BOMBSHELL update with Trump’s top election denier

I'm going to bring you a little bit. behind the scenes, which is not. something I really often do. The news. broke about a week ago that Colorado. Governor Jared Polis granted clemency to. election denier and Steve Bannon acolyte. Tina Peters. So, I actually held off on. saying anything because I obviously have. a lot of thoughts about that decision, but I've been trying to get Jared Polis. on for an interview to discuss. And I. didn't want to speak out before he had. the chance to come on and explain his. rationale. And I emailed his team nearly. every day and nearly every day I got.

excuses back as to why he wasn't. available, even though his team had. granted an interview to legacy media. with Kaitlan Collins at CNN. And I think. she's one of the single best reporters. on television, so I certainly have no no. beef with her, but obviously the. decision by Polis to go on legacy media. and just cut out independent media. altogether is a pretty apt microcosm for. Democrats' failures more broadly. And. so, it wasn't really a surprise that. somebody like Jared Polis has learned. exactly zero lessons in the past few.

years. Whether it's about where people. are consuming information or whether. it's even a good idea to commute the. sentences of people who wanted to. overturn the previous election on behalf. of Donald Trump. And so, now, because of Polis's decision. to grant clemency to Tina Peters, Trump. has a blueprint. He knows that if he. just attacks somebody enough, if he. threatens to sick his supporters on. somebody enough, if he uses the. government as a cudgel against his. enemies enough, they will ultimately. relent and just bend to his will. And.

so, in the face of already so much. capitulation from news networks and tech. companies and CEOs and law firms and. universities, we can now add Democratic. governors to the list of those who Trump. knows will eventually succumb to his. whims if he just pushes hard enough. This will teach Donald Trump all the. wrong lessons and it will make literally. everyone worse off as the result of it. And as for Tina Peters, she decided to. come out fresh off of her commuted. sentence and say that the Democratic.

censure of Jared Polis for granting her. clemency is further evidence of an. election rigging cover-up. That's. apparently how much she learned her. lesson. That's apparently why Jared. Polis decided to burn his political. capital so that an election denier could. further entrench her election denialism. It's almost like and I hope you're. sitting down for this, conferring. goodwill to these people buys you. nothing. I've said this before and I'll say it a. thousand more times if I have to. If. there is one thing I want to change on. the left, it is this impotence and.

fecklessness where we bend over. backwards to show goodwill to the other. side while they wouldn't be caught dead. doing the same for us. They gain the reps by complaining about. a rigged election, which is a. demonstrably false lie, and they get. their goons in the media to repeat it. over and over again to the point where. weak-willed Democrats feel the need to. offer concessions to the other side. And. then the message that the right gets is, "Oh, all we have to do is lie loudly. enough and we get what we want.".

To that end, Jared Polis is perpetuating. this exact problem. He is a weak. Democrat who has learned zero lessons. from the past and is instead teaching. the Republicans exactly how to continue. gaming the system by manipulating people. like him. Now, as I mentioned, it's not just him. missing the mark on freeing an election. denier before the courts even weighed in. on what was going to be an imminent. re-sentencing. It's also his stance on. the broader redistricting fight, which I. think is Again, another apt microcosm. for what we're contending with right. now. I interviewed him about 9 months.

ago. Here's a sampling of how that went. The Republicans are trying to. gerrymander seats not just in Texas, but. also in Missouri, and Indiana, and. Florida, and I'm sure there are a raft. of other Republican trifecta states uh. that are looking to, you know, curry. favor with Donald Trump when he asks for. something. And so we've seen a few. instances where Democratic governors. across the country are looking to push. back against this blatant power grab by. Republicans, you are in charge of one of. the few states that Democrats have as a. weapon at our disposal. This is a. Democratic trifecta in Colorado. And so,

what steps can or will be taken in your. state to counteract what's happening, the blatant power grab that's happening. at the hands of Trump and these. Republicans? Well, well, look, I think first of all, what Republicans are trying to do in. Texas, perhaps other states, is wrong. It's unpopular. In our state, and and I supported this, the voters. passed a constitutional amendment that. took redistricting out of the hands of. politicians, out of the hands of the. legislature, out of the hands of the. governor, and constitutionally put it. with a non-partisan redistricting.

commission. And so, they've done their. work. They'll convene again in. 2031 to to draw the districts for 2032. And so, will there come a point where. we're watching these Republicans rig the. rules of the game in their favor, that. that, you know, you would move do what. what Gavin Newsom is doing in. California, move to step away from these. independent redistricting commissions, so that we're not unilaterally disarming. in the states where we have the power to. do something? Well, I think from Colorado's.

perspective, I I confident we can. deliver on one to two seats for a. Democratic majority. That's what we want. to do. I think all of our incumbents are. safe. We're on the offense. We're going. to pick up one to two seats. Is there. anything that could happen. in the broader political environment. that would make you rethink Colorado's. allegiance to the independent. redistricting commission and recognize. that that we don't have that many. weapons to wield at our disposal. Colorado is one. And that, you know, in. this broader fight to be able to protect.

democracy from what is a very blatant. power grab from Republicans, that you. would move to support not just the. independent redistricting commission, but kind of view Colorado's stance in. this broader fight as, okay, we have to. push back against what is what are. anti-democratic moves at the hands of. these Republicans. Well, again, like what I you know, this. isn't the first time Texas tried to do. this. They actually did it if you. recall. They did a mid. uh decade redistricting. Uh I believe it. was when President Bush was president. Um. uh and they tried to squeeze a few.

seats. And then again, it came around to. bite them in the sense that they spread. themselves thinner. And by the end of. the decade into the next decade with. democratic shifts, Democrats won. Is. there anything in the national. environment that that would that would. make you think differently about. Colorado using an independent. redistricting commission? And And do you. understand what I'm saying about like. the the the prospect of unilaterally. disarming? Because we're showing good. government we're we're taking good. government steps in states where we have. majorities, but Republicans are just are. are just flouting the rules openly in.

their states. You know, I I. you should talk to more of a. cartographer uh a demographic. specialist. Again, from the from the. Colorado perspective, our there is no process that would allow. for it. So, it's not something we. thought about. Our state has the process. that cannot be amended in an off year. So, there is no mechanism to go to the. ballot this year uh like California's. doing. Uh it would be for at the. earliest, it would be '26, which would. almost be the end of the decade anyway.

for '28. Uh so, I again, that's not. something we've really looked at in. Colorado because we have a. constitutional process for it. >> Is a 2026 constitutional amendment. process something that you would. consider. if we were in a national environment. where things continue to degrade. precipitously like they are now? Well, our goal here, and I mentioned. this, Brian, we have one to two seats. that we are focused on picking up for. the Democrats, the eighth congressional. district and the third congressional. district. That's the district that. Lauren Boebert did represent, but she. would have lost, and she fled across the.

