365 Days

House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre. You know, in thinking about right this past three hundred and sixty five days with the Biden administration, I provided you all with my grades, some of you provided yours back in the comment section, and again I say keep them coming. You hit me up on social media using the hashtag woke and tell me what you think about the last three hundred and

sixty five days under this administration. But what I will say right now, as today officially starts day two, not day two, excuse me, year or two of this administration, is that it cannot be understated the consequences that we are being faced with. Twenty twenty two, which is twenty twenty two, has significant crises that we are seeing each

and every day. For instance, run death Santis in Florida has just passed legislation that would bar the teaching conversation whether in private business or in public spaces, whether in school or not. And when I say public or spaces, I mean public schools right, or colleges, I mean private businesses to be able to have conversations that make white people uncomfortable. Yes, yes, that is actually a fucking thing.

And what is so detestable about that is it is foreshadowing. Right. First, the battle was with the fake outrage around critical race theory. And on top of that, you were seeing five hundred plus voting restriction bills, voter suppression bills that are operational in forty nine states. You are seeing book banning, right, banning of authors of color, and all of this brings

me to one place. The other day, I was watching a documentary and it was wild because it was following this provocative Chinese artist who is now banned from China. And I might have mentioned this in the show before. After I watched the documentary, which please excuse me, the title of it fails me right now. But oh no, it wasn't a documentary. No, it was sixty minutes, and

we did have a conversation about this. It was sixty minutes because what this artist learned and what spurred him into his art, which was battling against and continues to battle against the Chinese government, which is very dangerous, very very dangerous. It is not like what I do on ookay Ap daily. It is not like, you know, what any of us who sit comfortably in the United States to do when we are railing against government as of

right now. But what struck me is that there is nowhere written in their public education system, in museums, in any artifacts, anything that has to do with Tianamen Square. Now, for those of you who either may be too young or too old or somewhere in the middle, and just forget, Tianneman Square was students in China protesting right against the government, and the government, in the face of opposition, rolled out

tanks that would kill at least twenty plus students. After the government killed its own citizens, they would then pass a law that would make it illegal for the families of those that were slain to mourn publicly, to speak at all about the child that they had lost. Now you may think, holy shit, nothing like that could ever happen.

But the fact is is that Tianamen Square is something that we are taught about in the United States and many other nations are taught about right when you're learning about government and comparative governments and protests in all of these things. But the Chinese have completely wiped it out of any teaching. It is more so rumor, right that spreads from person to person by word of mouth, But no one has ever heard of it, right, No one has ever read about it, no one has ever been

taught about it. And so generation after generation that has been born since and less their families were to tell them, would not know because there is no documentation. Why do I bring that up Because every single act that is happening right now that Republicans are doing, whether it is DeSantis's fiefdom in Florida, if it's Abbot's kingdom in Texas, right, these people are passing legislation to ensure that generations of white Americans and black and brown Americans, even though Mitch

McConnell does not believe African Americans are Americans. In his latest quote unquote slip up, I don't think it was a slip up. This is what they want. They want our history obliterated, whitewashed. Only tell them the good stuff, right, Only tell them the stuff that makes white people feel good and look good. Maybe we'll hold up a Martin

Luther King. But when they're done right with public school curriculum, when they're done passing all of their legislation, we could get to a place where we're not able to murmur these things out in public. The truth I can recall, and I've shared this with you before, when I went to Israel and Palestine back in twenty fifteen, you were not allowed to publicly talk about the quote unquote conflict. Right,

These are things that could get you targeted. That they the Israeli government has listening ears right and eyes everywhere, so people would whisper in public. This is our future. We want to believe that what we have seen, the extreme versions of things that we have seen take place in other countries. We have been kidding ourselves and believing that it could never happen here. But it can. It is happening. It's happening every single moment of every single

passing day. That we do nothing about voting rights, that we do nothing about stopping the culture war that Republicans have renewed and backed with their white supremacist desires and ambitions for what they believe America should look like. So here we are, folks, this is where we are going, and it's not great. It's actually really bad. And so we'll talk to Stephanie Young about what her organization is going to be doing in the coming year and the

coming months. We'll talk to Karin Jean Pierre about what is on the agenda for year two, given that there is more wind in their face then at their back.

