santis. She's
Speaker 2: at fifteen, he's at fourteen. Together, that equals twenty nine.
Speaker 2: Trump is at fifty nine, which means that if you
Speaker 2: double what and DeSantis get together, Trump is still twice that.
Speaker 2: And so, in some ways I am a political nerd,
Speaker 2: and so I love to watch the debates. There's a
Speaker 2: whiff of futility in it all. What's the point because
Speaker 2: it doesn't say anything about the current race, nor does
Speaker 2: it really say anything about the future of the party.
Speaker 2: Well that's not true. It does, but like Nikki and
Speaker 2: Christy are not the future of the party.
Speaker 3: They're just not.
Speaker 1: So. When I was watching that debate on news Nation
Speaker 1: last night.
Speaker 2: How did you find news Nation? I ended up watching
Speaker 2: it on YouTube on the Blaze, which.
Speaker 3: To have Glenn Beck.
Speaker 2: They're already talking over each other, then Glenn Beck's talking
Speaker 2: over them. I was like, this is the most miserable
Speaker 2: viewing experience ever. But sorry, you found news Nation somewhere.
Speaker 1: Let me let me preface this with being forty five,
Speaker 1: I still own a cable box and it took like
Speaker 1: a good ten minutes of like trying to figure out
Speaker 1: how to find it. But I did eventually find it
Speaker 1: by starting at two and clicking all the way up.
Speaker 1: I hit it eventually because I couldn't you know, you
Speaker 1: goo use Nation what channel? And nothing comes up? And
Speaker 1: it is like the Land of Misfit Toys over there
Speaker 1: with Chris Cuomo kicking it off to Bill O'Reilly, I mean,
Speaker 1: what are we even doing? And Hogan Gitley with the
Speaker 1: hair all slipped down, so you did miss a little
Speaker 1: bit of the characters from season one. But I was
Speaker 1: struck by how much there is a really scary part
Speaker 1: of the Republican Party that is no longer like in
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen it was Trump. Now it's authoritarianism.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the whole thing. And sometimes I'm not debating
Speaker 2: that it's not authoritarian or.
Speaker 1: It's anti democratic.
Speaker 2: Of course it is anti democratic. There's one of the
Speaker 2: things we always say at the bor Charlie says, this
Speaker 2: is like a clown with a flamethrower, like still has
Speaker 2: a flamethrower. And that's sort of how I think about
Speaker 2: these guys, because they are such idiot clowns, all just
Speaker 2: following in Trump's footsteps, like Vivi Gramaswami on the stage
Speaker 2: last night being like, yeah, you know, January sixth was
Speaker 2: an inside job and nobody's jumping all over him. You
Speaker 2: don't have debate mod you know, like we've got Megan Kelly,
Speaker 2: the podcast host, and they were all doing like this
Speaker 2: anti vax nonsense, like and it was like, how could
Speaker 2: you defend the vaccine? I mean, the whole thing. I
Speaker 2: tweeted this after the debate, which is like even if
Speaker 2: Trump's gone, just the whole party's lost. It's all gone
Speaker 2: down this insane rabbit hole. And like what is the
Speaker 2: News Nation thing?
Speaker 3: Anyway?
Speaker 2: Like with the R and C weird debates to News Nation,
Speaker 2: which nobody watches because guess what else we You and
Speaker 2: I suffered through that debate last night, but I think
Speaker 2: most of America did not.
Speaker 3: People doing intense analysis.
Speaker 2: Over who won and who lost when Trump's up at
Speaker 2: you know, sixty points, like it's all it's all just
Speaker 2: sort of meaningless.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we lost because we had to watch it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Chris Cuomo I called BS on this thing that
Speaker 2: he said where he was like Biden and Trump are
Speaker 2: the same and neither one of them is Jesus.
Speaker 1: Did he say that?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he said that it was either Biden would be
Speaker 2: equally dangerous or Trump would be just as dangerous as Biden,
Speaker 2: like whatever. There was some equivalency that was idiotic, which
Speaker 2: I pointed out was idiotic on Twitter, and like immediately
Speaker 2: got a call from his producer with Amman debate me.
Speaker 1: No way.
Speaker 2: I was like, I got COVID, I got we'll fuck
Speaker 2: with you later, but also like I don't could go
Speaker 2: on News Nation. I got to have a debate in
Speaker 2: the forest with no one listening.
Speaker 1: I recently declined a news nation head. But yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I agree. I mean that's the thing is, like I
Speaker 1: do not miss seeing him on television because he's very
Speaker 1: un smart.
Speaker 2: I never watched him before, Like, I didn't really have
Speaker 2: him so much on my radar until all the Cuomo
Speaker 2: qua Cuomo stuff happened. Like I don't know, he got
Speaker 2: me too right, It was like where he wasn't disclosing
Speaker 2: about his brother and then it was a me too
Speaker 2: thing and the brother and then you know, the mayor of
Speaker 2: New York former hair.
Speaker 3: Also, it all just doesn't sound that great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right, it's not great. In case you're wondering,
Speaker 1: none of this is good. We would like to have
Speaker 1: a mayor who is not in what seems like real
Speaker 1: legal pair all for any number of possible things he
Speaker 1: may or may not have done. So I did watch that,
Speaker 1: and it is clann with the flamethrow. I think is
Speaker 1: absolutely right. The question of like Trump has sort of
Speaker 1: rigged some of these debates too, rit like he can't lose.
Speaker 2: Iowa, Wait, what do you mean he's rigged the debate?
Speaker 1: He has like consolidated some of the caucuses and done
Speaker 1: some machinations behind the scenes making it easier for him
Speaker 1: to win the nomination.
