Mary Trump, Shannon Watts & Rachel Bade

But first we have the amazing Mary Trump to talk about the realities of Donald Trump running for president again. Welcome to Fast Politics, my friend Mary Trump. While I'm so excited to be here, I love the new show and I've been wanting to come on since you started. It's so good. Everybody has to just become a regular listener to this phenomenal podcast. You know, we're a mutual admiration society here we are, which is true. And you, you know, you write so well, you podcast, you interview,

you do everything. So let's talk about our collective PTSD. And I'm not even making light of this. I actually think we knew he was going to announce, and yet I found myself just like, oh God, like I mean, I can only imagine how it is for you. It's interesting that this time around, it's not that he's announcing, because that was inevitable, it's that he's been allowed to that, that he continues to be in this position to play

the system. People said many of his supporters in the immediate aftermath of the midterm debacle for the Republicans that Donald was the biggest loser. It's like, explained to me, in what way he's he personally is losing here? I can't think of one, as your former co host will, since that everything Donald touches does except him apparently, well,

use say more about that. It's just a reminder, and again, there are plenty of people in this country who have always known that there's really no justice, and to the extent that there is, the justice system is wildly unfair and biased in terms of white people and especially rich

people who are also white. But it's it's something else entirely to see in real time and so publicly, one person, time after time after time be not just allowed but enabled to commit the most egregious crimes and not only suffer no consequences, but continue to fail up as Donald has been doing since he was a toppler. Yeah, I mean that is so striking to me, and I'm so glad you're talking about this because it really is just

kind of unbelievable. It's not just the usual suspects that you would expect, you know, it's not just the people who have judges he appointed, for example. It does seem to be the entire system is inherently incapable of righting wrongs, of getting out of its own way. It was particularly demoralizing.

I mean, the whole bullshit about you can't charge anybody before an election, even if he's not running in the election, as if not charging him weren't taking a political position potentially, But then to hear that the Justice Department is weighing whether or not anybody else too did the same things would be charged, Like, you guys haven't made these decisions yet.

It's been forever already. There are so many people who have really had their lives ruined by Trump, you know, from the cops who were involved in the January six insurrection trying to protect the capital two people like Maria Ivanovitch. And it really is interesting that the person who has said all of this emotion continues to just be im palm beach and Molly, you're absolutely right to talk about it in terms of pt SDE that that is a very real thing that we haven't addressed enough, because part

of that is COVID. How COVID exacerbated everything. And then to have the one person who is largely responsible for so much death, for the disruption of so many lives and careers to skate on by. It's a constant reminder. You know, you and I have had this conversation many times. You cannot recover from trauma while you're still actively being traumatized, and that seems to be where we we permanently live

right now. Yeah, you know, it's funny because I talked to so many journalists, and you know, so many people will say like, oh, you should be so happy, it's going to be great for your numbers or for whatever. And like I'm telling you, everyone I talked to on Wednesday, we were all like so depressed because it's depressing and it's I think people used to say the same thing to stand Up Committee, and so this is gonna be

so great for you. Well, if by great you mean constantly being reminded that the worst people among us are consistently allowed to succeed at the expense of everybody else's mental and physical health. Sure, that's great for me because I might get a couple of good jokes or I got I might get good numbers, and it's debilitated to some degree, and okay, great, our numbers might be better, we might get more listeners, there might be more interest, whatever,

But at what cost? Yeah, I mean, I think that's what it is. So one of the things I want to ask you is, like, right now, we're in a place that you know, we're trying to figure out how to cover this guy and how to write about him, but not to elevate him and not to help him lie to the American people and not to you know, we don't want to publicize him, but we have to cover him, right because you can't ignore him because we live through two thousand fifteen, so you know him and

you know the world that created him. More importantly, how do we do this? What do we do? But well, that is the distinction to the degree that it's possible not ignore him, but minimize him and keep an eye on the people who created him and are responsible for him,

the Mitch McConnell's, the Rupert Murdochs, etcetera, etcetera. Because they're the ones who are the problem right first of all, and they're the ones who are going to decide whether or not they will once again tie their faith to Donald Trump by the way, they will because he's not going to give them. And also, how can they not, right, because they're all fighting for the same exactly, They can't because he won't let them. They can't because all they

care about is their base. They can't and this is probably the most important part of it. They want exactly what Donald will give them. And that's being really clear here. If the Republicans had won to the that they were supposed to last week in the midterms, we wouldn't be having this conversation because he would be their number one guy. So and they'll come back into the fold because they want have a joyce and again that's that's their guy.

