BACKFIRE: Trump deals himself FATAL BLOW

It is no surprise that Trump has been. very quickly losing the narrative as the. Epstein files weigh him down, his. unpopular ICE deployments have weighed. him down, as his trade war and. subsequent higher prices have weighed. him down. But at a bare minimum, he. still had one thing that he could point. to as a win. Gas prices had been at a. four-year low under Trump with a. national average of about $2.98 a. gallon. Not the biggest win in the. world, but Americans love cheap gas and. clearly we are happy to trade away our. climate if it means it'll be a few bucks. cheaper to fill the tank. Which is why. Donald Trump repeated it over and over.

and over. And granted, he would lie. about, you know, this claim that gas was. the cheapest it's ever been. He lied. that it was at a 20-year low. He lied. that it was at $1.85. And while that was all it is. true that it was still cheaper. And then. Donald Trump decided to bomb Iran, which. would be disqualifying enough for a guy. who literally campaigned on no new wars. A guy who is on record, God knows how. many times, specifically decrying the. prospect of war with Iran. But as the. result of that decision to bomb Iran.

anyway, oil prices have now skyrocketed. The price per barrel is $90, expected to. go as high as $150 per barrel. The cost. of gas at the pump has risen between 20. to 50 cents in a single day, meaning in. a presidency where Donald Trump. virtually every ounce of goodwill he had. because of the Epstein files, because of. ICE, because of high prices, because of. rising inflation, because of his trade. war, because of his incompetent cabinet, because of gutting ACA subsidies, he. managed to take the last vestige of.

popular support with low gas prices and. figure out the one way to blow them up. by sparking off a war in the Middle. East, breaking his most central campaign. promise in the process. Truly, the work. of a political mastermind to blow up the. last ounce of goodwill you have as your. presidency is already flailing. And of. course, it's no skin off Trump's back. because he's a lame duck and he's drunk. with power, so he's going to do what he. wants with no repercussions. The real consequences are shouldered by. the rest of his party because they are. always shouldered by the rest of his.

party. Trump pulls some Olympic-level. stupid stunt and then Republicans have. to go out and defend it. And they can't, and then we start seeing the swings that. we're seeing right now. 12, 14, 16. points to the left on average. Democrats. flipping seats in Arkansas and Georgia. and Pennsylvania. But here's the thing, this is not something that is happening. to these Republicans. Do not forget for. a second that these are grown-ass adults. who have agency. They have chosen to. contract their autonomy out to Trump.

They have authority to stop his power. grabs. They are making the conscious. decision not to. So, when they're then. left in a position to defend his batshit. crazy decisions, they own that, too, because they could have and should have. stopped it. But God forbid they find. themselves on the receiving end of a. mean tweet, and so instead, they let it. happen and then they get to reap what. they sow. So, remember that as we watch. everyday costs rise, as we watch gas. prices surge, as we watch the US get. embroiled in more new wars, as we watch.

this government continue to engage in a. cover-up of a pedophile ring, that. Donald Trump and the GOP have brought. this upon themselves. They chose to. campaign one way and govern in another. They chose to sell their supporters a. bill of goods. They chose to treat their. voters with outright contempt. And now, in the lead-up to midterms no less, they. are shouldering the blame for all of it. And judging by the way the things are. going right now, the trajectory clearly. doesn't seem to be doing them any. favors. You're watching the No Lie. podcast. Next up are my interviews with. Bernie Sanders, Robert Garcia, Dan.

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That's rocketmoney.com/brian. rocketmoney.com/brian. No Lie is brought to you by BetterHelp. It's March, which means International. Women's Day is upon us. I want to take a. moment to celebrate women and all that. they carry out at work, in. relationships, in families, and in the. many roles they hold every day. Between. caring for others and managing unseen. responsibilities, their emotional. well-being can easily be overlooked. I. know that life really often moves too. fast to reflect on anything, but try to.

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Sign up and get 10% off at. betterhelp.com/nolie. That's betterhelp.com/nolie. I'm joined now by Senator Sanders. Thank. you so much for taking the time. My. pleasure. So, Senator, we got some. pretty surprising news this morning as. it relates to Donald Trump and the. economic numbers. There was a net loss. of 92,000 jobs, which means that since. April, this administration has seen a. net loss of jobs. There have been no new. jobs added in the last 10 months of this. administration, which would be bad.

enough onto itself, even worse given the. fact that Trump has branded himself the. jobs, jobs, jobs president. And this is. actually a recurring theme with. Republican administrations. So, can you. speak a little bit about the the the. chasm between what Republicans promise. when they're on the campaign trail with. regard to these these populist fever. dreams versus what they actually deliver. when they're in office? Well, I think what you're saying is. true. The historical record is pretty. clear. When Republicans control the. White House, the job situation is often.

not good. Uh one of the factors here, no one is. quite certain, Brian, uh as to what it. means in terms of today's numbers, uh is the growth of artificial. intelligence and robotics. And this is an issue I have been. increasingly involved with because I. fear very much that the American people, and certainly the Congress, do not have. any sense uh in terms of the cataclysmic. impact these technologies are going to.

have on our lives, including the. economy. So, you're having pretty knowledgeable. people about AI who are saying, "Guess. what? Uh if you're a white-collar job. within a X number of years, there will be artificial intelligence. that can do your job better than you can. do it today. If you are working in a warehouse or. you're working in a factory, well, guess. what? In Y number of years, there's going to. be a robot that will take your job. Robot costs your employer $20,000 to.

buy. That robot works 24 hours a day, doesn't need any health care, doesn't. need uh time off uh when they have a. baby. So, I think we're looking at a very. significant transformation. of American society, and in fact, the. global society as a result of AI. uh and uh robots, and I suspect it's. beginning. We're beginning to see it in. terms of these job numbers.

So, I I know that this is a a pretty. broad question here, but but. I Well, let's start Let's start with a. baby step then. What is the first step. that we need to take in terms of fending. off what would be a pretty cataclysmic. impact on on the economy and on on, you. know, American society? Okay. Well, there are a number of steps. First of. all, we need to understand who is. pushing. uh this technological revolution. Uh and I think you and many of your. viewers may know that it is the.

wealthiest people in the world. All right? This is the same old names, the same old oligarchs. It is Elon Musk. putting hundreds of billions of dollars. who is saying, "I, Elon Musk, I want to. build not just millions of robots, literally billions of robots." All. right? It is Mark Zuckerberg. It is Jeff Bezos. It is Larry Ellison. It is Bill Gates. The wealthiest people in the world are. pushing.

this technological transformation. And. people are going to take a deep step. back and say, "Do I have confidence that. Jeff Bezos. uh and uh Elon Musk are really concerned. about me as a working-class person?". And you got to be nuts to think that is. the case. They want more wealth, they. want more power. All right? So, we got. to take a deep breath, we got to stop. them. Now, I have introduced, will. introduce, legislation calling for a. moratorium on data centers.

