Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, where we discussed the top political headlines with some of today's best minds, and Pew research says Donald Trump's approval ratings stands at thirty seven percent, down from forty percent in the fall, and soon to be much lower. We
have a great show for you today. New York's twelfth district congressional candidate George Conway stops by to talk about Donald Trump's assault on the free press, his jailing of my friend Don Lemon, and his many, many other impeachable offenses. And then we'll talk to Kim Hardy, who is running in North Carolina seventh, a swing district. But first, the stories the media is missing.
Molly, We're seeing a huge drop of the Epstein files today. One of the biggest things we're seeing is that Chislad Maxwell shielded twenty nine different Trump associates and peers to contain thirty two hundred documents that mentioned President Trump. What are you seeing?
So the Trump administration has supposedly they're saying this is the final release of Epstein documents. I bet you there's going to be more.
It doesn't seem like this could be ninety nine percent of them, right.
I think they've released something like three million, a little more than three million pieces of evidence from the Epstein files. I'm sure there's more. Pretty interesting, and there's a lot of interesting stuff in here. One is that Howard Lutnik in two thousand and five he said he would never be in a room with that disgusting person. Ever, while in twenty twelve he was planning a trip with his children, teenagers and a seven year old to Little Saint James,
so that's pretty interesting. In twenty seventeen, Jeffrey Epstein donated fifty thousand dollars to an organization in Lutnix's honor, So that's certainly pretty recent. There's a lot of stuff in there. There's a lot of stuff that's redacted, and this is so Trump administration. They put it up and then they took it down. So there's this spreadsheet of allegations against Trump released by the DOJ, then taken down. I can't imagine who called the DOJ to ask him about this.
There's Elon Musk, right, who wanted to visit the island. This is pretty great. So New Year's Eve twenty thirteen, Musk was in the calendar for New Year's a year later too, So Elon had said he was refusing to go to the island. But actually I guess Elon had been uninvited. Elon is really mad, by the way, it's Sky News for reporting that he is in the Epstein files. But here's an email to Elon from I think it's
Jeff Gee vacation. I will send Helly for you. I will be in British Virgin Island, Saint Barts over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit? Still having friendly conversations In twenty thirteen talking about sleep, Elon Musk to Jeffrey Ebstein. So that is something. So we're definitely seeing that Elon is in fact in the Ebstein files. Now the incredible bit that I think is fascinating here is you'll remember that when Elon had a big fight with Trump,
he said Trump is in the Epstein files. Boom. So it turns out that Elon is in the Epstein files, so boom. Also, FYI, Jeff Epp says, how many people will you be for the helicopter to island? And Elon says, just to Lula and me, what day night will be the wildest party on your island. That is something that Elon Musk types to Jeffrey Ebstein as one does with there is a lot, there's a lot here.
Yeah, it seems like this weekend is just going to be this every hour on the hour, if not every fifteen minutes on the fifteen minutes.
Trump's new pick for fed share also in the Epstein files. Okay, so pretty good, pretty pretty good. He's in the Epstein files. That is really something.
Sounds like the pedophile cable.
Brett Ratner too.
Of course, yes, well we do that actually. So in other fun news, mister Trump says he wants to drive housing prices up instead of lowering costs for people who didn't work very hard.
So Donald Trump, during one of those Zeni cabinet meetings, he says, We're not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home. Okay, that is kind of the opposite of affordability, isn't it.
I think that he said that's a democratic coax.
Actually, yeah, this is where we are. We got a mad king who is running the country in a completely insane way. He is trying desperately to pivot to be slightly more popular. I do not see him laser focused on affordability, despite the musings of one susie. While I just don't think he's laser focused on affordability.
It seems like he's focused on pretending he won a different election if you ask me so. ICE has begun buying mega warehouse detention centers across the US, according to new reporting across a few different outlets.
Let's talk about that. ICE is buying up the is mega warehouse detention centers across the United States. There are nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over proximities to houses and schools. By the way, you know what's happening here, right, they're making jails. Okay, two warehouses one hundred and seventy two million. A third in now Paso, Texas could be among the largest jails of any kind in the country
as envisioned, with eight thousand, five hundred beds. So the goal here is to make these twenty three warehouses into detention centers. But they're not really detention centers, okay, you guys, because they're not going to be set up in the kind of humanitarian ways that you supposed to set up a detention center. These are going to be like makeshift jails. These are going to be like black sites to detain thousands of immigrants arrested by federal agents in Minneapolis and
other cities. Some of these people are not in this country legally. Some of these people are right. They killed two American citizens over the last two weeks in Minnesota. They've kidnapped numerous children anywhere from the ages of five, probably younger two. We saw a two year old. What's happening here is the never again stuff. This is the stuff what happened in other countries we came in and rescued people. Now it's happening here. And I think the real question is where we rescue ourselves.