I think the worst thing we could do is allow them to get away with pretending that Donald's the problem. That's a really interesting point. Can you say a little more about that. Let's say Donald does something bizarre and out of character and decides not to seek the spotlet Okay, that's not gonna happen. Yes, but you know they for the sake of argument that he decides not to run and decides to support whoever, you know is the nominee.

That person, whether it's Descentis or Ted Cruz or Josh Holly running again for something is going to be exactly the same as Donald, just in a more informed way in terms of policy, and we'll just be smarter and less a egregious about the way they go about this. I definitely remember the conversation we had last year about you know, Ken Trump is um so called survive Donald, and the answer is absolutely yes, it has. That's the danger.

I just want to continue on for a second because like in the mid terms, the trumpy candidate, it's at least in swing state it's right, like Carry, Like the people that kept me up at night lost, right Carrie, like Don Bulldock, right Mastriano, those people lost, but Jadie Vance won, I mean Blake Masters lost. But those people who ran on Trump is um there were some who won, but they only one in very red states. Well yes,

but with the exception of Mastriano, it was close. I mean Carry Lake lost by a very small less than one percent of about Yeah. So part of that is is tribalism, but part of it is that that message appeals to enough people. Yes, on the one hand, it's a wonderful development that the American people took the threats to democracy seriously and did not put in place election

deniers to be secretaries of State for example. On the other hand, though, we have the same problem we had in we needed a thorough repudiation of this Republican party and we did not get it right well. And it also feels like Republicans didn't learn any lesson. They didn't say like, Wow, we're really turning off these purple state voters, or like wow, we're really turning off women with our crazy anti choice stance. And instead they they are like, we gotta make it harder for people to vote, and

we have to get women. I mean, I don't know if you saw this Jesse Waters thing where he said we need to get women married. Yes, I didn't realize that that's why I was a Democratic because I'm single. But what do I know. I'm just a stupid single woman. So yeah, exactly. So, because they don't feel that they need to they believe if they stay the course and continue to suppress votes and subvert votes, that it won't matter. Uh,

they can be the permanent minority power. And we've seen this, think about all of the headwinds that we're facing the Democrats, and still they almost pulled it out. But that's only because the Republicans were so terrible. But they know that they can just continue to gerrymander, get judges in place to overturn results or what have you. So I think they've decided that instead of evolving and instead of playing to uh people's better instincts, that they're just going to

keep cheating. And it's almost working because enough people either aren't paying enough attention or are perfectly happy going down that road with them, which is really kind of what I mean, just insane. What do you think now here we are in this like post post mid tarm world, we have, you know, all this time while Trump will announce, I mean, what is Trump's achilles heel? I'm sorry, I know you get asked this a lot, but no, I actually I don't because there hasn't really been that much

reason to talk about him. And now, as you said, we kind of have to because he that's that's what he does. Um, his achilles heel, Well, it's him. I mean, it's just so terrible. But the fact you know that he continues to get away with all sorts of stuff aside, he really is a loser, right, It's just a terrible loser.

And uh, it doesn't become an achilles heel though, until people in a position to do so point that out to him, which again is what like all the other seven thousand Republicans running in twenties sixt So it will be interesting to see if anything shifts on this side. I just don't think it would. I don't. I don't think you know, his achilles heel is going to be relevant because the people in a position to poke it with a sharp stick won't because it won't be to

their benefit either. And I think that's the thing. I mean, it's one of these situations where it's like you ignore him at your peril, and yet you also you don't want to elevate him, and so we find ourselves in this weird situation. I do think like the one way you can cover Trump without elevating him is having you because you're so smart and thoughtful, and also you can and you have the psychological background so you can understand what it is we're doing here, right, I mean, yeah,

I I appreciate that. Sometimes I wish I didn't have any of particular psychological understanding of these things, because it's it's really not fun looking inside of this. But you're right, we we ignore him at our apperil no matter what

cost to us. I mean, the thing I always think about with Trump covering him is that we always, at least I and many of the people I interact with, so this is anecdotal, seemed to always like think, well, this will be the moment, right, Like I remember, and when he had gotten elected, someone's like, oh, the White House is really small, he's gonna hate it. He's gonna hell,