And I'm doing this not only because of. the environmental impact that data. centers are having in terms of. raising electric rates, the use of. fossil fuels to generate electricity, the use of limited water resources. That's important. But we got to get a handle on this thing. and make sure that AI and robotics work. for ordinary people, not just for Mr. Musk and the wealthiest people on the. planet. Number two, what can we do? Right now, and this gets right into the corruption.

of our campaign finance system. The. people in AI, it's not just APAC and. it's not just other big corporations. The people in AI are prepared to spend. hundreds of millions of dollars on. campaigns. What is their goal? Their. goal is to tell the candidates that they. elect is you leave us alone. We will do. whatever the hell we want, no regulation. in any form. Way, shape, or form, and they're being. pushed and working with Donald Trump in. this. All right. So what we've got to say.

sorry, you're not going to transform. humanity, you're not going to transform. our economy, you're not going to put the. entire world at an existential threat. if AI becomes independent of human. control, by the way. Of course there's. going to be regulations. If you go to a. a restaurant shop this afternoon to get. a sandwich, you know what? That. restaurant shop is regulated by the. health department. These guys don't want. any regulation. That has got to change. So we're working on a number of things.

But the bottom line right now, Brian, in. my view, we got to slow it down to. understand its impact on the economy and. on. humanity as a whole. Elon Musk, yes, guess what? Work is going to be. obsolete. All right, you're not going to have to. go to work. Well, how do you feed your. family? Yeah. All right. Well, that we don't quite. understand yet. So. we need to slow this thing down. We need. And by the way, on another issue.

I was in California a couple of weeks. ago talking to some very intelligent. guys who had actually quit some of the. big AI companies and they're worried. about, as I mentioned a moment ago, the. existential. threat. that is AI becomes smarter than human. beings. They may act independently of human. beings. So what the hell does that mean? This is not science fiction anymore. Yeah. You think anyone is seriously. discussing this issue in Washington? The.

answer is. no. Well, um. what would be the first regulation that. that is introduced? Have Have Do you. have any anything in the works right. now? >> We do. And in fact, with a little bit of. luck, we'll do a press conference next. week. Maybe first thought, and this is. baby stuff. Yeah. Well, I I I you know, I can I can commit to I'll make sure to. cover that and and I'll make sure to, you know, continue keeping keeping my. finger on the pulse of everything that's. happening on this front, too. >> for a start, we want to get some sense.

We got the best minds in the country to. tell us what is going to be the economic. impact, how many jobs are going to be. lost in the next 10 years. We need a. study to start doing that. We need work on Give you one example. Right now, on the internet. there. are what we call deep fakes. You're. familiar with deep fakes? >> Yes. And I saw some of these things and it's. amazing. Right now, we can have somebody. looking exactly like you, you,

telling us how you decided to change. your mind, you really love Donald Trump, right? Yeah. And they can have the words and people. say, "Wow, I didn't know that.". >> Yeah. And if you were running for office the. day be you know, a week before the. election, you say, "Well, Donald Trump. you come up with some outrageous. statement." So we got to put an end to. deep fakes. We got to work very hard to protect our. children from getting addicted. to AI and and having their their closest.

friends be AI agents. I worry about that. as well. So. getting a sense of what it means. economically, protecting the kids. and doing deep fakes is something we. want to be talking about literally next. week. More importantly, how do you slow it. down? How do you have an international. agreement. with China and other countries? I think. there are scientists in China who share. the concerns of scientists in this. country that AI can escape human. control. So there's an enormous amount.

of work that has to be done. We've got. to start focusing on it. Well, you know, you you had mentioned that this is. largely the project of a few oligarchs. and and and in in fact, you'd also. mentioned that you were in California. last week. You were talking about a. wealth tax and. I agree. on the need for for a wealth tax, especially on the wealthiest Americans, these people who who, you know, launched. these projects to ultimately enrich. themselves. But my concern, and I'm I'm. sure that the criticism that's been.

leveled is if you're talking about a. wealth tax in California, for example, how do you combat the risk of capital. flight if it's not a national policy? Like if you have if you have piecemeal. policies in individual states, won't you. just have wealthy people leave those. states to go to, you know, these these. havens like Florida or Texas or wherever. they go where there's fewer regulations. Um. you know, that that that would take. place in the event that there's no. national legislation. All right. This is.

what I think. And I tell you this. having been all over this country. The American people are sick and tired. profoundly. of an economic situation, and this. frankly goes beyond Trump and his. administration. It's been going on for. years. where the very wealthiest people in. America are becoming phenomenally. richer. All right. You're talking since Trump, just in the. last, you know, year plus.

since Trump was. elected. the billionaires in America, about a. thousand people have become a trillion. and a half dollars. richer. Yeah. We now have You tell me if. this makes any. vaguely. if this is vaguely sane, one guy, Mr. Musk, now owns more wealth than the. bottom 53% of American households. Top. 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. CEOs make 350 times what their workers. make. So while the rich become much.

richer, 60% of our people are paycheck to. paycheck. Now, to answer your question, I think what we have to deal with. is not only the the greed. of the billionaire class. I think it's a. profound moral issue. But what you're saying is, "Look, these. guys, if they want to do TV ads in. California and say, 'Look, we made this money, you know, we stole. the money, we bribed camp. politicians, blah blah blah blah, whatever it is. We have this money.

And at the same time as our wealth has. grown, Trump gave a. cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. by a trillion dollars and threw all. kinds of people in California, all over. this country, off healthcare. We think. it is more important that we have 200. billion dollars of personal wealth than. children in California have healthcare. Well, that's a good debate. What do you. think? I think 98% of the people would say, "Screw you." Yeah. But this is what they're doing and and.

we got to take a step back. What they're. saying is. let's not argue about taxes and. morality, let's argue about power. What. they're saying to the people of. California, "Hey folks, you are. powerless. We have all the power. I know. you think. that children and working class people. should get healthcare. I know you think. we should pay more in taxes, but there's. nothing you can do about it because if. you do the right thing and vote for the. children and vote for working class.

people, we have the power and we are. going to punish you. We're going to take your jobs. We're. going to move to Florida. We're going to. move to Texas. We are the elites. and ain't nothing you can do about it.". So I think in California and all over. this country, we got to take that on. And to talk about. that. their. desire to punish people for standing up. and doing the right thing, it really. tells me they live in another world.

where they think they have the divine. right to rule. Nationally, we are having introduced, we'll introduce shortly. a wealth tax and I want to talk what. this does. It's a 5% annual tax. on only billionaires. You make a nine. You have 900 million dollars in wealth, you're not going to pay a nickel. All. right? What it does is in the first year, you. get a $3,000 check to every man, woman, and child in this country. People are. struggling to pay their bills right now.

And the other thing that we do is end. Trump's. cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Affordable. Care Act. We deal with childcare. We. deal with the basic social crises facing. this country. Bottom line here is. if, you know, Justice Brandeis, I don't know if you ever heard this. He. said in the 1930s, said, "You can have in a paraphrase, you. can have a country where people have. incredible wealth or you can have a. democracy, but you cannot have a country where you. have massive concentrations of wealth.

and democracy. That's where we are at. right now. We got to deal with it." I. mean, the reality is I I Democrats. should run on that. Like they're the. notion that in a country of 350 million. people that. that would not get the majority of. support. where. all of the all of the folks who are not. billionaires are voting for a tax on. just this small sliver of people who. have concentrated so much wealth is is. you know. obviously imp- impossible. So, I I I do.

think that Democrats should should run. on that as we you know move forward into. these next cycles knowing full well that. Republicans and and Trump are not going. to you know abide by it. Like Trump is. not Trump would not sign legislation. like that into law. Um. With that said, you know I think I think. that that kind of lends itself to this. to this um idea on a new topic of Trump. and Republicans feeling like they're not. um accountable to the same rules as. everybody else. We saw military. incursions into Venezuela, military.

incursion in Iran, and now Trump has. just floated the idea of Cuba next. And. so, he's kind of wetted his appetite in. terms of these these foreign invasions. Can I have your response to to to this. idea that that uh Trump is now looking. into any country where he feels like he. could put his thumb on the scale and. topple regimes uh and continue to engage. in foreign interventionism. even despite the fact that he ran on. this idea that there was going to be a. focus on America first. Right. Let me.

pick up on your last point. This is the. guy who ran on I am the peace candidate. Remember? Yeah. I am against endless. wars. Uh we put up on our social media a quote. of his. I think it was in 2020 when he. said, "How crazy is it that we're. spending trillions of dollars on the. Middle East and yet our own. infrastructure we don't have money to. deal with our own infrastructure.". That's what Trump said. Well, he was. right then. And now he's continuing that uh process.

