🚨 EXPLOSIVE update in Epstein COVERUP
We have an explosive update here as far. as one of the principal participants in. the Epstein cover-up is concerned. So, we all watched as acting Attorney. General Todd Blanche performed for an. audience of one during this week's. congressional hearings, pretending that. the immunity deal he signed for Trump. that would prevent the federal. government moving forward from ever. auditing him or his family was somehow. not exactly what it is. We watched as he. pretended that the DOJ is complying with. the Epstein Files Transparency Act, even. though they continue to sit on 3 million. documents. And if you watched that and.
thought, "This is clearly an audition.". Not only were you right, but it looks. like Blanche booked the role. Trump came. out into the Rose Garden and made this. announcement. >> He's acting Attorney General. Tomorrow. I'm instructing dad and everybody else. that's involved in that very complicated. process, which is going to go, I think, very quickly, that we are going to make. him permanent Attorney General. >> And of course, Blanche had this to say. in response. >> Obviously, I'm honored and humbled um. that the president indicated he's going. to nominate me. Today I was I was with.
him last night at the dinner when he. when he said that. Um the confirm I I. was confirmed a year ago to be the. Deputy Attorney General. I still am the. Deputy Attorney General. I will work. with the senators. Um I have a good. relationship with the with with the. Senate on both sides. Um I don't say no. to phone calls. I'll meet with anybody. that wants to meet with me. And I think. the work that this department has been. doing um since since President Trump. took office, if you look at any stat. across the board, um it's much better. We're much safer. Our communities are.
better off. Um drugs are coming off the. streets. And and that's what President. Trump expects. And that's frankly what I. think everybody in this country expects. So, I'm looking forward to working with. the senators and and getting them the. information they they mean they need. through the through the confirmation. process. >> He says, "I don't say no to phone calls. I meet with anybody who wants to meet. with me." Which may be true as far as. politicians are concerned. But, you know. one group of people who haven't. benefited from that courtesy? The. Epstein survivors. In fact, in the. aftermath of this comment, the survivors.
released a statement saying, quote, "Survivors have repeatedly sought. meetings with DOJ leadership, including. acting Attorney General Blanche and his. predecessor Pam Bondi, to explain how. the release process has failed. survivors, identify problems with. redactions and withheld records, and. seek clear answers about what DOJ. intends to do next. Those requests have. gone unanswered. DOJ cannot keep asking. survivors for information while refusing. to meet with the very people offering. it, failing to review the leads they. have identified, or provide clear. answers about what has been done with. the evidence in the files. Additionally,
the DOJ's post on X calling a woman. hysterical for demanding that obvious. leads be pursued is insulting, unserious, and revealing. Survivors and. their advocates are not being. hysterical. They are asking the. Department of Justice to do its job, review the evidence, pursue credible. leads, meet with the people who have. come forward, and provide honest answers. about what has been withheld and why. Acting AG Todd Blanche and the DOJ. cannot continue to claim it is. protecting victims while refusing to. meet with survivors, failing to explain. what it has done with their evidence, and dismissing legitimate outrage as.
hysteria. But the truth is that Blanche didn't get. the promotion in spite of his actions. toward the Epstein situation, he got the. promotion because of it. It is his. shameless advocacy for Trump and his. willingness to lie with abandon as it. relates to Epstein that got Blanche the. job. Because at the end of the day, the. role of Attorney General is not there to. serve as the top law enforcement. official for the country, it is there to. serve as the top law enforcement. official for Trump. And with Todd. Blanche having acted as Trump's former.