That is coming up next, Folks. I'm so excited to welcome to woke F for the very first time Stephanie Young, who is the executive director of When We All Vote, an organization that is dedicated and was launched, i believe, by the former First Lady, my forever first Lady, Michelle Obama, working right against Republican obstructionism with regard to voting restrictions.

Since the twenty twenty election, Stephanie, we have seen five hundred plus right voter suppression policies that have been instituted across forty nine states. Just this week, we witnessed voting rights die right. Martin Martin Luther King week. Right, we start off the week with his birthday, watching the same republic look ins, same Democrats quote Martin Luther King, and yet fail fail on behalf of all Americans. How are you feeling? Let me ask you at this moment about

the work that you are doing. Yeah, well, first, thanks for having me. You know, there's always there's never a bad time to talk about voting rights, and now it's like become the popular thing. And I think a part of the problem and the reason why we're even here is because we don't talk about voting enough consistently. You know, today I would just say, yes, of course, we're somewhat discouraged.

But being a Hill staffer work in the federal government for many years, I understand that it's cyclical and we'll be right back here at some other point soon. But it's going to be a push from us the people. And I think that sometimes we forget that we actually have the power in these moments because it feels so

overwhelming and so frustrating. And I don't want to create false hope for people, but I do want to remind people that we do have an opportunity to pick up the phone and call care cin Cinema and call Mansion and call our senators and call other senators and tell them how we feel. And they count every tweet, they count every voicemail, they count every letter, every email that

they get. I think right now, as a community of folks who care about democracy in this country, that we have to rest over the next week and get our strength back, because we are headed for a fight for our democracy in a way in which we have never been. And I know that when we were faced with Donald Trump and you know that very problematic administration, people were motivated for many, many, many different reasons why to go

out and vote. And as a non partisan organization, you know, we felt like it was it was an easier kind of message probably in twenty twenty that you know, let's take your focus on your future. You can take your future back by making sure you make your voices heard. And now our messaging is going to have to shift a little bit because you know, as we go into the midterms, this is going to determine the next couple of years of this Biden administration, whether or not it's

going to be taken over. And you know, none of the things that we want to see done from criminal justice reform, you know, to climate change and all these different issue areas that we all care about as Americans, or we're just going to be stalled continuously. So we're discouraged, but yet we know that now is the time to rest so that we're ready for the fight ahead. And if you hadn't seen it, we did release the New York Times a pledge with thirty other voting rights on

voter protection organizations saying what we're prepared to do. We kind of knew this was coming, so we said, we're prepared to register a million voters. We're prepared to get one hundred thousand people to push Congress to do the right thing. We're prepared to recruit one hundred thousand volunteers. We're prepared to recruit lawyers all over this country to help those voters who will face voter suppression in their cities, in their states, to help them navigate this new, unfortunate normal.

And one thing I just want to say before turning it right back to you is that people might have missed it. But the other day Mitch McConnell said, maybe he was last night or today. He literally said, yeah, there's a missmotion that I'm sorry for that day, but I'll say that again. Mitch McConnell said, there's notion that African Americans can't vote, but they've voted at the highest levels like other Americans or as Americans. As American Americans

are not Americans in twenty twenty two. So we're dealing with an old devil that we have always dealt with. Um I think right now it's just more blatant than ever before. And if you think in this moment, let me just rest it back, it doesn't matter, doesn't count. Why would they be going through these great links if you didn't matter and if your vote didn't count. They're afraid of you. They're afraid of the American people. They're afraid of the American voter because they know that we

are not on their side. So we have to show them that we're ready for the fight. And I encourage people to rest, but let's get ready. We gotta go.

