BREAKING update ROCKS top Senate race

I'm joined now by candidate for the US. Senate in Texas, James Talarico. James, thanks for joining me. Thanks for having. me back. So, obviously, the big news in. the US Senate race in Texas is that you. have a primary competitor, this Jasmine. Crockett, who just entered the race. There are going to be a lot of people. looking at this race right now trying to. figure out, you know, between two. candidates who are young, dynamic, who. have a big presence on social media, who. they should support. And so, how do you. differentiate yourself from Jasmine. Crockett? Well, our campaign is building a.

movement in Texas. We've shattered. grassroots fundraising records. We've. recruited more than 10,000 volunteers. who, as we speak, are out there in every. part of the state organizing to win in. November. And our movement is built on. unity over division. So, in that spirit, we welcome Congresswoman Crockett to the. race, and we look forward to a. competition in this primary that will. make us all stronger going into the. fall. You know, I'm curious what your.

theory of the race is because, you know, and I asked her the same question is who. are the Texans that you're going after? There seems to be, you know, normally in. a state like Texas or any red state, you. would think that, okay, the question. becomes how do you reach across the. aisle and and. garner the support of those independent. voters and Republican voters? There is. also, because, you know, we're talking. about Texas, and as Beto O'Rourke. famously says, Texas isn't necessarily a. red state, it's a non-voting state. So, I asked her the question, who are the.

voters that she's going for? And the. voters that she's going for are largely. people who don't vote in Texas. And so, I'm curious what what your theory of. this race is in terms of the people that. you're going after. Obviously, both of. you can both easily garner the support. of of Democrats, but if you're talking. about independents and Republicans on. one side versus those non-voters on the. other side, who are you going to be focused on? This. is not an either/or choice. You know, I. I have experience doing this. When I. first got elected to the state house, it.

was by flipping a Trump district, a. district that no one thought was. winnable. And the way I did that was by. energizing Democrats, bringing in new. voters, including young voters. I'm a. millennial, and if I'm elected, I would. be the youngest US Senator in America. And also peeling people off from the. other side, moderates, independents, and. yes, some disillusioned Republicans. We. have to do all of the above if we're. going to win in a state like Texas. We. are not in a position as Texas Democrats.

to start closing off lanes that could. lead to victory. So, I know sometimes in. our political discourse, this is. presented as an either/or choice between. expanding the electorate and appealing. to folks on either side. In my. experience as someone who has actually. won a Trump district, a a red part of. the state, you have to do both if you're. going to win. Well, in terms of reaching. out to people on the other side, you you. recently sat down for one of those. episodes of Surrounded by Jubilee,

because I I suppose you're something of. a masochist. So, I'm curious. in your experience there, because I. presume that these folks are not people. who are already bought in. That's the. whole point of of of this exercise. I'm curious. what the takeaway was in the aftermath. of that, and what your conversations. were like from some of those people, some from some of those, you know, undecided folks in the aftermath of you. having sat sat down and spoken to them. Yeah, I'm a little bit of a daredevil. when it comes to politics. That's how I.

>> a more diplomatic way of. of saying masochist, but yes. >> Correct. I get bored easily, and so I. enjoy being in the lion's den. I enjoy. being in enemy territory, and I enjoy. making the case and persuading people. And and by the way, persuasion applies. to convincing those low-propensity. voters who haven't been showing up to. the polls. It also includes those in the. middle who we could win over to our. side. It's persuasion in in in both.

ways. And, you know, I I have gone on. Fox News, I've gone on the Joe Rogan. podcast, I've gone on the Christian. Broadcasting Network, and now I did. Jubilee so that I could actually hear. directly from these undecided voters. Some of them were left-leaning, some of. them were right-leaning. Some of them. had very mixed positions on a lot of. issues, which is actually how most. undecided voters, you know, see. themselves in our political discourse.

And so, it was a it was a a mix of all. those different kinds of voters. And I. think in that episode, I was able to. connect with all of them, and I was able. to meet them where they're at, and bring. them over to to our campaign. In fact, after the the episode finished filming, we got to kind of take pictures and and. mingle a little bit. And a lot of them. came up to me and asked how they could. volunteer for the campaign, how they. could donate. And and so, you know, I. think we were able to win most of them. over. That's exactly what we're going to.

have to do in this race if we're going. to pull off the feat of of winning. Texas. What moment was most resonant? And what can you extrapolate from that. as you continue on on the campaign. trail? Well, you know, there was a a young man. who was not sure that his vote really. mattered in this broken, corrupt. political system. And I just decided to. shoot straight with them. I found that. honesty is the the the best practice in. politics. And I said, they wouldn't be.