Speaker 2: Sure, the infrastructure in the Republican Party belongs to Trump,
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean he couldn't lose Iowa. I don't think
Speaker 2: Iowa was right. The rules are structured as such where
Speaker 2: they they absolutely help him. One of the things that's
Speaker 2: ironic is if you go back and look, there were
Speaker 2: a bunch of changes that were actually made to try
Speaker 2: to make the Republican primary less contentious. Where so basically
Speaker 2: like if you go into Super Tuesday, it's winner take all,
Speaker 2: winner take most in many of these states, and it's
Speaker 2: meant to lock up the primary faster. The R and
Speaker 2: C after could have changed those back and they declined,
Speaker 2: which is fine, I mean, and whatever they left them,
Speaker 2: but that is going to all of It's gonna make
Speaker 2: it a lot easier for Trump to win. Can we
Speaker 2: go back, though, to the bate for one second, I said,
Speaker 2: and I really want to make which is about Chris Christie. Okay,
Speaker 2: so obviously all of us who hate Trump were watching
Speaker 2: Chris Christi and were pleased at his performance, and he
Speaker 2: went hard. But Chris Chrissy also like it's so over,
Speaker 2: you know, like his negatives are too high, it's never
Speaker 2: gonna happen. He should back Hayley. But he did this
Speaker 2: thing last night that really really made me angry. And
Speaker 2: I wonder if you had a similar reaction, because I'm
Speaker 2: not sure people did. There's this part where he goes
Speaker 2: in to defend Niki, right Vivike is saying observed things
Speaker 2: into Santis is attacking her because now she's the front
Speaker 2: runner in their undercard. They're all after Nikki. Last night,
Speaker 2: Chris Christie does this, I've known this woman for ten years,
Speaker 2: and Vivic's over there. He's saying she's not smart. He's
Speaker 2: saying she doesn't know anything, and he just repeats and
Speaker 2: really hits hard Vivic's criticism of Nikki before White nighting
Speaker 2: in to you don't tell a woman that's this smart. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and he kind of does this big defense and she's
Speaker 2: standing there awkwardly as he like White Nights for her
Speaker 2: and defends her. And I think that that was her
Speaker 2: worst moment that and I don't and I think Chris
Speaker 2: Christine knows exactly what he's doing. He's repeating the slams
Speaker 2: against her. Emphasizing them and then acting like he's coming
Speaker 2: in to save the day. And I actually found that
Speaker 2: kind of gross and didn't like it one bit.
Speaker 1: M It's so interesting that you said this, because I
Speaker 1: was talking about this with Mika this morning, and like,
Speaker 1: I'm conflicted because I thought she did really well for herself,
Speaker 1: but they were so hard on her, Like everyone was like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, she's trying to be president of the United States,
Speaker 2: And I just think there's nothing worse for like being
Speaker 2: the only woman on stage to have big bully Christy
Speaker 2: come in on your behalf and the reason Nikki Haley
Speaker 2: has been going up in the pulse, the reason they're
Speaker 2: all attacking her. I'm sorry, it's welcome to being the
Speaker 2: front runner. This is what happens when you get out
Speaker 2: in front is people come for you, and you got
Speaker 2: to be able to handle that. And you know you're
Speaker 2: not going to have Chris Christy on the stage next
Speaker 2: to you. And I thought that she needed to do
Speaker 2: her own fighting, but I think he put her in
Speaker 2: a tough position by coming to her defense that way.
Speaker 1: One of the brilliant things though, that she did, which
Speaker 1: I thought was amazing, was when the Vek went after her.
Speaker 1: She said, I'm not going to respond, and it made
Speaker 1: him look like an idiot. That timing. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just thought like wow, because you know, he was
Speaker 1: like and she was like, Okay, I'm not going to respond,
Speaker 1: and I thought that was pretty impressive.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Listen, she has been really, really good in these debates,
Speaker 2: and I was disappointed last night. You know, I think
Speaker 2: she wasn't quite ready for what it means to be
Speaker 2: at the center of the stage and having everyone come
Speaker 2: for you, because that's what they've been kind of doing
Speaker 2: to DeSantis. She has had some of her best moments
Speaker 2: actually responding to VIVC. I agree that last night not
Speaker 2: responding to him also looked pretty good because he's such
Speaker 2: a loathsome toad, but he's been a good foil for her,
Speaker 2: and I think engaging with him has ultimately been to
Speaker 2: her benefit.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I agree. He really sucks, Like I don't
Speaker 1: know how else to explain it, Like, he does seem
Speaker 1: like a really a bad person. Last night, they were
Speaker 1: booing him. I counted four separate times where they just
Speaker 1: started booing him.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, here's the thing, though, when I was just
Speaker 2: doing a focus group with young conservative voters.
Speaker 1: Do they love him?
Speaker 2: There were only three candidates that they were interested in, Trump, DeSantis,
Speaker 2: and Vivic And I think that there's this new part
Speaker 2: of the coalition that's this like groy Techie. It's like
Speaker 2: now a part of the Republican Party, and I think
Speaker 2: that they find Vivid appealing.
Speaker 3: And I also think that Vivike's.
Speaker 2: One of the things that you talk about him being
Speaker 2: a bad person. He is not stupid, but he really
Speaker 2: thinks these voters are stupid and he plays to that
Speaker 2: all the time. Like the level of contempt that these
Speaker 2: once serious and smart people hold these voters in is real.
Speaker 1: I think that's absolutely right. That's kind of the secret
Speaker 1: of a vague is that he really thinks these people
Speaker 1: are dumb, and so you know, his foreign policy is
Speaker 1: basically nothing right, like let them all die. I think
Speaker 1: that a lot of people are under fifty because my
Speaker 1: husband does not feel this way, and he's a lot
Speaker 1: older than I'm or not a lot, but he's a
Speaker 1: little bit older than I am. I think America should
Speaker 1: be less involved overseas, not the way that he does,
Speaker 1: because I'm not insane, But like I think a lot
Speaker 1: of younger people do not like American intervention because we
Speaker 1: grew up through nine to eleven and through the multiple
Speaker 1: golf course and he's sort of trying to milk that.
Speaker 1: But he doesn't have a plan. I mean, he just
Speaker 1: his plan is like get in there and figure it out.
Speaker 3: That's exactly right.
Speaker 2: And I remain kind of an unrepentant neo con in
Speaker 2: the sense that I still believe that American leadership in
Speaker 2: the world matters a great deal. But I also agree
Speaker 2: with this point that like, we have seen a lot
Speaker 2: of not so successful intervention over the last several decades,
Speaker 2: and there's no doubt when you listen to young voters
Speaker 2: left right center, that there is no interest in boots
Speaker 2: on the ground anywhere else in the world basically forever reason.
Speaker 2: And people are pretty split on how much aid we
Speaker 2: send and how much we involve ourselves generally. But I
Speaker 2: do think that there's like a world for grown ups, right,
Speaker 2: and grown ups have to understand the world and understand
Speaker 2: that it's dangerous and weigh the costs and benefits, and
Speaker 2: you just you want somebody who's a grown up and
Speaker 2: has a real understanding of things and his whole like
Speaker 2: move fast, break stuff, shirk people out, you know, con
Speaker 2: people into giving you millions of dollars, selling it off
Speaker 2: to private equity. Like none of that has prepared him
Speaker 2: to have the remotely serious thought on foreign policy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think that's the thing is he's like
Speaker 1: gotten away with that, and there's so much of that,
Speaker 1: like having gotten away with it despite not knowing anything,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's what Trump was too, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: he basic got away with that to a certain stan
Speaker 1: and you know, he didn't cause World War three, and
Speaker 1: he really good. But I think that's a really good point.