state. Her old district is um. competitive, and of course the there's. one that uh we should win. So, we're. going to do our part from Colorado. I. want a democratic majority in Congress. We will furnish uh one to two seats of. that majority and and hopefully that'll. be part of the total that makes Hakeem. Jeffries the next speaker. So, as you. can see, it became clear to me, probably. to you as well, that this was not. someone who is willing to meet the. moment, not someone who is willing to. recognize how dire this fight is, and. absolutely not somebody who is going to. own his own responsibility to step up as.

one of the few governors of a blue. trifecta state. And look, I completely. understand the aversion to. gerrymandering. It sucks. But the sad. reality is that it is happening on the. right regardless of whether we like it. or not, which means that we can either. let it happen while we allow them to. relegate Democrats to permanent minority. status, or we can fight back so that we. have a shot at banning this practice. nationwide, which is something they will. never do. The fact that Polis didn't and. doesn't understand that extremely simple.

concept is exactly why Democrats are in. this position in the first place. I'm going to read a short excerpt from. my new book, The Day After, that. summarizes this entire practice this. entire problem that we're contending. with. One of the great fallacies of the Biden, Obama, and Clinton years is this notion. that if only Democrats would compromise. with their Republican counterparts, their goodwill would be duly. reciprocated. If only they capitulate to. the GOP this time, this time, the right. will lay down its arms and a golden era. of bipartisanship will emerge. "I'll. hold the ball," Lucy explains to Charlie.

Brown, "and you come running up and kick. it." When Republicans are in control, they wield power in a take-no-hostages. manner. When Democrats are in control, they seek compromise, practice good. governance, defend the institutions of. government, and even make sacrifices to. the minority in their hope that their. selflessness, their righteousness, and. their virtue will be rewarded. As was. the case with Clinton, Obama, and Biden, they never are. Lucy isn't known for. letting Charlie kick the football. I wrote this book because there is very. clearly an asymmetry at play between the. two sides, and that if we don't confront.

it, if we don't rectify it, we will lose. our democracy forever. Remember, Republicans do not care about this. Democratic Republic. They care about. winning at all costs. If that means the. US has to devolve into an illiberal. democracy, they're fine with that. They'll wield the FCC against the media, they'll suppress votes that aren't for. them, they'll entrench minority rule. I. wrote that book as a blueprint for how. to fight back, how to actually wield. power effectively when we get it, while. we still have the chance to wield it. If. you'd like to support my work, I ask.

that you please pre-order a copy today. at the link on the screen, in the post. description, or in the comments of this. video, and I really appreciate it. But. look, part of fighting back is. recognizing that the time for politics. as usual is gone. Now is the time to use. every tool at our disposal because. winning is existential. If the. Republicans are gerrymandering Democrats. out of existence in every state they. control, we absolutely must fight back. That means Democrats in New York, New. Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Washington, Oregon, and yes, even Colorado all need. to start moving today to redraw their.

maps. And I get it, it's not good. government, but if we lean on good. government solutions, we are going to. good government ourselves into. obscurity. We need to be aggressive, creative, and frankly, ruthless, because. that is the only way we emerge from this. thing. And if any Democrats don't have. the stomach, make way for those who do. You're listening to the No Lie podcast. Next up are my interviews with. California gubernatorial candidates Matt. Mahan and Javier Becerra and North. Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita. Earls. No Lie is brought to you by.

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Exclusive for listeners of No Lie, helixsleep.com/btc. I'm joined now by California. gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan. Matt, thanks so much for joining me. Thanks for having me, Brian. So, I want. to jump into the California politics in. just a moment, but a little bit of. national news first. We have seen. Donald Trump decide to engage this week. in a $1.8 billion slush fund that would. basically go toward paying out these. January 6th insurrectionists. So, can I. have your reaction first and foremost to. this latest move by somebody who who has.

shown that there's not enough money for. health care, not enough money for food. assistance, not enough. resources to bring costs down, but. apparently enough money to make every. single convicted and pardoned January. 6th insurrectionist into a millionaire. Yeah, I I think it's just it's deeply. wrong. It's it This is like a. cronyism, a an authoritarian I mean, this is a guy who thinks that he should. be able to repurpose the machinery of.

government to serve himself and his. allies. This is the the opposite of what. we need from our leaders. We need. leaders who are truly public servants, who are focused on making government. work for people, for everyone, and for. especially those who are struggling. And. Donald Trump is is twisting government. to serve his own ends. He's enriching. himself, his family members, and he's. rewarding allies, and using government. to punish opponents. It's deeply. un-American. It is it is a direct threat.

to. the entire founding principles and. philosophy of of our republic, of our of. our democratic republic. It's a it's a. really scary. next step in a very dangerous direction. So, what do you view California's role. as being, especially in this era? I. mean, California has the biggest economy. in the United States, fourth biggest. economy in the world. Obviously, it is a. a bastion of progressivism um and uh and.

Democratic politics. And so, you know, as we see these overt attacks against. democracy, what is California's role. here? Yeah, I mean, we you're right. We are. the the bulwark against this Trump. administration and our job is to both. demonstrate. through our the way we govern ourselves. that we respect civil liberties, democratic norms, our vulnerable. neighbors, that we really express the. best of American values. I think we we.

do that. There are a lot of tools in the. toolkit. So, you know, one one approach, of course, which we've been doing have to have to. continue to double down on is using the. court system, making the case uh. in front of judges for our. interpretation of the Constitution and. American principles. We obviously have. to strategically use our budget to. backfill cruel cuts from this. administration, the bully pulpit. I've. also in this race tried to make the case. that the best resistance to Donald Trump.

is a strong California that's delivering. results. When we fix our challenges and. have the best policies and the best. outcomes, when we have the highest. performing public schools, the safest. neighborhoods, when we're building. housing, making it easier for people to. start businesses, when our research. universities are. um are uh are are driving innovation, we're really the strongest counterpoint. to this MAGA movement. We're offering a.

different way. And I think that sadly. some of our more visible public policy. failures in California, particularly. homelessness, overdose deaths, untreated. addiction and mental illness have given. oxygen to the MAGA movement, which is. why in addition to the the legal and. rhetorical battles, I also want us to be. focused on holding ourselves. accountable, our government, state and. local for delivering results in people's. lives and being that strong counter.

example. Okay, so let's talk about some. of those issues. You touched on the. first one that's obviously. especially difficult to contend with. Well, you touched on two, which are. homelessness and housing. And so I want. to jump into housing first. Uh. what is your priority in terms of making. housing more affordable and plentiful. and easier to build here in California? Yeah, right. It It is the core issue. California has is losing people, young. people are losing hope because they.