YEP. One of the things, though, to remember is this is deeply, deeply unpopular. What are the greatest sizes of this by I always think of an interview we did a while ago where we were talking about where the Democrats don't run candidates, and the one place that the person could see it as like, Wyoming is very hard to have in roads in because it's so deep red. And yet the woke has come to Wyoming and they booed Harriet Hageman out of her town hall for refusing to denounce ice killings.
So, Harriet Hageman, I want to pull back and talk about Harriet Hagerman. Harriet Hageman was the woman who ran. She occupies the seat that used to be occupied by Liz Cheney. She ran for that seat because she is a craven opportunist. Right. She knew there's only one congressional seat in Wyoming. It had been Liz Cheney's for a long long time. Trump took Liz Cheney out because she was not loyal to him. Harriet Hageman was happy to move in there. She has the craziest as I've ever seen in my life.
Makeup artist if I've ever seen one personally.
That is not relevant here to this, but let's just go so that I am a student here at CC, and I was here at your last town hall back in August. You mentioned Lake and Riley, a male student said, referring to the twenty two year old who was murdered in twenty twenty four by a Venezuelan immigrant. They love this poor woman. They have made her just like as the one name they know. However, you did not mention today either of the people who were killed in Minnesota recently?
Why is that the question? Elicited? In uproar from the crowd, one older man shouted shot ten times in the back, referring to the times that agent shot Alex pretty And then she said, when I was speaking in August, I was describing the Lake and Riley Act that we had passed in the last year. Hageman responded, before the student cut her off. That's not the question. Why haven't you mentioned either of the people killed in Minnesota? He pressed,
and she couldn't answer. You know why she couldn't answer, because this is not about justice. It's about giving Trump as much power as possible, letting him get away with any kind of weird, illegal shit he wants to do. Is how we got here. This is autocracy. These Republican congresspeople are handmaids of autocracy. George Conway is a candidate in the Democratic primary in New York's twelfth congressional district. George Conway, Hello, another truly insane day in Donald Trump's America.
I'm on Morning Joe this morning. Don Lemon has been arrested last night in the lobby of his Beverly Hills Hotel by federal agents, and now he has spent the night in jail discuss.
Fucking outrageous, fucking illegal, and fucking dangerous. I mean, you know, Mom might be using that line, but that's the only way I cannot and describe it. And I don't even know where to start. I mean, he was basically just covering a protest and they try to ding him under some law that says you can't interrupt church services. Let's leave apart the question of the legality of that law.
I guess it makes sense. I mean, if you're really truly disrupting and you're impringing on for somebody's First Amendment rights to worship, I guess that's or you know, I
guess that's that's certainly protectable. But if you're a journalist and you're there and you're simply observing something, whether it be a disturbance or something else, you're clearly not you're not engaging in that kind of disruption, and you're in any event your actions are and should be protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and I you know, it's it's just absolutely it's nothing
to do with that particular incident in the urch. It's got to do with the fact that he's been annoying the ship out of Ice for weeks. He was in Portland, we saw him there, we saw him in Minneapolis. He's been he's been an absolute brilliant you know he's been. He's been. He's been out there shoe leather in the cold, doing journalism, doing independent journalism, more of which we need.
And you know, his rights are our rights. I mean, if if, if the government can shut him down, he can shut anybody down, and we have to stick up for him. And I think I think he's gonna I don't know. I think he will prevail in court. But that doesn't mean that, you know, it means, but it doesn't mean that this doesn't hurt because because other people might not have the wherewithal, might not have the volunteer lawyers to to to to help in his circumstance. I mean,
this is so bad. The government couldn't even get a US magistrate judge to sign the arrest warrant, which is normally you just get the Act. But David and and and they'll sign the arrest warrant, and there are an and the FBI is off to the races. And here not only did the manistrate judge not issue the arrest of warrant, they took it up to the US Court of Appeals for the A Circuit, and the A Circus said, what the fuck, No way, we're going to reverse the judge.
I want you to talk about the Eighth Circuit judge who said what the fuck because he feels like a real George Conway type.