Uh a couple of things. Uh it's. I think most Americans now understand. that tragically and it is a real tragedy. for the first time. uh in modern American history. we have a president who does not believe. in the Constitution. And the Constitution is pretty clear. uh. that it is the Congress of the United. States that decides when we want to go. to war. This wasn't suddenly suddenly an.

emergency response, right? Iran did not. attack us and the president had to act. immediately. They have pre- This was. premeditated. They've been thinking. about this for weeks. So, once again, the president of the United. States is acting against the. Constitution which he does quite. frequently on domestic issues. and uh against the rule of law. Uh second of all, what I think is. uh uh of great concern. is. >> [snorts].

>> Trump is taking the world into barbarism. in the sense that. if the president of the United States. can violate international law, not just. the United States Constitution, right? He can wake up in the morning and say, "Hmm, let's see. I think we'll go after. Venezuela. What's today? Wednesday? Uh let's go after Iran. Oh, it's. Tuesday. Let's let's. Cuba or whatever.". If the president of the United States. thinks he can do that. why should any other governmental or.

terrorist leader in the world think that. they don't have the right to wage a. military attack against anybody they. dislike? Right. You know, after World War II, the. horrors of World War II, 50 million dead. the world came together and said, "All. right, if we're not going to eliminate. war, let's at least establish some. rules.". You know, and that is that you don't. simply attack another country without. reason. That we try to work to eliminate war, to. to to solve problems diplomatically.

So, what Trump is basically giving a. green light, he's saying essentially to. Putin. right? Hey, Vladimir, you did the right. thing. You invaded Ukraine. That was pretty good. Yeah, we're going. to do the same thing. How are you going. to criticize. uh Putin's invasion of Ukraine if you do. you wage a unilateral attack? Right. Uh. the second of all, in many ways what. this war is about is fulfilling you know. Netanyahu is a right-wing extremist. who committed horrible crimes.

uh I think genocidal crimes against the. people of Gaza. Uh and now for years, for decades, Netanyahu has begged American. presidents, Democrats and Republicans to. join him in trying to destabilize Iran. He finally had a in Trump a willing. dupe. And uh Trump is now doing Netanyahu's. work in Iran. And and I think most. Americans, whether you're conservative, progressive or in the middle. think that that is a pretty dumb way to.

do American military and foreign policy. Senator, what could we. get with the amount of money that's. being spent right now on all of these. foreign incursions? Like there there is. an opportunity cost to all of this. And. so, what are we missing out on here in. the United States by virtue of engaging. in you know these these wars, whether. it's uh. in Iran, whether it's in in Venezuela, or who knows what incursion is going to. be next. Brian. thank you for asking that question.

And what the moneyed interest and the. establishment and the corporate media. want us to believe. that in terms of domestic policy we need. scarcity. I was just meeting the other. day. uh with members of the paralyzed. veterans of America. People who got. paralyzed serving. you know, in war. And they're arguing. that they don't even have enough money. The VA is not providing the kind of. health benefits that our paralyzed. veterans need. Not to mention a child. care system which is now broken and. dysfunctional, health care system which.

is falling apart, a major housing. crisis, kids can't afford a higher. education. etc. etc. Meanwhile, Trump and his friends after. spending a trillion dollars. on the military. They got a trillion. dollars a year. They may want a supplemental. of God knows how many billions for the. war in Iran. And oh by the way, next. year around they're thinking about. another 500 billion, a 50% increase in.

military spending. Meanwhile. all over this country people are. sleeping out on the street, can't afford. a housing, can't afford health care. We are the richest country in the. history of the world. And we have got to bring our people. together to demand a fundamental change. in national priorities. The billionaires don't need a trillion. dollars in tax breaks. We don't need to. spend a trillion dollars plus on the. military. We need to provide a decent. standard of living for every man, woman, and child. That's what we need to do.

What do you say to people though who uh. you know who voted for Republicans. because that's what they ran on in this. past election cycle? I mean Trump was. Trump was pretty laser-focused on this. idea of affordability. Ran as a. populist, talked about the price of. housing and rent and groceries and eggs. He got so granular that he was talking. about the price of an egg. And yet of. course you know now now you see how he's. governing, but what do you say to all. those people out there given what we've. seen Trump actually do with their vote? Look, I mean my response is is.

in two ways. Number one, a lot of that I know I get. criticized when I say this is the. failure of the Democratic Party to stand. up for working class people. Um. you know, Democrats have had the. presidency, Democrats have had control. over the Senate, control over the House. And people are saying, "Yeah, what did. you do? Do you provide health care to me as a. human right like it exists in every. other major country? Are you making it. easier for my kids. to go to college? Are you lowering the. cost of prescription drugs? Uh etc. etc. So,

one of the things that I am attempting. to do every day is try to transform the. Democratic Party to become a party that. represents working class people so that. folks who voted for Trump out of. desperation. will then vote for Democrats and that. Democrats have got to uh deliver. That's. number one. And number two, I think that. people who voted for Trump, I hope are. catching on. And I don't say this, you know, about. Republicans in general. I have I know a. lot of Republicans. I disagree with.

them, but they are not necessarily. pathological liars. They're. conservatives. They believe what they. believe. Trump is a pathological liar. He will. say anything at any time to serve his. own purposes. And sadly we get used to. the crazy things that he says. So, I would hope that some of my uh. Republican friends understand that you. cannot believe a word that Trump says. He says he's for affordability, but he. gives tax breaks. to the rich and sees health care costs.

soar, grocery soar, gas prices soar, etc. etc. And finally, Senator, I want to move on. to to one more topic here and that is. the Epstein files. We recently saw Bill. and Hillary Clinton come and testify. before the committee. Hillary Clinton. had nothing to do with the Epstein files. and yet Comer still felt that it was. necessary to haul her in uh to the. Oversight Committee to testify. Do you. think based on this new precedent. established by James Comer that Trump. himself should testify? I think it's a horrible precedent and. this is to bring in former secretaries.

of the state, presidential candidates. This is part of. uh. the Trumpist approach that you're not a. political opponent of mine, you're my. enemy. And I've got to do everything I. can to possibly uh destroy you. And it. is tied into the fact that they are. doing criminal investigations of. Democratic uh senators, uh of even conservative Republicans like. Powell at the uh. at the Fed uh who disagree with Trump.