I'm sure he'll resign. Someone else said, you know, and like even when Avanna died, I heard like Trump has a thing where he's afraid of death, and if Avanna dies, that will somehow make him not want to run. There's no there's never going to be a moment where he decides like he would have to like be removed from running. Like he's going to be one of those people who

like who runs for president forever? Right, because there's no incentive not to the only way he would step out of this particular fray is if somebody agreed to make him ember of the world. So no, he's unfortunately not going anywhere. A terrible thing to say. So, like, can you imagine him as emperor? Why can't we make him like I mean, it's just like that. No, let's not do that. It's really bad. Please please, no, please, Well, we could just pretend and let him think that that's

actually what's happening. Get him, you know, confused, and tell him that he's really emperor. That hard. Mary Trump so interesting and so important and also just I'm such a fan. Thank you for joining us. Thanks Molly, it was so good to be here with you. Rachel Bade is a reporter at Politico and author of Unchecked Welcome Too Fast Politics. Rachel, thanks for having me on, Molly. What a crazy week,

I mean crazy crazy week. So you are one of the authors of playbook, but you're famous for were covering Congress. I always think of you as like the person who knows exactly what the hell is going down over there? What the hell is going down over there? Oh my gosh. I mean, first of all, let me just say, I am just returning from attorney leave this week, and we talk about a hell of a time to come back. Nothing like jumping into the fire. I mean, where do

we even start. It's like, let me just give you an example of what happened Thursday morning. In the chaos of Thursday morning, So officially, Republicans took the House on Wednesday night, big moment for Kevin McCarthy, who has had an otherwise pretty bad weekly, Republicans trying to keep him from getting the gabble and then starting to get calls from a bunch of Democratic sources and Policy's leadership team saying Okay, she's going to announce her retirement the next morning,

and so I'm trying to pin that down. And then we have Jim Jordan's giving a press conference about how they're going to investigate Joe Biden, potentially try to impeach him, etcetera. Exactly of course, and so it's just it's been quite a crazy week. I can't wait to unpack it all with you. So I want to first start with Wednesday night.

The House was called to eighteen to ten, or the Democrats are to ten, though there still are like fourteen seats, but it looks like Republicans will get to they just have to get over to nineteen and they will have a majority. But we do we know how many seats

majority it will be. We're not sure yet. But Republicans it seems like, you know, their expectation went from winning fifteen seats to winning ten seats to winning you know, eight more seats in terms of the majority that they will have, and now I think we're going to see the expectation from Republicans is that they'll have maybe a two or three seat majority, which really doesn't leave McCarthy

much room to maneuver next year. Uh, and it's going to be really ugly for him with a lot of conservatives trying to control him and lording their votes over his head to try to manipulate him into doing what they want. So it's going to be really tight. So you have the Freedom Caucus, right, and then you have the Maga Caucus. That's right? Or are those two the same? They're pretty similar. It's interesting because the Freedom Caucus, you know, when Trump first started running in in a lot of

them were critics of him. They didn't think he was a real conservative, and they had reason to think that, right, Trump was a former Democrat, but over the years they have definitely become his top fighters on the hill, Jim Jordan's Trump. One time I reported that he was joking to a bunch of Republicans that he was his like top warrior. Jordan's my warrior, And that's sort of what they've become since then. So yeah, they're pretty much the

same caucus. They're going to be a problem for McCarthy, and in that caucus is probably the sort of most famous member of the House GOP and one of the largest fundraisers, Marjorie Taylor Green. That's right, and Marjorie Taylor Green. You know, it's it's interesting this week we saw something happen. This could be a benefit from McCarthy going forward, but a lot of us were watching her to see what she would say about McCarthy trying to get the Gattle

trying to be speaker. Would she ever back him for speaker because she and him have had a contentious relationship in the past, and he's going to need every vote possible to to get the gabble. But this week it was the most crazy thing. She was out there stumping for McCarthy and trying to tell the rest of the Freedom Caucus, these Conservatives that this strategy that they're trying to employ to try to win concessions from McCarthy, it could backfire and that you know, Democrats might be able

to elect their own speaker if Republicans are fracturing. Uh So, it was sort of an interesting thing there, But she would be a player to watch definitely in the next Congress. I don't want you to have to try to get too much in their head, But why do you think Marjorie Teller Green was doing that? Oh, that's actually quite an easy question. Um. You know, we have heard from McCarthy's camp that they have really worked over time over the past year or so to try to make friends

with her. Obviously, Democrats kicked her off her committees when she said a bunch of controversial comments um in the past, and he promised her he put her back on a panel that she wanted. She wants to be on House Oversight, where there's going to be a lot of investigations of the Biden administration and the President. He has basically told her she's going to get that. He has brought her into his private leadership meetings that he has on a

