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 Scott Bessen says he's felt this pain from China because he's quote actually a soybean farmer and a one hundred millionaire, a multi hundred millionaire, a five hundred millionaire. We have such a great show for you today. The Lincoln Project's owner Rick Wilson joins us to discuss Trump getting an illegal one hundred and thirty
million dollar donation from one of his creepiest donors. Then we'll talk to the d LCC's Heather Williams about how Dems win.
But first the news, So, Molly, Scott Bessen went on the Sunday shows, and I have to say there's a very few appearances that generated more headlights because he said more ridiculous things that most people do at these But one of the things he says is that the US will not lose money on the Argent bailout.
So I guess we're all going to be eating our Shetinian steak.
Yeah.
You know, one of my favorite things about Scott Essen is not his woodenness on television and it's not him saying ridiculous dishonest things on television. No, no, those are my favorite things about seeing them on television. My man, the US will not lose money on its massive bailout of Argentina because history is no guide for what happens in the world, he continued, despite the fact that the currency, like the dollar, is just going down the tubes. They've
gone all in on President Malay. You know why tell me, because they want him to win. In order to rescue him, they have pledged twenty billion dollar currency slop with the Argentine Central Bank, the largest American bailout of another country since we bailed out Mexico in nineteen ninety five. Besson has also organized another twenty billion in aid from the private sector. By the way, these people are very into promising big money from the private sector. Usually that doesn't happen,
so we'll see. But I remember many a private sector deals that never came to fruition. You and I know this to be true. Donald Trump is always saying that we're going to get ten gazillion dollars from this or that.
You're telling me President deals doesn't live up to his brand.
I mean, by the way. I just am curious, like, did we get those ninety trade deals? Because it's been more than ninety days, and I think it's.
Been another ninety days since those ninety days elapsed.
Right, it's ninety million days, That's.
What every day this administration feels.
Like there iny million years.
So Senator Lindsey Graham, a man that for as long as he's been a senator, has been downright giddy. It's not even the word I want to use for war because he's so enthusiastic to it you would think that you wanted to marry it. So he is very, very excited to announce that Trump's were on Narco Terris is going to expand the lads strike, which when it's not in international waters, it kind of sounds like war with another country, am I right?
Molly?
Yeah?
You know, Congress is supposed to approve wars. Now, I know I'm lame saying that I think that Congress should get approval for wars, because that is the way it's supposed to work. Congress should give approval. But for whatever reason, that is not what we're doing here, where just Trump is just going to do whatever Trump wants. And you know this happens to work for Trump because Mike Johnson basically is at this point donald Trump's Valey and serves
at the pleasure of Donald Trump. As Donald Trump has said before, by the way, this is just like this narco terrorist thing is such fucking bullshit, because like, there's no this is all completely crazy. Right, Like, we blew up a bunch of fishing boats. Maybe some had drugs, maybe some didn't. Most of them weren't heading towards the
United States. They were small boats. Nobody really knows, except we know that the few survivors were they were so guilty they were repatriated to their home countries without a trial, a pretty good sign that they were probably able to testify. So I'm going to say that clearly what's happening here.
Is fucked Yeah. Sounds very very bad.
Yeah. And also the pushback is coming from one Rand Paul. Ran Paul Republican says he's been invited to no briefings, adding a briefing is not enough to overcome the Constitution. We've had no evidence presented, So at this point I would call these extrajudicial killings. Good for Rand Paul from Kentucky for saying what we all know to be true, which is the United States government cannot just kill people and then make up a reason for it later one.
Hundred percent Savali. As we know, they're having.
To really dig through the bottom of the bear of people who are willing to do this job as an ICE agent since it's a not good job. And you'll be shocked to hear they're not fully vetting people about whether they have criminal records or not.
I am just shocked. I am so shocked because I was sure this ICE crew would be really thought, you know, that people would be interviewed and trained and explained how rights work and do process and Nope, just kidding. Let's pull back for a minute and realize that deportation Barbie Ice, Barbie Christy Nome spells it with an eye because that's how she thought it was spelled, is just blowing billions of taxpayer dollars. That is pretty much the good news
in a weird way. And again, you should look at these videos out of Chicago. We should look at these videos out of Chicago because Chicago is what this administration wants for the rest of us. And they are smoke bombing, they are going into residential neighborhoods. They are passing people working. Here's what they're not doing anything helpful. Here's what they're not doing fighting crime. Here's what they are doing. There's
a video of a couple, like a waspy couple. The husband is in pajama pants and bare feet and they're screaming at the ICE agents to get out of their neighborhood. This is what is coming to all of us. This is what our tax dollars are paying for. This is what Christy Nome, who has two private jets for one hundred and seventy five million dollars, and her right hand hory Lewandowski, are doing to this country.