trying so hard to stop you from voting. if your vote didn't matter, if your vote. didn't have power. That was my proof to. him that his vote, when it's joined with. thousands and millions of other votes, can change this broken, corrupt. political system. So, in many ways, for. these young voters, we're trying to. persuade them of their own power, of of. their own ability to transform this. political system. And that's what I did. when I flipped a Trump district, that's.

how I brought in new voters, and was able to win that race. And. that's exactly what I'll do as our. nominee in this race. So, let's zoom out. to 30,000 feet and say, you know, in. this thought exercise that you do become. the nominee, there's going to be a lot. of races that are competitive as we head. toward 2026 in the Senate, a lot of. must-win races, North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, Alaska, Iowa, all of which seem on its face more. gettable than Texas. And that's. important because we have limited.

resources. And so, what's your pitch to. folks in Texas in terms of, you know, why this race is actually flippable. given the fact that, you know, we've. we've heard for a long time about how. Texas is, you know, just prime to to. flip blue any day now, and it still lies. squarely in the red corner. Well, if you take the reapportionment. estimates for the 2030 census seriously, Yeah. then winning Texas is no longer a. nice-to-have. Winning Texas is a. need-to-have. >> Yeah. It's showing that because of the.

population changes in our country, because blue states are losing electoral. votes and red states like Texas are. gaining electoral votes, that after. 2030, Democrats could win all of the. Rust Belt states, we could win Georgia. and Arizona, and we would still lose in. the Electoral College. We have to win. Texas. And I actually think we're a lot. closer than people realize. If you zoom out and look at the last 15, 20 years of election results statewide.

in Texas, those statewide elections have. gotten more competitive, not less. I remember when I was growing up here. that Republicans would win statewide by. 25, 30 points. Now, they consistently. win by single digits. In the last Trump. midterm, it feels like the Trump era has. lasted forever, but we only had one. other Trump midterm, and that was in. 2018. And that's when Beto O'Rourke, by. going everywhere and talking to. everyone, he was able to get within two. and a half points of winning our state.

And then Joe Biden in 2020, people. forget this, Joe Biden only lost Texas. by five points, and he didn't even. campaign here. So, Texas is is much more. of a pink state than it is a red state. And I think in this year, with the kind. of backlash we're seeing against the. extremism and the corruption in. Washington, this is the best shot that. we've had in a generation to win Texas. And if we do that, not only will it help. the 30 million Texans who live here, and. that's my top priority, but it will also.

fundamentally change American politics. indefinitely. And that is exactly what. should excite people about this. opportunity that we have in the Lone. Star State. As you've been traveling. around the state, you know, going back. to the question that I asked right at. the top, which is, you know, your. ability to to reach across the aisle and. talk to folks. who may not have pulled the lever for. Democrats in the past, what is the thing. that seems to be most effective, you. know, in terms of talking to these. people? Is there something that they're. fed up with in terms of, you know, what.

they've been promised by the Republican. Party? I know that we've spoken about. this on a national scale, but in your. actual lived experience on the campaign. trail, what works? Yeah, you know, I've. been on the campaign trail for 3 months. now, and I've gone to every corner of. our state. I've held rallies in Beaumont. and all the way to El Paso, from Amarillo at the very top of our. state all the way down to Brownsville at. the very bottom of Texas, and and. everywhere in between. I've been shocked. at the number of people showing up at.

our events. We've had to move venues. several times because we've had a lot. more interest than than we thought we. would. And this is in blue parts of the. state and red parts of the state. It's. in big cities, in suburbs, and in small. towns. And everywhere I go, I hear about. [snorts] people's. anger, people's. frustration with this broken, corrupt. political system. They they see. politicians like Donald Trump and Ken. Paxton and John Cornyn promising to make.

their lives easier and better. And then. when they get into power, they enrich. themselves and their donors with our tax. dollars. This kind of corruption is. exactly why we can't lower costs at the. grocery store or in our healthcare. system or. or when it comes to housing. That's. what's preventing us from restructuring. this economy to work for regular people. Corruption is the rot at the core of our. broken political system and it's what I.

want to tackle if I'm elected as the. next US Senator from Texas. So you had. mentioned that there's a broken. political system, but not necessarily. that it's the Republicans within the. broken political system. Are you hearing. people. point to the fact that yes, it's a. political system that is led by. Republicans who control the House, the. Senate and the White House or is it just. an overall exhaustion at the political. system writ large of which Democrats are. a part? I certainly think that voters are. recognizing how Republicans are the.