You know, Stephanie, a couple of things that you've said, you know, prompt so many different questions, But the first one that I want to ask you here is do you think that Democrats right recognize the urgency of this moment because even when you mentioned the fact that you know, longtime Hill staffer, right, like we we initially cross paths many many moons ago when when I was a fellow with the Congressional Black Caucus, and you know, I didn't

realize that at the time that those are the glory days. Yet I would have had I would under siege, I would I would add no idea. But you know, do you think you know? And you said, like, we've been here before, we'll be here again. I think that this moment is different though, because I don't believe that once Republicans gain power, that whereover going to go back to what it was before. So do you think that the urgency of this, of the need for voting rights to

secure our democracy, do you think it's being seen? Yeah? So two things. And I want to clarify when I when I met, we're going to be here again, meaning we're not going to not see the voting rights legislation come up again, right, Okay, so we'll see, Well, well we'll have another opportunity, I believe, right, and that is when and how hard we push um, you know, conquerors

to the right thing. Yep, you're right, like we haven't been in this moment, and I think that we definitely if Republicans are um, you know, in the majority, they have shown this is only a fact, and again if they were Nonharts organizations, not only a fact that they have shown that they have no interest in ensuring that the American people have equal access to the ballot box

and that we have freem fair elections. Instead, they care more about how are they going to make sure that the electoral call process is to their liking in order to potentially try to legitimate the or make legitimate the argument that the twenty twenty election was raped or was wrong. So they've already shown where they stand when it comes to voting rights. And I don't want to get I don't want us to get confused about that, but I will say this. I think a problem is that voting

rights has been painted as like a black issue. Yes rights, it's not a black issue. It is an American democracy issue. And as long as any politician, Democrat or Republican still believes this is a black people issue or a brown people issue, it won't get addressed in the way that it needs to be. And I can say that speaking as a formal federal government employee, that our issues are seen as sometimes like I don't want to say a pet project, but like a specialty project that you check

in on a national holiday. Yeah, it's opposed to like being a part of Like it's an elective. If you're if you're if you're thinking about, if you're thinking about, you know, high school, you think about it's an elective. It's not part of the court. It's not you know. Voting rights has never been one of the core tenants. And I say this as a staunch Democrat, even of

the Democratic Party. It is it has always been the thing that those a loud and complaining black and brown people over there with their signs, it's what they need. And I'm saying to myself, I'm like, this is this and it isn't you. I mean, I know that you said your organization is nonpartisan. Voting rights is supposed to be a nonpartisan issue because in order to elect one party or the other, everyone needs to be able to vote.

Everyone needs to be able to vote. And at the end of the day, like I think, the reason why it does not get the amount of attention that it deserves consistently, and the reason why we're in this moment is because it has been paint as a black issue, and I think that both Democrats and Republicans have couched in that way. I mean even when I go on television to talk about this, It was on MSMC the day and they're like, well, black, black people really want

voting rights. That's what we all want, voting rights. And if you think that these five hundred voter suppression bilts to not unpact white people, working class people, people disabilities,

then you're mistaken. It impacts all of us. And until politicians recognize that in both parties, then yeah, I think it always will be relegated to like the back of the line, a check, you know, a box checked right before election, another kind of pet project or an elective as you said, And I think it's a comment upon every American of goodwill, every American who believes in true democracy.

They all need to stand up. We all have to stand up with our collective voices about voting rights and take this out of like the black and brown you know column, Let's do some good and give them a right to vote. Like what are we even talking about. It's twenty twenty two, So I think that's that's one of the things that has bothered me in this conversation consistently.

And I think that that's why the administration frankly approached it in this way, because they catch it as a minority issue as opposed to a real problem, an issue for our democracy, Like are you kidding me? We're talking about over five hundred bills and they've passed in places like Texas and Georgia. We know this, um. And and in Florida right now, the governor is literally talking about

having police like election police were not intimidation, um. And that is the trauma in which we've experienced generation after generation after generation as black people in this country. But now others will be subjected to it because again, this is not just a black issue, you know. Um. There

is so much that is wrong right now. And I believe that, like myself, people who were holding onto this mustard seat of hope in the twenty twenty election, believe that a majority of our problems would go away if, in fact, we could come out in the midst of a health pandemic, stand out in line and do our part to vote out Donald Trump, right, a man that had become a cancer on this country and still continues to be and bring in a new administration, put adults

back in charge and at the table. How do you, as an executive director of an organization that is about getting people to vote, what do you say now to the disenchanted right to the And I don't even want to say disenchanted, because I honestly believe you know, and my mother and my family members who are staunch Democrats watching MSNBC every single day, like voting and all of the things, are saying to me, what does it matter?