don't see a path to home ownership. They're They're struggling just to pay. the rent because it's going up faster. than income. That's true for so many. people, people in the kinds of. neighborhoods like the one I grew up in. I I grew up in a family uh you know, working-class community. My mom was a. teacher, my dad was a union letter. carrier, mailman. We were paycheck to. paycheck growing up. Whether or not we. were going to be able to pay the. mortgage was a source of stress. And I. now realize in retrospect we were. privileged to have a mortgage. I mean, so many people are, you know, one.

medical uh bill away from losing their. apartment or or their home. So, um look, I I think fundamentally what we have to. do is make it easier, faster, and and. less expensive to build. It's a It is. fundamentally supply and demand issue. We are blessed with a state that has. seen a lot of job growth, a lot of. innovation. We're very entrepreneurial. These things are not accidents. I think. part of why California has the fourth. largest economy and is so. entrepreneurial is because we're open. and welcoming. We embrace people from.

all over the world. We celebrate our our. difference and diversity. We create room. and upward mobility for people. and. that's led to a lot of job growth. Sadly, our own policies have gotten in. the way of building the housing we need. So, I put out a very comprehensive plan. that's based on what I've done in San. Jose to remove barriers and get. thousands of homes under construction. We cut our permitting timelines in half. We dropped our one-time fees. Cities. have a lot of fees and process and red. tape and we just we can learn from other.

states. We we we may be a you know, the. best state in the country, but uh. doesn't mean we've got everything right. and you know, in Colorado they're. building the exact same home at half the. cost. A lot of that is fees, permitting. timelines and and regulatory burden that. that we've created through our own. policies. So, we have to fix that. You. know, if if that process seems. obviously so intuitive, why do you. presume that that current leadership in. California at the state and local level.

hasn't done enough to to basically. counteract it, to rectify these issues. that everybody seems to be able to. diagnose right now? Well, we're moving in that direction and. I I think Governor Newsom has done and. and the legislature has done some. important work around making it easier. to build from a zoning perspective. We. have you know, there was this movement. that the shorthand was legalize housing. We shouldn't have restrictive zoning and. height limits and so that movement you. might call the YIMBY movement has scored. really impressive and important wins in.

recent years, but we still have this. cost issue and the cost issue is harder. because it is counterintuitive for. Californians, for many of us in the. sense that it it creates tension with. our deeply held environmental. inclinations, labor rules and and and. you know, there are trade-offs. We have. impact fees that sound great on paper. and have real constituencies behind. them. I talked about fees. So, let me.

just break this down. Cities across the. state. had one-time development fees that often. add 10 to 20% to the cost of housing. That it is much lower in Colorado or. Texas or other places, but those fees. represent things people really care. about. The. The inclusionary requirement to afford. basically affordable housing fees, park. fees, traffic impact fees, other. environmental mitigation. And so you. have a constituency around each of these. fees and historically.

that was the solution. It was actually. business and you had unbridled. capitalism and it was well, we need more. fees. We need more pathways to sue if. developers do bad things, but we've. swung the pendulum to a point where even. though it all sounds good and it all. started from a well-intended place, we've made it so expensive to build that. it's hard to finance a project these. days. So we just have to right-size it. All right. So um. on on the other issue that I brought up, which is homelessness, what sets you. apart from the other candidates who are.

running? Obviously, you know, you can't. have a gubernatorial race in California. without discussing the issue of. homelessness. That's one of the issues. that that you alluded to were being. seized upon by the right. Um and you. know, every year, every election we have. state and local officials come out and. say that they're going to do XYZ to. solve homelessness. Uh why are you in a. position where you're able to do it? Yeah, because I'm the only candidate who. has who has done it and as a mayor of a. big city, I'm proud of my track record.

I challenged us to treat homelessness. and and particularly unsheltered. homelessness. People living outside in. tents and cars with no services, no. infrastructure, no hope in so many cases. to really treat it like a crisis. Politicians love to run for office. calling homelessness a crisis and then. they get into office and they don't act. like it's a crisis. If if you have a. fire or an earthquake, you scramble to. set up safe safe places for people to.

go. You bring in aid. You immediately. start helping people rebuild and and. triage what people need. We we've come. to so many of our political leaders have. come to see street home unsheltered. homelessness as as an inevitability. And. I said, "No, that's wrong. We can't. leave human beings outside to live and. die, literally die on our streets.". We've had We have thousands of people a. year who die on our streets. It's. totally unacceptable morally. also socially. I mean, the impact on the. broader community is huge. We have kids.

who are scared to walk to school because. they don't want to walk through an. encampment. And I I don't blame them. So, what we've done in San Jose is. really challenge the the status quo on. this. We shifted our our budgets to much more. pragmatic solutions. We're investing in. prevention, keeping people housed, and. reducing the inflow so we have a more. stable population so we can really help. the folks who are out there and not just. have this continuous flow of folks in. So, that's short-term rental assistance. and case management and and various.

strategies around prevention. And then. for those who are currently in in. unsheltered tent encampments, we have. built interim housing. 2,200 units of. converted motels, tiny homes, and. modular units, and really built fast, cost-effective alternatives to the. streets. And then number three, and this. is the part where. you know, my own party, Democrats, sometimes are hesitant, but I've seen. the results. We have held people. accountable for coming indoors when.

private interim housing that meets. people where they are, that's low. barrier, does not have a strict sobriety. requirement, allows you to bring your. pets, your partner, your possessions, really designed with the input of people. who have the experience of being. homeless. When it's available, we let. people know in our city, "Camping can't. just be a choice. We got to get you. indoors into a safe place. And that. balance of compassion and real. alternatives combined with some. accountability has led us to lead. California in reducing homelessness.

We're down 1/3. We have 1/3 fewer human. beings living outside in tent. encampments than when I started as. mayor. And I I think we've really. started to build a model for how we how. we solve this crisis in California. So, if you were to put. a number. on on what a reduction in homelessness. or homeless encampments would look like. that you would consider a success by the. end of your first term as governor of. California, what would you put that. number at?

Yeah, it's a it's a great question. I I. would say something on the order of 1/3. as we've done in San Jose. I'm I'm in my. fourth year in San Jose and what we did. in the third largest city in the state. is what I was just describing and built. we scaled up cost-effective. alternatives. We invested in prevention. We saw the number of people living. outside come down by about a third. So, it'll be on that order. I mean, I will. say I am always skeptical of politicians. who come in with these big headline. numbers. We're going to build 3 million. homes and then we you know, we build.

