Is this pop star the left's answer to Donald Trump?

I've been struck by lightning multiple times. I truly believe this is going to be a lightning strike moment next year for me as well. And it's not me, it's us because we have to create change. the message is so important, right? Which is standing up to Trump. That's the voice of Tim Myers, the man who wants to tear up the political elite in California.

Is someone like him the Democrats' answer to Donald Trump? He's running to be the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, which is second in command of the world's fourth biggest economy. That's what California is. You might know him better, though, from the Korean... he had before he decided on politics.

His pop band One Republic shot to fame in the late 2000s. He went from being a janitor, cleaning toilets, to multi-million pound fame and success. Since then, he's run his own music production company, writing for pop stars like Chapman. Apple Rowan and Kesha. I went to his home a few days ago and sat down with him to talk about his run for office, where he's come from, and why people like Kamala Harris are part of the problem in politics, not the solution in his mind.

Luckily for him, the former vice president has now ruled herself out of potentially being his boss, the California governor, despite much speculation to the contrary. Recently, I made the decision that I just, for now, I don't want to go back in the system. I want to travel the country. I want to listen to people. I want to talk with people.

And I don't want it to be transactional where I'm asking for their vote. It's Martha here and it's day 197 of Trump's second term. And on today's episode, the pop star putting up a fight against the president.

Tim, we drove up here from LA into Calabasas, which is where you live. Beautiful place. Kardashian's just up the road. Jennifer Lopez. Embarrassingly. You've got a great life. What makes you want to get into politics? you know i grew up a pastor's kid i grew up poor in corona california i had to work to pay for my own shoes at one point i was a janitor i was a barista and i saw my dad as a pastor i saw him give his life to service

I saw him help feed the homeless. I saw him hold hands with people who were losing their life in hospital beds and crying with families that lost children. The music industry has been amazing for me. Now I've seen what's happening here in California and across our country. And now with the second part of my life, I'm really excited to dedicate it to service and helping California become. prosperous and make our future brighter and better

and stand up against Trump and the policies he's currently doing. Is this a recent decision then, a Trump-induced decision to go into politics? Yes and no. This has been a long buildup for me. So, you know, years ago I studied... political science at harvard and studied immigration and climate change and then i transferred my credits to penn state and graduated there i helped fundraise and helped flip districts blue but

this is the time you know i've always said you don't choose the time the time chooses you and the time has chosen me and us to stand up to trump as a state so i'm excited to do this it's going very well For our listeners who don't know, many of them are in the UK. What is a lieutenant governor and what power do they have in the state of California? To be honest, this is an extremely powerful position. We're the fourth.

largest economy in the world. So larger than Japan, larger than Germany, I believe, right? Is Germany fifth or sixth around there? So... This is second in command of the fourth largest economy in the world. So if our next governor is away from state in Japan or Germany, two months out of the year, I'll be acting as governor.

and acting as governor you're passing policies and bills and you're also president of the senate it's a very important role and also the bully pulpit using that to stand up to trump so that's where i'm really looking to use this position is to stand up to Trump and be a voice because the voices right now in Sacramento, whether it's the candidates running in this race, they've been completely silent. They aren't out there at protests. They aren't standing up.

with social media posts a lot of them are career politicians that unfortunately are extremely corrupt these are nasty politicians you know and people want change

People want change. You see yourself as a bit of an antidote to that, to these career politicians? One thousand percent. You know, just being a barista, working as a janitor, growing up, working class, I know what it's like. to work hard and have nothing i literally when i moved out to la i lived on 700 a month and slept on my brother's futon you know and then started one republic and that blew up

And then I started my label. I've been struck by lightning multiple times. I truly believe this is going to be a lightning strike moment next year for me as well. And it's not me, it's us. Because... We have to create change. 2026 is so pivotal. What's going on here in California and across our nation, we have to have a blue wave next year. I'm kind of fearless and unafraid. I have a lot of courage.

I went out to that ICE detention center. The people interviewing me out there were like, wow, you're so brave. You have so much courage being here. We've asked. Newsom, we've asked. Karen Bass, we've asked everybody to come out here and everyone's scared and you're not. So I have that fearless thing. I'm not afraid to say the wrong thing on camera, in podcasts, anywhere really.

I just want to be authentic to who I am. I think Kamala, you know, she was unfortunately too polished where I think we all felt that. Trump. I cannot stand him, but his marketing, he is the opposite of working class. He's had the silver spoon his whole life, and he's a total moron. He's completely has so many failed businesses.

And he's a scam artist. And yet he's been a genius in the sense with his marketing, right? And Democrats, we need to be a little more clever with how we get out to the people. but also be authentic right because people can smell that a million miles away what's your sense from taking the temperature of the population in California. You've obviously been going to various places in the state over the past few weeks and before that. What are people making of the immigration crack?

down here. Obviously, there have been widespread protests. There have been raids across the state. Are people happy with what they're seeing going on here? Absolutely not. People are afraid. There's so many, so many people that are afraid. You know, what we're seeing from the administration, you know, they're coming in with the National Guard with ICE.

And they're taking people from taco stands. They're taking people from Home Depot, people working the fields. These are hard working people and what a lot of folks don't realize maybe that live in the Midwest. Prices for food are going to go up. Everything is going to go up. We need immigrants. It's billions of dollars is due to immigration in this country. Obviously, we need to crack down.

on cartel and bad actors and criminals coming across the border. But the majority of these folks are hardworking folks that want to become American citizens. So we need to make sure to continue to stand up to the Trump administration. say enough is enough. Anecdotally, Tim, speaking to friends here, many of whom are liberal, would consider themselves Democrats, they have said, you know, I'm surprised by how many undocumented immigrants there are in California.