You know, I don't, I don't do you ever know him. I don't know him at all. I kind of saw a little online that he's a pro.
First Yeah, yeah, you know, he's a rule of lock on a guy. It strikes in the job by W, by W by W.
Really, these are the real old style we believe in individual rights conservatives who are on the bench. These are the same people who did a lot remember in twenty twenty and twenty to early twenty twenty one to stop the bullshit that you know, when Trump was Shawn is steel an election. I remember the guy Bibus on the Third Circuit who was a Trump appointee and basically affirmed that this, you know, the dismissal of Ludi Julianne is
bullshit cases like these judges aren't buying this. I mean it's only the most recently appointed hacks that they have really any chance with and leopart the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court's like, well, h.
But they are you can tell they see which way the wind is blowing up absolutely things.
You know, the court's on balance, particularly the lower federal courts have been fantastic defending the rule of law. The problem is they are not the solution. They are not the solution that the framers intended to a criminal executive. You know, the court says, and we've had this discussion a bunch of different times, it's like the courts can stop one thing at a time, or order one thing
stopped at a time, but they can't stop everything. And not only that, to enforce the court orders actually requires the cooperation of the Justice Department, which isn't going to fully cooperate when push comes to shop. You know, the most important mechanism to fight a criminal executive is impeachment
and removal. And the other thing that actually can be useful at least as a stopgap measure before you remove the president is you know, it is actually the funding mechanisms of the government, which we actually are seeing some kind of interesting maneuvering in the Senate today.
I guess, yeah, well, I want to talk about the Senate, but I first want to talk to you about mister Todd Blanche, attorney to Donald J. Trump. I know you've been busy running for Congress, but I spat.
With him, remember a few weeks ago.
Remind us now, I had.
A little spat with him, and I forget what it was about, but he went out and attacked me, and I cleaned his clock somehow. But he's just a ridiculous. He's a ridiculous, shameless person who basically is he got to.
Be Deputy Attorney General because Donald was liked how he was as a lawyer.
Well, because he was one of the few criminal defense lawyers who represent Trump. And I don't know, I mean this was a he represented Trump in the in the case in which he was convicted on thirty four counts. Yeah, I guess your reward, good job, good job, Todds.
So he gave it. He gave a presser today when they released all of these Epstein files, which, now, by the way, in an incredible bit of insanity, they released all these Epstein files and then and a lot of them, by the way, and I'm not defending anyone here, but there are a lot of allegations in these Epstein files that may or may not be true, right, Like every allegation is in there. So the DOJ now has started
pulling them off the internet. So there's a spreadice last time. Yes, there's a spreadsheet with Donald Trump a lot of pretty serious allegations and then redacted names of people who said he had committed the crimes. They were put up and then we saw them disappear in real time.
Right.
And the law that was written and it was passed doesn't allow them to do that carriod full stop unless there's an active investigation going on. I think you know they're not investigating.
Donald Trump, certainly not. And what I thought was interesting when Todd blanche was talking today, he said there are no other men who are culpable in any way.
And and he did that after what looking at all the documents, say, look at all three million invages of the documents.
I'm sure he did not, but that was what he said, he said, And if there were, then they would have charged them already.
Correct, And the fact is that none of that keeps, none of that allows them to to pull back these documents. But of course, you know what happened. Somebody at the White House started screaming about it, maybe some guy with orange chair. It was a little a little weak in the brain, maybe a little cooked, a little bit cooked up there, a.
Little cooked Donald Trumps. It seems as if the only thing that could stop Donald Trump is an impeachment. You're running for Congress.
It is not a question of politics anymore. It is not a question of g how does impeachment Paul? In fact, it should never be that. This is a solemn power and obligation of the United States Congress to preserve constitutional government by removing people who commit high crimes and misdemeanors. And there is nobody in the history of this country who has committed more high crimes and misdemeanors in such a short time or at all, than Donald fucking Trump.
And by high crimes and misdemeanors, we mean actual statutory crimes which he's been committing, like you know, bombing these people out in the Caribbean. And I can't imagine that some of the some of the money that's been floating around. You know, he's a criminal. We already knew that he's a trump coin, but trump coin, I mean all of this crypt But even apart from that, high crimes and misdemeanors means just basically violating your growth of officing your duties to the people.
Right.
It's like, let's say you're a trustee of a trust right as a beneficiary, and you're required to you know, manage the money, and you start spending it on yourself. Okay, that's that's a violation of your legal obligations. And the fact presidency is the ultimate trust in the United World.