500,000 or something. So, I just I you. know, but yes, we we have been heading. in the wrong direction. We've been. spending tens of billions of dollars and. we've seen the number of people outside. either grow for many years or now kind. of level off. Totally unacceptable. We. need to scale up a lot of shelter. We. need to build more housing. We need to. invest in prevention. And when. alternatives to the streets are. available, including treatment centers, we need to require people come indoors. Finally, um a topic that that's near and. dear to my heart as I live in Los.

Angeles, moved here for the. entertainment industry, and have watched. the industry get decimated over the. course of the last decade or so. We're. at the point where we have the fewest. number of people who work in the. entertainment industry in Los Angeles or. in California more broadly that we've. had, you know, I think since they've. been tracking this. And like. anecdotally, I've seen my own friends in. my own circles of people leave this. state and in some cases leave the. country to follow the jobs, whether it,

you know, whether it be in the UK or or. Canada. And of course, there's a. bustling film industry and plenty of. other countries around the world, Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria, um and uh and so in terms of kind of. resuscitating this industry, uh what would be your plan for. Hollywood? Yeah, thanks Brian. And you know, all. three of the issues you've you've raised. here, uh housing costs, homelessness, Hollywood, our three H's, are are all.

real crises for the state and they need. to be treated as such. I'm I'm running. because I've seen a complacency in our. government around these issues and and a. few others I would say are our third. grade reading levels would be another. that for me would rise to that level. where a majority of our kids are not on. grade level for reading, just to give. you another example. But on Hollywood. specifically, you're right. In a an. iconic industry, a core part of. California's identity, a source of well.

over 100,000 middle class jobs, a. a driver of so much other economic. activity, the heart of of what of our. most important largest city, it is at. risk here. And we have been way too slow. to react. I put out the first plan for. bringing production back to California. of any of the candidates in this race. I. took a lot of time early on when I first. got in the race to talk to everyone, a. really diverse set of people in the. industry. Um you know, the the unionized.

workforce, SAG-AFTRA. and and IATSE and and the Teamsters and. other and their members. Um you know, talent, uh producers and. directors, financiers, and really get a. well-rounded view of it. The first and. most important thing we have to do. is put a stake in the ground, recognize. that production's not coming back if we. aren't bold, and create a tax credit. that makes the cost of production uh.

feasible in California. And my proposal. is dead simple. It was the first plan, it's the simplest plan, I think it's the. best of any of the candidates in this. race. It is matching what you're seeing. in other very competitive states and. countries. It's a 40% tax credit. It's. above and below the line, so you're. capturing the full production cost, and. it's uncapped. So, we just say this is. the new rate, and you don't have to go. through a bunch of rigmarole of of all.

this paperwork and then waiting and. hoping and am I going to get it and is. it tapped out or not? And And that. uncertainty kills investment, as you. know. So, I think we keep it dead. simple, very aggressive. Now, we know. there are other things. We've got to. solve the housing crisis so that people. can afford to live here who work in the. industry, right? We've got to improve. permitting so that the friction around. actually shooting in California is more. straightforward. I mean, there are other. things that have to be AI is a threat to. the industry. We've got to strike that. balance between two of our leading.

industries, our creative industry, Hollywood, and tech, and say, like, your. image, your likeness, your voice is part. of your is your IP. It's It's It's. something It's you, and you need to be. compensated when it's being used by a. third party. And so, I think there's a. lot to work on here, but I would start. with just making it possible to finance. production in the state again, cuz I. think that's really at the heart of. where we started to get our lunch eaten. by a lot of other places. Yeah. And I'm. glad you said uncapped tax credit. because often times.

it comes down to that. Is Is the tax. credit better here or in Atlanta or in. New Orleans or in New Jersey or in New. York? I mean, all of these. different states, and of course. different countries, saw what we were. able to build in California, and how. lucrative and and. sexy this industry is, and you know, did. what they needed to do to take it away. And a lot of times, you know, these. producers are just looking for where is. it going to be the most financially. viable, financially advantageous for me. to do this project. And if there's. better tax credits in Atlanta, they'll. go to Atlanta, like Marvel did. And then.

Marvel saw that there were better tax. credits in the UK, and so they left. Atlanta and went to the UK. And so often. times, it's just that's the bottom line, is who's going to have the best tax. credit. We know that as far as tax. credits are concerned are concerned for. the entertainment industry, it's a net positive ROI. And so the more. money that you that you put toward these. tax credits, the more you make on on the. other side of this thing. So I'm I'm I'm. glad to hear. your position be that that you want to. see an uncapped tax credit.

I I think we it's critical, and and it's. a huge risk to not do it. We are already. paying the price, and it and again, it's. not about it's about the workforce. This. is about people having careers and. opportunity, and and it's about our our. identity as a state. I I Yeah, I take it. very seriously, so I appreciate you. asking, and and it's solvable, and as. governor, I'm going to make it a a. priority. And finally, last question. here. Um I've been especially focused on. redistricting on the national level, and.

I was uh very supportive of Prop 50, and. uh and and using. uh the tools that we have at our. disposal to fight fire with fire and. neutralize this this power grab by Trump. that he was taking that he was taking. part in in Texas. But since then, since we've neutralized. those five seats in Texas, we've seen. Republicans redraw their maps in. Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, uh Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, and this redistricting war is.

just going to continue. Um even in the event that other blue. states are able to jump in into this. process, um which, you know, look at you. know, at its core, I do think is a. scourge, and I do want to see national. legislation banning partisan. gerrymandering nationwide. But I But. what I want to see first and more. importantly is no unilateral disarmament. on on the left. And so, even if we're. able to wield some weapons that we have, you know, for an extra seat in Maryland, um in New Jersey, a few more seats in.

New York, um a few options for seats in. in Illinois and Colorado, we still have. no bigger weapon than California. And. so, in the event that this continues to. go um in this direction, would you be a. proponent of a map that's that's. basically a a 52-to-nothing map in the. event that, you know, we have these. Republican states who view this process. as them being entitled to. engineer themselves a permanent majority. in the House? And if California is one. of the only weapons that we have to.

counteract that, um until we have some. nationwide legislation banning partisan. gerrymandering nationwide, would you be. in favor of a more aggressive approach. to neutralize what we're seeing happen. at the hands of the GOP? Well, Brian, I. Look, I supported Prop 50, and I I hear. your argument, and I I I fully agree. with I think you made the key point, which is you can't unilaterally disarm. And so, I get it where you're coming.

from with this. What I said though when. I endorsed Prop 50 was I fear this is a. race to the bottom that has no end, and. that in the long run, it's not clear to. me that. our party's going to win this. And so, am I am I open to continuing to fighting. to fight fire with fire? Yes, and I I. need to look at your your proposed maps, but but look, I I think that that at. some point. this this doesn't serve anyone. And my. my fight more than anything is number.

one I guess I'd say two things on it. Number one, we have to make a stronger. case nationally to ban partisan. gerrymandering in all 50 states. And I'm. I I know you're acknowledging that. I. know we're not disagreeing on that. I. just I I think we sort of say it in. passing and then move back to the our. entrenched, you know, partisan battles. And I want to I want to find a way and. it it's a priority for me to build a. more diverse coalition and really change. public opinion on this nationally. because I think it really undermines the. long-term health of our democracy and.

