Dan Pfeiffer, Rep Robert Garcia & Dr. Yusef Salaam

of today's Congress. Then we'll talk to doctor Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five on his run for New York City Council and his message to Donald Trump after his indictment. But first we have the author of the Big Lie Pod Save America's Dan fight Fer. Welcome to you Fast Politics, Dan fight Fer, Well, thanks for having me very excited. I do want to talk to you about a lot of stuff, and I first want to start by talking to you about this really stupid CNN poll that just

came out. Yes, first of all, just go sorry, which stupid part of the poll are you interested in? I think we should start with basically what this poll is. So, there was a CNN poll which said a third of Americans believe that Joe Biden deserves to be reelected. According to a new CNN Paul, the majority of the party would like to see someone else as the Democratic nominee

for president this year. Discuss Yes, so one, we should take all polls this early in the election with like seventeen shakers of salts, It doesn't tell you very much. And I wouldn't worry about the numbers in this poll the fifteen hundred people that were that answered their email. Yes.

One thing I am very confident of is when Joe Biden announceds for re election, which I presume he will do literally any day now, and then it becomes a choice not between as Joe Biden would say, Joe Biden and the Almighty, but Joe Biden in an alternative he was just likely who's just arraigned in court two days ago. Yes, I remember it well. Those numbers are going to change.

And the thing that I think is Democrats we should pay attention to is there is some work to do on our side with some of our voters to get the enthusiasm up to the level we will need in the good news of that is it is April of twenty twenty three. No single person is going to start voting until October of twenty twenty four, when early one's going to start a bunch of states, and so there's plenty of time to do that. Barack Obama also was at this point in the year before the election losing

to a generic Republican and was facing challenges. So it doesn't tell us very much. But I think we know there's work to do, but that work is very doable, and you can very easily see a path to how it gets done over a very long period of time. Obama, if you look at US registered voters opinions of whether incumbent presidents deserve to be reelected first midterm year, you have Trump at thirty seven percent, Obama at thirty seven percent, wa at sixty percent. It is a completely ridiculous metric.

But I also want to point out, like it is Thursday, so this is going to air on Friday. On Tuesday, Democrats fucking swept the you know, they elected a judge in Wisconsin, a state that Trump won in twenty sixteen by eleven points. That's right, and which I think when we talk about Trump and we think about twenty twenty four, if Donald Trump is the nominee, is that Donald Trump

won won election in twenty and sixteen. He then lost in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty two, and now twenty twenty three. His party has filled at every juncture with either him on the ballot or Trump looming over the election. And if he is on the ballot, he will enter that race as a very flawed nominee who brings to bear a ton of baggage, not to mention the very real possibility that he could be sitting in a courtroom and they run up to that election

dealing with one of multiple crimes committed to multiple jurisdictions. Yeah, my favorite thing right now is the few conservative thought leaders. I feel like it's an oxymoron at this point, but the few of them that are left, I actually I have to say, like a little bit I feel I mean, I don't feel for them because like they have enabled fascism, but I also do a little bit feel for them because they're like trying to make sense of it. You know, they all they want is to Santists because at least

the Santists can you know, do Trumpism without Trump. But like when Trump got indicted, they're like you've made Donald Trump president, and I'm like, no, we've made him the nominee. He's not going to be president. It will be interesting to see, I think there when you look at the poland it's easy just to say right now, Donald Trump's going to be the nominee, and I still think he's

a strong favorite for it. We're only in the very beginning stages of this, and we have other possible indictments coming any day now, and you I do wonder sometimes if there is a little bit of a water on stone impact here where it's just like if all we talk about are the various criminal prosecutions of the Republican front runner over time, if a Republican candidate, another Republican Canida gets traction, and that is a giant if based

on RNDA Santis's initial forays onto the national political stage. But if another candidate does get it, there are enough Republican voters concerned about electability who like Trump but are to Santis curious or alternative curious, where we'll see what it means, but it's just what it just right now. It's very like my big thing for all of twenty twenty three, twenty four is trying to bring just a ton of humility to understanding how this is going to

play out because it's completely unprecedented. Yeah, I think that's really smart. And I mean, if we've seen anything from all of these elections is that the polls have always been wrong, and you know, they just have been regularly wrong. I think about Adam Fresh, who I had on this podcast, and everyone was like, you're crazy, You're crazy. He can't win.