It is it is. You know, if you violate that trust and you operate the government for your own benefit and not for the people's benefit, you don't execute the laws faithfuble, You violate the laws because it's in your interest personally to do so. Those are high crimes and misdemeanor and just being generally incompetent. Maladministration of an extreme sort,
you know, maladministration of ice, which is absolutely appalling. What's what he's doing, maladministration through doge everything, all of this stuff is impeachable. Virtually everything he's doing this these days is impeachable. And the problem, the thing that concerns me other than you are we going to make it through the next three years, is there's a lot of people who don't get that that is supposed to be the remedy. A lot of people think, you know, it's kind of
like you ever hear the term that psychologists use, learned helplessness. Yeah, and this is to some extent the body politic, including our electeds. And we're not just talking here. I mean the Republicans are absolutely craven and cowardly and shameless, but even some Democrats are like, well, we can't really do anything about Trump for three years. We just have to
big grint it. We have to just bear it, and you know, we have to make do with what we can do and try to try to work on other issues and de size Trump for every all sorts of other issues. Like to it's a huge mistake. It's wrong as a legal matter, it's wrong as a moral matter. It's wrong as a political matter because he's like, you're creating the self fulfilling, self defeating prophecy. And it's also wrong because of the things, the things that affect people's lives,
negatively higher cost because of illegal tariffs. You know, I look out the window from my apartment in West Chelsea and I see the Gateway construction project, which is the new Amtrak tunnel that Trump is cutting off funds for because he wants to punish New York. That's an example. Jobs are all our transportation system is on the line.
But a king, right, he's not a king.
He's not a king, but he's but he's he's an elected official. His oath of offices to enforce the laws and and and bide by the Constitution, and his you know, to douce so own the best interests of the nation. And he can't he can't do that. All he cares about is himself and his seven forty seventh in his ballroom, and and the Millennia movie showing at the Trump kennedyly named Trump Kennedy Center, where he's putting these marble armrests
and so on and so forth. I mean, it's all fucking bullshit, and he seeks to go.
They took four journalists, all of whom are black. Oh, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, all of whom are independents. So they don't have big organizations.
They don't have right exactly.
Yeah, I do think like this is like Kimmel, This is like taking kim off there. It is a moment where you ask yourself, like, how do we go on like this?
Yeah, no, it's it's and it's worse though, but it's I mean with Kimmel, they were basically intimidating somebody to then in their private business to screw Kimmel. This is physically arresting people. This is cashappo type taxings. This is insane. I don't think it will stand, but I think it's really really important for people to understand how important those individual journalists' rights are to our rights. Yeah, because their rights are our rights. Their right to inform us affects
our right to be informed. It's all one and the same. And ultimately, if they don't have the right to inform other people, then neither do we, and we we just absolutely have to. I mean, you know, the First Amendment is just essentially essential to the lifeblood of a democracy in a free country, and they're trying to choke it off.
And I think that why they don't like journalists, why autocrats don't like journalists, comes down to very simple calculus, which is they do not want their crimes reported on.
They don't want truth. And you know, I mean, scholars of fascism will tell you that the entire superstructure of a fascist government is lying lies like this administration tells about things that we can see with our own eyes, like the murder of Renee Good and the murder.
Of Alex pretty lies as lies.
I mean, I know, I have a friend, a professor, a professor of of of of history, who writes, who has written a book called Fascist Lies, and he goes through all you know how how essential it is. The gaslighting is absolutely essential to maintain a fascist regime. You can't believe what your eyes see, don't you know, you believe the propaganda. And you know, fortunately, you know, we have a video in HD and that's important.
I do think if we didn't have that video, who even knows what would be right now?
No, And and God bless these people who are out there standing in the cold, risking them, risking their their lives.
Holy, I've been killed who have been killed, so they are technically risking their lives.
Absolutely, man at least, and you know, and there are other people have been shot. We forget that there are other incidents where people have been hurt and injured. You know, though you know, any one of those could have could have been another death.
It's so incredibly insane to be in this moment because it was like there have been so many times over the last decade where you and I have sat down and been like, this is really fucking bad. But this is like, no.
We've reached out of the we we talk about when we talked about this. You know, we've been talking about this for years. We were talking about how insane it was, and then we would extrapolate, right, what could keep going? This would be fascism.
M hmm.
Okay, we are way up that chart. Now, okay, now we're kind of it's more like, you know, one of those hockey stick grass. We're all of a sudden like this and it's not like that, and we all are you know, and all the people have said, oh yeah, he'll go a ways. It's you're exaggerating.