So now, because the Democrats are going to make a database where you can upload ICE's NonStop abuses of power, and we're trying to put a little fear into these officers to behave a little better. The Democrats are making a tracker for this, and Christy Nome is threatening them because she thinks they should be able to act with full impunity and ignorance of the law, which is unprecedented in America.
Yeah, I mean, look, they are going to push and they are going to do illegal stuff, and they're going to do bad stuff, and the only way it stops is if people say this is enough. And this is a great example Robert Garcia doing God's work. We've established in a misconduct tracker to document abuse and civil rights violations by this administration, including where Ice has detained US citizens and violated federal law. By the way, that is what we should be doing. That is what all of
us should be doing. I mean, that's how all of this is supposed to work. So correct. Good for again, Representative Garcia. If life ever gets back to normal, I hope that he will someday be in leadership. Rick Wilson is the founder of the Lincoln Project and the host of the Enemy's List. Rick Wilson, Well, I junk fast.
How are you on this fine day in our so called country.
I'm just looking for a mysterious donor to donate one hundred and thirty million dollars to pay one point three million. True. I'm not a math genius.
You know. I kind of do no math. And I will tell you that math is not, as the kids like to say, mathing in this case.
Yeah, So we're talking about Timothy Mallan volunteering to donate one hundred and thirty million dollars, which is a lot of money to us because we're poor, But to people like this, you know, a childless billionaire, I think it's jumping.
I mean, molly, let me, let me say this. He is donating this money because Donald Trump does not want Jeffrey Epstein files to be voted on in Congress. That's why he's voting giving Trump this money. And he's doing it with like the weirdest conditions and stipulations like you must find Amelia air Arts. What fuck? And you know what, It's funny because like a few weeks ago, I was like, last Trump tweeting about a millionaire hurt? What is going on here?
What?
What could be driving this? And you and I tend to like no shit, And I'm just like I could not figure it out. I was like, why is he obsessed with Amelia Earhart? What is going on? And now we know Timmothy Mellen wants to find Amelia air Art.
So if they paid the troops out of this money, it would be one hundred dollars a troop pretty much period. So that's one hundred dollars that is, in case you're wondering, not enough money.
No case you're wondering that is that is.
Not enough money. Good but good headline for Trump. Go the headline for Timothy Mellen. For people who don't read headlines, and I want to go to headlines for a minute because I want to talk about this gubernatorial race in New Jersey. Yeah, it's a good headline for Trump. It's a good headline for Timothy Mallen. For people who are not paying attention, they think, oh, Timothy Mellen, billionaire. Yeah, but if you can't actually pay, if it won't actually pay the troops, then what what Hey, you.
Know how we could pay the trips. You know, we could pay the troops tomorrow.
Tell me more.
Open the government, stop being stop stop covering up the Jeffrey Epstein files, and open the government. This is this is something like like my tolerance for this because you know, I'm not sure if you know this, but basically, people in the United States military essentially do not make money. Yes, it is not a place that people go to just like racking Kwan.
Just so like.
People work in the federal government could be making more in the private sector.
Often they do it because they could be.
They care about the country, which is why Russ Vaught wants to put them in trauma.
Quote in trauma in trauma. Yes, And look, Russ Vaught is having the time. This is the best week of restaurants that life. He is. He is getting a lot of the torture of these so called evil bureaucrats that he wants to apply, right he is. He's really getting his way with a lot of the damage he wants to do to these people. And he wants to make federal service so miserable that they quit.
Right or that they go.
And look, a number of them are going to or already have. But you know, the the the tiny little inty bitty problems we're having in the country, like air traffic controllers aren't getting paid, and our military isn't getting paid, and our veterans benefits aren't getting paid. But who's getting paid. Christy Noms film crew from Ice is getting paid. So yeah, they could solve this problem tomorrow. Mike Johnson could say, Okay, we're back in session, we're passing the cr I'm swearing
to add Grijalva. I give up. But they don't want to give up because Trump is telling people. As we saw that coverage of this week from the I think the Washington Post. Trump enjoys how much a survi little shipbird Mike Johnson is. How much he makes Mike Johnson obey.