He can't win. He lost my five hundred votes, like, so clearly that you know, we are definitely seeing that there was just you know, and I do think there's an opportunity for pollsters to change the way they pull. They're not doing that, but you know, I mean I talked to a lot of posters, and no one really knows how to solve stipulating that the polls were actually quite accurate in twenty twenty two. Well they were and they weren't, right. I mean, they'll tell you they were

accurate because they were. You know, if you take polls and aggregate, but people don't do that. Yeah, I mean, there there are certainly wrong ones, but they were, like the high quality media polling was much more accurate in twenty twenty two than it wasn't other elections. But that's not because they change methodology to adjust for the errors in twenty twenty or twenty sixteen. It's that I think

the challenge we have in polling. I think a lot of posters were saying, this is the group of people were incapable of fully capturing are the Trump voters who turn out in presidential election years only, And so you're dealing with a offier electorate. That's an easier group to pull, it's the larger group. And so with that there's real Quipally, we're trying to project something with a flawed measurement tool that suggest that you know, everyone just takes a pause

on the hot takes. Right, No agreed, And I mean the road to hell is paved with hot takes. I've left many of them on that road, so I know. And I mean when you're in the opinion space, I mean, part of what we do is we try not to sound too stupid. I wanted to ask you out of Wisconsin, the one of the really strong messages was that here's a state that's really a very split state. Right, but abortion, the people in this state really want women to have

bodily autonomy. I was hoping you could just talk about that for a minute. Yeah, when you look at Wisconsin and prior to the dab position, I think most political consultants would have incorrectly but definitely advised candidate to not talk about abortion in a Wisconsin race, given the makeup of that state, who the larger electorate profiles to be, which is more Trump voters than likely Democratic voters. But

Dabbs changed everything. It brought to bear. It did two things I think are incredibly important or at least incredibly impactful. One is, even for the people who are insulated from politics by economic, societal, privilege, race, whatever else, the Dabbs decision affects them, they had an actual constitutional right taken away from them. And so that engages people to level. People who would sit out in midterm or even an off cycle election like this one, No, it matters to

them now. And the second thing it did is it brought to bear the consequent the tangible, real world consequences of electing extremist Republicans. And so you know, Salinda Lake had this quote in this really important Rebecca Traster piece in the New York Times magazine this week that the country. Based on her polling, the country is now fifteen points

more pro choice since DABS than it was before. So that is all over everything now, I think, and the Democrats should aggressively run on bodily autonomy, the right to choose, codifying Roe v. Wade. Stopping these state laws will likely happen in Wisconsin because of this race, and so we

should be absolutely aggressive about it. The thing to think about in Wisconsin, I think it's important is and I don't think this changes how a portion plays, but the like, think about this way, so huge turnout in that election, huge turning. One point eight million people as of last count voted in this judicial election. But think about it

this way, three point two million Wisconsin. I it's voted in twenty twenty right, so before like this is why it's always hard to draw conclusions about what these things mean the long term. It's just it's a smaller sample, and Wisconsin's a state where Republicans benefit from higher turnout. It's one of the rare states where that's the case, and so the more people turn out, the closer it will get. But that should not change our approach to abortion and how we talk about it. Yeah, I mean,

it's just such a sort of interesting moment. I wanted to ask you when you think about Wisconsin, I mean, you also have to realize that the Democratic State Party is incredibly good in Wisconsin. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that. We had Maxwell Frost on this podcast just like this morning, and and you know he you know, he's this incredible legislator, but from a state with just a very with the state party that need that is changing now hopefully, but I

was wondering if you talk about that. Yeah. Ben Wickler, who was a friend of mine, who I've worked with for years, is just an absolute political genius. He has a dynamo. I don't know how he does all the things he does. He has built an incredible machine in Wisconsin. And sometimes, if you know, like we joke all the time of posin America, like we should just clone Ben for all fifty states. And that's obviously not not not

as of yet, a very viable strategy. And it's hard to go to every state party and be like, be like Ben Wickler in Wisconsin because Wisconsin has a history of strong parties, it has a high civic engagement rates, one of the highest turnal states in the country. So it's hard to go to like Florida and say be like, you know, a bigger state with lower civil civic engagements,

they'd be like that. But there is one lesson I would say every single party chair should do that we should take from Ben Wickler, which is after twenty twenty, what Ben Wickler did in the Wisconsin Democrats is they went to their donors and said, I don't know how much money you were planning on giving, but become a recurring donor. Say instead of giving one hundred twenty bucks

a year, give ten bucks a month. And the reason why that is so important, and Ben will tell you it's why they're able to win elections like these is money spent early is exponentially more impactful than money spent late. And so if you get one hundred and twenty dollars over the course of a year, that is going to help the party hire for the long term, invest in infrastructure and technology and data in ways that are completely not possible if you just give one hundred twenty bucks

in the last month. And because we have as a party about this massive grassroots fundraising machine gives us a huge advantage because our money is going to candidates. Their money is going to superpacks and dark money groups. Right, But it's a boom bust cycle for us where it's it makes it impossible for parties and candidates to plan because what happens is something happens in the news like

the death of Ruth beider Kinsberg, and everyone gives money. Kats, they're pissed, right, they're worried about everyone gets money or everyone gives money at the end. But money at the end can only really be spent on TV, which has really diminishing returns at that point in the race now, right, It just in general diminishing returns is more people move away from linear television. So at what every democratic donor who gives the parties and committees and organizations do is

become a recurring donor. You can give the same amount of money you would give otherwise, just do it on a monthly basis so that our leadership can plan around it, they can invest. And so that's what every state. That's how if I was giving advice to state parties, that's where I would spend my time and energy right now, trying to build up a recurring sustainable donor base so that the party can build real infrastructure. Is supposed to just blowing all the money on TV at the end

and then starting from scratch the next day. I wanted to ask you about Florida for another minute, because a Nikki fit. I've had her on the podcast a bunch of times, and you know, she didn't win as governor. Again. There were a lot of issues, I think the statewide issues that may have but I just was curious. She has a very kind of I don't know. I found the way she looked at things a little bit exciting. Weed, water and weapons was her slogan, and I wondered if

you thought, I mean again weapons what I mean? I don't know that. I can't speak too but I thought the idea of weed and water, I thought that was pretty interesting. I found her candidacy and the Democratic primary for governor very interesting. About the way she tried to embrace the legalization in marijuana was I think that's smart. I think that's the future for the party, and I think it would allow us to build some cross ideological coalitions.