Speaker 1: Should they have even had debates if Trump wasn't going
Speaker 1: to be part of them?
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I definitely think they should have.
Speaker 2: Look, I think that there's a I don't know, it's
Speaker 2: less than ten percent, but it's not a nothing chance
Speaker 2: that something does happen to Trump. I don't think he's
Speaker 2: going to jail, and none of the fantasy politics stuff,
Speaker 2: but like keels over during a rally or something. And
Speaker 2: I thought that DeSantis knew some debate was stupid and unnecessary,
Speaker 2: but like we should have a Republican primary, And besides,
Speaker 2: it's really good for the National Review guys and those types.
Speaker 2: They really need to like be able for a while
Speaker 2: to live in their fantasy world of like, oh no, look,
Speaker 2: this is what's happening, but like it is an earth
Speaker 2: too situation. I don't think we shouldn't do it. I
Speaker 2: just we should recognize what it is that like, this
Speaker 2: isn't reality. There's a reality where there's another guy with
Speaker 2: sixty percent. These guys are fighting for a little bit
Speaker 2: of conversation, a little bit of a book sales future,
Speaker 2: maybe a VP slot. I mean, Vivick's going to be
Speaker 2: in Trump's cabinet, so prepare for that. These are the
Speaker 2: end days for someone like Chris Christy long while.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Debbie macarsoal Powell is a former congresswoman for Florida's twenty
Speaker 1: six congressional district and presently she is running against Rick
Speaker 1: Scott for the United States Senate. Welcome too fast politics, Debbie.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Mollie for having me. I'm a big fan.
Speaker 3: I love how you keep them honest. Glad to be
Speaker 3: on with you.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm so happy to have you. So you are
Speaker 1: running for Senate against Rick Scott, the least likable member
Speaker 1: of the Senate. I actually think there are less likable
Speaker 1: members of the Senate, but he's high up there. So
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about why you are the
Speaker 1: person to win this Senate seed in Florida.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Mollie, it wasn't long ago that this community here
Speaker 4: in South Florida elected me to be the first South
Speaker 4: American immigrant to ever serve in the House of Representatives.
Speaker 4: And that happened at the time I was the associate
Speaker 4: dean at the medical school. I was trying to expand
Speaker 4: access to quality healthcare and the community needed change. This
Speaker 4: was at a time and now they continue to say
Speaker 4: that they want to repeal the Affordable Care Acts, but
Speaker 4: at the time they were very much focused on doing that,
Speaker 4: and so when I was in Congress, I expanded Medicare coverage.
Speaker 4: I worked on reducing the cost of medicine. I'm really
Speaker 4: excited to see that finally we have that cap on
Speaker 4: insulin costs, which really affects a lot of Latinos and
Speaker 4: black voters. And I'm doing this again because the state
Speaker 4: is ready for change again, and everyone listening, I really
Speaker 4: need you to join me and support me, because I
Speaker 4: am telling you Rick Scott is vulnerable. He's an extremist
Speaker 4: who supports a national abortion band. He's the one that
Speaker 4: wrote the plan to end Social Security, Medicare and now
Speaker 4: the ACA, and he's never won a raised by more
Speaker 4: than one percentage point. I need everyone with me and
Speaker 4: to hold the Senate majority. It starts with Florida. Please
Speaker 4: visit Debbifoflorida dot com and support this race.
Speaker 1: It's funny because you were a medical school dean, and
Speaker 1: Rick Scott made his money on Medicare fraud ish, so
Speaker 1: you know you both are in medicine. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: what Florida looks like, what your state looks like, and
Speaker 1: how you might do it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, the state is a bright purple state.
Speaker 4: It's not a red state. There's this misperception and it's
Speaker 4: because it's been a very very strategic move by Republicans
Speaker 4: here under rondesscentists who make people believe that this is
Speaker 4: a red state. This is a voter suppress and a
Speaker 4: gerrymandered state. And that's why in twenty twenty two we
Speaker 4: saw that anomaly were really our voters did not come
Speaker 4: out to vote, and that's why you saw all these
Speaker 4: different races go to the Republicans. But we have a
Speaker 4: third of our voters or Democrats. A third of our
Speaker 4: voters are independent voters. And when we reached out to
Speaker 4: them and we communicate with them, we tell them that
Speaker 4: they have a choice between someone that's going to reduce
Speaker 4: the cost of healthcare, someone that's going to protect their care,
Speaker 4: including Obamacare, someone that's going to ensure that women's rights
Speaker 4: are protected, someone like myself that cares deeply about the
Speaker 4: environment and making sure that we take action on the
Speaker 4: climate crisis that's affecting our state and the coastal communities
Speaker 4: around our state. They will vote for that person. And
Speaker 4: I've been traveling around the state Molly already. I've had
Speaker 4: so many conversations with different voters that are very excited
Speaker 4: that they have a candidate that's going to speak for them,
Speaker 4: that's going to deal with the issues that affect them personally,
Speaker 4: and not someone like Rick Scott that has used that
Speaker 4: seat and the Senate for self enrichment. His wealth has
Speaker 4: grown by more than fifteen million since he got into
Speaker 4: the Senate. And isn't it interesting that he puts sixty
Speaker 4: four million dollars of his own money when he was
Speaker 4: running in twenty eighteen so that he can buy the
Speaker 4: seat basically, and it's a job that pays one hundred
Speaker 4: and eighty thousand dollars and you have to ask yourself
Speaker 4: why is he doing it? And we should all know
Speaker 4: that he's doing it for self interest and self enrichment.
Speaker 1: Florida is a really interesting state. I was just talking
Speaker 1: to someone about Latino voters in Arizona. One of the
Speaker 1: things that really helped flip Arizona blue probably before it
Speaker 1: should was Sheriff Joe Arapaio. Do you see a similar
Speaker 1: phenomenon happening with Ron de Santis in Florida?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 4: Yes, I've talked to that would never vote for Ron
Speaker 4: DeSantis again. They felt the attacks under his leadership. He's
Speaker 4: been attacking local municipalities, He's been attacking LGBTQ communities, He's
Speaker 4: been attacking students, teachers, immigrants.
Speaker 3: There is no group that he has not attacked.
Speaker 4: And I can tell you that as someone like myself
Speaker 4: who's Latina, who knows how to speak directly to our communities,
Speaker 4: I've been very in here in South Florida across the
Speaker 4: state talking about issues like gun violence. This is an
Speaker 4: issue that's personal for me, Molly. I had lost my
Speaker 4: father to gun violence. And I've been working for the
Speaker 4: past few years with Gabby Giffords on trying to reduce
Speaker 4: gun violence in the state and across the country.