So there was a good piece in the New York Times by one Annie Carney, who's been doing a really good job comm yeah, covering what little converce is doing, and she actually had this quote that Trump had said basically that he was the Speaker of the House and
the president, which I think is absolutely right. And in fact, one of the reasons why they are not able to make a deal right now is because Democrats don't because Democrats don't want to make a deal with Mike Johnson because they know Mike Johnson isn't he doesn't, he is not the boss.
It's like running the entire government from it's like the House, it's to the Senate, to the White House and everything in between to the Supreme Court. There is no government but Trump. You know, there is no data, only zuul. This is Donald Trump. He runs all this. This is all by his choice. And if Mike Johnson cared about the House and cared about his members, and cared about doing the duty that he has as an elected representative, he would stop this bs, right, but.
He doesn't have the power. He serves at the pleasure of Donald Trump. And the thing is, Donald Trump has, for whatever reason, decided he doesn't care right now about domestic except because he's working on getting a Nobel Peace Prize. And he's doing that by going overseas building right, Well, that's not for the Nobel Peace Prize. That's just for the Nobel you know, just the fun of cleptocracy.
The arrogant, kleptocratic bullshit prize.
Right. But Donald Trump is overseas. He's going to Japan, he was, He's going to South Korea. He's zipping around the globe. Even though I think that when you have tanks in Chicago, you may actually off be getting the Nobel Peace Prize.
Discuss I'm gonna tell you from my understanding, tanks in the streets of your country. I think pretty much anywhere it might be a disqualifier for the Nobel I mean, I'm just gonna say, I'm gonna I'm gonna take a big leap here, Molly and just sort of sort of sort of make a piece of enforced speculation that Donald Trump's vibe set is not working for the Nobel Prize Committee ever, and he's not going to get in this
year because it's already been issued. He's not gonna get in this year because there is nothing he can do.
Except piss off India. Except piss off India.
Why not, you know, because he's pissed off everyone else at this point. That is very much on brand for Trump at the moment, is to piss off as many as many humans as possible.
And this weekend we saw Donald Trump go basically to again into trade war again with Canada because Canada had this advertisement he didn't like, which was Ronald Reagan talking about how he didn't believe in tariffs. Donald Trum got very offended and said that it was fake news, despite the fact that while it is a I it is or no, it's not a.
It was all this was footage from address Reagan read on the radio and nineteen eighty seven about trade wars. Now, what has pissed off the magas is that they didn't run one line that was in the speech and said sometimes tariffs for a brief period of time can be useful and as a negotiating tactic or something like that. And this was not a speech like how much he loved tariffs, a speech about how much he hated tariffs, and what freak Trump and his people out was. There
is still a core reality inside the Republican Party. Even in today's perverse imitation of the Republican Party, Ronald Reagan is still more popular rapes and he does not like that. And this whole thing, this whole thing has become a kind of pissing contest about now the legacy of Reagan, who was not a tariff guy. He was a free trade guy.
Free trader. Yeah, all Republicans have been free traders until right now.
Yes, yes, I mean talk, but I do know a thing or two about this world.
Yes, as we live in the bad place that is in fact, Oh yes we do. Oh, yes we do. I want to talk about Donald Trump's poor coal link for a minute, because I think this is my man is underwater. Talk to us about those numbers. I feel like you're looking up numbers right now.
I'm looking at but I can just tell you Donald Trump's numbers are shitty and yet visible, terrible and yet also painfully obviously declining into the health space. The biggest number you should look at right now is the thing that subsumes all the other things, and that is the right track wrong track. And about seventy percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track.
Were united in everything is going to ship.
Two percent of Americans agree that the cause of that wrong track is one Donald John Trump. This is a bad place for him to be in. He is not he is not a popular president. And I just this is one thing that in Congress there's a belief, well, I if we cross Trump, we're going to face all these political consequences. You might, you might if you let
Trump be the sole creator of the national narrative. And you are the ones in Congress as Republicans who are going to take all that radiation and take all that damage. Donald Trump gets certain exceptions because he was a celebrity and all the other things We've talked about a million times about who he is in the culture. Right that's gone. Now, yes, that do not exist. Ain't that? Ain't this world anymore?