I'm worried about it. And so I mean, frankly, I kind of held my nose and and. endorsing prop or supporting prop 50. because it just it felt like we're in. this race to the bottom. It's really. dangerous. Now, I get it. The the the. other side, the other team isn't playing. fair. And and so I wouldn't expect, you. know, we shouldn't unilaterally disarm. But here's the other thing I'd say. That that those games are only going to. get Republicans so far. At the end of. the day, voters are pretty smart in in. aggregate over time. And we don't always.

get it right in every election, but in. the long run I I believe that that the. the arc of history does bend toward. justice. And I think my number one job. as governor is to make this state shine, to make it work, to get to improve our. public schools, to build housing, to. bring Hollywood back, to get every child. on on grade level and and every homeless. individual indoors. And and really make. a national case that democratic policies. are more fair, they're more.

life-affirming, they are they're more. productive, they create greater. opportunity, and that our values are. right because they work in practice. And. that's that is my primary focus because. we could we could sort of. fight the political games forever and. and and end up losing our democracy. So. I'm I guess I'm a little, you know, I'm. a little torn on it, to be honest. But, I'm happy to continue the conversation. with you, and let's see how things are. playing out. Matt, for folks who are. looking to help your campaign, where can. they go?

Thanks. Uh well, first of all, Brian, I. appreciate the opportunity. It's been. great to chat with you. You asked some. great questions on really important. topics. My uh my website's probably the. best starting place, Mahan, m a h a n. for california.com. Pretty easy to to find online. And then, I'm all over social media. You can find. me on any platform. We're constantly. talking with folks about the issues and. how we're going to get California on a. better track and really make sure it is. that beacon of inclusivity and and hope.

and upward mobility and really a strong. counterpoint to this to this MAGA. movement. So, um so, Brian, thank you. for the opportunity. >> Of course. Well, I'm going to put that. link to your website right here on the. screen and also in the post description. For those who are watch uh listening on. the podcast, I'll put it in the show. notes. Uh thank you so much for taking. the time. Best luck in the campaign, Trail. Thanks. Likewise. Appreciate it. I'm. joined now by candidate for governor of. California, Xavier Becerra. Thanks so. much for joining me. Brian, good to be with you. So, a lot to. discuss here as it relates to. California, but just want to cover some. some national news for the moment. Uh.

there has been a lot of talk about the. fact that Trump has put forward this. $1.776. billion. slush fund to pay insurrectionists. uh who participated in the January 6. riot. Can you give your reaction right. now uh to the idea that even when. Americans don't have enough money to pay. for healthcare, food assistance, uh. gas, groceries, you name it, that we. apparently have enough money to turn. each one of the 1,500 pardoned. insurrectionists into millionaires?

Yeah, money uh taxpayer money for. lawbreakers. Uh make sense of it, Brian. I I I can't. Uh we're paying in. California six, seven bucks a gallon for. gasoline because of Trump's reckless war. with Iran. Uh and now he's talking about. giving more than a billion dollars away. to his cronies, to his uh those that he. pardoned who were convicted of. committing crimes, in some cases. committing crimes against the law. enforcement uh uh officers. So, I don't.

get it, and it's not so much Donald. Trump because it's no longer about what. Donald Trump says and does. It's really. what Republicans in Congress say and do. Will they support this? If so, then they. are uh accomplices to this. uh not only illegality, but the. recklessness in using taxpayer dollars. All right. So, want to. look into the California race for for a. moment now. There are obviously a lot of. Democrats who are vying for uh for this. spot in the jungle primary runoff. What. differentiates you from the other.

candidates? Right now, you know, polling. just beneath you, depending on the poll, is Tom Steyer, and then Katie Porter and. Matt Mahan. Uh I'd say that uh. I won't need training wheels when I get. into the governor's office. Uh this is a. time of crisis, whether it's the crisis. of the cost of living for so many. Californians as it is for the rest of. the country, or whether it's the. man-made crisis coming from Washington, D.C., like this latest one of giving. away over a billion dollars in taxpayer. funds so you can help lawbreakers uh.

feel more gleeful that uh Donald Trump. got elected. I I it it's kind of crazy, but you need someone who actually knows. how to deal with this, and it helps to. have someone who's actually balanced the. budget the size of the state of. California. I'm the only candidate who's. actually balanced a budget larger than. the budget of the state of California. I'm the only candidate who knows what it. means to declare a state of the of. emergency and have to deploy resources. and personnel to respond as I did when I. was secretary of HHS. And I'm the only. one as everyone talks about being able.

to take on Donald Trump. I'm the only. one that really did it. I took him on. toe-to-toe when I was attorney general, and it not just once, not just twice, but over 120 times, and we beat him in. court all the way to the Supreme Court. I defended the Affordable Care Act in. the Supreme Court, beat Donald Trump. I. defended the DACA program for dreamers. all the way to Supreme Court and beat. him. And so, I think people are finally. saying that as they look at the. candidates, it it helps to have someone. who won't need training wheels once they. enter the the governor's office. All.

right, so let's talk a little bit about. three issues that I've been especially. focused on are housing, homelessness, and and Hollywood. And I've been. speaking with with both California. gubernatorial candidates, but also LA. mayoral candidates. I live here in Los. Angeles. But as it relates to some. housing reforms that you would like to. see, can you speak about what would change. under your administration? We'd move faster to implement the. reforms that we're finally seeing take. place in the legislature, where we're. going to streamline the the process of.

permitting, the zoning requirements that local. governments impose, the the fees, the. impact fees, and the cost that are. saddled on a developer in order to get a. project going. We're going to try to. streamline all of that, make it so that. you could actually get your permits and. your sign-off faster than it actually. takes to build the property. Because. today it takes longer to get through the. bureaucracy than it does to actually. build the units. And so, we have to flip.

that around. So, it becomes. a prospect where you can actually see. not just the light of day, but you can. see how you'll be green, not not in the. red after you you do the construction. And so, that could take any number of. forms. There are some 40,000. affordable housing units that are. actually ready to go, shovel ready. They. just don't have the adequate financing, so they're on hold. I would do. everything I can in my first 100 days. I. will declare a state of emergency in our. housing crisis, and I will do everything I can to find. the money to unstick those so people can.