So, he is using they are using, you. know, powers in a way that we have not. seen uh used before. It is a very. dangerous uh precedent. But I think in. terms of the Epstein files. above and beyond the horrible, disgusting. uh manner in which some of these people. treated girls. uh, and sexually exploited them. Uh, is the understanding that you really. do have a small number of folks. uh, in the upper echelons, the the the.

elite who all know each other, who work. with each other. Uh, and I think that's a lesson that the. American people are saying. What responsibility does Pam Bondi. shoulder by virtue of the fact that she. is in charge of the very DOJ that's. covering up these files? I mean, we know. that 3 million files haven't been. released. We know that co-conspirators'. names have been redacted while victims'. names have been exposed, and yet. obstinately, um, they refuse to release anything else. Well, I mean, the demand, uh, you know, people like, uh, Massie and Ro Khanna.

have done a very good job pushing it. We. got to keep pushing. And, uh, she has the responsibility to. do what I think, my memory is correct, Trump campaigned on, right? Release the. files. Well, release not three-quarters. of them, release all of them. All right, we'll leave it there. Senator Sanders, as always, thank you for taking the time. today, and thanks for all the work that. you do. Well, you keep up the great. work. Thank you. I'm joined now by the. ranking member of the House Oversight. Committee, Robert Garcia. Congressman, thanks for joining me. Sure thing. So, you have some breaking. news about a brand new subpoena that was.

just issued by your committee. Can you. explain what just happened? Yeah, we were able to actually keep a. united Democratic committee member. caucus together, and we teamed up with. Representative Nancy Mace uh, to get a. motion for Pam Bondi to be essentially. subpoenaed in front of our committee. Uh, we've been trying to do this uh, and. we've been making this request of. Chairman Comer for months, and it hasn't. happened. The fact that Pam Bondi, the. AG who's been responsible for hiding and. deflecting and lying about the Epstein. files, will now be in front of the.

committee during the Epstein. investigation is really really. important. So, we're we're really glad. this just happened, uh, and I think it's. it's it's a great move by We had a. couple Republicans that joined us. Really, it was Nancy Mace to kind of. help lead the way with all the Democrats. on board, and we got a subpoena. That that that is surprising news. What. will What What's going to be the. objective here as, uh, the Attorney. General comes before this committee? Look, we have a long list of questions.

We've talked about what we want to ask. her. I mean, everything from the files. originally being on her desk, uh, why. they began calling this investigation a. hoax, why they tried to end the. investigation so early, to why the rest. of the files aren't being released. Where are the missing documents? Why are. files being brought in and taken out? Why were they spying on members of. Congress? I mean, the the list goes on. and on, and so there's a lot of. questions that we're going to ask, and I. think that the Democratic members have. uh, serious questions about this. investigation, and I'm glad that the.

Attorney General will now be forced to. appear in front of us. Is there any way that the Attorney. General opts not to comply given the. fact that it's the DOJ that's. responsible for enforcing any subpoenas. anyway? No, this is a this is a. congressional subpoena. She's she's got. to come in front of the committee, and. all other. other members that we have sent out to. get a subpoena from, uh, they've they've. appeared. It's a it's pretty strong. Congressional subpoena is about as. ironclad as you can get. Okay. Now, um, we have seen other administration. officials, including just today in front.

of the Judiciary Committee, Chris uh, Kristi Noem, come in front of the. committee, and and there often times. seems to be just an attempt by these. administration officials to filibuster, to turn this into a partisan food fight. It becomes hostile and acrimonious. You. know, you will ask these questions, and. committee members are going to ask these. questions that are that are important. and deserve answers. Um, and how. confident are you that she's not going. to do engage in the same kind of. behavior that all of these other. administration officials are engaging in.

by just looking to filibuster or attack. Democrats with, uh, you know, with, uh, personal petty partisan attacks? Look, I'm sure she's going to try to. deflect and to attack back, but I think. we've got a very skilled group of. committee Democrats and over oversight. Democrats that are going to just ask the. right questions, and we will make sure. that we get answers and get those on the. record. She will be under oath. Uh, so I. think it's going to be a very. interesting uh, hearing. I'm looking. forward to it happening sooner than. later. I think the biggest question for.

us is where are the rest of the files? >> Right. What happened to them? Why are the. over-redactions? And so, I think. we can try to begin to get some of these. questions answered. What would success. look like for you in the aftermath of. this hearing? Well, success would be actually getting. the Attorney General to explain to us. why they have been involved in a White. House cover-up. Who's directing this. cover-up? Why are we uh, protecting. billionaires and co-conspirators? I. think understanding where the rest of. those files are and how he had access to.

them, I think those are going to be some. of the top questions. You know, we just saw Bill and Hillary. Clinton come and testify. Um, you know, I've I've said numerous times that I'm. in favor of them testifying. Obviously, there's, you know, most Democrats are in. favor of them testifying as well. This. This isn't really supposed to be a. partisan thing. This is just if anybody. has information regarding the crimes. that were committed by Jeffrey Epstein. and Ghislaine Maxwell, then they should. be forced to appear and testify and give. any information that they know. Now that. James Comer has established this. precedent wherein former presidents,

presidents of the United States can be. hauled in front of Congress to answer. questions, what does that say about. Donald Trump being forced to come and. testify? I mean, it says that we're going to have. Donald Trump come and testify. And I. look, it should it should happen now, but we will 100%. uh, this is a new precedent set by. Oversight Republicans, and Donald Trump. will be in front of our committee. Whether he comes in now, and he tries to. defy us while he's in president, he's. not going to be the president forever, and now we have a congressional new.

precedent set to be able to bring in. former presidents, and we're going to do. it. And it should be Donald Trump has to. answer questions. And as far as the. presidents at the time for wife and. first lady, he they've also set a. precedent for that. And so, we look. forward to talking to Mrs. Trump as. well. In terms of the fact that there were. some Republicans on your committee who. voted to to subpoena Pam Bondi because. she has information that needs to be. shared with the committee to get to the. bottom of this, and because I'm sure. that those same Republicans were in. favor of this this new James Comer.

precedent of of hauling in the Clintons, do you presume that there would be an. appetite among your Republican. colleagues to bring in Donald Trump. given the fact that, you know, if. Hillary Clinton is going to come. testify, who, as far as I know, I I I I. had no association with Jeffrey Epstein, um, then then, you know, do you think. that that's going to be an issue in. terms of having them buy in. uh, some support for Trump? Look, we're going to try. I hope so. I. think Trump is you know, he has lost. some of his grip on on some members of. his party. I mean, the fact that we had.

some members actually join us, particularly Representative Mace, Representative of Boebert, a few others. on this subpoena of the Attorney. General, I think is is pretty. significant, and I hope that we can. continue to do that. I hope they would. agree that the president should come in. and testify uh, under oath to to our. committee. And if they don't, then we're. going to push every day until he's in. front of our committee, even if that. means and if he. refuses to or the committee does choose. not to not to bring him in, we we will. do it when when we're in the majority, and we certainly will uh, if we have to.

wait even till after he's president. You. know, there are other administration. officials who are also implicated in. this. Kevin Warsh's name is in the. files, that's Trump's pick for Fed. chair. Uh, Howard Lutnick's, you know, photo was in the Epstein files. Obviously, that they made an effort to. to suppress that information. Are some. of these other administration officials. who are directly implicated in the files. going to be called to testify as well? Oh, look, we're going to have a very. long list, I think, on day one when. we're in the majority if we get to. subpoena. Every subpoena that we've had. in this Congress has been because we. forced Republicans. We've been able to.

to pick off two or three of them to join. us, but for the most part, they've been. unified in their opposition to these. subpoenas, and so it's been because of. our consistent pressure that we've been. able to get these folks in front of our. committee for this Epstein. investigation. So, we're that's going to. continue. We're not going to stop and. and push and demand just because we're. don't have the majority votes, but when. we do have the gavels and those majority. votes, we are going to be able to. supercharge this investigation and get. the information that we need. Why do you.

think that there was an appetite among. some of these Republicans to to call in. Pam Bondi if they're still going to be. um, obstinate when it comes to calling. in other administration officials? I mean, I think that what's happening. right now across the country is that the. issue around Jeffrey Epstein and his. crimes and Ghislaine Maxwell, uh, accountability and justice for the. survivors is actually very very popular. It's Yeah. It's something that all all. of us across the country, whether you're. Republicans. it's I mean, it's polling with. Republicans in like in the 70th percent.