And I think that there is a deep grief Stephanie, that is there right, Like there is a deep sadness that I don't even think that we talk about enough that people have about not being heard or seen or counted. Right, and that quote unquot nothing has changed. So what do you say to that aggrieved voter who said, I stood in line, I did my part, I've registered people, I donated. How are you telling me that we can't get voting rights passed, that we can't get police reform passed, and

Democrats are uncharged. Yeah, look, I think that you know, I think about this every day because I have to motivate a team and there's a lot of young people in my team who've never worked in politics, who've never been through presidential cycles, who don't kind of know what this world is like. And let's be clear, we're an impresident at times, so it is different. And I have to talk to myself and give myself pep talks every single day. But I do know that this work is righteous,

and I do know that this work is good. And I do know that your votes and your time, your effort are not in vade. And I think that a component of voter suppression is to depress you, is to make you feel like you know, there's no light at the end of the tunnel, it's never going to work, it doesn't matter. And that psychological suppression, you know, creates your athlete And I think that we have to guard ourselves and be careful by tutoring too close to the edge.

And look, we're in a global pandemic still. My sister is fighting COVID right now, like we are in a situation where we're just we're being hit on by every direction. And first I want to say to the people who did show up, to the people who did vote, donate, volunteer, did all those things, We thank you, we appreciate you, and we hope that right now that you're getting your rest and know that your work was not in vain.

And you know, I think that like one other thing to to kind of think through besides the fact that this is a psychological like warfare as well. It really is. So it's not just like physical manifestation of Okay, we're going to take away your early voting hours, but it is that psychological warfare as well. Is that, you know, a part of our duty as as American citizens citizens is to fully be a part of our government, and voting is only that one piece, It is not all

of it. And I think that sometimes we put a lot of emphasis in just voting, But when I look at the stairstep of like engagement, that's just the first step. And what we have to do is that we have to keep and hold our elected officials accountable. And how do we do that. We do that in a multitude of different ways. You do that by picking up the phone and calling them and tell them how displeased or pleased that you are with them, and just as downtrive

that you might be. Trust me, the Congress and those senators they're failing the same way too, and they sometimes see that motivation know that they're doing the right thing. I also encourage people to make sure that you're you're feeding yourself with a community of people who believe in the dream of what this country is supposed to be. Right, I think our democracy, I think I think we're mourning because we thought that we had a true democracy and

everything was intact. And I think that we are just finally realizing that this is a work that we haven't yet realized, and that it's going to take all of our collective efforts consistently from advocating for the issues that we care about, by staying unfortunately in the streets and voices in that way, you know, by joining organizations like ours. We try to make it as easy as possible to build community within your own community of people who want to do this work, and by staying with it and

staying at it. I also say this, like, and it's not to scare people, but you know what, right now, there's something that's going on and I don't think people are paying attention to it. Is that there are these characters of people around the country who are running for secretaries of state and most people that control the election in that state, and they have all said, all of these different characters, its cast of characters, that they would

not have certified the twenty twenty election. I kid you not. They are preparing to hopefully elect these people to not certify the twenty twenty four election. So we just don't have a We don't have to choice to get dis urage and back down in this moment. And I'm torn to because it is it is the responsibility of the people that we elected to take care of our to take care of Yep, they owe that to us. That

is why they are in office. But that is why it's so important that we have to hold those people accountable and primary those who do not reflect our values and our interests. And if you feel like you know you're ready yourself, you run for office. I mean I wish could that your state. Yeah, that people that people would take up that mantle. I don't know how many times I get tweets that are like you should run

for office, and I'm like, no, you should run for office. Yeah, I'm doing I'm doing my part by lifting up, you know, the issues and bringing people to the table for conversation that I don't think happens in mainstream that. I'm like, if you are angry, turn that anger into action, right, do something? So I know we only have you for another minute, but tell folks how they can get involved with when we all vote. What can they do in