Because of that, these Republicans are going to take absolute whippings from their voters because you know what, they are not happy with Donald Trump's performance in office. They are pissed at the economy. They think the country's off on the wrong track. They think that the immigration stuff has gone too far. They think that Harris are a terrible idea. There's almost nothing he's doing right now that is popular with the American people, and people have sort of like
kind of ignored that that really fundamental underpinning fact. He is a bad president and people don't like him. I mean, I'm trying to put that in words that even the MAGA listeners can understand. But he's a lot popular.
Let's talk about what's happening in Iowa, Okay, because I think that this is a really good example of Iowa art for Obama twice. Yep, they voted for Trump, and Trump has done some stuff that has put their their GDP in a kilspin.
No, I actually tailspan Limbell the bad place, the bad he has. He has fucked farmers in this country, in rural communities like Iowa, in a way that if you set out to do it, it would be hard to imagine you could do a more a more damaging job than what he's done. And so, you know, you see in the farm belt the realization that we're not going to sell anybody any soybeans this year. We're not going
to sell anybody any beef this year. The timber industry is now freaking out that they're that they're slowing down. It was timber issue was a big export industry in this country. They're now like freaking out because other countries are like, no, we'll pass, We'll we'll get something, we'll do, we'll do, we'll work with somebody else.
This is from the New York Times. I was GDP dropped by six point one percent, more than any state aside from neighboring Nebraska.
You know how many people are on a snap in Iowa? Eighteen percent? You know who? He doesn't get snap anymore in Iowa? Everybody?
Yeah, because you know why why don't people get snapped?
Because Donald Trump closed down the government to keep the Epstein fires from coming out, and Russ Vaud is a sadist.
And they could have done snap. In fact, previous shutdowns had done snacks snap, just like just like they carved out the bunny for wick right women, infant and children so that you didn't have forty percent of pregnant women dying starvation.
These these these starving women in.
Small Yeah, one weeksa do you see?
That was a good one, You know, what they can lift themselves up by their bootstraps, smalling little bootstraps. I think I've had enough of accommodating these slackers.
Manufacturing, which drives seventeen percent of Iowa's economic output, has been hit with higher production costs, in part because of guests.
It would it be terriffs, Why it would be tariffs? Why the answer would be terriffs.
But I was told that the other people were going to pay the tariffs.
I keep hearing about these other people paying the tariffs, and yet somehow it still seems to keep being Americans paying the tariffs.
It is bizarre. Now, I would like to say, these people voted for Trump now are starving, but they're gonna give Trump just one more shot.
So look, I will say this, they are trust Trump. There are still people who trust in Trump. There's still people who believe in Donald Trump as the avatar of all things, whatever you want, however you want to put it. But that number is shrinking. The hardcore is now a smaller, crazier edge, and the people who now understand the damage he's done to them, that number is increasing, including in these places where where you think, okay, it's rural Iowa
they're always going to love Trump. They're never going to walk away from Trump. And what they'll do is many of them will never walk away from Trump, but many of them will say, you know what, I don't like all this libtard blah blah blah, and quietly they're gonna say,
I can't vote for that. I can't vote for Republican X. It is why you see even people like Ted who's in a panic right now, there are a lot of people in that Republican space who are looking at an outcome for next year if they were not jerrymandered to the.
Hilt, and even if they are, because and again this is not to say that jerrymandering is good. They're cheating and it's very bad. But you can't make votes you don't have. So if you jerrymander to an R plus four from a D plus two.
And R plus four maybe was safe. Maybe in twenty twenty six on R plus four is a tie ball game, or on R plus six is a tie ball game. Right, this is shaping into an election where where unless they do something really extreme on the other side, you know, like troops in the streets, I think they know that their chances of holding onto the house now are absolutely you know, fading by the minute.
And that is why they're talking about doing troops in the streets, and that is why it is going to be a moment where we're all going to have to say this is not okay. Like from Susan Collins to Ted to Ted Cruz to everyone, we know we're gonna have to be in the streets being like, look, we have free and fair elections.
Now.