Speaker 3: But this is one of.
Speaker 4: The top issues for Latinos here in Florida and across
Speaker 4: the state. We suffer two of the worst mass shootings
Speaker 4: in the state of Florida at polls in Orlando and
Speaker 4: at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. And it's an issue that drives
Speaker 4: people to the polls, whether you're Latino, whether you're a
Speaker 4: black voter, a woman who is dropping her kids off
Speaker 4: at school every morning and is always worried that something
Speaker 4: could happen. And so when we talk about these issues,
Speaker 4: it doesn't matter. They put partisanship aside. And this is
Speaker 4: a state that does that. We've seen it time and
Speaker 4: time again. It's a state where the races are always
Speaker 4: very close, but Floridians are independent, They have an independent street,
Speaker 4: and they vote for the candidate, not for the party
Speaker 4: per se.
Speaker 1: I'm really interested in that. It seems to me like
Speaker 1: the kind of effects of being in Florida, Like if
Speaker 1: you think about what happened in Kansas under brown Back,
Speaker 1: why don't you when you talk to voters on the ground,
Speaker 1: because you are talking to a lot of Florida voters
Speaker 1: on the ground, what don't they like about the d
Speaker 1: scientists because d Santis has pretty much used his governorship
Speaker 1: as a way to audition as a as a Republican
Speaker 1: presidential nominee. So explain to us what that looks like
Speaker 1: on the ground for voters.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Molly, Florida has right now some of the highest
Speaker 4: inflation rates in the country. We have an affordability crisis.
Speaker 4: People cannot pay their rent, they can't pay their mortgage.
Speaker 4: Homeowners insurance has skyrocketed. And this actually started under Rick
Speaker 4: Scott when he was governor. He took away money from
Speaker 4: the public option here and gave it to private insurers
Speaker 4: that were making money and also of course contributing to
Speaker 4: his campaign.
Speaker 3: And here we are.
Speaker 4: People to think about whether they're going to be will
Speaker 4: continue living in the state because they can't afford it.
Speaker 4: This is a union problem in the state of Florida
Speaker 4: under dessientists, something that started under Rick Scott, and that's
Speaker 4: the top issue when you talk to anyone here living
Speaker 4: in the state, that's the top issue. And that includes
Speaker 4: business owners because imagine if you own business in the state.
Speaker 4: Your prices for that mortgage or for the cost of
Speaker 4: property insurance, all of that has gone up, and yet
Speaker 4: wages have not gone up. Right here in the state,
Speaker 4: in Florida, we sale pay our teachers less than the
Speaker 4: national average.
Speaker 3: Young Americans who graduate.
Speaker 4: From college, they look to leave the city. That's the
Speaker 4: top issue, That's what we're talking about. And I think
Speaker 4: that's also going to reject a lot of the Republican
Speaker 4: agenda here in the state.
Speaker 1: So one of the things Rick Scott has done is
Speaker 1: sort of trying to take control of the Republican Party
Speaker 1: in a very kind of weirdly ham handed and stupid way.
Speaker 1: And you know he has this Remember he and Mitch
Speaker 1: McConnell really clashed over this plan for America, which was
Speaker 1: to basically be Paul Ryan. What do you think about that.
Speaker 1: I mean, clearly Rook Scott has higher aspirations.
Speaker 4: This guy is a political opportunist, right. I mean you
Speaker 4: mentioned it earlier, but when he was CEO of a
Speaker 4: healthcare company, he oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in the
Speaker 4: history of our country. They had to pay out one
Speaker 4: point seven billion dollars from that settlement for Medicare fraud,
Speaker 4: and he continues to just go to wherever he can
Speaker 4: be to make the most money for himself. And he
Speaker 4: oversaw the National Republican Senate Committee in the last selection.
Speaker 4: He actually spent all the money that they had and
Speaker 4: they lost every election cycle. That plan that he wrote
Speaker 4: to sunset Medicare, social Security, the Affordable Character also includes
Speaker 4: raising taxes for Florida families and everyone in the country.
Speaker 4: And that plan would affect my own mom. My mom
Speaker 4: lives with me. I've had to take care of her.
Speaker 4: She's had a lot of health issues, and if it
Speaker 4: weren't for those programs that her life saving care, I
Speaker 4: don't know where she would be and where she would
Speaker 4: be if I wasn't able to also help her and
Speaker 4: take care of her. And that's something that I also
Speaker 4: want to focus on because young people are not thinking
Speaker 4: about this, but there's so many of us that have
Speaker 4: parents that we need to take care of, and the
Speaker 4: cost of taking care of.
Speaker 5: Them is really, really high.
Speaker 3: And here you have this man.
Speaker 4: Who wants to hut and actually sunset these programs that
Speaker 4: would take away all the coverage for seniors in a
Speaker 4: state where the majority of the Floridians we have a
Speaker 4: large number of seniors that live here in Florida that
Speaker 4: rely on those of that, so he is the most
Speaker 4: vulnerable Republican in the country. Mitch McConnell actually kicked him
Speaker 4: out of the Commerce Committee. I don't know if you
Speaker 4: remember that. There is no love between Mitch McConnell and
Speaker 4: Rick Scott. Mitch mcconnald. The one thing that I agree with,
Speaker 4: I agree with him on one thing, and he said
Speaker 4: that Rick Scott is going to have a very hard
Speaker 4: time in his reelection in his home state.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think that's really an important point. You know,
Speaker 1: you do have a lot of older people in Florida.
Speaker 1: Funny because I'm going through that with my parents now,
Speaker 1: with my mom and my stepdad. It's unbelievably expensive too.
Speaker 1: The whole situation is so badly set up and shockingly expensive.
Speaker 1: Florida also has really felt the effects of climate change
Speaker 1: in a way that I think a lot of states
Speaker 1: have not, with the algae and the hurricanes. I mean,
Speaker 1: what are you see in climate wise on the ground,
Speaker 1: and our voters concerned about that are now.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent.
Speaker 4: And here's something that I think maybe people don't realize.
Speaker 4: When Rondo Santis ran and was elected, and part of
Speaker 4: his popularity at the beginning was that he talked a
Speaker 4: lot about the environment. Now, when I was in Congress,
Speaker 4: I actually led the effort to bring to Florida two
Speaker 4: hundred million dollars for Everglades restoration, and of course DeSantis
Speaker 4: and Republicans took credit for that.
Speaker 3: That was under a House Democratic majority.