Legalization Mari Wanta pulls incredibly well with a lot of voters who we should be getting but are not currently getting, and so I like, I think that is very smart. Florida is such an interesting state because the party. This is why it's so important that with her leadership, they can build a sustainable party infrastructure there is it's so expensive, it is so hard to win because of the way

the demographics shift in that state. But it should be like, there's an opportunity there for us, and what we need to be able to do is build a party infrastructure in Florida that allows the presidential campaign either in twenty four or twenty eight wherever else, to make a decision when the time comes to compete or not compete because it just costs so much money, right, it is a massive investment to spend a flori because there's so many

media markets and they're so expensive. But the work can be done to bring it to the cusp of competitiveness so the party can make a real decision, so they cannon can make a real decision. But that's the work that has to happen now. So I think it's exciting that she has to embrace this job in that way. And it's been a very long time since we've had someone I think with that level of commitment and charisma, and I think strategic thinking in that role in Florida. Yeah,

super interesting. I just want to get back to one more thing you were talking about. We're almost at a time, but you were talking about the things that Joe Biden can do to excite the base. I want to ask you about that. But I also I just wonder Biden he keeps winning. Like I'm just saying this in general, like people may not fundamentally like him, but he has

delivered so hard on these results. Oh absolutely absolutely, And I don't take too much stock and these polls that show lack of enthusiasm among Democrats, it's too early to truly measure that. The only thing that I think is important to watch is the victory in twenty twenty and then the victor in twenty twenty two is driven in large parts by huge turnout in support levels among younger voters. That is the group that in approval ratings has soured

the most on Joe Biden. I don't think that's going to stay true. But I think when it becomes Joe Biden vers Donald Trump or Joe Biden, Broun de Santis and we have more conversations about the completely insane, perverse thing that Republicans are trying to do to target LGBTQ youth in like this law and Kansas they just passed to allow genital inspections of children before supporting events. I

think that that will change. But that's just like if you're just doing like your punch list for the Biden campaign, that's one thing you'll watch. I think, Look, Joe Biden has been by winning in twenty twenty, he essentially saved democracy and that is a historic achievement. He achieved more than anyone thought was possible given the narrow majorities he has, and then he delivered a victory in the twenty twenty

two interms. He expanded the Senate majority despite a sour economy, lower approval ratings, and you would expect, and so I think we should have great confidence in his ability to

do it. I think that the party is going to get very fired up about him once this campaign engages, and when it particularly, there will be two things on amount would when Joe Biden's out there campaigning for himself, when there are ads on the air and in the Internet to help communicate his message, because it's so hard to break through in this mainstream media vironmenticularly to the voters we need, but also when the stakes of the election become so high, because we see that when people

not just people like H and I who consume this stuff for a living or because we're maybe a little bit off, but like regular people who do not think about politics all day, starts seeing what this Republican Party is doing, that's going to move numbers pretty quickly. Yeah,

I mean I definitely think that's true. I also wonder, and again I have fought with many people, and many people I truly like like Sarah Longwell from The Bulwark about this, but I really do believe Ron De Santis is significantly more scary than Donald Trump because he's very skilled. I've had this argument with many many people. It's really a pick your poison, right, right, Well, like how you view the threat when you're comparing Donald Trump and Ronda

Santis's president United States? Donald Trump could easily get us into a third World war, like just double ass backwards into it, right, Absolutely, I think it's high it's more highly likely that he would do that than to Santis. Right, But if you're thinking about like who could actually make real progress in reigning in our democratic freedoms and making

America American more of an authoritarian country. I think Ronda Santis would be much more successful at that task than Donald Trump, who has no real strategic sense or the attention span to do those sorts of things and sods. What are you worry about? Right? Are you worried about to basically doing the planet to nuclear war or doing America to authority. It's like, it's just pick which one you were the main things. We've got to beat both of them, and we absolutely can do that. It's it's

just gonna take a lot of work. Yeah, I mean, just incredible stuff. I really appreciate you joining me. I hope you'll come back anytime. Congressman Robert Garcia represents California's forty second district. Welcome to Fast Politics. Representative Garcia happy to be here. Thank you. You came on My eight are in a pretty interesting way, can you guess, I mean, I don't know, beyond say, taking on George Santos, I'm not sure. Yes, Well, let's talk first about George Santos

and though we can get to Beyonce. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, obviously George Santos is a total fraud and a liar, has no place to in Congress. And I take a special offense just autistic, being you know, gay and Latino myself and him being gay in Latino. It just bothers me so much how much he is to fount of the country and he's constituents, and it's really sad to see. And I mean, we know nothing about him.