Is it fair that such a large part of the labour force are undocumented? How can that be addressed? It's a super nuanced... question right and there's a lot of gray areas but i think where we all can agree you know republicans and democrats that we don't want you know, as Trump said, rapists and criminals coming into our country. And that is true. And there has been a large influx of immigrants coming across our border that we need to address. But overall, people want to become Americans.

citizens. And I think we need to streamline and make that process more modern and more simple so that people have a clear path to becoming citizens. Right now, it's really hard and a lot of immigrants are confused. And when they start that process, a lot of times it's taking years and years to happen. So we just need to address this more head on putting 100,000 immigrants into. detention centers that are hard-working folks is definitely not the answer.

You've mentioned your father a lot, who's passed a key influence in your decision to go into politics. I understand he was a moderate Republican. Yeah, still is. And still is. And other Republicans in the family as well. My brother is. And then my sister is. LGBTQ+, and left Democrats. Right. What have the Republican side of your family made of your decision to run for Democrat office? Honestly, there's been several moments that have been...

tear-jerking. You know, my brother, I know his political beliefs and I don't want to go on camera and share all of them. Him saying, Tim, as your older brother, I'm so proud of you and how can I help your campaign? And it choked me up because I was a little concerned, you know, like, what is he going to think or say about this? And for him to be so proud of me and say, you're the best man for this job. And I.

you know, completely support you and my parents crying and just being so supportive. To me, that means the world, you know, and even just. The friends of mine that I know around the community that are moderate Republicans and them supporting me and never, ever voting, you know, like for a Democrat. Just. it it it tears me up it it makes me feel proud that uh that folks who you know it's more about the person and what they believe than versus like necessarily politics which

I think it's important that we put people in office that are compassionate about working people and that put them first. We've had so many horrible politicians that are just... Trying to climb the ladder and you know make money like I lose lots of money having this position. So this isn't about that for me. Tim, there have very sadly been a number of instances recently of people holding political office being... targeted for their beliefs to state representatives in Minnesota shot.

Were you worried when you decided to do this about the rising level of political violence in this country? Yeah, it was something we talked about as a family. My wife mentioned that as well. You know, and I have two kids. you know 13 and 10 year old and every time i'm going in the front lines whether it's at these protests in downtown la they had snipers out they were shooting rubber bullets just a block over from us

And I had a security with me to make sure I'm protected. But I'm putting myself in those places because I feel like the message is so important, right? Which is standing up to Trump. And the fact that our politicians aren't there, someone needs to be there. And I feel peace in my heart, you know, like doing these things, going to these risky places.

because i i just feel this ultimate peace because i know i'm doing the right thing and doing the right cause i live my life fearlessly and this is something that we have to do like 100 so

i'm good with it my wife is concerned she's concerned she's concerned but you know i it's a no-brainer for me i just have to do it the internet can be a vicious place as well yeah have you had abuse in the last few weeks and do you have people monitoring you know having a look and checking what might be more concerning yeah when they ran the story on fox news and some other outlets we had tons of

hardcore MAGA Republicans post DM threats, like death threats and other things. And it's concerning. Yeah, it's concerning. And that's the level that we're at. My message, like many before me, is a message of love and unity, which is coming together. And when I spoke to downtown, there's been people that have... done horrible violent things like light cars on fire and throw rocks through windows. There's no place for rhetoric that is hateful and violent.

I want to bring folks together. And the thing for me is, you know, the next lieutenant governor, an acting governor when the governor's away, Republicans have a seat at my table. I want to hear what they have to say. Let's work together. And I would love to work with Trump as acting governor and speak with him and how can we make this country a better place? So this isn't about hating each other and being violent with each other. This is about coming together.

There are very few ways in which you're similar to Donald Trump, but one of the ways you are similar is that you're an outsider, you know, you're not a career politician. Does the future of politics belong to people from outside those traditional channels? Does it belong to celebrities? You know, I think, you know, my story is interesting because it's not necessarily a celebrity story, you know, like.

growing up working class, starting my own business. But, you know, California has a long history of putting some entertainment folks in, right? So we did Ronald Reagan. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. For the last six months, I've been traveling up and down the state, meeting as many of you as I could, answering questions and asking a few. And Arnold. California is in trouble because the politicians have let us down.

Everything I have, I owe to California. Now I want to give something back. And the entertainment industry obviously is huge here in LA and people care about that. But, you know, I think right now what we're seeing... is politicians as a whole here in the United States have been so corrupt, like beyond corrupt. Like they're taking corporate money. People are becoming filthy rich on both sides. And...

Everyone sees it and they're like, we're done with this. What would you say to people who dismiss you as just a Hollywood liberal and soft and not gritty in the way that they want? It honestly... makes me laugh, you know, because from where I came from, you know, as far as growing up poor in Corona, having to mow lawns to pay for my own shoes, you know, being a janitor, cleaning toilets. My story is literally the American dream.

and the republicans instantly attacked me and their attack made me laugh because i was like is that all they have they're like he's just a hollywood elite you know and that is beyond the opposite of where i came from who i am as a person. Thank you so much for your time, Tim. Thank you for allowing us into your home to hear about your campaign and all the very best of luck for the travels around the state. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.

That's all from us today. We'll be back in your feeds on Friday. And if you want to get in touch, you can email us at trump100 at sky.uk. And you can leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. See you at the end of the week and bye for now.