70th percentile. It's actually the. single most bipartisan issue that's. popular amongst both parties. And so, it's bipartisan, it's Trump's worst. political issue. I mean, I think there's. the opposition from both parties is. immense. Uh, he's more unpopular on. Epstein than he is on issues around the. economy and and health care. So, I think. that Republicans understand that there's. a lot of interest here, and that we have. to just sort of do the right thing by. the survivors. You know, Trump has come. out repeatedly and said that he's. exonerated by all of this. What's your.

response to that? I mean, that's a joke. Exonerated by who? No one's exonerated. Donald Trump. Uh, he's the one that. called it a hoax. He's in the Epstein. files more than anyone. Mar-a-Lago is. often times where they trafficked women. and girls. Uh, we have questions for her. for for for the president. Uh, he's been. named in the Epstein files multiple. times. There are serious allegations. against him that have been removed for. reasons we don't understand. We've got. to get to the bottom of it. When will the Pam Bondi testimony take. place? We don't know. You know, that's going to. be up to to to James Comer. Uh, as the.

chairman, he controls the the timing, but I imagine it'll happen sometime over. the course of the next few weeks. Okay. Well, we will leave it there. Uh, Congressman, as always, I appreciate uh, you taking the lead on this issue and. not letting it fall by the wayside and I. appreciate the time today. Sure thing. Thanks. I'm joined now by. Congressman Dan Goldman. Thanks for. joining me. Thanks so much for having me, Brian. So, Congressman, we just saw Kristi Noem. endure a pretty bruising line of. questioning a few days ago at at these. congressional hearings that obviously.

resulted in her losing her job. And so, recognizing that these administration. officials are not necessarily immune to. pressure, how does that make you think about Pam. Bondi, for example, as she is. anticipating her own congressional. hearing. and she and as she continues to cover up. these Epstein files? Yeah, well, it's. it's somewhat apples and oranges. I. think Kristi Noem demonstrated herself. to be unqualified, unaware of what's going on, unwilling to.

take any responsibility or to hold any. accountability on anyone. But perhaps. the one thing that she did that. really got her fired is she blamed. Donald Trump for something that well, period. Blamed for something, whether. true or not, it doesn't matter. And so, Pam Bondi's in a little bit of a. different circumstance. I think her. performance in front of the me and and.

the House Judiciary Committee of a few. weeks ago was far worse than Kristi. Noem's performance. But keep in mind, Pam Bondi knows where all the Epstein. secrets are. She has been part of this. massive cover-up. And if Donald Trump fires her, he is opening up the possibility of. Bondi turning against her, which I think. is the reason why he hasn't fired anyone.

to date. Is he saw what happened when he. fired people in his first term and they. often turned against him. And you see. Bill Barr and John Bolton and they know. a host of other people. And Bondi knows. too much about him. She knows where all. the skeletons in the closet are for him. I have no doubt in my mind right now. that this is a massive cover-up to. protect Donald Trump and Bondi is at the. center of it. So, it's very unlikely. that she will get fired. And so, can you.

talk about any personal liability that. she might shoulder or any consequences. we might see for Pam Bondi by virtue of. the fact that she is really a willful. participant in this entire cover-up? I. mean, we know, for example, that she. refuses to release 3 million files. We. know, as I mentioned before, that we. have co-conspirators names who've been. released while victims names have been. exposed. And so, is there, you know, because she's the Attorney General, is. that it? Is there some world where she. shoulders any legal exposure after she's. out of office? Sure. I mean, there's a 5-year statute.

of limitations. Criminal contempt would. obviously be the the one that. you would focus on as it relates to the. Epstein Files Transparency Act. But I would want to know more than that. I would want to know whether. there are any witnesses who were. precluded from coming and talking to. them. Whether there were any threats, whether. there was any additional aspect to a. cover-up, Ghislaine Maxwell and that.

Todd Blanche hold discussion. Because. there could be obstruction of justice as. well. in in depending on what happens. We. don't have that information. But a. cover-up is an obstruction of justice. And so, there are lots of different ways. that you can get to that. the that through the the criminal law. You know, Congressman, you you obviously. were were a. were counsel when Trump was being.

impeached. And so, you're well aware of. what it looks like when when Congress. does its job, when the legislative. branch does its job to hold corrupt. administration officials to account. I. think a lot of people see what's. happening right now and have this this. feeling that we are in a. a post-legal world where all of these. people can just get away with their. crimes and because they they engage in. this criminal activity so frequently. that we're no longer able to to be in a. place where the law applies to any of.

them. And so, it gives them a feeling of. of. impunity. And obviously, they've run. with that. This is the most corrupt. administration we've ever seen. The the. financial corruption is staggering. The. legal corruption is staggering. Trump's. wielding the DOJ as his personal cudgel. against his political enemies. And so, what needs to happen in the aftermath of. this administration to hold these folks. to account? And and can you talk about. that especially through the lens of. having gone through a Biden. administration where that wasn't really.

a priority, where the priority was. mostly preventing the optics of. politicization? Yeah, and I'm perhaps over overdone. You know, gone too far on the other side. of that. I I think there are a couple of. different ways of tackling this. And the. one thing that that you didn't mention. in your litany of things that they have. done that are just so blatantly corrupt. is the fact that the FBI is not. investigating. the those who killed Alex Pretty and.

Renee Good. And what that really does give the. [snorts] ICE agency CBP officers that. feeling of invincibility and impunity. because they know that their brother. executive branch agency at the FBI is. not going to hold them accountable. And. so, it is that feeling of impunity. It. is that knowledge that well, Donald Trump is doing all of this stuff. and he seems to be getting away with it.

So, I'm going to do it as well. I I. always go back, Brian, to this shocking. comment that Chairman James Comer made. at the Oversight Committee when. he was asked why he spent so much time. on the Hunter Biden investigation. that related to 30, maybe 20 or 30. million dollars of money from foreign. entities, not even foreign governments.