this moment that they're feeling powerless with your organization? Yeah, so look, we try to make this easy because you know, we're all busy people, we're all living in a global pandemic. My goal is how do we make the barrier of injury so low that you feel like I can tap in and I can tap out when I have the

strength and energy to do so. So you can do everything from sign up to volunteer, and our volunteer activities range from either making phone calls, sending text messages, or showing up and helping early voting events, you know during early voting season which is in the fall, or showing up during National Vote or Registration Week of Action which is also in the fall. It's like it's these light touches here and there, but with big numbers we make

a really big impact. You can take it a step further and become a voting squad captain and what that means is that you are building a community of organizers or rather volunteers in your community that will go out and help to register voters and recruit even more volunteers boots. So that's a little bit of a leadership with and then if you're feeling like you know what I really want to dedicate for this year to doing this work,

then sign up to be a chapter leader. And we're creating chapter programs clearly on like went to a black college and pledge of blacks, I love it. We need chapters. So we're just starting our Chapter leader program. And if you're a mother or a parent of a high school or we have a high school program called My School Votes because we're trying to never be in this place, this space again, and what that means is making sure that our young people know not just how to register

their communities, but the undertain health campaigns. They understand how to act, yes, they care about they understand how to organize their communities. So we have this whole program that we have in schools all across the country. Our goal is to have five hundred new schools this year for our My School Votes program as an after school program. So if you're an educator. Please sign up for that.

And if you're like, you know what, I don't really want to do much but give you twenty dollars, just give us, give us some support that way, and that absolutely will go a really, really long way. But I just really don't want you to get discouraged. And one thing that we try to do, if we make it fun. Missus Obama is still you know, leading this organization. She's you know, our co chair, but she's joined with a lot of fun people like Carrie Washington and Chris Paul

Alma and Tom Hanks. And we try to have fun virtual events for you all, and hopefully we'll do stuff in person too to bring us the energy that we need so that we're not getting too tired in this fight because we have we have a long slot ahead. Stephanie, I cannot thank you enough one for the work that you are doing, the work you've always done to be you know, to be Frank, but the work particularly that you are doing with when we all vote, I mean,

we need it. We need the energy, We need the encouragement, we need the positivity and the hopefulness that each of the programs that you just laid out, each of the initiatives can bring us, particularly in this moment. So I hope that you will come back to woke a F as we as we trudge our way through these mid term elections and give us some news about what is

happening around with your local chapters and the organization. Absolutely, please sign up at when we all vote dit org, we will have like a little bit of a town hall and a couple of days that we'll talk about where we are and how we go forward. So we hope to get as many people on that call. It's possible to motivate them but also to get them involved. So when we all vote dot org, sign up today. But thank you so much, appreciate you. I appreciate you.

Thank you, folks. I am so excited to welcome back to woke F for the second time our wonderful principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Kourn Jam Pierre. How are you? How are you doing on this year anniversary? It's one year anniversary. I can't believe three hundred and sixty five days flew by. So much has happened. It's so good to see you, my friend. You know, one day we'll do it in person. One day, But thanks for having me.

I'm really looking forward to our conversation absolutely, you know, Karen, three hundred and sixty five days. On one hand, it feels like it has flown by. On the other hand, in this wormhole of COVID pandemic life that we're living in, it feels like it has been two years in one What are you in the Biden administration? What are you most proud of right now? Over this year? Because you know you've you've taken lots of hits, right, lots of hits.

You inherited a lot of stuff as well, and so what are you what are you all most proud of right now? It's such a good question. I think we come out of this first year with some his big, historic accomplishments that thank you so much for allowing me

to talk about it. But I do want to say this first before I go into that, which is a year ago when the President walked into the White House and the Vice president, they dealt with multiple crises, which is what you are alluding to, Danielle, which is you think about COVID right, you think about the economy, you think about racial injustice, you think about climate change, all of these things, which is something that the President. All those four things that I just listed was something that

the President called out as crises in our country. And twenty million people were out of work. Businesses were closed, schools were closed. The economy was essentially locked down. And what this president did, along with the Vice President, is they passed the American Rescue Legislation, which helped change that to a different trajectory. And what I mean by that is now we see an economy that's historic. We see