personal criminal defense attorney, that. is clearly a role that Blanche feels. comfortable in. Just a quick note here. to say that if you appreciate my work, which is and always will be 100% free, a. small ask is if you could please. pre-order my new book The Day After, which explores how Democrats must. finally wield power if they're fortunate. enough to get it back. I'll also be on. tour in DC, New York, Chicago, San. Francisco, and LA in July. You can grab. tickets to the tour, and you can. pre-order the book at the same link, which I'll put on the screen and in the. post description of this video. Again,
I'll never paywall a single piece of. content, but this is the one time that. I'll ask for some support for a book. that I think really meets this moment. Thanks so much. And I'll even concede, Blanched is. slick. He can lie as easily as he. breathes. He can sit in a congressional. hearing and say that the DOJ has fully. complied with the Epstein files. transparency act when it has obviously. not. He can go on podcasts and say stuff. like this. >> I mean, listen, I'm not trying to defend. Epstein. I'm not. And and I do defend. the the work that that this department.
is doing today, right now, which is. going after every single perpetrator. anywhere. And if there's a narrative. that that that exists that we're. ignoring Epstein victims, that is false. They they know that every victim, and. I'll say it again right now, if you are. a victim, if you're a victim's lawyer, you can contact the FBI, you can contact. the Department of Justice. Um, and we. will do everything we can to investigate. anything that you have to say. >> When it's obviously not true, according. to the survivors themselves. But that's. why he's there, because he is shameless,
because he is not hindered by any. allegiance to truth or decency. This guy. is a hack attorney looking out for his. criminal client, no matter what title he. holds. And so long as he can do exactly that, Trump gets what he needs. Somebody to. protect him from his obvious implication. with Epstein, and to do so with. confidence, just like the rest of his. cabinet is in place, not because they're. competent, but because A, they're loyal. to him, and B, they can perform on TV. That's it. It's just optics. Pete.
Hegseth is not there because he is. capable of overseeing the military. He's. there because he was a weekend Fox. anchor. Sean Duffy was a reality TV. star. Trump is looking for empty suits. to put on a performance. That is the. cabinet he's assembled. So, while I'm not surprised that Todd. Blanched will be nominated, it is a. testament to the rot that has pervaded. this administration. And while Democrats. don't control the Senate, and especially. who will get nominated to these. positions or appointed to these. positions full-time, hopefully even a.
few Republican senators can recognize. the obvious fact that Todd Blanche is. not there to uphold the law or the. Constitution, but rather to protect his. client. And if they have even a modicum. of concern for the Epstein survivors, they will keep this person as far from. the levers of power as humanly possible. You're watching the No Lie podcast. Next. up are my interviews with the ranking. member of the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, and the Democratic. nominee for the US Senate in Iowa, Josh. Turrek. No Lie is brought to you by. Common Power. Last year when the GOP. started early redistricting, they made.
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any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to. zbiotics.com/btc. and use the code BTC at checkout for 15%. off. I'm joined now by the ranking. member of the House Oversight Committee. Robert Garcia. Congressman, we just. watched as Pam Bondi did a transcribed. interview with members of the House. Oversight Committee just days ago and. something that was especially striking. was the extent to which, according to to. what what you and other members said in. the aftermath of that interview, the. extent to which Pam Bondi redirected. attention onto Todd Blanche. So, can you.
speak a little bit about Todd Blanche's. culpability in this uh as it pertains to. Pam Bondi's own testimony? >> Look, I think first um look, Pam Bondi. was the Attorney General. At the end of. the day, she's responsible for what. happened at the Department of Justice. Obviously, when she came in to interview. with us, it was after she had been. essentially fired by Trump for being AG. And it was just really striking how over. 30 times she deflected blame to Todd. Blanche. So, why were were the. redactions made mistakes in Survivor's.
doc? Well, that's a Todd Blanche did the. redactions. Why was uh the files miss. you know, 3 documents still missing? Well, Todd Blanche was in charge of was. in charge of the Epstein files. Why was. Ghislaine Maxwell moved? I've no idea, ask Todd Blanche. And so, look, when the. when the transcript and the full. transcript uh is reviewed by everyone, I. think it's very clear that she is. deflecting to Todd Blanche. So, we need. to talk to to Todd Blanche. And at the. same time, >> [clears throat]. >> Pam Bondi wouldn't take responsibility. I mean, I I asked her directly five.