Speaker 4: I had done a lot of work here with Choral
Speaker 4: Restoration Foundation in protecting our choral reefs. The state of
Speaker 4: Florida has the only living reefs in the entire continent
Speaker 4: United States. And we have seen that the warming of
Speaker 4: the oceans really affects growries, and of course that affects
Speaker 4: all of the sea lives and the fisheries and the
Speaker 4: businesses that rely on a healthy environment. And Rick Scott,
Speaker 4: when he was governor, he actually banned the term climate
Speaker 4: change to be used in any of the state agencies.
Speaker 4: This man will never ever deal with the issue that
Speaker 4: we're facing in Florida, which is stronger storms, destruction and
Speaker 4: coastal communities, businesses that are affected that have yet to
Speaker 4: receive the relief that they deserve from these storms. And
Speaker 4: this is happening all over the state. And we've been lucky,
Speaker 4: Molly here in South Florida. We haven't had a severe
Speaker 4: storm in the past few years. But there are people
Speaker 4: that have been talking about the effects of a storm,
Speaker 4: of a hurricane five of it.
Speaker 3: If it hits Miami, the economic impact.
Speaker 4: Would be disastrous for the economy of the state and
Speaker 4: also for the country.
Speaker 3: Right, I mean, let's all remember that we're all connected.
Speaker 4: Florida is the third largest state in the country, the
Speaker 4: third largest economy that contributes to to America's economy. We
Speaker 4: have to pay attention to this and we have to
Speaker 4: make sure that we protect the state from the extremism
Speaker 4: that is under Dessantist Scott and so many other politicians here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean just really scary stuff. As the temperature
Speaker 1: goes off, we will see more storms, right, We will
Speaker 1: see more storms, more volatility was weather, more flooding, more danger.
Speaker 1: And Florida really is a state where, I mean, you
Speaker 1: have big cities like Miami that are already seeing real
Speaker 1: problems from flooding.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And part of when I talk about Everglades right and
Speaker 4: investing in that restoration project, is because we haven't had
Speaker 4: fresh water flowing down to the bay, which is critical
Speaker 4: for the health of our environment, and so that's why
Speaker 4: we've seen so many those images of fishkill. And that
Speaker 4: happened a lot under Scott because he actually also repealed
Speaker 4: protections for the Environmental State Agency here when he was
Speaker 4: got and so you see the results of that. That
Speaker 4: fishkill is because they can't breathe underwater because they're not
Speaker 4: getting fresh water. The everglade serves as this filter for
Speaker 4: water to flow south. And you know, I can go
Speaker 4: on and on. It's an issue that I'm very passionate about. Actually,
Speaker 4: before I worked at FIU as the associating at the
Speaker 4: medical School, I worked at the Zoo. At Zoo Foundation,
Speaker 4: I worked with Ron McGill. I did a lot of
Speaker 4: work on conservation projects. And so it's coming from Ecuador.
Speaker 4: Being born in my home country of Ecuador, we really
Speaker 4: pay attention to our environment and how it affects our livelihood.
Speaker 3: And it's something that I'm very passionate about.
Speaker 4: And it's also a factor that will motivate voters in
Speaker 4: Florida and particularly young voters. I've been talking to students
Speaker 4: already about this, and their top two issues is the
Speaker 4: environment and gun violence.
Speaker 1: Talk to us about one of the things we have
Speaker 1: seen a lot of. Is this anxiety about Democrats winning
Speaker 1: over Latino voters. What should they be doing?
Speaker 3: Well, look, only in a state like Florida.
Speaker 4: Was it possible for me, an immigrant that came here
Speaker 4: at fourteen, to go from a working at a minimum
Speaker 4: wage shop, working at a donut shop, then graduate college,
Speaker 4: become an associated at the largest public university here in
Speaker 4: the state, one of the largest ones, and then be
Speaker 4: elected to serve in Congress.
Speaker 3: And just recently I was talking to this.
Speaker 4: Fi used student who was interviewing me for the paper,
Speaker 4: and he ended the interview saying, my mom came here
Speaker 4: also like you, when she was young as a teenager,
Speaker 4: she was thirteen, and she's so excited about your candidacy,
Speaker 4: and she is so excited to be able to vote
Speaker 4: for someone like herself that will work to lift up
Speaker 4: our voices in Washington. And I hear that all the time, Molly.
Speaker 4: I've been influent in Spanish. I've been talking all over
Speaker 4: the state to whether it's Puerto Ricans in Central Florida,
Speaker 4: whether it's Venezuela and Colombia and Cuban Americans down here
Speaker 4: in South Florida, and they understand that Our values are
Speaker 4: the same, protecting our families, security, making sure that they
Speaker 4: can just have opportunities to work and make against me.
Speaker 4: That's what we care about, and that's going to be critical.
Speaker 4: And Latino voters, by the way, continue to vote more
Speaker 4: for Democrats than Republicans and aim it to Florida two
Speaker 4: to one. We cannot ignore that fact, and we need
Speaker 4: to be ful about the fact that we continue to
Speaker 4: do the work to vote for the right candidates. It's
Speaker 4: about talking to them, meeting them where they're at, which
Speaker 4: is what everyone always says.
Speaker 3: But I'm here.
Speaker 4: I want everyone to come down here, meet my people
Speaker 4: where they're at, and they're right here in the state
Speaker 4: of Florida, ready to keep the Senate majority and ready
Speaker 4: to continue to protect democracy.
Speaker 1: Such a good point. Thank you so much, Debbie. I
Speaker 1: hope you'll come back.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Molly. It's always a pleasure anytime.
Speaker 1: Maria Theresa Kumar is the leader of Voto Latino. Welcome
Speaker 1: to Fast Politics, Maria Theresa.
Speaker 3: Thanks much for having me. Molly. This is such a tree.
Speaker 1: It's such a treat because here's the saying, I am
Speaker 1: always thinking about what you do at Voter Latino, and
Speaker 1: then I also really like you and we're friends. So
Speaker 1: it's like it's not so often that like there's someone
Speaker 1: who's like exactly someone I need to have on the
Speaker 1: podcast to talk with right away, and who I also
Speaker 1: want to talk to because we're friends. So it's very
Speaker 1: delightful for me. I've written about this extensively. We've talked
Speaker 1: about the socially like polls are not real, but also
Speaker 1: what are Democrats going to do in order to not
Speaker 1: lose the presidency and also democracy in states like Arizona, Nevada,
Speaker 1: Florida discuss so much.
Speaker 5: So, first of all, Molly, I have to say I'm
Speaker 5: thrilled around your podcast because you are officially my very
Speaker 5: first Twitter friend that I met a human.
Speaker 1: For and that I had mutual This is.