And that he's not at all investigating. Donald Trump receiving a 400 million. dollar plane from Qatar or all of these. investments in crypto companies from. foreign countries and and foreign. companies that are just padding his. wallet. And Comer's response was, well, Donald Trump does it all out in the. open. Right. Oh, yeah. After all, like. committing crimes in broad daylight. makes them not crimes. Exactly. And so, you are right that there's a massive.

accountability gap and the Republicans. have done nothing. The FBI has done. nothing. And we can't expect them to. So, we have two phases. The first phase. will be when we take back the majority. in Congress. Donald Trump will still be. president for 2 years. But we will initiate a host of. investigations. And it will be somewhat of a. decision point where how many and which. ones because you do want to make sure.

that you're covering the gamut of. conduct, but you also only have so many. resources. So, that will be an important. part. And similar to how I did the. impeachment investigation, you know, we're going to get massive. obstruction from this administration. So, we're going to have to figure out. alternative ways of getting information. and proving the case, which we had to do. as well in the impeachment. investigation. So, it's it's not going. to be straightforward and easy, but it. is going to be something that we are. very, very focused on. Then you. mentioned after 2028, after Trump is.

gone, after this administration is gone. and hopefully there's a new Democratic. administration, then you've got the possibility of. criminal prosecutions. And that that can be. good dating back usually the statute of. limitations is 5 years. So, it can go. back for the whole term and even in the. campaign before if there's something. relevant to that. >> And and doesn't the clock start once the. crime is finished? And so, if they're. still engaged in this criminal activity,

if they're still engaged in this. corruption, if Pam Bondi is still. suppressing the Epstein files and and. defying the Epstein Files Transparency. Act, like the clock is still running. So, that 5-year that 5-year window. hasn't even begun yet. No, that that that is absolutely true. and. you know, for the most part. And so, I. don't think the the timing of it is. going to matter that much in terms of. the statute of limitations. And it and look, there's always the. question when a new administration comes. in,

how much. backward-looking stuff are you going to. do and how much forward-looking stuff. are you going to do? And I think though that. because of the reasons you said, that. there's a feeling that we live in this. post-legal world where the rich and. powerful or the well-connected are not. held to account, are not held to the. same rules and laws that everybody else. is, we have to do some of that.

accountability. We have to restore faith. in the rule of law that it is applied. equally and that even those who are. powerful are the ones who they will be. held to account just like everybody. else. And that was certainly how I. approached things as a federal. prosecutor when I was doing that for 10. years is. I was I was looking for, you know, the. the real masterminds, right? The ones. who are really at the top of the. pyramid, not the the ones at the bottom.

doing the dirty work. Because those are the ones A, who are. really responsible, but B, have a much greater deterrent effect on. other people doing it in the future. And. that's why doing at least some of these. criminal investigations is going to be. very important. And and I think also important is going. to be figuring out how to walk and chew. gum at the same time because there needs. to be, you know, a a forward-looking. agenda as well, especially in light of.

the fact that, you know, there is an. opening right now. Uh Trump had run as. this, you know, uh uh. working-class champion. The Republican. Party uh ran as these working-class. champions. We just saw the jobs report. today showing a a net loss of 92,000. jobs, which means since April, the US. has seen jobs lost, hasn't gained a. single job, has only lost jobs. Um. compare that with, you know, the the. millions of jobs that were added during. the Biden administration. I think we had. an average of roughly 400,000 jobs added.

per month, meaning in 1 month of the. Biden administration, we saw more jobs. added than the last year in the Trump. administration. And so, what has to be. done from that standpoint, from a from a. focusing on Americans who are. obviously having a difficult time right. now economically speaking, uh what needs. to be done on that front to rectify this. disaster that Trump has ushered in? Well, um I think it would help if he got. rid of tariffs, if he stopped um using.

all of our money on foreign wars. Um I think it would certainly help if uh. he were invested in the middle class and. that he were not just cutting taxes for. billionaires. Um I think there are any number of. different things that can spur the. economy, which spurs growth, which spurs. job creation, but he's just not focused. at all on that. And he's trying to. gaslight everybody into thinking that. he, you know, that that prices are down.

when they're up. I mean, it's your own. pocketbook. How is he Why does he think. that he can literally convince people. that he knows better than what they are. having to pay? Um and so, there are any number of a. host of things that I think that the. first thing that we have to do is tackle. wealth inequality, uh which has just. skyrocketed exponentially under Donald. Trump, long before that as well. And. we're in a world right now where the.

very select few at the top are getting. super super rich. And everyone else is. struggling. And if you're a wage earner, your wages are relatively going down. compared to inflation. If you're an. asset holder, your assets are going. skyrocketing. So, you know, a a bill. like my Robin Hood Act, which would make. billionaires pay their fair share. because they Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. and the top 25 earners in top 25. wealthiest people in America have an.

effective tax rate of about 3% because. they have have all these tax avoidance. schemes. Uh we got to tackle that and that will. then allow us to have more money both I. think we need to pay down the deficit, which is becoming um a huge albatross, but also we can invest in uh things that. families need, universal child care, right? So that parents can stay in their. jobs, grow their careers while their. kids are well taken care of, which is a.

win for the parents, a win for the. child, and a win for the economy because. uh that we're growing the economy. So, we have to be thoughtful about where we. are investing the money from the. government so that we are spurring job. growth and creation. Um and that's just. the opposite of what Donald Trump has. been doing. Right. Well, to that end, Congressman, you're obviously running. for for reelection this term and. midterms are fast approaching. For. people who want to help your campaign, what can they do? Well, they should go to.

dangoldmanforny.com. Uh all my social media handles are also. dangoldmanforny. Um. we are we're we're moving. We're we're. really pushing ahead with a great group, a great campaign, a great platform. Um would help to be in the majority so I. can hold this administration accountable. and we can fix our our rigged system. Um so, any support, volunteers, financial, otherwise, is always welcome. Great. I'm going to put that link right. here on the screen and also in the post. description of this video. Congressman,

as always, thank you for the time. Thanks, Brian. I'm joined now by. Democratic strategist and senior advisor. to TargetSmart, Tom Bonier. Tom, thanks. for joining me. Great to be here. So, you had uh a really interesting, I. think the most interesting takeaway from. the Texas primary. Can you explain what. that takeaway was? Yeah. Well, your your folks will remember you had a. great conversation with Mark Elias about. this the other day about the Texas. gerrymander. It was the the domino that. set off all the other redistricting. around the country, but Republicans went.

to say, "We're going to grab a bunch of. congressional seats. uh by redrawing the maps mid-decade.". And so, they created these districts. that they believed to be out of reach. for Democrats, where they're just going. to knock off some Democratic incumbents, put some districts out of reach, and. basically steal a handful. of seats. And what they were relying on. was the fact that Donald Trump in 2024. did pretty well with Hispanic voters. So, they created a couple of districts. that were like Trump plus 10, another one that was like Trump plus 15.

Uh and, you know, when they did it, looked like maybe a smart move. I do. have to say, I think at the time I I I. did say this this might be a. dummymander. You have to be careful. I'm. not I'm not saying I'm a genius, you. know, like the swings, again, you've. been talking about this for a long time. These types of swings we've been seeing. elsewhere in special elections would. potentially put these seats in reach. Anyhow, when you look at the the the the. the primary results in Texas, how many votes were cast by Democrats,

how many votes were cast by Republicans, cuz keep in mind in Texas, you can pick either ballot. There's no. partisan registration. So, they're going. to go where the excitement is. Uh and what happened is in all four of. these districts that are new districts. they created to be their. uh safe seats, in all four of them, more. Democrats voted than Republicans, which. was. I have to admit even a shocker to me. I. thought, "Look, these might be within. reach in November. Maybe we could pick. one or two of them off.". This isn't, you know, definitively.

saying now Democrats are going to win. them, but it's about as good of a sign. as you could possibly ask for going into. uh you know, coming out of this primary. And you put some of that information on. Twitter. I'm going to throw that on the. screen. You know, in these four. districts, uh Congressional District 9, 28, 34, and 35, I mean, the 28th. Congressional District had 66,000. Democrats turn out against 16,000. Republicans turn out. In the 34th, 56,000 Democrats compared to 36,000.