separate times questions about President. Trump, what he knew, if he directed. anything, and she refused to answer any. questions about President Trump. In. fact, she had a Department of Justice. lawyer next to her basically telling her. not to answer the question. So, it it. was pretty clear that she's part of this. cover-up and that she's putting blame on. Todd Blanche. >> What rationale is there for the DOJ to. have a lawyer with Pam Bondi if Pam. Bondi is no longer at the DOJ? She is. she's there in her capacity as a private.
citizen. It was it was Pam Bondi who was. who was called in to testify, not the. Attorney General because she's no longer. the Attorney General. And so, what like what grounds is there for the. DOJ to even be involved in that. transcribed interview? >> So, we actually raised the exact. questions with with James Comer and the. DOJ, no response. James Comer has the. ability as the chair to allow the rules. of the TI. We have found it to be highly. unusual and unethical for a DOJ lawyer.
who currently works for the DOJ to also. serve as private counsel to Pam Bondi. And especially when that lawyer was. turning to Pam Bondi and basically. telling her, "Don't answer that. question." or responding on her behalf. And when I mentioned President Trump, this lawyer would. basically say, "You know, we're not. answering those questions about. President Trump." So, it's it's. obviously pretty clear what's going on. here. They're controlling the testimony. and at the same time,
Bondi wants to deflect all this to to. acting AG Todd Blanche. And so, frustrating but also really clear that. Pam Bondi won't answer questions about. President Trump. We want to know why and. it puts the blame on Blanche for the. investigation. >> So, I had mentioned that this was a. transcribed interview and this wasn't a. closed door deposition. So, can you. speak about the difference between a. transcribed interview and an actual. deposition and why this was the. interview and not the deposition?
>> So, the the deposition has much stricter. ground rules. And so, a deposition would. almost always. be under oath. It would be often times. videotaped and released to the public. There's strict ground rules about the. amount of time and the length of. depositions. You essentially are. compelled to answer every question that. you're asked. Um a transcribed interview. is often times not under oath. It's. often times not videotaped. You're not. compelled to answer these questions in. the same way. And so, it's pretty clear.
that Comer wanted to give. Pam Bondi a pass. I mean, he could have. made this a deposition, and he chose not. to do it. And unfortunately, the. majority that and the chair have the. power to set the rules of these. depositions and these interviews. And. so, James Comer continues to play cover-up. for the White House. Pam Bondi should. have been on both under oath, and that. should have been quite frankly, should. have been a hearing with the public. there in the room. And of course, uh, we. we don't see that because I think a lot.
of these folks are being protected. >> What What possible rationale could there. be for James Comer to not have this be. an actual deposition, uh, under oath, other than other than like, you know, the the the obvious, which I think we. can all see, which is that the. Republican Party, all of these members. of the Republican Party are engaged in. this cover-up. But what rationale is. there not to have this thing, uh, under. oath? >> Well, there isn't one. I mean, you just. said it right there. There's no real. reason for doing it this way. I think. his reasoning was because she's no.
longer the Attorney General. I mean, that's BS. Hillary Clinton was no longer. the Secretary of State when she was, uh, deposed, when there was a clear. transcript of that interview, that uh, videotape that was blasted all across. the country. So, he could have. videotaped this. He could have set rules. that were much more strict. But he. really chose not to. And I think it. points to this broader Republican Party. that continues to play cover-up.
for the president and for the White. House. >> Can you speak about, um, some action. that you're taking as it relates to. Bondi, Patel, and Blanche? >> So, we've formally requested to to Comer. to bring in both Blanche and Kash Patel. Kash Patel was actually mentioned also, um, by the, uh, the the the former AG. multiple times as someone who kind of. oversaw the redactions piece and the FBI. agents that were brought in and how. certain things would get redacted and. and and and so forth. And so, clearly.