pretty much a weekly basis. Usually that is only reserved for very senior Republicans, but she's part of that now. So he's really brought her into the fold and that has really won her over. That's at least what the McCarthy allies have told me this week. And so by sort of bringing her in, you know, he's hoping to sort of minimize potential damage that she could do to him next year. I mean, when you think about all of the things she said, that's pretty wild. What does

the rest of the GOP leadership look like? You think, Well, I think the first question is still going to be speaker. I mean, we don't know if McCarthy is going to be able to do it. There are members like Matt Gates, who I'm sure you're very familiar with, drump loving bomb thrower. There he's saying, point blank, I will never vote for McCarthy for speaker. There is nothing McCarthy can give me

to make him vote for him for speaker. And Gates told me in the hallway the other day on the Hill that he thinks there are other members who are with him, and you have to realize that if there's a two to three seat margin in the House, McCarthy needs that to eight teen. He's not going to be

able to lose many. So if he if he loses Gates, if there are other members like that who he cannot negotiate with, we could conceivably see the same situation happen as what happened in when McCarthy tried to become speaker and he couldn't get the votes and had to step aside, and Paul Ryan became speaker after that. So I think the top question is still the speakership, and if not

Kevin McCarthy, who is it going to be. Otherwise, you know, we're going to see people like Steve Scalise, who obviously has been in the leadership for a really long time at least defonic. She's sort of this moderate Republican who is also a Trump ally, kind of a weird mixed there. We'll see her, and then people like Tom em Or who are running the NRCC. He's going to be the

number three person in the House, the GOP whip. I want to just get back to this for a second, because, like a lot of the reporting I've read has said to the effect of like you, there's no one else but McCarthy. This is this thing they keep saying, this wrestling thing to beat the man, you've got to be the man or what. I don't even want to know. It's so stupid, but but you've heard them say it, like about McCarthy, and you've heard them say about McConnell.

Is there another man that could be the man? I mean, whoever tries to step into this position is going to have the same problems that McCarthy has. We sort of explored this in the playbook this week, because you're right, McCarthy's best defense for himself is this argument that there's no one else who can do it. I'm the best person who can do it, and if you push me aside, you're going to be in chaos. But we sort of explored and talked to a bunch of Republicans on the

Hill about who else could it be. Steve Scali says I just mentioned has been whipped for a really long time. He's got good relationships across the conference. He's got this sort of inspirational story surviving a gun shot wound a

few years ago, so people really like him. Stephonic given that she's a moderate and from Maga Maga Ally or a Maga Darling has this sort of interesting bridge that would allow her to, in theory, bring be the sort of key negotiator between these two warring factions and the GOOP. So you know, you could see someone like her try to rise. There's a Republican named Jim Banks who is from Indiana. You'll hear his name a lot in the coming years. This guy is ambitious and he has been

working hard to sort of raise his profile. He just lost his bid to become majority Whip. But I don't think we've seen the last of him. So I could see him trying to try to become Speaker someday if McCarthy couldn't do it. Point being, it's gonna be hard for anybody. But you know this whole thing about oh

there's no one else. Sure, there's no Paul Ryan, but there's I mean, there's more than two hundred Republicans in the House, and so to say that there is no one else, I mean, it benefits McCarthy, But maybe there is In that piece you actually you have had one last member of Congress that could get it, which is Democratic nightmare fuel for sure. Jacket last Jim Jordan's. Yes, of course Jim Jordan's. He's going to be Biden's worst nightmare.

I mean, there's a lot of conservatives who would think that the House needs a leader who is sort of in this fighting mode, and that is Jordan's. I mean, the guy walks around the Capitol without a jacket and with his shirt sleeves rolled up like he's about to throw a punch. I mean, this is just Jordan's right, and so a lot of conservatives want someone like that who's gonna be very antagonistic to the administration. The problem there is that Jordan's is extremely divisive in the House.

I mean, he ousd it not just one speaker, but two speakers. He's the reason John Bayner is gone. He's the reason why Paul Ryan is gone. And so there's a lot of Republicans who respected those men who don't like Jordan's because they think, you know, number one, he's way too conservative. Number two, his tactics are unfair and dirty, and so he would have a really hard time getting the votes to be speaker. But of course you're going to see him. He's going to be a main character

in the next Congress. You will be on TV often and he will be a big pain inside for Biden. Oh I'm sure. Okay, So talk to me about the Democratic side because it's so interesting. What's happening now? Oh yeah, Well, we're recording this right before a twelve ish Nancy Pelosi is going to make an announcement. Yes, so she's going

to be going onto the House floor any minute. The expectation from most Democrats I talked to is that she is probably going to announce that she is stepping aside and will probably remain in the House because of the margin being so tight they really need her vote. So a lot of Democrats think she will stick around and say I'm going to help guide the next generation. But look,