worst offenders when it comes to. corruption, but they also know that. Democrats aren't immune from that same. corruption. And so they see this as a. systemic problem and they want a. systemic comprehensive solution. It's. why I've said that if I'm elected, the. first thing I'm going to tackle is. comprehensive political reform, getting. big money out of our politics, banning. super PACs so billionaires can't make. unlimited secret donations to our. campaigns, banning members of Congress. from trading stocks and enriching.

themselves while they're in office and. banning gerrymandering nationwide so. that voters are choosing their. politicians, not the other way around. As you know, Brian, I led the quorum. break this summer to shine a national. spotlight on Trump's redistricting power. grab. So corruption isn't just money. It. is when people in power. use the system to hold on to power. It's. un-American, it's undemocratic and it's. why we need a mass movement of people.

across the spectrum, across the state of. Texas to take power back for regular. people. In terms of the consequences of that rot. that we're seeing pervade the entirety. of our politics, you can just, you know, nothing is a better testament to that. than the fact that our economy continues. to descend in the path down the path. it's going right now. We just found out. that between the last two months, we've. actually seen a net loss of 41,000 jobs. We've seen the unemployment rate tick up. to 4.6%. We've seen.

inflation continue to rise every month. since March. And and so obviously when. you have these macroeconomic metrics. that continue to to, you know, devolve. to where they are right now, it's clear. why people's personal finances also. aren't doing well. And that's on top of. the fact that, you know, we've seen food. costs rise as the result of the this. trade war and these tariffs. Um the the cost of clothing, of. electronics, energy prices are up 13%. across the country. And as we head into.

2026, we're going to see healthcare. costs rise anywhere from, you know, double, triple, quadruple or more. Texas, in fact, is one of the states. that's going to see the biggest increase. in healthcare costs for anybody who's on. the ACA of anywhere else in the country. And so, you know, in terms of in terms. of. the fact that this is a Republican Party. in power right now that ran on this idea. expressly that they were going to lower. costs. How have folks on the campaign. trail been responding to that? Because.

it's not like this is just something. that's happening that like, you know, the Trump administration got into office. and and you know, they were their their. sole focus on the campaign trail was, you know, uh. whatever, healthcare even and they. didn't say a word about costs. They did. They spoke about costs every day. That. was what they predicated the entire 2024. campaign on. And so not only have they. not fixed it, but they've exacerbated. those exact issues. And so is that. landing with people? Yeah, the American people have been. conned by one of the greatest con men in.

this country who is now the president of. the United States. And I'm about to go. down to South Texas this week. It's an. area of the state that I've been to. multiple times already on this campaign. It's an area of the state where Donald. Trump made a lot of progress peeling. people off from our coalition and. convincing them to vote for him in 2024. The reason that folks in South Texas and. folks in the Rio Grande Valley voted for. Donald Trump is because he promised to. bring down the price of things. He.

promised to put working families first. He promised to drain the swamp. And that. sounded pretty good to a lot of people. in South Texas. It sounded good to a lot. of folks in my family who voted for. Donald Trump in the last election. But. look at where we're at just one year. later. Everything is more expensive. Working families are falling further. behind and corruption in Washington is. the worst it's ever been. And so Donald. Trump promised big change, but he. delivered more of the same. And so yes, Trump and the Republican Party, they've.

fumbled the ball, but that doesn't mean. the ball is going to run itself into the. end zone. We as Democrats, our campaign. in particular, we've got to make the. case to these voters that they can trust. us on these issues, that we will fight. for them in the halls of power. That's. what I have a record of doing. Even as a. Democrat in the Texas Legislature, a. Republican dominated body, I've been. able to kill bad Republican bills and. I've been able to work across the aisle. to pass major legislation to bring down. the cost of prescription drugs, capping.

the cost of insulin for the first time. in Texas history, bringing down the cost. of childcare, which is now more. expensive than college, and bringing. down the cost of housing. Most young. people in Texas don't believe that. they're going to be able to own their. own home one day and that's a key part. of the American dream. So. I am making that case to voters in South. Texas this week. I'm going to make that. case to voters all over the state so. that we can win this election and get. this economy and this country back on. track. Okay, so most young voters don't. think they can even own a home, but but.

what about the fact that we now have a. big beautiful ballroom? I mean, does. that not count for anything for these. young voters in Texas? You're You're. They should be so grateful. Yeah. They. should be. I'm curious when you've spoken, you. know, if you go down to the to the Rio. Grande, you know, how how you perform in. 2026 is going to rely in large part on. how these this this swath of Latino. voters swings. We saw huge swings to the. right, you know, in terms of in terms of. Trump's 2024 election cycle, but then in.