she continued to mention both their. names. And so, we told James Comer, "Look, we've got to talk to both of them. as part of this broader investigation.". And so, that request has been made. We've yet to hear from him on that, but. we need them to come in. And if not, we're going to make efforts, of course, to try to get bipartisan subpoenas in. place. They've got to come in and. testify about the Epstein investigation. >> Going back to Todd Blanche, you know, something that was striking was when he. was testifying just a couple of days. ago, um I believe he was speaking with. Representative Dean, um and and.
basically just defiantly. claimed that the DOJ had complied with. the Epstein Files Transparency Act, that. they had released all of the documents. that the law required them to release. It is. it is as as clear and egregious a lie as. you can possibly make. I mean, there are. 3 million files that have been released. 3 to 3 and 1/2 million files still. remain hidden. And yet And yet Todd. Blanche, the acting attorney general, just seems not to want to acknowledge.
that objective reality. And so, it. doesn't seem like that is. the behavior of somebody who intends on. releasing the rest of these files. And. so, what happens next? Like, I feel like. we're at an impasse where you have the. DOJ that's just opted not to comply with. the law. And you have a criminal defense. attorney of the former president who. continues to serve in that job as. opposed to the one he's actually. actually acting in, which is the. attorney general. >> Look, I think what happens next is we. have to continue to put pressure on Todd. Blanche. to do the right thing, to release the. remainder of the files. The survivors.
are asking for that. We have to continue. to bring in and interview folks. Look, over the next few weeks we've got We've. got people that are coming in that we. are interviewing, um former Epstein. employees, folks like Bill Gates who's. coming in here pretty soon in the next. within the next what, 10 10 to 12 days. So, there there are important interviews. that we're going to have to try to get. more information about what actually. happened, but the public pressure is. really important. I mean, you see what. happened right now with the slush fund. that Trump tried to do. There was so. much public pressure, and the courts. stepped in and did the right thing. The.
same is happening through the Epstein. investigation. With there's numerous. uh lawsuits that have been filed by both. private citizens as well as good. government organizations. There are. numerous efforts by the Congress to pass. new laws uh as well to really get to the. truth, and we've got to ensure that they. comply with the laws and subpoenas that. have already been passed, but they have. yet to do so. So, even if that takes us. getting into the majority to actually. get the subpoenas in place, compel. people to testify, we're going to do. whatever it takes to get convictions so.
the survivors actually get justice. >> And that's the part I want to dig into a. little bit here. Talk about what would. what how things would look differently. if Democrats win the midterms and we. have uh Chairman Garcia leading the. House Oversight Committee as opposed to. James Comer. >> I mean, well, first, we're actually. going to subpoena all of the folks that. were in Epstein's circle. We're going to. bring back folks like Alex Acosta and. put them under oath. We're going to. bring back folks like Pam Bondi. We're. going to have Todd Blanche in front of. us. We're going to make sure that people.
are in hearings. We're going to have. real oversight hearings on the Epstein. files, which we have not had. There have. been no hearings on the Epstein files. that that James Comer has actually. scheduled. We've had to have shadow. hearings. We've had to uh collect. testimony ourselves. People deserve to. be heard, and there deserves to be a. real investigation, and we've said that. we don't really care who is essentially. called out here. We don't care who has. to face justice, whether they're a. Republican or a Democrat. We just want. justice for the survivors and for the.
truth to come out about why the cover-up. and who abu- who abused these women and. girls. >> Last question on this, and that is, let's say that these. subpoenas are issued and Todd Blanche, Pam Bondi, Alex Acosta, Kash Patel. refused to comply with the subpoenas and. the DOJ refuses to hold any of those. people to account for their failure to. comply with congressional subpoenas. What happens next? >> Look, I think we we begin the process. like we did for Pam Bondi. I mean, Pam.