six point four million jobs created. We see three point nine percent in unemployment rate, which is a number that experts had said would take us two years too extra years to get that. We got that in our first year. And that American Rescue Plan gave Americans some breathing room, right, so it's an opportunity to kind of breathe a little money in their pockets. There was a child tax credit

that put extra money in folks pockets. You know, parents are thinking about how are they going to put food on the table, how are they going to buy uniforms or school supplies, all of those things just to feed their kids. And we were able to help in that way. And what the American Rescue Plan did as well, is

that it didn't leave anybody behind. And that's so important because the President had talked about that when we talk about economic policy, we forget about our communities, We forget about disadvantaged communities, poor communities, and they don't come with us. And so this American Rescue Plan did just that, and and it provided funding to make sure that we had

a comprehensive vaccination strategy. And now what we see is seventy five percent of the American public is fully vaccinated and a year ago we were at one percent than one percent. While we're still dealing with COVID, and we understand that. We understand like the anxiety and the stress that Americans are feeling, and we're not out of it yet. But what we have taken such big strides to get us to a place where we can help start controlling COVID. And this will not be forever, folks, it will not

be forever. But people got to get vaccinated, they got to get their booster shot, you know, they got to wear those masks. And that's so important. You know, I think that it's always very hard because the American people, as I have said, and I'm not putting words in your mouth, but have a very short memory, right, And so we start out with this American rescue plan we have.

You've been able to secure the building part of the infrastructure bill, right, and you can hail that as being bipartisan, But we're looking at blockades with voting rights that we just saw happen. We're looking at blockades with build back better, which the President just announced that he believes that we can move forward with chunks, we can move forward with big pieces as opposed to the becomposite. How do you think that the messaging around the other big pieces of

the agenda should be handled. In terms of how people are seeing this administration being able to fight for the things that they came out for and stood in line for for hours in twenty twenty, it's so important and so critical. In particular what we're seeing with voting rights. We're seeing an assault on the right to vote, and the Bay and Harris administration has been very clear that

they are going to continue to fight. We are going to continue to fight to make sure that the heart and soul of our democracy, which is the right to vote, is protected. That is not going to stop with what we saw last night, We are disappointed, but we are not deterred, and so we're going to continue to fight. And that's real, right, because that is our democracy, and that is something that the President and the Vice President

has talked about. The thing that the President said yesterday, which I think is really critical and important to your point about messaging, and you know, he had his press conference yesterday and he talked about getting out there himself. He talked about connecting with everyday people and them hearing from him directly. And so I think that's an important thing because I think they want to hear from their president. Right.

We need to get out of this zip code that we're currently in and go out there into Middle America or in the West coast, you know, East coast where we're in the South, and hear from the President directly about those issues that you just laid out, whether it's voting rights, whether it's billback better and how we're going to lower cost for the American people, which is so critical and important, and so he wants to make sure that they hear directly from him as we move forward

into our second year. You know, one of the things that I've been hearing and I actually agreed with You know, we're folks saying, why doesn't this administration bring back kind of the FDR style fireside chats, but make it but make it social media right where you know, let's just say the former president, right was all he did was Twitter. All he did was social media, which was exhausting for

the public. But what would it look like like you're saying, these physical visits are really important, but what would you think about these kind of fireside chats, these kind of salon ideas of just figuring out how to connect, how to talk because a lot gets lost in translation. Now, I think that's very important. Look, one of the things that we try to do and we will continue to do and elevate that as well as we go into this next phase of this administration, is that so using

social media in that way. And you're right, and you know, with your show, we really do connect. That's why I'm on here with you because I know I'm going to connect with the people who watch you, uh in this very important show as you're informing of folks. And so, yeah, that's something that we need to do more of. We understand that, and I think that's a very very smart idea.