this is the perfect exit for Pelosi. I mean, if there was this Republican wave that would have materialized, like a lot of people were expecting, she would have been left leaving on this sort of negative note. Instead, Democrats did a on election day. They've passed a lot of bills in the past two years, and she can leave sort of fund this really proud note saying I really defended the House, and I defended a lot of these members, and so a lot of people think that this is

going to be the day. I also think it's very quintessential Pelosi, and we put in playbook she's a meticulous planner and she likes to troll people and Republicans. Lift the House in the past twenty four hours or put the house Wednesday night and Jordan is doing his big press conference about investigating Biden Hunter Biden. But yes, continue, yes, but Pelosi is about to swoop in and make the entire day about herself and her historic legacy, and potentially

the whole weekend too. So it just kind of another job at Kevin McCarthy on her way out. Oh that is so interesting. So I want to ask you another question about this. Pelosi leaves, what does you know? Does Clive Burn leave? Where does everybody else go? The expectation is that Hakim Jeffries, who is a Democrat from New York, that he's going to rise and likely be the next leader of the Democrats, so he would become the minority leader. There is a lot of demands in the caucus to

have new blood at the top. Obviously, Polo Sist, Anny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn have been the top three leaders for about fifteen years, and there's a there's a thirst for new faces, new voices, et cetera. Clyburn has said that he wants to continue to be in leadership, but it sounds like he'd be okay with this sort of more of a bigger head role, like perhaps they make a new leadership position for him as assistant Minority leaders so he's more cert of advising Jeffries as opposed to

being the one making the decisions. Katherine Clark, who is this Democrat from Massachusetts. She's really big on women's issues and on safety measures. She sort of became famous for that. She is going to probably run. Who else do you think besides Katherine and Kim for leadership? Some other people

you should you should get to know Pete Aguilar. He is a Democrat from Texas, right no, no, no no, from California, actually California, that's right, yes, And he is currently serving on the January six Committee, so you'll recognize his face. He has been sort of in this mix with Hakim, Jefferies,

and Catherine Clark. The three of them have become very close friends over the years, and my understanding is that all year they've sort of been laying the groundwork for all three of them to sort of as they slate together sent into leadership. So basically they're going to be working very closely together. They've done a lot of member dinners together and so they're sort of seen as this package together. So Aguilar is another one you should know,

Joanna Goose, who is a Democrat from Colorado. He's a great on TV. He was an impeachment manager in the second trial, close ally of Jamie Raskin, who is obviously a progressive superstar, and he's also been in Pelosi's leadership team for a long time. He is probably going to be what he is going to be running for caucus chairs, So he will be another person you'll start to see

if he gets this job. The big question again going back to Hoyer, will be as if Hoyer tries to stay in the mix, do people like Joan and Goose gets sort of kicked out, Like there's been some talk about that, like if these these older members try to stick around, you could have, you know a problem with like Catherine Clark or Aguilar or Joan and Goose. Like there's only so many leadership positions available right now, and everybody wants to be in leadership so we'll see who

ends up staying. We'll probably know more. The leadership elections are at the end of November, right after Thanksgiving, but we should get a clear picture in the coming days about Hoyer and what he's going to do, and that will really solidify the leadership slate that we're likely to see next year. Can we go to the Senate for a minute now, sure? Absolutely so. There's a lot of drama in the GOP part of the Senate, more I

think than the than the Democratic side. The Democrats added a seat so far right, I mean, they picked up one and now there's a runoff in December for Georgia. Talk to me about what's happening, because it feels like there have been Rick Scott, fresh off his uh, his disappointing run leading the Senate candidates, now wants Mitch McConnell's job. Yeah, the Senate. This this has been really interesting this week. I mean we basically called it like Festivus, just this

sort of finger pointing and blood letting. So McConnell has not been challenged since he became leader more than a decade ago, so it was really rare to see someone like Rick Scott come in and challenge him, and nobody was under the sort of impression that Rick Scott, who is becoming a top enemy of Mitch McConnell, to actually win. But they just wanted to sort of, you know, make a point. And what you're seeing is Republicans very much trying to blame each other for their abysmal performance on

election night. I mean, Rick Scott was out there saying that they were going to pick up you know, as many as like three, potentially four seats we could see, you know, fifty three fifty four margin for Senate Republicans that obviously didn't pan out. You can also sort of look back over the past few months, Rick Scott and McConnell. Mr McConnell had very different ideas for the best strategy

for this election. Rick Scott was totally fine with Trump endorsed candidates taking the nominations in a lot of these states. He backed people like herschel Walker very early, where Mr McConnell he was trying to get Scott to wade into the primaries to keep MAGA candidates who he didn't believe could be elected out and try to get primary nominations for people he thought could actually be elected, but Rick