I want to move on to something else, which is a question that has been going around. Steve Bannon sat on television that Donald Trump is going to run again. This is a thing people really like to say. The Sea Pack, they had a third term project again, Donald Trump pretty again a real danger. But I think that we have to talk about one thing when we talk about this, which is how old is Donald Trump.
Well, let me put this way. I get how old he'll be when he runs again, eighty eight if he does.
Yes, at seventy nine, he was the oldest person to ever be elected president. That is crul older than Joseph Robinette Biden.
Yes, also Gus. All right, first off, let's break Bannon down into two boxes. One, Bannon is the king of all bullshitter, and he's doing this to get on Trump's good side and to and to keep himself in the war room podcast.
Right, My take is that it's better for Bannett Bannon wants Trump to see him supporting him.
That is correct. But I will also say if Bannon finds a pathway that he can both monetize for himself his podcast as media companies, bright barred, et cetera, and he finds a path where where he thinks he can somehow get the a a thinly argued but potentially Supreme Court friendly third term lawsuit to the Supreme Court, he will try to do it. He's not a guy with a lot of shame. He will put.
Things All things can be true, right, all things can be true.
But, as I like to say, if Bannon does start to try to execute on this, and I'm gonna I'm gonna tell my my liberal friends this, you don't have to fight him just in court. You have to fight in on every fucking access possible. You have to bring a level of pain to the Republicans and to the White House that they have.
Previously, not a nonviolent pain, non violent pain, but sure.
No violent.
That's that's when that's when the Democrats in Congress justations. That's when they say to the White House, we're cutting the White House's budget, We're eliminating Russ Vought's salary. Exactly through every aspect of this where they have to exercise power in a way that Democrats often hesitate to exercise it.
For sure, I do want to say, Jake Tapper, where is your book on Donald Trump's health? Because those cankles. I was told.
Presidential health and mental fitness was the central issue of our time. I would like to see more reporting on that, from more reporters on that. And then's just saying it, you know, and not like Biden watched did he stumble up a staircase today? As opposed to Trump, who goes into every every cabinet meeting, every presser, every press availability, on the plane, it's like herbal purple, Shamalalam ding dong, and he's just saying shit and you don't know what the fuck is happening.
Rick Wilson, Yes, ma'am, will you come back?
Of course I will. You know me.
Heather Williams is the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. Welcome to Fast Politics. Heather, thank you.
I'm excited to be here.
So explain to us what you do, because I think that's important data point.
Yeah. Sure, So.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is the national campaign arm for state legislatures. We look across all the legislative races and find the opportunities for Democrats to build power in the states.
Yeah, we have a moment when Republicans are using the states as an atm to get whatever they want. And I would argue that the worst offender is Governor Greg Abbott and ken Baxton, but there are certainly other states where we've seen Republicans do just crazy shit at the state level. And you could say, maybe it's started with Alec, maybe it's started with you know, any number of things. So there's so much anxiety about elections, and with good reason.
So at first, I want you to talk about ways in which Democrats at the state level can protect our elections, because elections are supposed to be administered at the state level.
Yeah, I think, just grabbing on for just a second onto your note about Republicans seizing power here in the States, you know, this has been a build for them. They really came into this in twenty ten with Project Red Map, and we've been finding our way back since to get to your point on sort of election security, if you will, since Trump has been around. You know, we've won ten legislative majorities and that matters because we have more power in the states now. As you know, states are where
we determine our election laws. It's where we determine our voting laws. These folks are on the front line line and in so many of the battlegrounds where you know sort of all of this is ground zero. We have, you know, some lever of power in the states, and you know that is what is going to carry us through these next moments as we navigate this Trump approach to elections.
So that is.
Good to hear. So tell me what that looks like. And also, I do think Trump wants people to be more scared than they should be. So explain to us all of this.
Yeah, I mean, listen, Like, fundamentally, Republicans need to turn out their voters and they need every mechanism to do so.
Right.
They need voters to participate in our democracy through early vote opportunities, whether that's by mail or in person. We are seeing this in Virginia. They need folks to turn out, and they need all those tools in their toolkits. So the national narrative that the president is spinning and what's happening on the ground as we work through all of these election moments just look different.
Right.
We've been winning elections already in the States all year long, and they have really been a democratic process, right, we flip free Trump districts. They have been safe, secure, honest elections, even when Democrats have won in places that they shouldn't have.