Bondi, we forced we're going to force a. contempt resolution on the floor of the. house. Later that day, she agreed to. testify. If we have to hold people in. contempt of Congress, which have. multiple different types of. consequences, we're going to move. forward and do that. And so, we're going. to have hopefully that majority to get. those votes to hold folks in contempt. But first, we're going to need to get. get the truth. We're going to have real. hearings. We're going to make those. tough requests. We're going to have real. subpoenas and get people to testify. under oath. I can't I can't emphasize. enough how important it is for people to.
know that can't lie to Congress. You got. to be honest with American public. >> We'll leave it there. Congressman, thank. you for your leadership on this issue, for not letting it slip by the wayside. as James Comer is trying to do, and. thanks for your time today. >> Thank you. >> I'm joined now by the Democratic nominee. for the US Senate in Iowa, Josh Turek. Josh, when we think about Iowa, I think. most people don't think of this as a. swing state. And so, you know, as we. look toward midterm elections, as we. look toward where folks are going to. allocate resources, why is Iowa in play.
right now? >> Yeah, thanks for having me. I would say that. for a variety of reasons. First and. foremost, Iowa is in play because we are. a state that has really bottomed out. We. are dead last for economic growth. I. mean, 50th out of all 50 states. We are. 48th for personal income growth. We are. one of two states already in economic. decline. We're basically dead last for. every single health care metric, OBGYNs, rural hospital quality, mental health.
providers, mental health supports. We're. a state that we've closed 250 more. health care clinics than we've opened in. the last 15 years. We're the only state with a growing. cancer rate, second highest rates behind. only Kentucky. And now we're leading the. nation in foreign foreclosures because. of the Trump tariffs. Then you add that. into the fact that. there's no power of incumbency. This is. the first time since 1968, you've got an open Senate seat together. with an open governor's race and two. open congressional races. And this is a state in Iowa where in.
Trump's first midterm. we won three of the four congressional. races. We were three points away from. winning all four. You know, a state that twice voted for. Obama, three times for Trump. We have. more Obama-Trump counties than any other. state in the union. And in our last. midterm. 2022, which was not a good year for. Democrats, we were only 1.5% away from. having three of our six statewide. officials being Democrats. So that means. your average Iowa voter went to the. polls and voted for three Rs and three. Ds. You add that into as well. You've got.
great candidates like myself and I think. our gubernatorial candidate, Rob Sand, with proven results of being able to win. in red areas and win over independents. and moderate Republicans. And then. lastly, I would say you look at what. they've done with federal policy, what. people like Ashley Hinson had voted for. 110,000 Iowans to lose their health. care, thousands more to lose their food. assistance just to give tax breaks to. billionaires. 119,000 Iowans seeing. their health care premiums double or.
triple. Hinson voted four times in favor. of the tariffs, which have decimated our. rural communities and led us to leading. the nation in farm foreclosures. And. she's somebody that is a. multi-millionaire. That's 10 times more. wealthy in her time in DC in only 6. years. Initially didn't support a ban on. on members of Congress owning and. trading stock. She has not looked out. for Iowa and Iowans. And Iowans are. ready for change in a real way. >> And so what differentiates Iowa from a. raft of other states that that also have.
um metrics? I mean, we look at the. South, for example. A state like Mississippi is ranked. either 49th or 50th in almost every. metric there is. There's full Republican. control, and yet that state very often. continues to just vote Republicans in. statewide. And so And so I think a lot. of people kind of just get used to the. fact that once there is kind of some. prescribed political affiliation in a. state, it it stays that way regardless.
of the outcomes. And so why is Iowa. different from these other states that. have poor metrics but keep electing. Republicans regardless? >> Two reasons I would I I would say again, uh we have completely hit the bottom, and I think often times you really have. to hit the bottom. A state like Kansas, for example, where you finally hit the. bottom and people are willing to wake. up. I also would say that, uh you know, the Trump tariffs uh have really hurt. Iowa the most, even this war on Iran. Uh. we I mean, we are upside down on. commodities prices. You go into these rural communities and.