Speaker 5: The challenge that I have right now with the Democrats,
Speaker 5: I'll be honest, Since twenty eighteen, since since the rise
Speaker 5: of the Autocrat want to be fascist in Trump, Democrats,
Speaker 5: not necessarily the party, but Democrats the progressive movement have
Speaker 5: known how to communicate and mobilize folks to participate in
Speaker 5: our elections in record number, and we keep winning.
Speaker 3: Right most recent.
Speaker 5: Example is that we just won in Ohio. Not small
Speaker 5: but big, and it was the passage of supporting a portion.
Speaker 5: And then people get back into the room and they
Speaker 5: start ringing their hands. They're like, well, what do we
Speaker 5: do now, Well, continue investigating in that coalition, don't gart
Speaker 5: an experiment with something new. We actually have a winner
Speaker 5: among us, and that is the majority of American When
Speaker 5: you start talking to them and communicating with them and
Speaker 5: you share with them what is on the line, they
Speaker 5: get it. But what the Democrats have historically done is
Speaker 5: they wait until the very last minute, and in doing so,
Speaker 5: you have an opposition not just in the extreme right
Speaker 5: of the Republicans, but increasingly nefarious actors from across the borders,
Speaker 5: through the Russians and Chinese or actively trying to get
Speaker 5: people to solidify themselves not for either party, but for
Speaker 5: not believing in democracy and institutions. And that to me, Molly,
Speaker 5: what I take a back is what concerns me the most.
Speaker 5: We are in an information presidential warfare, and we as
Speaker 5: progressives haven't even started to engage in those conversations.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had John Ralston on the podcast from Nevada.
Speaker 1: You know, that's a state where Democrats are hanging on
Speaker 1: but are imperil can you explain to us a little
Speaker 1: bit about what's happening there and what needs to happen there.
Speaker 5: Investment, malle I will share with you. In twenty twenty two,
Speaker 5: the Nevada race was closer than it had to be
Speaker 5: because there was this idea that Latinas were defecting to Republicans.
Speaker 5: Actions speak louder than polls. If you look at the
Speaker 5: returns that happened to Nevada, if you look at the
Speaker 5: returns that happened in Arizona, if you even look at
Speaker 5: the returns that happen even in Texas. In the twenty
Speaker 5: twenty two midterm election, there was no defection. If anything,
Speaker 5: there was a solid base, but there was a lack
Speaker 5: of investment. So give you an idea. Everybody was it
Speaker 5: was saying, you know, Georgia was the election to watch.
Speaker 5: That's not We're at Votalta where we were watching. We
Speaker 5: were watching Nevada in Arizona because we learned in the
Speaker 5: middle of September that fifty percent of Latino voters had
Speaker 5: not been contacted in Arizona alone.
Speaker 3: Fifty percent.
Speaker 5: Why Molly, It's because the majority of the voters, a
Speaker 5: third of the voters in Arizona are under the age
Speaker 5: of twenty nine. By Democratic progressive math, the way people
Speaker 5: run elections is that they only contact voters who have
Speaker 5: a history of voting five times. So someone who is
Speaker 5: twenty nine years old, they haven't voted five times, they
Speaker 5: don't have a history of voting. But are they aligned
Speaker 5: with democratic values? Are they aligned with women's agency over
Speaker 5: their body? And are they aligned over LBGQ issues and
Speaker 5: you know, gun reform and environment.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent.
Speaker 5: But if you don't call them and you don't tell
Speaker 5: them what's happening, and you don't tell them what's up,
Speaker 5: they won't participate. So we actually at VL we actually
Speaker 5: had a transfer close to four million dollars in an
Speaker 5: investment in Arizona and Nevada alone, even though we were
Speaker 5: supposed to do it in five other states. Long story short, Molly,
Speaker 5: we did a post back of the napping analysis of
Speaker 5: what happens in Nevada. Basically, in Nevada we lost the
Speaker 5: governorship the top of the ticket because of seventeen thousand
Speaker 5: They were short seventeen thousand votes, Wow, more than two
Speaker 5: hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And you know those voters
Speaker 5: were local Pency.
Speaker 3: Latino youth. They just right, I'll tack them. So it's
Speaker 3: not like we're.
Speaker 5: Not talking about millions of dollars in certain cases, We're
Speaker 5: just talking about attention and nurture.
Speaker 1: I think that's a really good point. If you don't
Speaker 1: get out there, people don't know. And college campuses are
Speaker 1: so are so interesting too. It's funny when you're talking
Speaker 1: about these results. I think about Wisconsin right where people
Speaker 1: told me Mandela Barnes had zoo shot in the end.
Speaker 1: Had the polls been a little closer to what it
Speaker 1: actually was, he could have met he could have beat
Speaker 1: Ronan On Johnson. And so I feel like this is
Speaker 1: the discussion we're having this discussion about. Like we started
Speaker 1: this discussion with me making an excuse for polling, for saying, like,
Speaker 1: I know, polls are stupid and a lot of times wrong,
Speaker 1: And now we were as we're in this conversation, we're
Speaker 1: talking about how wrong these polls were and how these
Speaker 1: inaccurate polls actually rob Democrats of victories that they should
Speaker 1: have had.
Speaker 5: Well, well, Mollie, and you hit the nail and had
Speaker 5: these poles. Oftentimes you have to see who is often
Speaker 5: behind the first wave of polling. I say this because
Speaker 5: remember when the last year during the midterms, everyone was
Speaker 5: saying that there was going to be a red wave,
Speaker 5: that majority of it came from GOP operatives. They actually
Speaker 5: have skin in the game to prevent people from participating.
Speaker 3: What we know now, Mollie is that.
Speaker 5: The biggest thing that polls do is try to suppress
Speaker 5: low propensity voters who think that their vote doesn't matter
Speaker 5: to begin with. And this kind of solidifies it, and
Speaker 5: so it makes our work harder. And so I would
Speaker 5: just encourage newsrooms to just be much more cautious and
Speaker 5: actually look at historical participation to see when initiatives come in.
Speaker 5: I mean the fact that they thought that Ohio was
Speaker 5: going to be close, but abortion was on the ballot,
Speaker 5: they learned nothing from Kansas or any other state that
Speaker 5: casst it right. It's almost we're living in a moment
Speaker 5: where information is dynamic or constantly they are engaging, whether
Speaker 5: in your podcast or on TikTok or what have you,
Speaker 5: finding information in real time, and that actually serves a
Speaker 5: lot of voters in a way to be well informed
Speaker 5: and concerned when they get the information that they need
Speaker 5: in order to make the best decision. For themselves. And frankly,
Speaker 5: when people talk to me about pulling, I just I mean,
Speaker 5: we need to vl we need to understand pulling as well.