He's going to just play some golf.
Remember that down you know, Susan Collen has learned his lesson. He doesn't. He never will. He's going to get more and more dangerous.
George Conway, I have a question for you which I think you will appreciate. So Susan Collins we're just talking about, is running for reelection the state of Maine. Yes, she calls a White House, tells them they got to pull out ice.
Yep.
Why do you think Susan Collins did that?
Because she's trying to save her own skin and that's all she cares about. Obviously, it's good for the people of Maine that ice is withdrawn from Maine, but that doesn't help the rest of the country, and it shouldn't be that. If you have a vulnerable Republican incumbent senator, you get up, you know, you get past the government from ice. Okay, we're all in this together, We're all Americans. This only highlights the vindictive and political nature of how
the federal government, this criminal regime is using ice. You know, we saw out a bit of that in Minnesota when Bondi wrote that letter to Governor Walt saying, Wow, it might would draw ice if you do like give us the give us your voter rolls, which has absolutely nothing to do with law enforcement, nothing to do with relation.
Isn't it illegal to trade ice occupation? I mean, I know we've moved so beyond legal and not legal but legal real ice occupation for voter rolls. I mean, isn't that the craziest thing you've ever heard?
Absolutely, absolutely, positively insane, particularly when you consider that under the constitutional structure that we have, states are principally responsible for the administration of elections, even elections to federal office, like running for Congress that's run by like hear New York. You know you run for you run for Congress, which you're on a ballot that's created by the New York State or New York City Board of Elections. The same way across the country. So you know, this is absolute.
I mean, these conservatives who are supposedly respectful of federalism, they're trampling it. Don't give a fuck about it. They don't give a fuck also about the Second Amendment, right because they figures if if if Alex pretty has a gun, he gets to be shot. That's that's their position. Now, I mean, they're just unbelievably unbelievable gas lighting hypocrites.
Any conservatives. Are they losing any conservatives because they're losing it in the polling, But we're not seeing that on Twitter.
Look, I mean you look, you all I can tell you is I don't talk to these people, and but I can tell you that you know, you can see it. You can see it in some of the press. You can absolutely see it in some of the press. He saw some of the you know acts. I think Axios had a story about how Republicans are just doing you know, they're they're they're worried that going to get destroyed. And when then we saw the most amazing example is that gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota who is going to be the
Republican nominee, or it was the Republican nominee. BASICI says, I give up. Yeah, you can't. You know, how can you run with an art after your name? I don't know how anybody after over the last several years. I mean, I quit the Republican Party in twenty eighteen because I was just out of control and it was a personality call. It was better then than it is today. I don't know how you can face the electorate as a Republican.
It's just it's shameful. And you know, this guy realized it's untenable to run as a Republican in Minnesota now because because the state has just been so thoroughly abused by Donald Trump.
Kim Hardy is a candidate for North Carolina seventh Congressional District. Welcome to Fast Politics, doctor Harvey.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here with you.
So first explain to us what you're running for, what the scene looks like, Who are you running against. What is the congressional district line.
So I'm running for North Carolina seventh Congressional District, which is in the southeastern part of North Carolina. So for anyone who's unfamiliar or slightly familiar, it runs the top of it is think Fort Bragg, so Fayetteville and Cumberland County, all the way down to Wilmington, over to Brunswick County and back up. We have a total of eight counties, but just little portions of two of them, and the
rest of them are pretty much intact. Unfortunately, this district has changed five times in the last ten years, owing to our expertise in Jerry manderin here in North Carolina. But I think that is not going to benefit the incumbent Republican. So I'm running against David Rouser and he's pretty much been there for about ten years, we have to say pretty much because we haven't seen him. He hasn't done a public facing event with his constituents in
over eight years. Meanwhile, when I launched my campaign in jill Lie, we did eight launch events in all eight counties in eight consecutive days, because It's important to me that the people of my district know that every single one of them matters. I'm not just going to launch in the county where I live or the county with the biggest population density. I will be a representative for all of these people, and I wanted all of them
to have the opportunity to meet me. So it is an R five to an R seven, depending on which report you look at. Cooks has us somewhere between a R five and seven, But it is trending bluer, and so we know it will still be an uphill battle, as all races are, but we feel like this is the moment to absolutely flip this seat and start changing the tide in Congress. If you look at national trends, it's in our favor as DIMS, and we think we're going to capitalize on that.