see that they're we're actually. building. I think that starts to give. people confidence that we're serious. about what we say. And how do you do. that? Do you hire more people for. permitting? Do you Do you Do you have a. a mandatory cap on the number of days. that a permit could be languishing. before it's automatically approved? Like. what does this look like in practice? Because, you know, I know from friends. who are contractors, I know from. listening to God knows how many. interviews from people, oftentimes, and. you alluded to this as well, oftentimes.

you spend more time just waiting for. permits and and shouldering um and. shouldering those those costs than you. do actually putting a shovel in the. ground and building, those carrying. costs. And so, what would be your specific plan to make. sure that that the whole permitting. process can move quickly? Yeah, administrative time limits. Uh the agencies would have uh shot. clocks. They would have a limited amount. of time to get the work done. They can't. come up with an excuse. Uh secondly, you.

make sure that you limit that the types. of activities that a a uh developer has. to jump through the hoops. So, if you if. you jump through one hoop once, you. don't have to jump on a second time but. with a different agency. Once you've. done it once, you're clear. And once. you've gone through all those check uh. checking all those boxes, then by right, you should be able to build. And so, you. don't have to go back to square one. And. you can accelerate this By the way, you. don't need more people to do that work. What I will do is I will have within my. office essentially a SWAT team that will.

manage this for the state government to. make sure that our agencies are not the. hurdle, the obstacle to getting these. permits taken care of and moving. forward. So, we'll do all we can on our. end to move the process. We'll work with. local governments who also have an. interest, of course, in how this is done. uh to make sure that they don't delay. And what we'll then do is make it clear. You go through that process, you check. your boxes, you start building. Now, another issue is homelessness. I'm.

curious what your reaction to to the. most recent interview that Spencer Pratt. did with CNN's Alex Michelson where he. basically said, you know, he was talking. about Los Angeles specifically, but this. idea of taking people and putting them. into some. um. finding some space to like round up. homeless people. within the city limits and putting them. there and mandating some type of. treatment. I don't know if you've had. the opportunity to see. uh that interview or what I'm speaking.

about, but can I have your general. reaction to that? Yeah, and I haven't seen it, but based. on how you've described it, I'd say. it's a coarse description of the type of. work that ultimately. we we need to head towards something. that shows progress. That sounds a little rough, probably. sounds a little illegal, but what I. would say is this, you have to have. outcomes. You can't Accountability is. the operative word when it comes to. homelessness. If we are going to give.

billions of dollars, and it's been tens. of billions of dollars over the last 5. to 8 years that we've given to cities. and counties, we we're entitled to see. results. Yeah. And that means outcomes. And what I would say is this, if a. program that a city employs is not. producing results, getting people off. the streets, then shut it down. If a. program is producing results, then scale. it up. Get the money from the program. that isn't working and give it to the. program that is. But ultimately to the. degree that Spencer's talking about. moving people off the streets, everyone.

says the same thing. It's just how you. do it so you don't. confront the law having done it the. wrong way. We all know that the. homelessness crisis is just not a. homelessness crisis. It's not a shelter. crisis by itself, right? It's a mental. health crisis. And if we don't tackle. that mental health element along with. the drug. addiction crisis, then we're never going. to resolve it. So I would make sure. we're doing that. And quite honestly, as. governor, since I don't control the. streets of a county or a city, my. biggest role will be to make sure people.

don't become homeless. I will work to. improve the programs that we have to. prevent people from losing their shelter. because it costs so much more to pick. someone off the street, get them stood. up, get them cleaned up, get them ready. for a job than it does to help someone. who's already working but had a medical. emergency that took all their money or. lost their job and they're right now. temporarily without work and they're. looking for a job. I'll stand you up to. keep you housed versus wait till you get. become homeless and then try to pick you. up. You know in speaking with Mayor Bass.

in Los Angeles, she had mentioned that. she that the city had spent roughly 700. million dollars and had gotten a few. homeless people off the streets and into. facilities but like a few thousand. people on 700 million dollars seems. seems kind of egregious. Do you would. you say that that that program would you. consider that program a failure? I certainly don't see it anything that. spends hundreds of millions to get only. a few thousand off the streets. I don't.

see that as a success. I have to go into. the details obviously to find out what's. going on. but I would want to make sure that we're. getting real results for the money. If you think about how many. units you can actually build for 700. million dollars, I mean I hate to think of it that way. but if you can't move people off the. street when you're spending more money. than it takes to build a unit, something's wrong. Yeah. wrong. And as I. said, I would I would scrap those. programs that aren't really succeeding. and then scale up those that are. And.

there are some that are successful. So I want to move over to the issue of. Hollywood. I moved to Los Angeles 15. years ago to be a part of the. entertainment industry. I remember what. it was like to be in this city when it. was bustling and working and I see what. it's like now where you know we have we. have lost people. out of this industry for years and years. and years not only to other states but. other countries who recognize. what a lucrative and and successful. business it is. And so I'm curious what.

your plan to revitalize the. entertainment industry in Southern. California would be. Yeah, and Brian, here I have to start. off by reminding folks that I was the. congressman who initiated the production. tax credit for the entertainment. industry back in the early 2000s. because being the congressman for. Los Angeles and being the only LA-based. member of Congress who sat on the Ways. and Means Committee, which is the tax. writing committee, where you do credit. tax credit work, I was approached by the industry early.

on and they said, "We're we're getting. ravaged. We can't compete with the types. of incentives that are being provided. throughout the world and throughout the. country." And so they were saying, "We. need help." And so the first couple. years was tough because everyone. thought, "Well, why do you need to give. Tom Cruise or George Clooney a tax. credit to produce?" I said, "It's not. them. It's the grips. It's the. construction workers who who build the. sets. It's the caterers who feed. everyone." The ripple is so vast. Finally, we were able to get it through.

and it passed. >> it's beyond that. I mean, it's it's. transportation. It's local hotels. It's. local restaurants. It's it's the entire. industry is downstream of these. productions going. And so yeah, you're. you're you're right to say that it's not. just Tom Cruise and George Clooney. There are there are hundreds of. thousands of people who rely on this. industry thriving to survive. Well, we. got it through and since then we've now. seen the state jump in and do something. and last year they improved it. You're. even seeing the localities now, Los. Angeles trying to do more. And so here's. what I would say. Hollywood is iconic.