So I think we must imagine a future where we think about all the things that could happen, but we must also be resolved in what is happening so that we continue to focus on the thing that matters most, which is winning these elections and putting Democrats in more power so that we can find our way through this mess.
That's right, So talk us through what that looks like. I want you to talk us through the different states where Democrats have power and how Democrats are using that legislatively.
Democrats have power over roughly like fifty percent of the country in their state capitals. This is not obviously a small number of people. You know, the policies that are being moved forward in these states matters so much. It's always matter, but it matters now because this is where Democrats have power. We sit in the minority federally, we don't have the presidency. This is where we are getting
things done. And we see both these legislatures, Democrats who are leading these legislatures move on issues of affordability and costs and sort of those kitchen table issues that voters have been asking elected officials to pay attention to, while also making sure that you know, people can get access to healthcare and that they're able to tap into the benefits and or services that they may need, and they're going to continue to approach it, you know, both ways,
both finding a path forward for a country and in their community that certainly deserves it, while also filling in the deep polls that this administration has placed on communities across the country.
Right give us a state where this is happening.
New Mexico is a really incredible example of moving forward in like these times. They've they just passed some legislation that helps ensure that New Mexicans can get health care coverage as the ACA and Medicaid gets pulled back. It's smart, but it's also very responsive to their community. You know, we continue to see efforts to move forward policy and education that ensures that all of our kids can be educated,
regardless of their learning style or learning ability. It's really remarkable how contrasting it is between Republican state and a state with democratic leadership delivering on the simplest things like a budget on time, you know, the things that is expected from one's state house. We're really seeing, you know, Democrats lead the way, and we're going to continue to see them.
Virginia's a state that has a big off your election. Just had a debate last night. The Democrat is pulling to win. The Republicans have fired all the people work in the state, so that may help the Democrat, I don't know, but talk us through, like the House of Delegates is all up. One year, we interviewed every single person running for the House of Delegates, not every single one, but many of the people running for the House of Delegates and the state Senate, right and it was a
fascinating adventure. Talk us through how the state legislature works in Virginia, because that's up now.
It is it is. The House of Delegates is up on November's ballot. There are currently fifty one Democrats, so we have a majority by one seat. The state Senate is not up for election this year, so it's just the House of Delegates. The amazing thing that is happening in Virginia is these candidates are of their community. They're super representative. They are not career politicians. They are not you know, folks that come with sort of that perspective.
They're there to serve their community and to do that in the best way possible. So we start with really excellent candidates in every district across the state, and I think a resolve that the work here is to meet voters on the issues that they actually care about, which are these core kitchen table issues.
Right.
Virginia has an enormous federal workforce, it has deep federal economic impact, but it's also a state that has medicated expansion and rural hospitals and a port and military base, and veterans hospitals, and the lack of care that Republicans have for any of those communities, any of those issues. It's showing up every day. And what we see is the candidates are on the doors talking to voters every
single day. They're putting their efforts into having those conversations with Democrats, with Republicans, with independents and making their case. And you know, we're less than two weeks out. We feel like they are in a strong position, but we are by no means in an environment that we can take anything for granted or assume that we are going to coast to the finish lines. So everyone's working really hard.
They're going to be persuading voters all the way through pools close on election day and a win here and a win.
In New Jersey, yeah, well, in a win.
With the governor right means that we will have built a new trifecta, which will certainly help our path forward for Democrats.
It's an interesting moment because in Trump one point zero, what we saw was there was like people were just fired up and they were like, Democrats are the vehicle we are going to use to win power path. This time, people are mad and they're mad of Trump, but they're also mad at Democrats for letting them get into this position, which they got themselves into. But whatever, we're not here to play the blame game. So talk us through that.
Because we're seeing a map that we're seeing candidates that you know, Democrats don't have the same power over their base they did in twenty sixty.