Speaker 5: But oftentimes the wave of pulling that is first announced
Speaker 5: in the media does not coincide with even internal pulling
Speaker 5: among organizations. And I wonder if it's because they are
Speaker 5: pulling older voters that are still landlined. They're not actually
Speaker 5: looking at a diverse demographic on younger demographic that does
Speaker 5: have a different true north when it comes to this country,
Speaker 5: and in that is like, you know, climate change is
Speaker 5: very real. I give a damn.
Speaker 1: I think that's right, and I think that that's a
Speaker 1: really good point. And you know, it's funny because it's
Speaker 1: like I was watching CNN as those off off your
Speaker 1: election results came in, and I thought for sure Democrats
Speaker 1: were going to lose in Virginia. They flipped a state house,
Speaker 1: Andy Bursher and Kentucky got re elected by a larger
Speaker 1: margin than the first time. And I'm watching this thing
Speaker 1: where they're talking about Biden's poor poll numbers.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so you know, I want to go back to,
Speaker 5: you know, the article that you wrote. I think that
Speaker 5: is one of the things that got you know, got
Speaker 5: us mind melding again, Molly. And the challenge with polls
Speaker 5: is that it looks at a moment in time, but
Speaker 5: in a myopic sense, right it's almost giving to the
Speaker 5: public that we are doing elections and running elections as
Speaker 5: if it were scenarios of business as usual. We are
Speaker 5: not in that moment in American history right now. Democracy
Speaker 5: absolutely on the line, our access to agency, of our
Speaker 5: bodies on the line. Just being a citizen in America
Speaker 5: is on the line, and we do a disservice when
Speaker 5: we just do something that is a point in time
Speaker 5: and not to the bigger call to action of we
Speaker 5: need every single American who is a patriot to participate,
Speaker 5: to toe the line, because otherwise we're going to be
Speaker 5: in much tougher straints down the line. And I think
Speaker 5: that that was the essence of the article that you
Speaker 5: wrote that I think so resonated to me, is that somehow,
Speaker 5: when Trump was in office, we were constantly sounding the
Speaker 5: alarm of his dangers, and now we're almost romanticizing him.
Speaker 5: And now it's like a collective movement of does he
Speaker 5: even have a shot? He shouldn't have a shot at all.
Speaker 5: If the American people were reminded of what he did
Speaker 5: last time and how he has already given to us
Speaker 5: agenda of solidifying his power at the moment he steps
Speaker 5: into that office, and there is not enough concern or
Speaker 5: staying to the very look that we are right now
Speaker 5: in code read in twenty twenty four, if we have
Speaker 5: a repeat of a Trump administration, right.
Speaker 1: The whole idea that we're going to have the freedoms
Speaker 1: of like the free press. I think Trump gets re elected.
Speaker 1: I mean we saw him the first administration stripping you know,
Speaker 1: he stripped a cost of his hard pass. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, anyone who he didn't like he just kicked out.
Speaker 1: So I think that's certainly true. It's not even a
Speaker 1: question in my mind. But I think it is important.
Speaker 1: Like the voters since Trump has been elected have showed
Speaker 1: us really they don't like this. Yes, And I think
Speaker 1: a lot about like so much of twenty sixteen's coverage
Speaker 1: was like Hillary Clinton is going to be the next president,
Speaker 1: and here's what she's going to do, and so little
Speaker 1: of it was like this would be what happened if
Speaker 1: Trump got elected, because it just seemed like it would
Speaker 1: never happen.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 5: I remember going into you know, Cock deals with different
Speaker 5: reporters in DC, and they were like, Oh, I have
Speaker 5: to finish this drink, but I'm gonna go cover Trump.
Speaker 3: And everybody thought it was funny.
Speaker 5: And I remember Detepely telling them he's telling us what
Speaker 5: he's going to do, and people kind of batted it
Speaker 5: away because they thought that they he was the side circus,
Speaker 5: and in fact we became the circus, and he became
Speaker 5: the one that was orchestrating how he wanted the country.
Speaker 5: You know this the latest news of you know, Univision
Speaker 5: giving him a softball interview is a perfect example of
Speaker 5: what happens when a foreign entity owns our airwaves. Molly,
Speaker 5: Foreign entities in Latin America understand how to play ball
Speaker 5: with autographs. This is their wouse. What they have a
Speaker 5: hard time navigating is America in laws, institutions, and norms.
Speaker 5: We had to take him at his word. When he
Speaker 5: did go after journalists, he would throw them out, but
Speaker 5: he would also I mean, I remember, do you remember
Speaker 5: during the George Floyd when he want send it in
Speaker 5: the National Guard. Yes, that is what you experienced in
Speaker 5: other countries, not in the free press here. And I
Speaker 5: have friends that were reporting, and they felt like they
Speaker 5: were saying. In one case, one was like, I was
Speaker 5: in Latin America during you know, during insurrections reporting. That's
Speaker 5: what I felt like in that moment in time. That
Speaker 5: should be chilling for all of us. It's not going
Speaker 5: to be that he's going to pinpoint a sector. It's
Speaker 5: going to be anybody who is on the wrong side
Speaker 5: of him. You know, when he had asked him, as
Speaker 5: a softball question, are you going to be an autocrat
Speaker 5: and a dictator? He said, no, just the first day.
Speaker 5: You just need one day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was an incredible bit. I mean, watching Kennedy
Speaker 1: just try desperately to make Trump sound less terrible and
Speaker 1: Trump was like, no, no, I'm going to even sound
Speaker 1: more terrible. It's amazing. What you're saying is really important.
Speaker 1: I mean, I actually think this autocratic streak, I actually
Speaker 1: think it's gotten scarier because in twenty sixteen it was
Speaker 1: just Trump and now you're looking at a debate stage
Speaker 1: where you have look, I mean, I don't love Nikki Haley,
Speaker 1: but I don't think she's going to be our last president,
Speaker 1: Whereas like the Vague and Ron DeSantis are both like
Speaker 1: on that same kind of autocratic path.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Mollie, they're both the vet I am sworn
Speaker 5: is auditioning for the vice president. He's basically saying, don't worry,
Speaker 5: I am not Mike Pens. I will fall in line.
Speaker 5: Whatever you need me to do, I will follow that script.
Speaker 5: It's but it's not just the people running for the
Speaker 5: highest office. It's the fact that the GOP leadership mainstreamed
Speaker 5: and extremist in Speaker Johnson. And one thing Molly that
Speaker 5: folks haven't realized is that because he is now technically
Speaker 5: de facto one of the largest fundraisers for congressional candidates
Speaker 5: across the country. For Republicans, even if you have a
Speaker 5: state GOP that is not aligned with extremism, by default,
Speaker 5: they have to fall in line and their candidates have
Speaker 5: to espouse his agenda.