Explain to us what the shift has been just from the most recent election. And if you look at the generic yeah, if.
You look at what we're seeing nationally, not even just special elections, but also special elections, right like last November, you saw Virginia change its legislature and give a woman governor. Like you've seen so many races that were incalculable for Democrats at a certain point have changed from being read
to fifteen twenty points to the left. Even in those races where Dems haven't won, they've moved the needles so significantly as to suggests that this blue wave that we thought we'd get in twenty twenty is actually it's really about to crash on into the waves of the political scene in twenty twenty six.
Right, So, if you are running in an R plus five on R plus six in a wave election like this, you might not win in a tight election, but in a wave election like this, yours is the kind of seat that will absolutely flip if the numbers keep up the spot correct.
And here's a thing that's also very good about our seat. So I am the only Democrat in North Carolina who's trying to flip one of the congressional seats that doesn't have a primary. So right now, my incumbent does have a primary. We're pretty sure he's going to out spend his competitor, but we are not in a primary, and that says something. It talks about the trust that the
people of the district have in me. It talks about how ready folks are for us to just get a really good, strong candidate in there, and that they think that's me and I happen to agree with them on that. I think this is the moment and I'm the one that can get it done.
So tell us why you were the choice that everyone packed.
So one of the other roles I have is I'm second vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party and so as such, and I'm in my second term now. So I've been all over the state. I've been all over this district. I live in this district, and so I know these people. I know what their issues are. I'm affected by those same issues as well, and so for me showing up for them just as a party officer helping other candidates get elected, that gave me great insight into what the needs are for the whole of
this district as well as for the states. So we know how our district plays with the rest of the state. I'm also a social worker social work professor right now, but I know what it looks like when these policies, like when they wanted to cut SNAP benefits or when they want to get rid of ACA subsidies. I know what that looks like in real time to families and communities, not just because of the data nerd in me, but because I've seen it. I've worked on the front lines
of it. And so in our district, District seven, we have the highest percentage use of SNAP benefits and Medicaid in the state, or the second highest rather, and so that really matters because we need someone who's in this district, representing this district to ensure that things like SNAP benefits getting cut doesn't happen. Like he lives in this district too. How could you know that this is what's happening to
people and do nothing. So I've spent my entire career building bridges, working with various constituent groups on behalf of people who are living on society's margins economically, socially, or otherwise. And I know how to get this done. And I think the people of my district have seen that in me and that's why they were willing to let me be the nominee.
I think that's a really good point. You know, we spend so much time at the state level talking about implementing policy and so little time at the federal level doing it. And you know, it's funny. When I'm listening to you, I'm thinking, Oh, that's right. Congress needs to pass things. And now that we're seeing a return to ear marks, there is a sense where we really are seeing legislators able to fight for the specific things that their districts need and want.
And I think that's critical. But it's been missing. Like the last time David Rouser had any legislation actually signed into law was by President Barack Obama, Like it has been ages since he has been of any consequence in a positive way to this district. I have talked just so many veterans, like this is the home of Fort Bragg, right, and so we have so many veterans here who have told me that they've written these long and passioned emails to David and said, listen, I've had five different Price
Mary Care doctors in the last five months. Is there anything you can do? And they get back a form letter that's like, thank you for reaching out to our office, Like this is not what representation looks like. There are things that he could do to help with those veterans issues.
Water quality in our district is horrifying. We have the p foss chemicals that are in the water and it is impacting so many different aspects of life here, from everybody's individual homes not having clean water coming in to how it's affecting the fishing industry in Brunswick and Wilmington. And he does nothing about that. So if earmarks are a thing we can do, if your job is to go to DC and get some of that budget called that back so that we can do something in our
own district. He has not done any of that work. But I can't wait to get there so I.
Can Those forever chemicals that cause cancer are a big deal. The other thing is that there have been members of Congress who have been good at constituent services, and maybe they've been bad congress people, but because they've been good at in their constituents, they still get the vote. So it is a good sign for you in a way. It's signed that you could flip the seat that he's so bad at constituent services. Can you say more about that?
I have talked to countless people who have reached out to him, either because of their own needs, like the gentleman I was talking about earlier, about community needs like the water issue, or just saying, hey, we don't want you to vote for this thing, we want to tell you how we feel about a thing, and he doesn't respond at all, or if you can get him on the phone, and it's been increasingly more difficult to do. He basically just sort of talks around an issue and
paternalizes folks and that's it. And so if people feel completely unheard. A couple of months ago, probably closer to a year ago, a big group of folks went to his office that he's supposed to have, the constituent office he's supposed to have in the district, and there was no one there, and so they did a great, big protest out front of his office and they said, you know, he told us eight years ago that he would do a town hall every year, and he hasn't done one since.