Republicans. So, these aren't small. differences that we're seeing. And so, to your exact point, I mean, these might. be, you know, if these trends hold, which, you look, anything can change in politics, uh. certainly over the course of a few. months, which is what we the amount of. time that we have between now and the. general election, but if these trends. hold, then you're right, we may be. looking at a dummymander situation where. the ultimate irony is not just. that Republicans attempted and failed to. redraw these maps to garner themselves a. few more seats, but that that sparked.

off a chain reaction where Democrats. reciprocated. And we're certainly not. going to see Republicans overperform in. the five seats, for example, that. Democrats drew in California, meaning. this would like this whole thing may. very well be an unforced error wherein. nothing really changes uh in terms of. the Democratic seats in Texas, but now, because of that, you have a bunch of. Democratic seats that are newly redrawn. in California to counteract something. that never even materialized in Texas. That's right. I mean, the net effect of.

the redistricting, now again, when we. went into this, I'll speak for myself, but I think a lot of Democrats were very. concerned that this was the Republicans'. ace up their sleeve and through these. these types of anti-Democratic measures, they could come in and basically hold on. to the house by just gerrymandering. every state. To your point, they did. this in Texas, which meant, you know, Democrats truly had no choice to be able. to go into these other states. And, you. know, again, in all these places, voters. actually voted, which is something they. didn't do in Texas. Obviously, California has by a landslide.

in terms of the new map there. But now, you know, the outlook is, and we see. this, that it is more likely than not. that the net effect of the redistricting. around the country is going to be. beneficial to the Democrats. Democrats. might pick up a few seats net just out. of the redistricting measure. Um so, yeah, a big mistake. I think they have to have. a lot of regret. And to the point that. you made about those districts and just. the huge turnout disparity, some people might look at this and say, "Well, it's just a primary, you know,

did people have a reason to vote?" But. the confounding factor for that argument. is $80 million were spent by Republicans. from the top of the ticket in this. Senate race to go out and energize their. voters and turn them out. They spent a. record amount of money. Yes, Democrats. spent a lot of money, but less than. half. Right. It was it was basically. It's not like this was an uncontested. primary by Republicans. It's not like. like just John Cornyn was on the ballot, in which case, you know, what's the. point of turning out if you're just. basically voting for the incumbent. There was a pretty bruising primary.

between two candidates who have who are. on different ends of the ideological. spectrum within the Republican Party. So, if ever there was a reason to draw. these Republicans out, not just. ideologically, but also financially, I. mean, this is a pretty damn good test. case. Um There was absolutely every. reason for them to turn out. And again, you know, we we've talked about these. four districts that again are primarily. Latino districts, uh. not not exclusively, but again, significant Hispanic population across. these districts. And so, you know, that's another element of this that I.

think beyond just these four districts. has to cause great concern for. Republicans that in general Hispanic. voters just came out. They chose a. Democratic ballot. They chose to come. out in this race and not only did they. choose to come out they came out in. record numbers. Not just exceeding. Republican turnout. The other number. that blew my mind is that when you look. at a lot of these. Hispanic majority counties in the Rio. Grande Valley, South Texas, you had more. people voting Democratic in this primary.

than voted for Vice President Harris in. the general election in 2024 which just. doesn't happen. You don't have primary. turnout exceeding general election. turnout and you'd never see it exceeding. presidential turnout but it happened in. these counties and that has to terrify. Republicans. Can you talk a little bit. about that Latino vote because I I think. the the fatal flaw for these Republican. maps is that they were drawn with this. idea in mind that the realignment that. we saw in 2024 was going to be permanent.

and in fact it doesn't look like that. realignment is permanent. In fact it. looks like we're seeing some pretty. pretty egregious swings in the opposite. direction. There were certain. jurisdictions in this past November. election cycle that saw upwards of 50. point swings among Latinos back to the. left. So can you talk a little bit about. the Latino vote in this election and. what it portends for Republicans moving. forward? Well and the point you made is something. that I think we need to re-emphasize. here is that we were all subjected after. the 2024 election to this notion that. there was not just a swing in this.

election but literally the term you used. a realignment. Patrick Ruffini wrote a. book about this about the emerging. Republican multicultural working class. majority. We were all told that this was. suddenly people were realigning off race. and ethnicity lines into class and. economic lines and obviously there was a. fallacy then but if it was a realignment. there's been a re-realignment. in the last year in what we saw because. to your point Latino voters across Texas.

but to be clear this hasn't been limited. to Texas. When we've looked at special. elections around the country we've seen. Latino voters swinging back massively to. Democrats. When you look at the. gubernatorial elections in Virginia and. New Jersey we saw the same thing where. not only were Democratic candidates. going back to the the margins that we. saw you know from a decade ago but. actually in many cases exceeding them. Does that mean that Democrats can can. take Latino voters for granted and just.

assume that their their votes will be. there in November? No of course not. We're talking about swing voters but the. fact that we saw these margins just. ridiculous margins ridiculous turnout. among Latino voters especially in South. Texas is an incredibly good sign for. Democrats. Not just for James Talarico. in this Senate race which is I think. what he'll need to be able to make this. race competitive and potentially win it. which I believe he can. but but again around the country. Well it's it's difficult to talk about.

just the Latino vote when when we're. speaking about realignments without also. discussing the youth vote. So what what. are your main takeaways as far as. younger voters because this was a. blinking red light for I mean it is. existential for the Democratic Party to. to feel like we are going to lose the. youth vote in a way that the 2024. election showed. And so are you seeing. those same trends? Are they swinging. back? Is there something in the middle? What can we look for moving forward in. terms of the in terms of the the.

political affiliation of young people? You know a lot of encouraging data so. far. I think if we think back to 2018 in. the great blue wave election that was. really fueled by massive record setting. youth turnout. There was no group that. surged more in turnout between the the. catastrophic 2014 midterms and the blue. wave in 2018 and then to your point what. we saw was some receding in that in. terms of turnout especially in 2024 and. we saw younger voters of color as we've. been discussing actually crossing over.

and voting for for Donald Trump. Younger. men especially and so you know again we. talk about Virginia and New Jersey we. saw incredibly encouraging the youth. turnout surges in those states which I. don't think people have talked about. enough were just massive and drove those. massive landslide margins in those. gubernatorial elections. And here in. Texas again we only have the individual. vote history for the early vote but. that's over a million votes cast. It's. almost 60% of all votes were cast before. election day so it's a pretty good data. set and when you look at the individual.

data there youth turnout again surged by. more than any other group in the 2022. Democratic primary. So the past the last. midterm primary election in Texas voters. under the age of 30 were only 6% of. votes cast. in the early vote. In the early vote. this year they were 10%. It's a huge increase. and also just a more diverse group and. again when you look at the actual. performance there when you look at these. college campuses you look at the turnout. that they got that UT.