you talk to farmers, the word that we. hear the most is betrayal. Uh the Trump. administration gives $20 to Argentina. Meanwhile, our Iowa soybean farmers are. upside down. Uh you look at uh the war on Iran, Iowa's paying huge price for this. conflict. We've already had three Iowans. lose their life. We're spending a. billion dollars a day uh over there, and. uh meanwhile we're closing schools and. hospitals here in Iowa. And and and then. uh what we were already were having. issues with with input prices because.
we've done nothing to address vertical. integration. And what we're seeing with monopolies on. input prices, then the the the war on. Iran is making it even more difficult uh. for for farmers to be able to afford. fertilizer. And uh so these are issues that like. really really really affect Iowans. And. then lastly, I I just think that. you know, Iowa hasn't fundamentally. shifted. We're we're we're an older. state. Uh we're a state that at our. essence, I mean, we're the third state. to legalize gay marriage, one of the the.
very first states to. to desegregate our schools. We're we're. we're a state that, you know, in Trump's. last midterm. had three of the four congressional. races being Democrats. 30 years had. Senator Harkin, the father of the. American with Disabilities Act. I think. we have a long history of of electing. the better candidates. And and so we're. not one of these deeply red states. We have a long history of being. a blue state, a purple state, and at. times a red state. And that's why I say. we're not a red state, we're a common.
sense state that has masqueraded more. red, and Iowans are ready for change now. in a real way. >> In your conversations with voters, I'm. I'm particularly. interested in conversations that you've. had with with lifelong Republicans or. independents, people who wouldn't. normally. vote for Democrats. Has there been any. any instances, anecdotal though they may. be, that kind of. serve as a good microcosm for the. broader environment? >> Yeah, lots of them. The I am the. Democrat that represents the reddest.
district that was won on election day. And so the two communities that I. represent, Carter Lake Trump won by 18. points in my hometown and community of. Council Bluffs, he won by 10 points. I. was able to win my district by nearly. six points, and I won that every single. by every single day going out, rain or. shine, hot or cold, and dragging my. wheelchair upstairs to have. conversations with people. And I would. go there and and I would hear over and. over and over people telling me. you know, I I can't afford my grocery.
prices. I can't afford to keep gas in. the tank, and I don't feel like people. in Washington. feel this issue or or looking out for. me. And I would tell them, "Look, I'm. I'm one of you. I understand what you're. feeling economically.". I'm someone that comes from a family. where we went to the Goodwill, we shared. clothes, had the wrong color lunch. tickets, went to the free summer lunch. programs, gone through an enormous amount of of. health care adversity, 21 surgeries. before I was 12 years old, say, "I want. to go up here not for the prestige in.
the position, but because we need more. folks that are actually going to go up. there and work for the working class, for the middle class that's being. hollowed out." And I would hear over and. over and over from. Republicans, they would say, "I'm not. going to vote for every single Democrat, uh but I like your version of Democrat, this Democrat that is focusing on cost, corruption, on kitchen table issues, and. uh and that's our way forward." I. fundamentally believe in a state like. Iowa, it is on common sense bread. populism. >> Uh and and that's what I want to dig. into here. What is it that you actually.
want to achieve in Washington? What. would you like to see um Democrats make. their priority once they get there? I. mean, we've spent a lot of time talking. about the viability of a Democrat being. able to win in this environment, but but. once you're there, I mean, the ability. for people to continue voting for you. relies upon you actually holding true to. your promises. We're seeing that happen. in kind of the opposite way right now, where Trump came into office promising. to lower costs and protect health care, and bring down inflation, and release.
the Epstein files, and really have an. America First agenda. He's on the polar. opposite. He's cut health care, cut food. assistance, sent the cost of everything surging. thanks to his trade war, engaged in war. that he swore he would never engage in, and that's raised the price of gas for. everybody around the country, and of. course, there's a a systematic cover-up. of those same Epstein files. So, people. can clearly see that those promises. aren't being. uh aren't being uh uh met, but what is. it that you want to do once you get to. Washington?