Scott would listen to McConnell. And because of that, there were a lot of candidates who were very controversial and who ended up losing their elections. And so McConnell blames Rick Scott. Rick Scott blames McConnell because Rick Scott wanted McConnell to put out an agenda that Republicans could run on instead of just being anti Biden. But McConnell didn't want to do that. So there's a lot of finger pointing right now. And you know, I think this is

going to continue for a while. Obviously McConnell became leader, he was elected pretty easily, but there were eleven Republicans who voted against him. So I mean, he's got some some work to do with his members, I suppose you could say going forward, I mean, will there be changeovers in other parts of leadership too? It's mostly going to

be the same slate. But I think what you're going to see next year is these sort of Trump allies in the Senate, people not just like Rick Scott, but also Josh Holly, Ted Cruz, a lot of these members who are looking at and thinking they could potentially run for president. They're going to just be really emboldened now to come out against McConnell and try to make his

his life a living hell. Another thing that sort of shocked me this week as we saw Lindsay Graham, who used to be a top ally of McConnell's, vote against him for leader. There's a lot of thankst happening in the Republican Party right now, a lot of relationships being broken because Republicans don't seem to want to blame Trump, and then some of them do, and they're just really at a crossroads and not sure which way to turn because they disagree on what the cause was for why

they did so poorly on election Day. Thanks Rachel, Thank you, Molly. Happy to do it. Shannon Watts is the founder of Mom's Demand Action. Welcome to Fast Politics, Shannon Watts, thanks for having me on. What are you working on talk to us? I mean, we are working on celebrating our winds across the board. On election day, we just sort of put our heads down, rolled up our our red

sleeves at Moms Tuman Action and did the work. You know, we made over six million outreaches two voters across the country. We signed up and showed up to get out the vote. We ran for office ourselves, over a hundred and twenty five of our own volunteers, one elected office, and we just really saw gun Since champions win the day. First, let's talk about some of those candidates, and then I want to talk about some of the elections who are involved in. Yeah, so you know, we had guns Since

champions all across the country. From Lucy macbeth, who was our own Mom's Demand Action volunteer, she just won her third term in Congress. It was a seat held by Republicans for thirty years. Newt Ginridgulc. Oh, wow, that's pretty great. She's I think it's important for those who may have forgotten. She's an incredible candidate. And she lost a child to

gun violence. Yes, Lucy's son Jordan Davis, a black seventeen year old shot and killed by a white, middle aged man at a gas station in Florida who said his music was too loud. Jesus. Yeah. So Lucy macbeth is a pretty fantastic candidate. And that is amazing that that's our third term because that has been a very Republican district. It was not anymore so tell us about some of

the other candidates you have. Well, you know, I was in fifteen states in the last two weeks, including Oregon and Georgia twice, thrilled to see governor elected Tina co Tech win her election. She was the only gun since candidate in that race. Um, she was up against two n r A allies and was not necessarily predicted to win, and she did. And we saw that play out over and over again all across the country. We flipped legislatures in Minnesota, in Michigan, we've flipped the House in Pennsylvania.

Even Republican senators who voted for the bipartisan Saber Communities Act this summer, the two senators were re elected. So look, gun safety used to be considered a third rail of American politics. Now not only are can that's running on it, they're winning. They used to run away from it, and it's a completely different story now. When I started doing this work ten years ago, a quarter of all Democrats and Congress had an A rating from the n r A.

Today none do. And it's just a complete and utter seismic shift in American politics. That is very cool. So tell me where you're sort of what states you see the most change and you're the most optimistic about Well, look, since doing this work, I you know, there's obviously so many political waves in a decade, but I think they're really interesting places to look at. Virginia, when I started this work, it was a solidly read state. Our volunteers there worked so hard and flip both chambers of the

General Assembly in twenty nineteen. Obviously, they've elected a Republican governor, but that governor is a lifetime n R A member who refuses to say where he stands on guns. He hasn't rolled back the progress we've made. I'm competent we will elect a Democratic governor in the next term. Colorado you to be considered purple. I would say it is now solidly blue. And a volunteer for Mom's main action.