You know, I feel really strongly that our work is to get out into these communities and to make the case for both our party, our values, our path forward. There is no one who is better to do that than Democrats at this ballot level, right, state legislators. State
legisative candidates are very much of their community. They are not career politicians, they are not often even full time politicians, and they're like deep root in the community and willingness to engage in just you know, regular dialogue about the issues that we face, about the state of our community, of our country, of the world. They're not overly scripted. They care deeply, and there's so much authenticity in how
they approach things. And you know, when I think about what you were saying about, you know, how things felt
in twenty seventeen versus how they feel now. We've picked up ten chambers since then, we've put a bunch of more Democrats in power, and we haven't lost sight of the fact that we still have to go out there every day and make our case clearly, make our case with you know, a level of understand that this is not about who is right or wrong, but it's about how do we come together and create a new future
for ourselves, one that considers everyone. And you know, I think this year we've seen we've seen some progress, right, We've been winning elections, and so I feel like we are certainly the sort of the anchor of the future as we think about how do we hold space for voters, for Democrats who are frustrated, who are exhausted, who are scared, have those real conversations and continue to put one foot in front of the other as we march our way towards progress.
So, you got to get people to vote, You got to get legislation passed. You got to get it happening at the state legislature. You got this sort of Medicaid Obamacare repeal that the Trump administration has pushed through. It's happening. You got the federal government shut down because it's happening. Is a way to try to temper it from happening. The most likely scenario is that Obamacare will in fact
be appealed, a lot of people will lose healthcare. There is a theory of the case that Democrats should stop trying to help people and let them lose stuff they voted for. A lot of people in red states are going to lose a lot of stuff they did, in fact vote for Trump, they do, in fact pay lower taxes. What's your theory about that.
I saw an interview that AOC did and she said, I'm here to fight for everyone, regardless of whether or not you voted for me, regardless of whether or not you agree with me. We should have healthcare in this country right amongst so many other things. And I don't know that allowing people will flee to suffer is the
path forward. I think we need to make sure that we are running candidates in places that we haven't run before, that we are reaching communities and voters that may not be a part of our coalition right now, but are looking for a path forward. And I believe strongly that that, you know, we need to go out there and make our case. Your point, though, is, you know heard that this administration and this presidency is pushing all of these decisions and these problems into the states, and they don't
just affect blue states. There are so many people who are no longer going to be able to afford healthcare I believe strongly that that is something that we fight for for everyone, regardless of whether or not they'll vote for us. I think that you've got an electorate who still seems to be finding its way through whether or not this administration, if they voted for them, are delivering on their behalf, whether or not they need some more time,
you know. I think the more we get bogged down in that, the less we are out there talking about the things that we care most about that we know we can do something about, like lowering costs and making sure that people have access to clean air and potable drinking water and good schools and you know, great communities, And we've got to not just fight Trump, but we
need to show people the vision for the future. And I'm not sure how we do that if we're allowing people willfully allowing people to be in pain.
Right, And it's a real question. I mean, that is the real question. Candidates are so different, and all of these states are so different, and legislative priorities are so different. But give me one piece of legislation that you are excited about.
Oh, you know, I'm excited about the constitutional amendments that the legislature will deal with in Virginia on the other side of this election, it's marriage, it's voting rights restoration. These are meaningful things for the state and for all Virginians. And I think it goes to show that when you put Democrats in charge, like your rights are expanded, and they are expanded in a way that is really, you know, thoughtful, and I think that they're going to do, you know,
really really good things there. The other thing that I love is the free school lunches for kids. This is a big thing that happened in Minnesota. It's happening in a number of states across the country. Our kids are best served when they can pay attention in the classroom and they can learn, and they are set up for success when they have full bellies and access to you know, good nutrition. And you know, that helps everyone because we need the next generation to come in and continue to
fight for our country and our values. And I think those are two things that I'm pretty excited about.
Yeah, that does sound good, Heather, Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. And a moment Rick Wilson, Yes, ma'am, I have the moment of fuck Gray, did I.
Let's do it. She's a Maverick a rebel.
Now she's just a corrupt asshole, the one, the only. Kristen Cinema.
Kristen fucking Cinema now a lobbyist for Big Data Center, saying to the people of Arizona, if you don't do what I want, I'll have Donald Trump come and make you do it. The problem is molly fucking believable. She has always been a transactional, corrupt, ideologically malleable. It's like a compliment to this woman. She's literally now working for the AI tech overlords and using Donald Trump as a threat to make people do what she wants. Unbelievable.
In case you're wondering, Kristen Cinema, I have trouble thinking of someone who is more evil and disappointing. I mean I can because it's American politics.
Jill Stein.
Oh yeah, what happened to Jill Stein?
Oh she's just she's resting. She'll be back to run as a third party again, like a cicada, Like a freaking cicada.
God Almighty, that's.
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