this off-year election cycle, if you. look at a place like New Jersey for. example, there were cities and counties. where we saw 20, 30, 40, 50 point swings. among the Latino population. And so in. your lived experience here talking to. these folks, how has that population. seemed? Yeah, you know, I have. deep roots in this community. My family. is from South Texas. My mom grew up in. Laredo right there on the Texas-Mexico. border. I, before I was a politician,

was a middle school teacher on the west. side of San Antonio, a beautiful, historic Mexican-American neighborhood. And I've been fighting for Latinos in. the state legislature on a whole range. of issues, fighting back against the. extremism on immigration, fighting for. public education, fighting for good. jobs. And so I'm going to be making that. case to these voters in this election. These voters feel like they've been. taken for granted by the National. Democratic Party. And if we're going to.

win them back, it's going to require. that we make constant outreach in these. communities on the ground. It's going to. require us doing the organizing work all. over the state of Texas, but. particularly in Latino communities. Our. campaign has been doing that already for. the last three months and I think you're. going to see that we're going to win. these voters back in November of next. year. What's the biggest mistake. Democrats have made when it comes to. Latino voters and what's the solution? Well, one, I think it's taking them for. granted. It's assuming they are built-in.

part of our coalition. When in fact, we. should be treating them like swing. voters. I went down to the Rio Grande. Valley at the very beginning of my. campaign because I wanted to make a. statement that I was going to be. competing for these voters throughout. the the campaign cycle. And we had huge. rallies in McAllen, Texas and in. Brownsville, Texas and Raymondville, Texas. And I can't tell you the number. of young Latino voters who were showing. up to our events. And they didn't hear. about me on MSNBC or read about me in.

the New York Times. They listened to me. on the Joe Rogan podcast. They listened. to me on shows like this one. They have. come across me on TikTok and Instagram. We have to meet these voters where. they're at, both virtually, but also in. person. And that's what I have a history. of doing. It's why I was able to flip a. Trump district with a big Latino. population and it's what I'm going to do. if I'm the nominee in this race. By the. way, I should note that we that we are. going to be translating this to Spanish. as I do with all of my content. So.

you're going to be dubbed here in a in a. in Spanish. So you can say hello to your. hello to your Hispanic voters out there. And [snorts] and I will say that our. social media team is about to launch a a. channel that is all in Spanish so that. our Spanish-speaking Texans can hear. from me directly, can hear from our. campaign directly. And that's exactly. the kind of outreach that we need if. we're going to win this community back. A little bit of bad news here. I wanted. your reaction to the fact that just a.

few days ago, we had a tragic murder. here of Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle. at the hands of their son. And I think. what what really. consumed the news cycle aside from that. tragic news was the fact that Trump's. reaction to that was basically to dance. on his grave. Your reaction to the fact that you know, for a political party that tried as hard. as it could to have some moral high. ground when it came to condemning. Democrats even though there were no.

nation national elected officials, no. national political commentators who had. an ill word to share in the aftermath of. Charlie Kirk's death, um still wanted to. be able to say that the left is just you. know, this this violent brigade of of of. fear mongers and hate mongers and. violence mongers. And the first thing he. did as soon as we see event like this. was to to basically celebrate it and to. make himself the center of attention. Yeah, there is something broken in this. country. Not only is our economy broken,

not only is our political system broken. as we've been discussing, but even our relationships with each. other feel broken. It has been 10 years. of this kind of Trumpian politics. It's. been 10 years since he came down that. golden escalator in 2015. And I don't know about you, Brian, but I. am sick and tired of this kind of. politics, politics as blood sport, politics as trolling and owning and name. calling, politics as total war. It tears.

families apart, it ends friendship, it. leads the president of the United States. to dance on the grave of an American. treasure and his and his wife. And I. think across the political spectrum, there is a deep hunger for a different. kind of politics. I think we're ready to. turn the page on this Trump era and I. think some of the old-fashioned values. of honesty and service and compassion,

they're going to make a comeback in. 2026. I really do believe that and I. hope that our campaign can be a small. part of that change because this country. desperately needs it. For those who are. looking to help your campaign, where can. they go? You can find us at our website. jamestalarico.com. You can find me on. all the major social media platforms and. we encourage everyone who wants to. change the politics of Texas, who wants. to change the politics of this country. to join our movement. And I'm going to. put that link right here on the screen.

and also in the post description. If. you're listening on the podcast, it'll. be in the show notes of this episode. James Talarico, thanks so much for the. time. Best luck in the campaign trail. Thanks, Brian. >> [music].