His name is Tom Sullivan. His son was shot and killed in the Aurora movie theater shooting in two thousand twelve. He was a state rep. He was just elected state senator and we have a very solid majority in that state. Now. I would never would have thought that we would flip Minnesota this year, let alone Michigan, and we can now go into these states and past good gun laws Arizona, possibly Pennsylvania. So it is really a different playing field than it was a decade ago. Yeah, that is amazing.

Can you explain what using has changed to make it a third rail? Oh? I know what's changed in it, and that is a grassroots army that can go toe to toe with a gun mobby, a bunch of angry moms and red shirts who have a presence in every single state in this country. We show up and sit, you know, ten hours at a time and hearings to show our lawmakers were watching. We've passed hundred of good gun laws. We've stopped ninety of the n Ray's agenda every year for the last seven years, and state houses

across the country. We have passed policies through city councils and through school boards. In fact, eight million families have now received our secure storage notifications through their students, telling them to keep their guns locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition. And then we're electing our own volunteers and gun violence survivors to office. Right, that is a significant way to move the needle on this issue. And when you look at polling, this was a top three issue for voters

this election. Cycle, we were able to explain that voters who are concerned about crime should understand that you can't be tough on crime if you're soft on guns. And that resonated. You know, at the end of the day, this is what the American people want, and Republicans are are learning that less in the hard way, and it's going to take several election cycles. Talk to me about like your legislative dreams. Now, now you've gotten some of

these people in office. Democrats don't control the House, but it's going to be very tight. I mean, what is on your agenda. So at a federal level, we are still trying to pass things that are foundational to a gun safety system in this country. So, for example, a background check on every gun sale. Right now, federal law only requires them on licensed sales, not unlicensed, and so that is a gaping loophole that needs to be closed.

At a federal level. Um, we do, as I mentioned now, have the bipartisans SA for Communities Act that passed over the summer. It will save thousands and thousands of lives and it addresses gun violence holistically, and that had fifteen Republicans sign on. I think that's a really good sign that we're slowly but surely getting all politicians, regardless of political party, on the right side of the issue. So

we're gonna keep pushing there. There are other things that can happen, like an assault weapons ban or red flag law. There's lots that can be done at a federal level. At the state level, you know, we've gone state by state to pass background checks, to pass red flag laws, to close loopholes in the background check system, um to disarm domestic abusers, to require secure storage. Those are things that we can do in these states now that have a gun sense majority that we were just talking about.

We also still have to show up and stop the n Ray's agenda in those states where we're playing defense, and that really comes with strength and numbers. But there's so much innovation going on. You know, in Rhode Island, we just rolled back open carry for recreational purposes. You can't just carry your air fifteen around in the city for fun. In Colorado, we rolled back preemption, which is a law that prevents cities and municipalities from passing policies

that are different from state law. So that is a huge shift. We can do that in in some of the forty other states that have a preemption law, and in California we just passed a state law requiring secure storage notifications to be sent home to with every school kid. So there's so much that we can be doing in those states where we have a gun since majority that that we can extrapolate those best practices to the rest of the country. Many Democrats can be sort of squishy

on things like choice. Like if you think about Henry Collier, it seems to me like on gun safety, that is not true that Democrats have really you know, supporting that. What is the sort of right thing on that? Yeah, I mean, as I mentioned, a quarter of all Democrats in Congress had an A rating from the n R a decade ago. Today none do. We're having more and more Republicans sign on to federal legislation, more than we've ever had before. These horrific shooting tragedies are certainly keeping

a spotlight on the issue. We have activists of all ages making sure that their lawmakers pay attention to this issue. There's really no other issue that has an army of angry women that wake up every day right and hold the more shakers accountable. Yeah, but but but even abortion I think could benefit from a Mom's Demand action type organization. They don't have people showing up in city councils and state houses all the time who identify themselves as single

issue voters. Now, we certainly saw that wave of voters this election cycle, and you know, I'm really frustrated by people who keep pointing to the youth vote, because really it's the female vote. It was young women who got Democrats over the line, and I hope they organize less organically and it looks more like a Mom's to me

an action on the issue of abortion. But I do think having organized this indomitable group of millions, you know, we have ten million supporters, or twice as large as the n r A, it's a good model for taking on any special interest. And certainly there will be people holding not just Democrats accountable, but Republicans accountable if they don't do the right thing on the issue of gun safety. Yeah,

that's a really interesting point for Democrats. I mean, we talk a lot about Democrats organizing and being able to push things that are very popular like this. You know, most people don't want their kids to have the chance of I mean, school shootings are not popular and choice is very popular. You know, we had so many even this weekend we had to school shootings. I mean, do you think there's a place where there you could maybe get some sort of broader legislation past now that there's