Speaker 3: And that is right.
Speaker 1: I want to know, like Florida, Texas, Arizona, any of
Speaker 1: them or all of them, what are you seeing? What
Speaker 1: is important? Give me good news or bad news?
Speaker 3: So Florida is going to be tough.
Speaker 5: It's I was just in Florida three weeks ago, and
Speaker 5: I was talking to local leaders, young leaders, bright leaders
Speaker 5: we've been working with. We were speaking with some folks
Speaker 5: of the Florida Alliance and just grassroots folks that really
Speaker 5: believe in the progressive movement and more importantly building up base.
Speaker 5: They were telling me that what they're seeing now is
Speaker 5: going to take ten years to Florida ten years. Well,
Speaker 5: so that is a different calculation.
Speaker 1: Not good.
Speaker 3: But then there's opportunity.
Speaker 5: In Arizona and even a place like Texas, because I'll
Speaker 5: give you an example. In Arizona, where Biden won by
Speaker 5: twelve thousand votes, We're expecting one hundred and sixty three
Speaker 5: thousand Latino youth to turn eighteen and over seventy percent
Speaker 5: of them voted for Biden last time around.
Speaker 1: And these are people who lived through Share Joe a
Speaker 1: pie Brow.
Speaker 5: Yes, they're the ones that we ended up knocking on
Speaker 5: the doors and talking to them digitally and everything in
Speaker 5: the twenty twenty two midterms that had just registered because
Speaker 5: they hadn't been contacted, and they overwhelmingly voted for Democrats.
Speaker 5: This is a fun fact, and I'll share this with you.
Speaker 5: But we basically, you know, we did a post election
Speaker 5: analysis and the more concentrated a neighborhood was a princinct
Speaker 5: was in the Latino community, the higher rates that Senator
Speaker 5: Kelly received, of course from them, and the more white
Speaker 5: those districts were at Arizona, the less participation he received. Conversely, Molly,
Speaker 5: the least investment came out of densely populated Latino neighborhoods.
Speaker 1: Shame on us, so crazy, it is shame on us.
Speaker 1: But also Shareff Joe really did make people know what
Speaker 1: a Trump presidency means. But they absoluely did all of
Speaker 1: the scary stuff that Trump dreams about doing, he actually
Speaker 1: did to these young Latina voters.
Speaker 5: And that's what they were right for mobilization. I mean,
Speaker 5: we went in right when Sheriff Ourprios started doing his
Speaker 5: Shmier paper laws and proposition win in eighty seven, and
Speaker 5: we expected that Arizona was going to flip in about
Speaker 5: twelve thirteen years.
Speaker 3: It flipped in eight.
Speaker 5: In twenty twenty, we registered thirty two thousand folks. Of
Speaker 5: those nineteen thousand were first time voters. Molly, the appetite
Speaker 5: of young voters in Arizona cannot be underestimated. And the
Speaker 5: same thing is happening right now in Texas. The reason
Speaker 5: Texas has an onslaught of voter suppression laws against young
Speaker 5: people is because they're participating, and we're expecting close to
Speaker 5: a million Latino youth alone to turn eighteen since the
Speaker 5: last election Biden lost by less than six hundred thousand votes.
Speaker 5: I mean, there's so much opportunity there. I mean, when
Speaker 5: I tell you there's opportunity, if you were to ask
Speaker 5: me what state is most akin to California when it flipped,
Speaker 5: it's Texas.
Speaker 1: If Texas flips, Republicans will I think abandoned the electoral
Speaker 1: college model immediately.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, day, well, no, no.
Speaker 5: The thing is like, if you pay close attention to
Speaker 5: what's happening in Texas and they are trying to close
Speaker 5: the access to the voting booth as quickly as possible,
Speaker 5: because the moment they do that, we will never be
Speaker 5: able to get Texas back because they basically have prevented
Speaker 5: the millions of eligible voters for a participation. But at
Speaker 5: the same time, you have a whole slate of incredible talent,
Speaker 5: whether it's Selena Hidalgo or a great Kasar who's now
Speaker 5: a member of Congress, that is running the state with
Speaker 5: empathy and understands what people every day people are facing
Speaker 5: and the opportunity in Texas. I have to. You know,
Speaker 5: drill down is not so much the top of the ticket,
Speaker 5: but it's Cruise himself running up for reelection and nobody
Speaker 5: likes him, Molly, His partn't like him, his family doesn't
Speaker 5: like it, you know, like nobody likes him, and that
Speaker 5: creates a unique opportunity in Texas to flip the Senate.
Speaker 1: So true, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: I hope you will come back.
Speaker 5: This is so good, lightful, Molly, thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: You are an absolutely light Molly.
Speaker 1: No moment, Jesse.
Speaker 6: Cannon, Molly Jong Fast. You know when they say about
Speaker 6: predators and toxic men is when they tell you who
Speaker 6: they are. Believe them. But I think Donald Trump's not
Speaker 6: fully selling himself here, what do you think?
Speaker 1: So pretty great moment. Sean Hannity is trying to promote
Speaker 1: Donald J. Trump and he gets in there and he says, so,
Speaker 1: you're not going to be a dictator. Right, Here's a
Speaker 1: moment where all Donald Trump needs to do is say, yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, I'm not going to be a dictator, and
Speaker 1: instead he goes except for day one. Except for day one.
Speaker 6: And we should point out that when he did this,
Speaker 6: he did that in the way that like when he
Speaker 6: thinks he came up with something really witty, he just
Speaker 6: looks like he's so happy with himself.
Speaker 1: Well, and I also would say, like I heard someone
Speaker 1: on CNN last night saying, well, he was obviously kidding. No,
Speaker 1: he was not kidding. Do not stop giving the benefit
Speaker 1: of the doubt to a guy who did an armed insurrection. Okay,
Speaker 1: stop it, stop it. Don't give him the benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt. There is no place for the benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt with Donald Trump. We live through one season
Speaker 1: of the Apprentice presidency. We don't need to live through
Speaker 1: any more seasons. Stop it. He's telling you what he's
Speaker 1: going to do. Believe him. That's it for this episode
Speaker 1: of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Speaker 1: to hear the best minds in politics makes sense of
Speaker 1: all this chaos. If you enjoyed what you've heard, please
Speaker 1: send it to a friend and keep the conversation going.
Speaker 1: And again, thanks for listening.