And so when you feel like you know this person is I'm paying this person with my tax dollars. It's in the name, you're supposed to be a representative. You're not listening to me, you're not responding to me, and when you do, it's just an empty sleeve that starts to make folks feel like they're unheard and unseen. And so when I show up, it's like a breath of fresh air because folks are like, so you genuinely want to hear what I have to say. You're actually listening.
And there have been times where they've brought a problem to me and I was already able to solve that for them. And that's what this job is about. David isn't taking it very seriously. I absolutely do.
I wonder if we could talk. You're in North Carolina, which is a sort of a swingy state with a blue governor. Will you explain to us what it's like when you talk to people on the ground, because I think there's been a real sea change and a real shift. But I wonder what it's like when you talk to people.
I'll tell you what. We have had some really great conversations. I we just received something on our website the other day from a woman and her husband who have been lifelong Republicans, and they're like, enough is enough. We're behind you one hundred percent. It's time to listen to your constituents, not your president. I've had moderate Republicans come up and say, I'm a moderate Republican, but I'm all in on you.
So we've had a lot of unaffiliated folks who feel very hurt because the issues were addressing and my campaign sort of three legged duol is better jobs, better schools, better healthcare. You know, they hear themselves in those issues, and so what they're hearing is there's potential for us to have somebody who actually cares. But why they're feeling that way is because they feel hopeless. There's so much
frustration right now. People feel like there's nothing they can do, and it feels kind of like there's like an unsatisfying answer to say, well, we just have to get to November. But I think the tide is shifting, like you mentioned before, where all of the active is class is showing up not just at the rallies but at ballot boxes and municipals and special elections. And so I think there is this sense that, you know what, we have the power
to change this if we don't like it. And so I thought I've seen folks go from it's hopeless or I'm scared too, I'm angry and I want to get active. And we've heard it from across the political spectrum.
What do you think the issues are for people on the ground in North Carolina.
I actually ask them this all the time when I do call time, when I'm doing events, I go, what are the issues that are top of mind for you? Some of them do the broader like we're losing our democracy, we have to stop fascism. We get those and those are real. Then we have the things like that we're talking about, you know, the Medicaid and Medicare. We have Columbus County, which is a very very low wealth county that has one small regional hospital and I am very
worried that it's going to close. The doctors and nurses there are as well, and that means they will be forty five minutes away from the next available house.
That's insane.
So healthcare and its accessibility, not even just Medicaid Medicare, but the ability to have ready access to a place where they can go get care, that is a real issue. Most of North Carolina is rural, where the second most rural state in the country. Most folks don't realize that for some reason, but we are. And a lot of rural community makes up my district, and so we have farmers who were struggling too. We have folks who are
living in urban spaces where they're struggling as well. Navasa is a superfund site, so there's all the dioxins and the chemicals in the land. So everybody's got a thing that sort of bespoke to where they live. But the broader issues really are we have to take back our country, save our democracy, and then we need to attend to kitchen table issues. It's things like schools, it's things like jobs. We have not raised the minimum wage in so many years. It was my son was a child the last time
we raised it and he's in college now. So these are all the issues that people are dealing with in their day to day lives. Those are the ones you hear. And then the existential issues around democracy and fascism.
Yeah, which makes sense. North Carolina is such a hard state to crack like I have in a way, like there's Zanete there. The governor is running for the former governors running for it. Why do you think North Carolina is so hard for Democrats to crack. This is not about your race, just in general, because you're there.
Jerrymandering like in a nutshell, right. Like I joke with people and say, North Carolina is great at two things, barbecue and jerrymandering. I mean, if you look at the map, look what they just did to NC one where Don Davis is one of our few Democratic congressional representatives. They just drew him out of the district and they made it almost it looks on paper anyway, almost impossible to win because they made it so red. If you look at our congressional map across the state, there are little
pockets of blue, some pockets of pain. And they're doing that with intentionality. They've been doing this since before Trump asked for it. This time they're doing this because they know that their policies are not popular even with their base, and the only way they can win is to rig it in this way. I was one of the people that Jefferson Griffin wanted to throw out my registration when our Supreme Court justice race for Alison Riggs was up
last cycle. I mean, how can you decide, younilaterally that all of these votes no longer count because I'm dissatisfied with the results of the election. We fight it out on the battlefield of the ballot box, and if your team loses, then you need to regroup and try again in a way that's more befitting. But when you get to pick who your voters are rather than letting your voters pick who their representatives are, that is why we're so hard to crack. And two cycles ago, our congressional
delegation was seven and seven. It looked very much like North Carolina looks. And yet when you have a Supreme Court that allows things like jerrymandering and the lines outside of the timeline, this is what you get.