It's not just an industry. It's it's an. icon. People come visit Southern. California just so they could take a. photograph in front of the Hollywood. sign. We will lose so much if we lose. the industry. It won't just be the. production. It'll be everything that. comes with it, the tourism, the things. that make Southern California a. destination point. So, we got to fight. You somebody pulls out a knife and says. we're going to give you a tax credit if. you come do your production in Sydney, then we pull out a knife, too. If. somebody in Toronto says we got to pull. out a gun to make it attractive for you. to come, we pull out the gun. Fight fire.

with fire. We do everything we can. because so long as this industry creates. more wealth and revenue for the state of. California than it costs to do a tax. credit, then that's where we're going. Would you be in favor of uncapping the. tax credit recognizing that based on the. studies they've done for previous tax. credits, there is a a net positive. result. I think you you spend a dollar, you get a dollar 14 back. So, for every. dollar that you invest, we make more. money, not to mention all of the.

intangibles that we just discussed. And. so, to that end, recognizing that this. is a profitable venture, would you would. you be in favor of uncapping the tax. credit? Yeah, that's uh let me put it. this way. That's my default where I. would want to go, Brian. But, here's. where I here's where you tell you a 20. years of doing tax policy comes into. play. You get a lot of promises, a lot. of uh promises for what you what you do. on policy. And sometimes those who make. the promises don't deliver. So, here's. what I say. I'm willing to go wherever. we need to, whether it's uncapping,

whether it's decreasing the the. percentage of the credit that can go for. a particular types of production. What I. want to know is I want to see results. I. want to see that that caterer is still. in business. I want to find that that. construction worker is still building. the sets. I don't want the money just to. go to the George Clooneys and the. uh Tom Cruises and the the profitable. uh uh directors and uh all the folks in. the studio. I want to see it going I. want to see it rippling out to the. entire economy. And so, show me. And.

that's where where I say I want to get. data. The one thing I will really push. is to get the data that shows us what's. going on. So, we can then say with. evidence to the legislators and to our. people who are going to say, "What. gives? You're giving tax credits to the. movie industry?" I say, "This is why.". And cuz these jobs depend on it. Your. your your economy, your local economy. depends on it. But I want the data. And. so I want to see where the real numbers. are so we can make sure that it's. reaching everybody who's supposed to be. in the industry benefiting from these.

tax credits. For those who are looking. to help your campaign, where can they. go? Uh Becerra Xavier Becerra 2026.com. or just watch the news. You'll see some. commercials. You'll know how to get a. hold of us. Great. I'm going to put that. link right here on the screen and also. in the post description. Secretary Becerra, thank you so much for. taking the time. I appreciate it. Ryan, good to be with you. I'm joined. now by North Carolina Supreme Court. Justice Anita Earls. Thank you so much. for joining me. As we see right now the. results from the Georgia State Supreme.

Court election, which obviously didn't. go the way of both liberal candidates. How does that inform the urgency of this. moment as it relates to your race in. North Carolina? Well, I can promise you. So I first ran. in 2018. And that was also 2 years after. President Trump was elected. And so I. certainly understand that I don't take a. single vote for granted. We're we're. going to work as hard I've been. campaigning since really since January.

of last year. And. you know, it's a big state, but my goal. is to get across the state so that. people know who I am, what I stand for, what our court does. I just don't think. they've had that same experience in. Georgia. Yeah. So so I I. I've not for a minute have ever said. that I'm going to rely on the the wind. at our back as Democrats in the state. I. know that. even in 2024, there was huge drop-off.

between top of the ticket. Some almost 200,000 voters voted for. Governor Josh Stein and did not vote for. Democrat Justice Allison Riggs. So, so. we know that at my campaign, we know we. have to. do everything we possibly can to reach. voters across the state. You had. mentioned Justice Riggs race and I was. heavily involved in. in promoting that race as much as I.

could. I think I had Justice Riggs on. no fewer than half a dozen times while. she was campaigning. Are you expecting. any similar interference given the fact. that obviously North Carolina. Republicans have a proclivity to. interfere in these elections and and. this isn't even new. I mean, North. Carolina Republicans have been have been. an especially anti-democratic breed of. that party for a long time from early. efforts to gerrymander that that state. with I think the the judge in that case.

said that it was done with surgical. precision. all the way to the Jefferson Griffin. example where. you know, there was a concerted effort. to try and just undermine Justice Riggs. win by trying to invalidate votes that. benefited her from jurisdictions that. benefited her. So, are you expecting any. similar. nefarious behavior from those on the. right? Well, what I can tell you prior to being. on the court, I was a civil rights. attorney for 30 years and litigated. voting rights cases. It is absolutely clear that the fight to. protect our democracy in this state has.

always been a very difficult challenging. one. What I. we are seeing already and and one. important difference this year from 2024. is that now our State Board of Elections. is controlled by the State Auditor, a. Republican. All of the county boards of. elections are now under the majority. control of Republicans and we have. already seen efforts that to my mind, to. my eye mirror vote suppression going. back 20, 30 years. So, the State Board.

of Elections sent letters to 241,000. voters in this state this year saying. there's some discrepancy between your. voter registration and our other. records. Would you please contact us? But then at the bottom of the letter in. big black bold letters, it says. furnishing false information in response. to this notice is a felony. So, you. know, I've heard from folks who are. afraid that they risk a felony. conviction if they go to vote. Now, they.

don't. And anyone receiving this letter, I want to be clear, they absolutely can. vote. There is nothing wrong with their. voter registration. But that to my mind. mirrors what happened in 1990 in North. Carolina when the prominent. African-American mayor of Charlotte at. the time, Harvey Gantt, challenged Jesse. Helms for the US Senate. Again, you. know, very hotly contested race. And in. that race, the North Carolina Republican. Party sent postcards to black voters. across the state.

saying, "If you've moved, it's a felony. to try to vote." Now, that again is not. true as a matter of state law. And at. that time, the US Department of Justice. Civil Rights Division sued the North. Carolina Republican Party and resulted. in a consent order in which the. Republican Party said, "You know what? We won't do this again.". Yeah. So, again, that. putting that history on on on full. display. Now, you had spoken a little. bit about what we can expect as far as. you being on continuing to be on the.