He's a complete fabrication, and it just Trump has created this environment where someone like George Santos doesn't feel the responsibility to resign, and so we you know, we poor put forward an expulsion resolution. It continues to gain support every week, and I'm really hopeful that at some point soon he'll he'll resigner. I think we're going to find out pretty quickly through the traditional system that he's committed

massive crimes. And so I think that's you know, that's where that said, and I don't expect him to be in Congress much longer. It is incredible though, like if you think about it, you know, they have like this four vote the Republican speaker. It's a sign of where Kevin McCarthy is that he couldn't get it together to expel Representative Santos. Can you talk a little bit about that? Yeah, I mean, listen, I think the problem is that Kevin

McCarthy really has no government coalition. His government coalition is extreme, you know, Maga Trump loyalists and spattering over the folks across the Caucasin. So the only way he can become Speaker was essentially to pass the keys over to folks like Margor Tailor greeting George Santos, Yeah, because he didn't have the votes, and so you know, he got them on board, and god knows, he's put a Margor Tailer Green on really a key committees, some of which I

sit on, which is horrific to sit on with her. Yeah. Can you say more, because I think a lot of us are curious about what that's like. It's awful. I mean, if one is. You know, I'm on the Select Committee on the pandemic, for example, a very serious committee. I you know, my mom and stepdad passed away to pandemic with a horrible experience of with mayor of my city during the time. It is really rough. So I took

it very seriously. And to put someone like Marjorie Teeler Green, who was literally a vaccine denier who literally has caused harm said probably serious step to families by her discrediting vaccinations.

Discrediting the pandemic is wrong. It's just so irresponsible. And to see someone like her not just be on that committee, but I also serve with her on oversight and just to have her lie and lie and try to pull stunts like she did visiting the the in directionists that you know that attacked the Capitol and pulling those kinds of kind of media stunts is what she does. And sure her bass loves her, but she's an unserious person, have no business being in Congress, And her and George

Santos are two sides the same coin. Yeah, one of the things that I am delighted by it I want to talk to you about is this idea that Republicans really tried to target LGBTQ Americans in ways that are really beyond the pale. I don't think it's going to work. I think that marriage equality. You guys codified marriage equality in Congress. By the way, can you talk to us about what that was like? Because that must have been pretty exciting as a game member in Congress, and there's

not many. I mean there's ten in the Congress, in the House, there's two in the Senate. It's a small group, and sover for us to see the support with particularly within our own caucus, and with definitely with some Republicans, a good group of them, I think it's really is hardening. But I also don't want to just make this about marriage. I think marriage is something that's been litigated, moved beyond

gay marriage. The bigger issue right now, quite frankly, is this constant attack from the far right attacking trans people, attacking gender identity, attacking books that they want to tell stories about, you know, gay people in our schools, and so there is a radical attack happening. And I don't put it past you know, any any Republican that made now support the marriage. I mean, they welcome them, we're

happy about it. But that's just window dressing. I mean the real fight is trying to move the community backwards on almost every other type of right or protection, whether it's in schools, in the workplace, and certainly globally and so bacheup we're focused on right now, and marriage I think was one of a long time ago. So we're continuing that fight. Yeah, I mean, no, marriage equality is the bare minimum. But it strikes me as interesting that

they are at war. It doesn't strike me as interesting. It's super disturbing that they're at war with their targeting LGBTQ, and I think ultimately they're doing that through targeting trans people. I want to ask you one of the things that you've been working, you've been urging Mary Garland my orchids to do more. Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, I mean, I think we've been working. I mean there's

there's a couple a couple things here. I think. I think one is there's there's a group of us that are very focused on overall just the real kind of danger that is beginning to develop on the right, the extreme kind of this magabase that's happening. And it's no longer this loyal opposition. It's essentially crazed people. I mean, folks that are obsessed with trans people that are obsessed with attacking our institutions, are obsessed with attacking journalists that

have become quite dangerous. And I think that there gets pretty clear. And it's not just me saying that people in the military, it's people at DJ that we have a serious domestic terrorism. We have a white supremacy issue in this country, We have a dost of terrorist issue in this country, and folks like Donald Trump and Marge