But they don't have a supermajority now right because of Grigs, so they can't make as crazy laws.
Right, not as crazy. I mean, we still only have two Democrats on the state Supreme Court. The other one is Justice Anita Earls, who we absolutely also have to elect in twenty twenty six. But we do still have to flip the other three seats that will have up in twenty twenty eight to get the majority back. We know that this election's maps are set even with what they did to NC one in three, so that's a relief.
But you know, there are some things that our state legislature could be doing, Like, for example, we're the only state in the country who still hasn't passed the state budget. And so while they're so busy redrawing lines to give themselves unfair advantages, the people of the state are still without a budget.
Unbelievable, ulous, annoying, and ridiculous. So you could be the person who makes the majority for Democrats, I could, and.
I would love that. I mean for any sort of self aggrandizing reason, but because it's time for us to have people in Congress who care about the people they represent, who understand the consequential nature of the decisions that they are making, who are driven by purpose and not by self indulgence and personal wealth. Because the most profitable or one of the top most profitable stock portfolios in Congress comes from say it with me, David Rouser, right, and
so like, what are you doing up there? And I'm happy that you're making a comfortable living, but I just think it's so derelict for you not to make sure that the people of your district and the people of this state have the same opportunity to do that. Now David also takes a lot of corporate pack money. We don't do any of that, and so ours is a people driven and people powered campaign. I'm so excited to have over one thousand unique donors who have donated to
this campaign. If anyone is out there wanting to know if they can donate, they can. Don't want to be beholden to anyone except the voters of this district.
Will you support a congressional stock trading ban?
I do, and I've got that on my website. So that's not even just something like someone could go and look right now and see, I don't believe that that's what we should be doing using the office for a personal enrichment.
And when you're in converse tif this works. We make sure to hold power to account, you know. And if you feel that leadership is not doing the job they should be, and maybe they will be, and maybe that won't be, will you make sure to caucus with the right group of people and make sure they do what their job is and leadership, Absolutely, I would not have voted in favor of this ice budget appropriation for example,
Like some stuff's just wrong. And you know, both of my parents were in law enforcement, All the men in my family were in the military. For me, Service and purpose and mission have always been a part of my life's blood. And that's what I've done as a social worker, It's what I do as a second vice chair, It's what I'll do as a congresswoman. I am not above telling folks because that's what our job is, is to speak truth to power.
And sometimes they need to hear that this is not the right way to do a thing, and I don't mind being the one to tell them that.
I love this. Thank you so much. It was great to get to talk to you.
My campaign manager would be very upset with me if I didn't tell everyone to please visit Kimberly Party for Congress dot com. But thank you so much, Molly. It was a real honor to talk to you today.
No moment second.
Jesse Caddon b the Trump administration knew about the Minnesota fraud way before Nick Shirley's investigation, and what do you think they did about it?
They knew about the Minnesota fraud. People were arrested and jailed. If they will happen in twenty twenty and in twenty twenty, the first Trump administration was worn by the state that the nonprofit in question, Feeding Our Future, was likely engaging in fraud, and the administration declined to get involved.
There we go.
That year, the Minnesota Department of Education asked the US Department of Agriculture for support as it considered taking action against the nonprofit, and the Trump administration, being lazy, shiftless and not all that much against corruption, was not interested.
A twenty twenty four audit reported by the Minnesota legislature examining the Feeding Our Future scandal said officials in the Education Department complained that the USDA was unresponsive when they asked how to deal with the problems presented by the nonprofit. Think about that for a minute. This is Trump World ignored the fraud, then Biden World prosecuted the fraud. Then Trump World learned about the fraud from a uti tuber and went and created chaos in Minnesota because they like
a Nick Shirley video. If you can't think of a more fucked story about Trump one point zero and Trump two point zero, I implore you incredible stuff. That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday to hear the best minds and politics make sense of all this chaos. If you enjoy this podcast, please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going. Thanks for listening.