>> I want to fight for a livable wage. You. want to want to raise the minimum wage. First bill I want to sponsor is a a. dignity in work. That's going to be to. to raise the minimum wage federally here. in Iowa. 7.25 we can recognize is not a. livable wage. Second would be to do away. with 14C certificates. That's the. ability for a for-profit business to pay. someone just due to a. a disability a sub minimum wage and also. to bring collective bargaining rights. back to every single one of our workers. I want to fight to get private equity. out of housing because I think that's. the only way we can achieve the American. dream. Average age of a first-time home.
buyer now in this country is 41 years. old. There's no way that you or I or. anyone in the middle class can. certainly compete with BlackRock and. Vanguard and and and Wall Street. I want. to fight to get private equity out of. health care. I want to fight to make. sure that doctors are deciding care not. insurance companies. I want to fight I. believe health care is a human right. So, I want to fight for a public option. to be in place for people. I want to fight for our public schools. to address our cancer rates here in Iowa. to make sure that we've got drinkable.
water, but also to address the. corruption that we're seeing in DC. I want to see fundamental campaign. finance reform because I say we can have. oligarchy or we can [clears throat] have. democracy, but we cannot have both and. what we have right now. is we have outside influence from. billionaires and large corporations that. are paying off the our politicians and. buying off our elections. And I want to. fight to pass the Disclose Act to make. sure that every dollar that's donated to. a campaign to a PAC to a Super PAC is. accounted for. Also, do everything we. can to overturn Citizens United.
But then also fight to make sure we've. got ethics reforms both to members of. Congress and the Supreme Court. I'm in. favor of term limits banning of members. of Congress and their family from owning. and trading stocks. And I would like to. mandate every single member of Congress. has to host at least one annual town. hall to be accountable to their. constituents. I think if we focus on. these issues, the issues that apply to. 3.2 million Iowans, cost, corruption, kitchen table issues, that's the way forward in a state like. Iowa. >> In terms of your conversations with.
folks, what has been the biggest. disappointment that they've seen with. with the people that they voted in right. now? Like the the the governing party. right now, what what seems to have been. the straw that's broken the camel's back. for people who are defecting and may. have voted for Trump or Republicans. before and are now supporting your. campaign? >> Um. you know, as I've been traveling the. state I I I would hear. from from from from lots of folks. You. know, here's why I'm supporting Trump. because he's going to bring down our gas.
prices. He's going to bring down our. prices. He's going to bring down the. He's going to make sure that the. American dream continues for me. And. when I'm out there in these in these red. communities I say, I don't vilify these. folks. I say, look, I understand why you. voted for Trump. He accurately. identified that the status quo was not. working for you, was not working for the. middle class, was not working for rural. communities or small family farms. Problem has been every single one of his. policies have been faux populism. >> Yeah. >> From Trump tax cuts, 85% going to the. wealthiest Americans. The most egregious.
example, the big beautiful bill, where here in Iowa. we have 110,000 Islands. losing their health care, thousands more. losing food assistance just to give tax. breaks to billionaires. I really think. it is that we Iowans feel like their. representatives are only looking out for. billionaires, large corporations, lobbyists and donors, and we've moved. into the second gilded age where the. have and have nots. And I think that the. problem with DC is we've got.
millionaires like Ashley Hinson who. become 10 times more wealthy in her time. in DC. We got 73 millionaires in the. United States Senate. And and we need. more individuals that are going to go up. there with lived experience. that are going to go up there and. actually fight for the people. >> Why do you presume that that the GOP. more broadly is willing to stomach so. much of this overt corruption right now? I mean, like. you mentioned the gilded age and and I. think that's the perfect That's the. perfect encapsulation of of what we're.
living through right now. Like, you. know, the encrusting the Oval Office in. gold, the redoing of the reflecting. pool, building a a Trump arch, this. ballroom that of course no regular. Americans will ever step foot into. Uh you know, we have a a. Qatari jet that's being retrofitted to. the tune of a billion dollars uh paid. for by by taxpayers. Not only is this happening at the hands. of somebody who purports to be this. populist champion, but the rest of the. GOP is is allowing this. They're they're.
perfectly content to allow all of this. to move forward. Maybe we'll have some. modicum of pushback you know a few. months before an election. They they. deign to actually admit that hey maybe a. two billion dollar uh slush fund for. insurrectionists who are seeking to kill. cops on January 6th might not be that. great uh political optics. But why do. you why do you presume the rest of them. are allowing this to move forward um. recognizing how unpopular it is and how. bad the optics are?