Tiller we can continue to incite these folks. And we've seen attacks on individuals across this country, not just on social media, but really serious ones that are actually been physical and nature, and January six of being kind of

the the epitome of that. And so we're really working and trying to encourage folks and especially our leaders and our cabinet secretaries at our key agencies to really focus on this issue of domestic terrorism, and during especially this time when you have Donald Trump trying to incite his base of making sure that protections are in place for the public, for schools, for volks in our government, for

the media. These are really serious issues. I've been hardened, I think lately We've had some conversations and some hearings where it sounds like this is something that's being taken care taken seriously, certainly by the Biden administration. It's just unfortunate that we literally have a former president trying to incite riots. Yeah, oh, now is this completely completely crazy? Do you feel safe in Congress. Do you feel like Trump is sort of trying to do this again? I mean,

what is your feelings? I mean, I feel safe personally. I'm a member that I like to walk outside. I don't take the tunnel hols like you know. I'm very open that way, and so I feel fine. But I understand that it's not exactly a safe place for everybody. And I think also that there's a lot of folks that feel unsafe. I hear it from my colleagues and uh and that's a scary thing, I think for in our seat of government to feel like they are being targeted by an extreme uh force in this country and

and being incited by it former President's states. I mean, I don't. I still know it's amazing, particularly rewitnessed what's going on with Donald Trump right now. I mean, this is the biggest con man ever in the history of our country. This person is a con man, a criminal, corrupt.

I mean, you he epitomizes all the worst things about about America, and yet he has this kind of rapid group of supporters and internet, to a broader extension, the Republicans in Congress that basically tell them that this is okay. It's okay to inside violence, and it's okay to attack our institutions, and it's okay to support kind of this kind of racist ideology in our country, and it's quite dangerous,

and so I feel safe. I think that we're not living in safe times, and I think we've got to be very careful in the months ahead, but particularly as we kind of keep more information about what these indictments are exactly about, and what the Justice Department that ends up doing and what happens at a Georgia. I think it's really important that we are careful. Yeah, for sure, you come from a group that Democrats have been trying to win. Can you talk about a little bit about

how Democrats can win over Latino voters. Obviously, as a LGBTQ plus immigrant, of being the first that have been elected to Congress, I feel like I've got a special responsibility to be a voice, particularly within our own Latino community, for you, for lgbt Q plus folks, and broadly speaking, as an immigrant, someone that came here to this country, and there's not a lot of immigrants actually served Congress. You know, we've been talking about immigration in the Forum

for decades. There hasn't been real immigration in form stance the nineteen eighties. And I think one thing that's been missing also is folks that have actually been to the system. And I was documented from US much of my life. I stayed past my visa. I didn't become a US citizen till I mean almost my mid twenties, and so I know what the experience is actually like and how it works and the damage it does to families. And so I think that Democrats have not led on issues

around immigration. And yes, there's alignment with Latinos on education and on healthcare, and I think broadly on taxes, but on immigration, I think Latinos feel left behind. I think they feel disappointed. I think that's been that's widely I think recognize, and to President Biden's credit, on day one, he did propose an immigration it Form kind of framework.

We just don't have the numbers in the Congress. And I think when we did have the opportunity that we did have the numbers, we didn't take that, you know, we didn't take that shot, you know, years ago, and I think that was really unfortunate. I think the X time that we're able to have the House back and keep hold of the Senate and the presidency, which could be in just a couple of years. Immigration reform has got to be at the top of that list. It's

got to be tough. And I think that that the sale community will not and if not in a place where we're not going to demand that to be in the top to the list. Yeah, no, I agree, And I think the immigration situation in this country is so incredibly and I can curse because we're not on cable news here are fucked up. We are desperate for workers. We are a country that is desperate for so desperate for workers that some Republican governors are changing the child

labor laws. Insane. Now, it's it's insane, And I agree with you, it is fucked up. And I think that and what happened to the America that welcome people, that looked at asylum seekers as folks that we could help. And you know what happened to a country that was proud of its immigrant roots, that was built in large part, huge contribution to this country has always been the immigrant and experience, and now we're at this place where there's

just a demonization and attacks on immigrants constantly. I mean fueled by by by Trump and some of these stream is in the party, and it's really sad. I think I think it speaks to where we are as our values as a country. You know, this idea that patriotism is about individualism, or it's about taking care of oneself and one's family only, and this you know, America first, my family first. I think that is exactly the opposite

of what this country is about. This country is and has tradition it's been about a patriotism that actually is about helping people that actually helping people within our country that come to our border around the world, and we've always had pride in that. And I think that, you know, Democrats have to retake this idea of what true patriotism is. And I think that immigrants are some of the most

patriotic people that actually are in the country. They have been, particularly those that become citizens like myself and my family. We fought for citizenship, we arened citizens ship, and so we have a lot of work to do there. But I think I think Democrats need to take the lead, and I think that's something we have not seen on this issue in some time. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing I'm struck by it's not even like doing the

right thing. Republicans are hurting the country because they're racist, or at least when it comes to immigration. The American economy needs people to work or will not grow. So I mean, this is not even like about doing the right thing. This is about self preservation. And that's the interesting thing. I think the only way we're going to be any type of reform package is actually an acknowledgement

from Republicans that it's different the economy. And we're hearing I'm hearing all the time from CEOs now and from the business associations and chambers back home and across DC that you know, the worker shortage is real. There is real issues around around a labor the labor market. We could fix these problems, and yet we're choosing not to.