been so many, or it just is not relevant. I do believe every time there's a horrific shooting tragedy that makes the news, it galvanizes people, it gets them off the sidelines. Our organization exploded in growth after the Parkland shooting tragedy, and again this summer after Buffalo and Uvalde and Highland Park. But sadly, you know, mass shootings and school shootings are about one percent of the gun violence

in this country. It's really the daily gun violence, mostly with handguns, that kills a hundred and ten people in wounds hundreds more. So we have to look at this issue holistically. Like I understand that people want to immediately ban assault weapons after a mass shooting, but you also have to unlock community violence intervention program funding. You also have to have background checks on all gun sales. We also have to make sure domestic abusers so have easy

access to guns. Many mass shootings in this country are started by incidences of domestic violence. The bottom line here is that gun safety isn't just good policy anymore. It's now good politics. And I think politicians who stand with us realize they'll be rewarded. Those who stand in the way realize they'll be held accountable. Suburban women and mothers, you know, and and too often that is a dog whistle for white women. That's not the case. The suburbs

are incredibly diverse. They're about as diverse as the rest of America. You know, those women and moms are sick and tired of their children not being safe and their communities being torn apart by gun violence. If you spend any time in state houses, what you realize very quickly is that about eight of our lawmakers are men, and

they are not rocket scientists. And so when you've learned how to be an advocate and shape policy, it's just intuitive that you then want to take the next step into making policy and seeing these volunteers turn into lawmakers. I mean, we elected sixteen of our volunteers in Illinois, seven in Rhode Island. It's been amazing to watch the progress that our program has made. One of our volunteers, Nobili,

said a Muslim Indian American woman in Illinois. She flipped a GOP held district and is now the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly. So those stories are are what keep me motivated and I think have helped with this ground swell of support for the the issue of gun safety. What do you want from this White House? First of all, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been incredible champions for gun safety. I would argue they've done

more than any administration in history on this issue. That by Parsons Safe for Communities Act that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris championed and got signed into law will save thousands and thousands of lives, but frankly, it's a first step on a much longer journey. Joe Biden has also done a lot of good work on this issue through

executive action. He could certainly do more, but look, based on these election results, I am optimistic that there will be more legislation on this issue that that will be life saving and serve as a template for the rest of the country. But also continue to make this issue, you know, not left or right issue, but a life or death issue, which it is, and that we will see more and more Republicans acknowledging the fact that this

is what their constituents want. Just one last question. I mean, do you think there's some progress with raising the purchase age on some of these guns or on all of them, or you think that's gone. Look, we first of all, we support an assault weapons span, but regardless, you should be twenty one in those states where it's legal before you can buy one. Several states have passed those policies.

Because of the Trump appointed judges, they're being challenged and because of Bruin, but we know that they're constitutionally sound. These laws that raise the age. And the other thing that the Bipartisan Saver Communities Act does is it puts in place more gating factors for someone under twenty one to buy a semi automatic rifle. And hopefully that will also demonstrate that this is something that states should do.

And look, if you look at the data people who are between the ages of eighteen and twenty one, it's about quadruple the number of homicides committed by the age group. We know that people with undeveloped brains should not have easy access to guns. That's pretty intuitive. But the data shows it too. You can't rent a car until you're twenty five. There's a reason for that. The actuaries have demonstrated that needs to be the case. And the same

can be said for for gun purchases. So we will continue to work on raising the age to have access to soult weapons. God, that's such that's such a good point. So you know there's no car rental lobby, right exactly, you know, that's just that's what it is. Thank you so much, as so great. I really appreciate having having you. Thank you, of course, thank you for having me on.

Molly John Fast Jesse Cannon. I gotta tell you that this this issue, this one makes me very mad because I feel like there's a lot the administration could do that they're not doing. So sometimes in our moment of fuckory, we talk about stuff that's stupid, but this is not stupid. This is actually deadly serious. It's just very fucked up.

Brittney Griner w n B A star and you know she's really a she was really a celebrity in the w n B A. She has found with two cannabis vape canisters in her luggage to okay, he has been sent to a Russian penal colony, which was, of course you may know it as the Gulag, so pretty famous, uses sleep deprivation and hourly checks in the denial of medical treatment to torture prisoners. There seven hundreds such prisons in Russia and they are a placed where prisoners are

forced to work. So this is a real fucked up situation and it's really so deeply unfair. And I am just you know, I understand that this that we are a country that's a war, but I think that the Biden administration should do everything they can to bring Brittany Grinder home, and I hope they will. That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to her 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.