record setting numbers. So again. incredibly encouraging. You know I think. Democrats have to look at that and say. this is great. We see that there's a. path there but also there's work to be. done between now and election day. And. by the way that's why Trump and. Republicans are so hellbent on trying to. pass the Save Act because for example. student IDs wouldn't be a valid form of. ID whereas you know these these more. Republican favorable identification. forms of identification are. So that's like one instance of you know.

why they're so worried. But this this. really is a huge a huge misstep I think. by Republicans because they had a chance. like this once in a generation chance to. redefine themselves with young people in. a way that hadn't been done before. I. like I'm a millennial. I remember being. on college camp a college campus and. this was this was. a college that was probably a little bit. more conservative than than most and you. could not find somebody who is not like. an Obama voter. You had much wealthier. kids on this college campus you had you.

had kids that weren't so wealthy but. like there was no race based divide. there was no wealth based divide and it. was just it would be kind of kind of. social suicide to not have been. an Obama voter back when I was in school. like in you know 2007 to 2011 and and. now they had this opportunity where. Republicans really had had one culture. in a way that I didn't think I would see. certainly in my in my lifetime but but. to squander that so quickly by basically. just engaging in Bush era redux like.

foreign incursions in the Middle East. lying about the Epstein files saying. that you're going to lower prices and. then raising prices. I mean just taking. all of this goodwill and then and. basically in one year just blowing all. of that up and and missing out on a. generational opportunity to win over a. generation a younger generation in a way. that that we haven't seen Republicans. capable of doing. Yeah that's exactly right. I mean when. when I was looking at the data leading. up to the 2024 election this is.

something I flagged on on Twitter at the. time was this really disconcerting trend. where especially among young men in the. partisan registration we were actually. seeing these huge gaps emerge where. young men under the age of 23 they were. actually more of them registering. Republican than Democrat which is not. something we have seen in generations. And so to your point Republicans had. made incredible headway. and then they basically took all of the. rationale that was given to these. younger voters especially younger men to.

vote with them and then have thrown it. out the window in in the [clears throat]. past year and to your point about. winning the culture they are now you. know very much conceding the culture in. in in in different areas much to their. detriment. And so you're seeing a. reversal in the voter registration data. but I think more importantly you're. seeing it in these elections like the. 2025 general elections you know the the. age gaps in New York and I know New York. City is New York City it's its own thing. but to see record setting age gaps for.

Mondaire and and in his victory but also. seeing that for the gubernatorial. candidates the Democrats in New Jersey. and Virginia now to see that repeated in. Texas it's enough of a sample size. coming together where again I think. Republicans have to be looking at this. and and growing very concerned about the. mistakes they've clearly made and what. path that leaves them to potentially. holding on to Congress in November. It's. a much more narrow path at this point. which is why I think they are choosing.

this voter suppression path like you say. with the Save Act. and and so on and so forth. Well look I. I think that there's a lot of good news. here for Democrats to to to take but I. don't want to be Pollyanna about this. especially considering the fact that. >> [laughter]. >> right now you know we don't have the. House we don't have the Senate we don't. have the White House we don't have the. Supreme Court and we don't have the. majority of state legislatures and so I. think that we have to also have some. humility here and so which lends itself. to my next question is what are you most.

worried about as far as Democrats are. concerned in the lead up to this. election while there's still some time. to maybe rectify some of those issues? Yeah I mean what am I not worried about? I think anyone who's lived through the. last. eight years or so has to be concerned. about sort of everything but I think. you've hit on a lot of the high notes. here just in terms of the potential. voter suppression efforts. Republicans. will stop at nothing whether it's the. Save Act whether it's this idea of. putting Trump's.

ICE soldiers at polling places to try to. suppress the vote. They will stop at. nothing and also just again. my concern would be Democrats especially. folks who are investing in this and. funding these campaigns to look at it. and just say well it's so great things. have gone so well in these special. elections and these primary elections. that we don't need to invest in this. further and it couldn't be a bigger. mistake. We need to be communicating. more effectively, more directly with. these communities they've underperformed.

with us in the past. So, younger voters, younger voters of color, especially. voters of color generally. We don't have the luxury frankly of. taking any demographic group off the. table and say well they're good we don't. have to talk with them. And so we need. that investment. We need to be doing. that work. We need to get louder frankly. because what we're doing is working, right? That's the good news is what. we're doing is working. What they're. doing is incredibly unpopular. But if we. take our foot off the gas pedal for a.

second we'll pay for it. Yeah. And and I. I think too the way I'm thinking about. this is like we've been lucky enough to. have you know the the Mamdanis of the. world and Mike Sherrill's and Abigail. Spanberger's. win their elections but like you know. these if we've learned anything from. 2024 it's that to your point I mean. these coalitions are not guaranteed. and these voters are not are not um uh. inelastic and and so I I look at this.

stuff as the audition. I mean like we. have the opportunity to prove to people. who live in New York, who live in. Virginia, who live in New Jersey, who. live in these different jurisdictions. where we have new Democratic leadership. to prove to those people that they. should get reelected and that the. Democratic Party can work for them. But. I mean you know you said it like we're. we're we're not in a position where we. can say oh now that we've been elected. like it's all just smooth sailing from. here. A lot of these people are running. on affordability. That means you. actually have to prove it because you. know they voted for Trump who ran on.

affordability and things are getting. more expensive and there's a backlash. against him. So I think I think that. this is very much a situation where you. know this just blind partisan allegiance. of the past is gone and that a lot more. people who come into the political. process are not you know just team blue. or team red and they're perfectly. content to go one way or the other if it. means that the previous party who was. representing them failed to own up to. their campaign promises. And so so you.

know I look at the people who've won. again as as this isn't the end of the. line it's the beginning. This is their. audition. This is the opportunity to. prove that Democratic governance can. work and if it doesn't we can very. easily lose these people again. Well and and to your point about the. blind partisan allegiance being gone I. think that's one that we can't hammer. home strongly enough that when you look. at the exit polls from New Jersey, Virginia, and New York when you look at. the data we have from the national polls. what we know is that the Democratic. Party's brand. uh uh is is is never been worse. Now the.

Republican Party's brand is awful too. But the good news is when you look at. our successes in those races we. succeeded despite that, right? And it. wasn't because our candidates by the way. were running from the Democratic Party. They weren't but they were actually. putting forth uh an agenda, a message. that resonated. And so you know. eventually if we have enough candidates. doing that successfully that will become. the new brand. Right exactly. And I've. said that before. I know that so many.

people are worried about the brand. problem but the brand is reflective of. the Democrats who are in office. And if. we start to get enough Democrats in. office who are popular because they are. meeting people where they're at and. they're more relatable to people and. they're younger and more tech savvy, more progressive, whatever it is that. they're looking for. then we no longer have to contend with. some nebulous brand problem because. again the Democratic brand will be. reflective of those more popular. politicians. So so you know I think that. was I think that was really well put. Tom as always I I I appreciate the work. that you're doing. Where can people who.

are listening right now and watching. right now see and hear more from you? I'm on all the the various platforms T. Bonier t b o n i e r uh you can you can. find me in any of those those dark. corners of the. >> [laughter]. >> the toxic cesspool that is the the. internet these days. Well highly. recommend for anybody who's watching and. listening if you're not yet subscribed. to Tom's channels please go ahead and. subscribe. Tom as always I appreciate. the time. Thank you. To listen to the audio. version of this episode click that link. right here on the screen and please make. sure to subscribe. And of course to see.

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