Immigration is the solution to bringing in new talent, to refilling our labor pool, to bring in folks are willing to work really hard for some of these jobs that we can't find people to do in this country. Even you look at the shortages that are happening right now around mercy, around healthcare, in the education space, it haggard culture. These are serious challenges that are only going to get exponentially worse unless you're not address immigration. I think Republicans,

some especially of finally getting that. And so unfortunately, you know, these some of these folks don't They don't care unless it hurts their pocketbook. And I think, I think that it's going to start hurting their pocketbook, and it has started to already, and so hopefully we'll see some season pristare.

I always thought before the pandemic that while Republicans will kill their own people and it will be bad for their voters, right, I mean, it's bad to kill your voters, you would think, But a lot of Republican voters were not able to make the connection between anti vax and dying of COVID. No, that's right, and I you know,

and that's that was really sad to see. I think also the truth that you look you see are repeated in like, for example, just for a lot of as we know, folks that vote for Trump and that are conservative with our Republicans are are some of the most lowest income people in some of our states that are the most low income across the country, and they, you know, they can't see that they're supporting folks that literally in some cases despise poor people and surely do not support

low income volks. And so there's a huge disconnect there, and that's why sometimes they worry. Yes, like Republican business leaders and yes, Republican kind of you know, traditional Republicans understand the need for immigration, but I think the far you know that those that are on the far right, particularly those from some of these communities that are very trumpy, they're a lot of them are already living in poor communities.

That doesn't seem to botany that doesn't seem to impact their voting decisions, and so I'm not sure that passing Immigration of Form bill will either. And a lot of that, as we know, it's a lot to do with race, because there is an issue there of race and of not the other end of concern about what, you know, immigrants are going to do this country, even though we literally helped build it. Come from California, California. It's about to be fire season in California, but right now it's

atmospheric river season in California. Where is California on climate and how unprepared are we? I feel like this sort of devetails into our our conversation, like there's so much climate denialism. I just I wonder if we're ever going to get there. Now I wonder the same thing too. I mean, listen, I think any California obviously is a

model that relates to climate action. And I really support our governor and really condemn the rest of the Republicans across the country that are should take a que from what we're doing out here. I see them. We see the impacts of the climate crisis in California obviously. I mean there are we are having huge shifts and temperature, what's going on with with our drought, and then we'll have these storms that come in and so there's there's

definitely a change that's happening. That's that's fit they were living through. But the bigger issue is the denialism that happening across the country and within the House Caucus. I mean, they're so focused on profits for big oil and profits for these huge you know groups that just want to you know, essentially destroy the rest of the country. They want to open up our preserved spaces, they want to get you know, drilled every piece of land that they're

able to. They have no interest in cleaning up their ships or cleaning up dirty diesel trucks, and so it's like they're not even concerned about the future for their kids. Now, fortunately,

I'm very much like encouraged by the next generation. And it just it seems like the sooner that you know, we cycle in all these young people that on all sides, that care about climate, that really believe in this, and we're going to be better off asive country because the older folks and then in this country and are just completely lost on this is ship. Yeah. Absolutely, thank you so much, Congressman. I hope you'll come back absolutely anytime.

Doctor Yusuf Salam is a member of the Exonerated five at a candidate for city council in New York City. Welcome to Fast Politics, doctor Yusuf Salam. Thank you, thank you for having me first. Why don't you talk to us a little bit about what you're running for before we talk about anything else. Yeah. Absolutely, So I'm running for city council here in Central hallm for really the chance to lead our people and to resuscitate the very

soul that is dormant in Harlem. You know, I've been told that there's a lack of leadership, there's a lack of support. And as I walk around the community, that's exactly what I see. I see that we are in dire need for our tax dollars to do exactly what it says is supposed to do. You know, they say no taxation without representation, and we are not being represented

at all in Harlem, and we need more support. And I think that when I think about the condition we're in, we've been pushed into the margins of life and there's no one really bringing all voices, our concerns, our ideas into the halls of power in a way that's meaningful for us. And so I'm running for city council in Central Hallow to be that voice of the people whose voices have been turned down, this desire to be heard. You come by this honestly. Can you explain to us

a little bit of your origin story? Yeah, you know, I love that. I love that term origin story. Thirty four years ago, I was really run over by the spike wils of justice. Yeah. Really almost a death sentence, if you can imagine it, because two weeks after we were accused of media mogul, a personality who in many ways was celebrated by a black community even though he's

not black. Donald Trump takes out these full page ads in New York City's newspapers, rushing to judge us, basically calling for the death penalty to be reinstated for our case. And what that did, essentially was it whispered into the darkest unclaves of society that you can do to us, those who became known as the Central Park five. You can do to us what you have done to admit too.