>> I think they're afraid of of political. retribution uh because because they've. they've they've seen what happens when. when they lose Trump's endorsement. You. I mean you look at you know Thomas. Massie for example. >> Thomas Massie, Bill Cassidy, John. Cornyn. >> on and on. And I mean unfortunately. we've we've moved into an imperial. executive branch where we have ceded all. the power that should be in the. legislature. And I mean that's the problem with these. uh overt tribalists that that that we. have up there is they've got to kiss the.
ring and they've got to fall in line. And this is again why we need more. individuals like myself that are going. to go up there and actually say. I don't care about political party. I. never have. I really don't care if it's. a Democratic idea or Republican idea. I. want to go up there and actually fight. for bipartisan solutions to people's. problems. And my political North Star is. not going to have anything to do with. leadership. It's exclusively going to be what is. going to help the middle class, what is. going to help our workers, what is going. to help Iowa and Iowans. And I think if. we had more individuals going up there.
with that mentality in DC, we could. fundamentally change DC, and we we would. have a government that was working for. the people again, not just for the. billionaires. >> Well, I think it's clear why your. campaign is succeeding. Uh Josh, for. those who are looking to help you out as. we head toward uh toward the general. election in November, where can they go? >> Yeah, they can go to Turek, T U R E K, the number four Iowa, Turek for. Iowa.com. And really do believe, you know, I'm not. taking any corporate PAC money in this, and so we're relying on individual.
donors, but really believe that this is. a once-in-a-generational opportunity. that we've got here in Iowa to be able. to win Senator Harkin's seat back that. we had for 30 years. I'm only here. because of his work on the Americans. with Disabilities Act, and then we can. once again from Iowa have a senator that. is fighting for the people, fighting for. the middle class, fighting for social. and economic justice, and fighting for. these social safety nets like Medicare. and Medicaid and Social Security that. we're seeing hollowed out, uh not just. someone that's out there looking out for. the billionaires and the large. corporations. We got enough millionaires. up in DC. We need people with real.
experience, lived experience of struggle. both on the economic and the health care. side, because when you've experienced. it, you'll have a different level of. empathy and a different level of fight, and this is what we need up in DC, fighters for the people, and that's what. I'll be in the US Senate. >> And I just want to underscore like how. big of an opportunity we have right now. As Josh mentioned, there is no power of. incumbency right now. These are all open. seats. We have an amazing slate of. candidates between you, Josh, and Rob. Sand running for governor. Um and and if. we're able to win here and deliver for.
people um in subsequent elections, we'll. own that power of incumbency. But this. is the perfect election cycle to be able. to do that. So, um I'm going to put the. link to your website right here on the. screen and also in the post description. of this video. For those who are. listening on the podcast, I'm going to. throw it into the show notes. For those. who are looking to donate, your money. goes far in Iowa. Uh this is not an. expensive uh market in the same way that. New York and LA and those other states. are. And uh and this is a great. opportunity to flip some seats that um. that that could really make a massive.
difference moving forward. So, with that. said, Josh, thanks for taking the time. today, and best luck in the campaign. trail. >> Hey, thank you for doing this. I've. always been a big fan, and so this was a. real pleasure for me to to join you. today. Thank you. >> Thank you. To listen to the audio. version of this episode, click the link. right here on the screen, and please. make sure to subscribe. And of course, to see more video content, that. subscribe button's on the screen as. well. >> [music].