And you know, we'll we'll continue to do that and make sure that we communicate with the American public in different ways, not just in person, but through social media, which is key to your point too. It's a very very good point in name. Year two begins tomorrow, right, officially, right, I guess officially right, It's like, but year two begins tomorrow,

and it's a consequential year. It's mid term elections. It is um it's consequential you know, for the country in terms of our democracy, for this administration facing an aggressive right and aggressive Congress that could turn the gavels back to Republicans. What is the top priority as you head into this second year and knowing that there's a lot of wind, that headwind that you all are going to be facing, and not a lot out your backs, you know,

And that's just such a question, you know. Clearly from this perch, I cannot talk about about politics, but I'll say this is and this is just me reiterating what the President said yesterday, which is, you know, I think our message is going to be very clear, which is, you know, what are Republicans for? Right? We are talking about lowering cost on prescription drugs? Right, We're talking about

lowering cost for the American family. When you think about elder care, when you think about childcare and all of those things. By the way, when I when we started, I talked about the twenty million people who were out of work, where we stepped in two million, more than two million. We're women. So if you think about childcare at eldercare, we're going to we want to bring women back into the workforce, which is so important and critical

as well. But all of those things are so key, and that's what Democrats are for, right and the presence, this is what democrats are for. I talked about the American Rescue Plant, all of the things that it was able to do to invest in the economy so that the economy can get back going, and making sure that we try and control COVID. Republicans didn't vote for that. They are standing on the sideline. What are they for?

What are they for? And that is the thing that we're going to continue to ask and put that out there to them. You think about voting rights, we're talking about voting rights back. It used to be a bipartisan issue. Now used to be something that not just Democrats were fighting for, but Republicans and what has happened, Why are we in the situation, and why are we allowing it? And we shouldn't and we should call them out as well.

And so you'll be hearing that from us. You heard that from the President as well, and making clear what Democrats are for and what we're going to continue to do it to do and fight for and making that

message very very clear. Last question for you, Karen. You know, there are a lot of people who feel aggrieved right now, particularly those people that I mentioned at the top, that stood out for hours in places like Georgia, places like Texas to ensure that a Biden Harris administration would happen. Right We're faced with a insurrection right before inauguration, so we couldn't even really celebrate this historic win that we

had done. And now with everything with the how we are so divided as a nation right ideologically about science, about health, public health, what do you say to those people that say that are right now, as we're heading nine months away from midterms, are saying to themselves, I don't I don't think I'm going to vote. It doesn't matter. Look at them trying to steal my vote. It doesn't matter. You know, we're heading backwards, not forward. What do you

offer to them? You know, and you know it's tough. I get it. It's tough. You know, we all went through the last four years together and we saw what we got with that. And I want to say to people, do not give up. While things are still very hard, while we're I understand how people were feeling about the right to vote, and we're going to continue to fight. We're not going to stop fighting after the results of this week, but we have we have made some progress.

Right as I'm talking about the American Rescue Plan, the Buy Person Infrastructure Bill, you know, COVID like we did that all on equity with equity lens. We made sure

that we did not leave anybody behind. One of the first things that the President did, the first executive orders if he signed when he walked into the minute into the White House on this day a year ago, was he made sure that he signed an executive order to make sure that we saw inclusion and diversity and across the federal government, to make sure that we did not leave anybody behind, and that we were hiring in a

way that we saw some diversity. That was one thing, and then he made sure that areas and communities that we were that have been left behind when it came to contracts that disproportionate way that contracts right and lifting that up by fifty percent. So there are things that we have done to deal with that racial inequity, which he called a crisis, and we still see this as a crisis that we're going to continue to fight. But

I get it. I get that people are trying to figure out, well, how is our vote going to count. We're going to keep fighting. We're not going to stop fighting. Again. This is the president that this as a senator for voting rights as a senator, and he will not be deterred, and so that's very important. Well, you know, Krin, I really hope that that this administration continues to fight because I, like so many people, feel like we are living in the most urgent times of our life and this is

really the fight for our life. I've heard the President say that many many times, and so I thank you. I thank you for the work that you're doing. It's always so wonderful to see your friend, and I continue to send you all strength, energy and ivot to continue continue doing what you're doing. Thank you. My friend. Thank you, says I appreciate that and we feel an energy and thank you for giving me this time to talk to your audience. Really appreciate it. Absolutely. We'll have you back soon.

Thank you. That is it for me today. Folks on woke app as always, Power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.