And if we survived, if we happen to go to prison and survive, then when we come home, we were supposed to be given a social death that we were never supposed to come out of. And that is the short, so to speak. Peace. But we were arrested for a crime we didn't commit almost thirty four years ago. The crime was the rape of the Central Park jogger. We became known as the Central Park five. We were found guilty in nineteen ninety and went to prison for a

crime we didn't commit. All along, there was no DNA. You were fifteen years old, so we were fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen year old children. And what they did essentially after that ad was ran in New York City's newspapers. They also published our names, phonembers and addresses in New York Cities newspap and so as you can imagine, people began to write us hate mail, write us death threats,

tell us that they were going to kill us. Even if we somehow miraculously survive twenty to thirty years from now, some people will never forget is the language that someone sent us, you know. And it was a tragedy because it made people believe that black and brown people were actually criminals and were a cry. They looked at the color of our skin and not the content of our character,

and they judged us by it. And when I tell you, it was the most awful thing to go through, but I realized that kind of evil, being presented with the negativity the idea of being born a mistake at the age of fifteen, caused me to become stronger, become wiser, start planning a way forward. Because right now I'm able to stand in a manner that says I'm better and not bitter. But I'm better and not bitter because this circumstance actually made it possible for me to be here

in front of you today. All of the lived experiences, the good and the bad. The fact that Donald Trump was there in front of my face thirty four years ago at fifteen, and now he became the President of the United States, and now he's back in front of the media. You know, these types of things. I think I needed to be able to see, experience and then figure how am I going to survive? You had six and a half years of your life stolen from you. You managed to somehow find peace? Yes, can you talk

about that? Absolutely? A lot of the peace that I have can be attributed to a belief system. Knowing that whatever you are given in life, the challenges that you have to come up against, is not more then you can bear. And when you hold onto the faith of a mustard seed, you find out that you get the

opportunity to become very strong. That life, in fact is trying to make you into a diamond, and the only way for that to happen is that you have to grow through pressure and then more pressure on top of that, in order for your very soul to be transformed into the very thing that is coveted. A life of value, a life that reflects the light in a way that's meaningful, my belief system is really everything. Yeah, so much went wrong with that case. I grew up in New York City.

I was twelve years old when you guys were imprisoned and your lives were taken away from you. So much went wrong? Are you I mean, do you think that there's been some fixing in the criminal justice system in New York or do you think that's the same good thing could still happen. I absolutely think the same thing

could happen. You know, as a matter of fact, when you think about my case, you know, the Center Park Jogger case and the Center Park five as we were once known, we became the modern day stots broke boys. And when you think about history and how history is taught, or rather not taught, you know, there's a concerted effort to ensure that we stay asleep, that the giants that we are, the fact that we are, our ancestors wildest dreams.

There's a concerted effort for us to participate in the process of us being the oil in the machinery of systemical oppression. Because my mother says, eight years ago, she said to me, when I was fifteen and she was at the precinct, they gave her a moment to speak to me, and in that moment, she gave me my final instructions. She told me that they needed me to participate in whatever it is that they're trying to do.

Do not participate, she said, refuse. And so those words guided me and continue to still guide me as I move forward in life, understanding that I am the secret ingredient to the whole thing. You know, it is absolutely on us, on us to be our best, to do our best, to challenge ourselves so that we don't become the oil in the machinery. But I think that they want us to do that. I think that the more

we lack power. The fact that you know, when you think about Harlem and the Harlems of the world, people are leaving in droves. They're not really leaving in droves. They are making decisions because it's coming. It's becoming so expensive, and the cost of living has increased in such a way that the actual median income in the area has not risen to meet the cost of living, and so a lot of people are in pushed out, being forced out. In fact, and what happens to the power when people leave,

The power shifts. There never been one hundred percent participation in the voting process. But imagine realizing that you were pushed into a margin of life that said you are going to be one of the disenfranchised. How many people, how many black and brown bodies, how many poor people have been pushed into that space. And I think when you think about it, you realize that if we have been pushed into that space and we accepted, and then we come out of that, we perhaps we'll never want

to participate in the system. We perhaps want to just go along to get a law. But what happens with that is that our non participation is actually participating in the fact that we get nothing. We pay our money, they take our money and do with it what they want. Yeah, do you think it was your faith that was able to get you through the experience of being I mean, I know a lot of people who have been to jail, some of them more often than not. It is not

It is not a good experience. I'm sure your experience was also not a good experience in many ways, but you know you've learned and grown from it. Oh. Absolutely, my experience was horrible, horrific, The most unfortunate of unfortunate events. I remember where we went to prison, not because we did a crime. We went to prison because they labeled us rapists. That is the worst go to prison for, you know, to be branded as a rapist is only trump by child molestation. And to hold onto my faith.

I realized that what was going on for me that can really only talk about me, is that as I prayed my way through it, God put a headge of protection around me. That the that they were fanning in order to burn us alive allowed us to come out of that as the biblical figures shadrack, me shock and a bindigo. And I think, as I related all, you know, it's one thing when you're walking and marching and trying to get through hell, but the only thing to get through it is that you have to keep on going.