State Supreme Court. What are some of. the cases we can expect to go before the. court to kind of underscore how. important it is to continue having. liberal voices be present there? Well, let me answer that in two ways. People should appreciate that our court. decides all sorts of things that impact. their daily lives. So, we issue. decisions that impact how much they pay. for electricity, whether or not the. state government can protect our. environment. We decided a case. implicating whether Duke power could. pass on to consumers the cost of.

cleaning up coal ash. We decided issues. about whether workers who are injured on. the job are fairly compensated, whether. people who go to the emergency room and. are charged more than uninsured and. charged more than insured patients, whether they. can sue hospitals over that. All sorts. of ways in which people's pocketbooks. are impacted by decisions that we make, but we also make those decisions that uh. impact fundamental rights. And. in 2022, our court was four Democrats,

three Republicans, and that court. decided that extreme partisan. gerrymandering violates the state. constitution. We required that districts. be drawn fairly, and this was a very. non-partisan decision. We set out. neutral criteria to measure the part. whether a map is a partisan gerrymander. or not. And so it wouldn't matter who. which party did it. If it was unfair, it. would be unfair to the voters of the. state and violate their state. constitutional rights under that. opinion. Um.

so when districts were redrawn, North. Carolina sent seven Democrats and seven. Republicans to Congress. But then the. court flipped. After the elections in 20. November of 2022, the court became five. Republicans two Democrats. And the new. court did something that courts never. do, should not happen, hasn't happened. in the over 200 year history of our. court. They said, "We're going to rehear. that same case." And they concluded that. they don't have the power to constrain. the legislature. So the state. legislature redrew our congressional.

districts, and in 2024, North Carolina. sends 10 Republicans and four Democrats. to Congress. So this really impacts the. entire country. If North Carolina still. had that 7-7 delegation, today Congress, the US House of Representatives, would. be in control of Democrats. There would. be an entirely different environment in. in Washington in terms of checks and. balances on the power of the president. And. we, you know, need to have state courts. that understand the importance of.

protecting people's rights. This idea of of. that the judicial branch has no power to. constrain the legislature. I I I presume. that's an offshoot of um the independent. state legislature theory, but isn't that. counter to the very foundation of our. government where we have checks and. balances and the courts are there to. serve as a check on a judicial or on a. legislative branch that's that's not. following the law, for example? Exactly. My my judicial philosophy would say that.

it's the role of the state Supreme Court. to hold the other two branches of. government accountable to the state. constitution. And in fact, our court. recently failed to do that with regard. to another fundamental state. constitutional right. That's the right. to a sound basic education. And we. eliminated we ended um the. piece of litigation that had been going. on where um trial courts found that our. schools were not offering a sound basic. education to all the students. A prior.

court, the 2022 court, ordered that the. state fund public education. New court, 2023, puts a halt to that order. And. then just a couple months ago, our court. ended that litigation. But I will just. want to point out to folks that other. rights our court is fully ready to order. the the the state to do the right thing. So, when it comes to property rights, if. the Department of Transportation wants. to build a road over your private. property and you don't think they're. paying you the the money that they.

should for your property rights, you go. to court. And the court will order the. state to pay you money for taking your. property rights. That that So, my point. is. it certain rights our court believes in. enforcing. They have stepped away and. and in. in my view abdicated their right to or. their responsibility to enforce the. rights of our children to have a sound. basic education and the rights of our. voters to cast a ballot and have that.

ballot counted equally. And. I just have to remind people that my. court is the one in four Republicans on. my court. ordered that the ballots of military and. overseas voters be thrown out in the. 2024 election. So think about what that. means. People who put on a uniform to. serve our country, our state court said. their ballots would not count and it was. only because a federal court stepped in. and said that that order violated due. process and equal protection under the.

federal constitution that those votes. were counted and Justice Riggs was sworn. in as a justice. What do you presume. will be the most significant case. that you'll have to contend with in this. upcoming term? We will be hearing a lot of cases about. separation of powers. Does the. legislature have the power to weaken our. our governor? They passed a number of. measures that have taken power away from. the governor and those will be pending. in front of us.

We will continue to be hearing cases. about electricity rates and on the on. the criminal side. North Carolina has the death penalty. There are numerous death penalty cases. that will be coming before us and and I. think that public safety is vitally. important. I think that our justice. system needs to. to understand what it takes to provide. public safety. So there's there's just a. lot of important issues that will be. continuing to come before us. On.

more of a national scene and I know that. you're not this is not going to be an. issue that you contend with personally, but I'm I'm curious what your what your. take on on it is. You know, as it. relates to this $1.8 billion slush fund, um from a a legal vantage, do you. presume that this that something like. this would hold up in court where. you have Donald Trump make a deal. basically with himself that instead of a. $10 billion self-deal payout from the. IRS to the president of the United. States, he's going to settle for a. $1.776 billion.

slush fund where he has. virtually unilateral authority. even though it's via handpicked. commission members to dole out money to. convicted insurrectionists. to the tune of making each one each of. those 1500. pardoned insurrectionists millionaires. Do you can you speak on the legality of. that move? What I can say is that I fundamentally. believe in the importance that no one is. above the law.

And and that goes for people who attack. police officers, that goes for public. officials, that whether rich or poor, whatever your background, whatever your. station in life, in this country, I. believe our we fundamentally. rest our government on the notion that. no one is above the law. And so that. means that that these issues now call. upon the courage of state sometimes. state court judges, sometimes federal.

court judges, but I I continue to hold. faith in the in the in the. proposition that we have enough judges. across our judicial systems who. understand the importance of the rule of. law and who have the courage to and the. backbone. to stand up and and rule the right the. right way. without fear or favor, without uh. unfairly bending the law to to fit a.

particular political ideology. So so. that's you know my my um, philosophy has. always been the importance of equal. justice under the law. I am not beholden. to any particular political philosophy. I just want to make sure that we live up. to that guarantee of equal justice. Justice Earls, um, for folks who are. watching and listening right now, how. can they help your campaign and when. does voting start and end? Right. So, in North Carolina, we, um, my.

election will be in the general election. on November 3rd. People can, uh, learn. more about me and support my campaign by. going to my website, earlsforjustice.com. I'm on seven different social media. platforms. You can link to all of them. through my website, uh, but please. follow me. Please, um, share my, uh, social media information and help me get. the word out because, uh, you know, I I. have less than 6 months now before. November 3rd and I want to make sure.

that people across North Carolina. understand how important their vote is. And and I want to, um, kind of emphasize. for folks who are watching and listening. right now that if you saw what happened. in Georgia where I think a lot of people. took the national environment for. granted and those two state senate seats. didn't go, uh, in in the Democrats'. direction, this is an opportunity to. make sure that we focus on this race and. focus on this race early. Um, you know, obviously, uh, in in trying to get a. majority back on the North Carolina. Supreme Court, it starts with with.

winning this race right here. Um, your. money, your contributions go a long way, especially, um, in these races where. there's not. got, you know, endless sums of money. pouring into them like, like, uh, like. major senate races. So, I'm going to put. the link, uh, to Justice Earls' website. right here on the screen and also in the. post description of this video. If. you're listening on the podcast, I'm. going to put it in the show notes. Take. the opportunity, elevate her voice, make. sure that people, uh, know that this. race is happening, um, and and that's. going to be the biggest step forward in. terms of making sure that people, uh,

get out there and vote. So, Justice. Sorrells, with that said, I appreciate. you taking the time today. Best luck in. the campaign trail. Thank you so much for caring about our. courts. To listen to the audio version. of this episode, click the link right. here on the screen and make sure to. subscribe. And to see more of my video. content, that subscribe button's on the. screen as well. >> [music].