And once you are on the other side, you get the opportunity to look back and say to yourself, Wow, look at God. Because it is only by the grace of God that I survived that with my mind intact, with my faculties intact, for me to be able to mount this new opportunity in life in terms of my candidacy. Because I looked at it and said, you know what, we should resuscitate our lives. If you know that prayer is you talking to God, you have to know also

that meditation is listening for the answers. And so I prayed often, and I meditated even more. I learned how to meditate with my eyes wide open. I learned how to walk and meditate. I learned how to talk and meditate. And I think it became tremendous because I then became a vessel, a vessel with which or through which I get the opportunity to reflect the light. And we need more light. We need so much more light in this

world of darkness. Because when I think about what's going on around the world, you know, in America or Prussian looks like white supremacy, white mail dominance, but in the other parts of the world, oppression looks very different. And what I realized as I traveled the world, my experience has shown that you know what we are fighting against, those people who are fighting on the side of right, on a good side of history, for human rights. We

are fighting against spiritual wickedness in high and low places. Yeah, it's funny because tonight is the first night to pass over, and I think of like the job of our city. And you know, I was in my early teens right when you were in your early teens and you were sent to jail for a crime you didn't commit. I don't know, it just it hits me on a very emotional level talking to you. I mean, I'm sure people have that with you a lot too. I mean, but I want to ask you. Are you close with the

other members of the group of these honorated five. Yeah, we are very close as a matter of fact, on the Sacred Brotherhood because of this, you know, when we first went through this journey, and you know, in many ways I thought that it perhaps was a collected journey or the journey that we went through together. But the truth of the matter is that we actually had very individual experiences. You know, we weren't always in the same jail. We definitely didn't have the same experience when it came

to prison. When you think about, you know, what I had went through and what you know, my friend Corey Wise went through. Right, the juxtaposition is, oh my goodness, you know when we watched when they see us, even to Renee, I never forget this, she said. While Corey was out of the room, we were preparing to watch part four, and she said, you know, gentlemen, I want you to know that this part that you're about to see is the tv ber version and to digest that

after having watched part one, two and three. You know, the emotionality connected with our story being told and being told right, being given new life through young actors and actresses, very very impactful, very profile. You know. I think about

that all the time. And it's one thing to experience something and you can look over at your comrades who are there with you, but it's another thing to get their take on it, to be in conversation, to listen to them as they have internalized and experienced it for

themselves as well. And I think, you know when they see as gives us that opportunity because you're talking about five stories, five individuals who are not just by themselves but with their families as well, and what that meant and what it looked like, and how systemically we were torn apart, you know, even coming out of that not knowing the actual journey that we all had gone through, but then coming to a point where we were able to tell our stories to movie producers and writers and

actors and actresses, and they were able to follow us and begin to become and imbibe the very soul of us so that they can tell our story in a super just an impactful way. Can you just talk for a minute about your incredible ad? Absolutely, you know my a. The ad a response of course that I had always wanted to do, because when you think about what Donald Trump did in nineteen eighty nine, two weeks after we were accused, he didn't give us the presumption of innocence.

I chose rather, after he was indicted and brought up on criminal charges, to afford him what he had not afforded us, to be noble in the sight of oppression, to be able to say, you know what, Yes, for me, it was the criminal system of injustice, but perhaps one day, maybe today, I give the opportunity to call it the

criminal justice system. And so the AD was a chance to show the world, with him having a front seat, that we're still here, we're still strong, that we are gifted with the grace that God gave us, and we will always be noble for that. And the encouragement that we afforded him would be an encouragement to say, look, I hope you're you hope that you get what you didn't give us, and I hope if you're convicted, that you are able to do the time in the same

nobility and graceful manner that we have. Yeah, graceful nobility and graceful manner. That seems like a stretch, but yes, let's go on for him. Yes, absolutely, because you know the fact that he wasn't even handcuffed, the fact that he wasn't in let you know, leg shackles or anything

like that. You know, a lot of that has been mentioned by the media, of course, but it's the juxtaposition of being in the same building net you know, back then the assenter Park five were brought into and arraigned and we had to stay and we couldn't go home. He was able to leave in his private plane, not even not even a yet. He left in a private plane to go back to be able to talk to his supporters and get more support. We didn't have any

of that. We had to talk to ourselves and talk to God, and you know, finned off all of the evil that was lurking and waiting for us behind those walls. The place that most people know is the belly of the beast, the challenge of it all. Yeah, I think you're going to be our mayor at some point. Oh wow, And I can't wait. I've decided. I was watching on television yesterday and I thought he's going to be our

mayor someday. I so appreciate you just coming on and talking about your experience and also the incredible generosity of spirit that you have after being so mistreated by as a teenager. And I just I am just like blown away by you, and I really appreciate you. Thank you, Thank you. Appreciate this opportunity as well. Thank you as well. Jesse Cannon. Marjorie Taylor Greden is using New York City as a punching bag, the way that Republicans love to

use urban areas as punching bags. And yet again we see it here. She comes to our city, she tweets about how everyone is a drug addict who's falling over. She tries to make chaos. She picks a fight with our terrible mayor that we didn't care so much about, and then she goes on Tucker Carlson to complain that our city smells. You know, she was not invited here. Really, I thought you said it, she was not, and this is the lamest pandering going and for that she gets

a hearty fuck that guy. That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to your the best minds in politics makes sense of all this chaos. If you enjoyed what you've heard, please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going. And again, thanks for listening.