Republicans dealt DEVASTATING news in deep red state

I'm joined now by candidate for the US. Senate in Ohio, Sherrod Brown. Thanks so. much for joining me. >> Good to be with you again, but thanks. for the way you reach out to people and. have such an impact on American. democracy. Thank you. >> Well, I I appreciate that. Um I want to. talk about some some big news out of. Ohio, which is not a state that that. Democrats normally look at or normally. feel like they have a an opportunity to. really compete in. There have been two. recent polls, the the Ohio Environmental. Council posted a poll uh that showed you. leading Senator Husted 51 to 47. That.

was on the heels of another. Republican-aligned firm now On Message. Public Strategies putting you at 47 to. Husted's 45. And so, what do you. attribute the fact that in a state like. Ohio, which has been increasingly out of. reach for Democrats over the last decade. plus, that the polling is showing you. ahead in large part? >> Well, I think it's the the anger people. have towards. uh the government now. I think it's uh.

it's the war where people it's costing. it's costing a dollar more for gallon of. gas. It's costing farmers and truckers. close to a dollar and a half extra for. diesel. Uh they see John Husted a lot of anger. aimed at him, who has voted to take. people's health insurance away, uh almost half a million Ohioans, and. and raising the price for another. several hundred thousand Ohioans in. their premium increases. Uh all all for a billionaire tax cut. So, people want a very different.

direction. Uh when I lost in '04 in '24, I lost by three points. Trump won the. state by 12. It's a very different. environment now. And when when I. announced uh you know, when I announced uh 31st back in August, 31,000 Ohioans went online and. contributed more than 24 hours. And I've. never seen that kind of enthusiasm and. that kind of just desire to change. things. You know, while you've been traveling. the state and talking to voters, what. have you heard from Republican voters.

out there? And And I ask this because. it's normally really difficult to. extract people from their political. affiliation as their affiliation becomes. more and more intertwined with their own. identity. Like people will come up and. say, you know, my my my my grandparents. voted Republican and my and my parents. voted Republican and I'm a Republican. It's It's part of who I am just like, you know, your job or or or whatever. would be, you know, your job, your. religion, whatever it is would be part. of your identity. And so, have you heard. from some of these folks who have for.

whom their Republicanism is is a part of. their identity who can't do it anymore? >> Yeah, I I had a meeting the other day, a. young a lawyer in Cleveland. Uh youngest. woman I should say it that way. A woman that practices law and practiced. for probably 10 years, 15 years in Ohio. Um it's always a Republican. She worked. in Republican campaigns and she um she. came up to me and said, "I want to put a. group of people together." So, she got a. group of about 15 people, um ages 22 to.

60 maybe, who had whose families had. been exactly what you said, who'd been. Republicans, who believed in fiscal. conservatism and believed government. should stay out of your lives, um who. believed in a responsible. foreign policy, who believed that we. should side with Ukraine and not engage. in attacks on other countries, whether. it's fishing boats in the in the. Caribbean or Iran. And they um those. they're ready to move. It's but then. they're generational Republicans. But I. I I've I've also noticed this when you.

start asking that question. I I've done. a lot of things. I grew up working on a. family farm. Um I I'm not a farmer, but. I was a farm worker. Um I milked cows. I've done all that and I've seen I go. I've spent a lot of time in rural. communities in this campaign and there's. a lot of unhappiness, but they don't. really talk about Trump. They talk about. tariffs. as if that wasn't Trump that did those. and my focus in this race is not Trump, it's Jon Husted and they know Husted was. was supporting that and they're kind of.

not ready to move, but they're close to. they're close to moving because they've. seen their markets disappear, they've. seen cost of feed go up especially and. fertilizer go up especially because of. the what's happening in Iran war. They know diesel prices and they rely on. diesel not gasoline for their tractors. and their their combines and all. And. they're not that many family farmers, but if you go and you talk to a family. farmer. in Pickaway County or Van Wert County, you know that how they're doing affects.

the whole rural economy. So, people are. very tuned into those issues. We're. going to do significantly better there. than Kamala did 2 years ago or than I. did 2 years ago because people are ready. to to vote to vote for their their. family farm and agricultural interests. >> Well, you know, speaking of that kind of. open disdain for working-class folks, especially those in your state, Jon. Husted had a had a comment that has. gotten gained a lot of controversy for.

him. I'm going to play that right now. >> And people living in poverty are just. not very they're not very. experienced at navigating. the real world, all right? That. I remember talking to one young lady who. said, "Well, I don't really know how. money works at a grocery store because. she grew up and has lived all of her. adult life using SNAP cards to buy. groceries. And so, you literally have to. teach people how to budget. If this the. buzzword today, let's face it, it's. affordability, right?

>> So, that was Jon Husted say claiming. that people who are living in poverty. are not experienced at navigating the. real world. Again, just kind of dripping. with disdain for for. for working-class Americans, working-class Ohioans. Can I have your. reaction to that quote? >> Yeah, I I mean, he also said that. Americans don't have the same work ethic. that they used to. He clearly has a disdain, maybe contempt. for people that that are making. you know, are not or struggling. I mean,

really it's a question of so many people. are struggling and it's not just poor. people. It's working class people. It's. people that that are making 15 18. dollars an hour and can't can't live it. all comfortably, can barely get through. the next week. He also said they don't. know how to budget. I would say they. know how to budget a whole lot better. than John Husted or than other members. of the Senate who don't have to think. about this a lot. So, fundamentally people understand that. that um. the system's rigged against them, that.

it's more rigged today than it was where. corporations are making more money, corporate CEOs and. executives are are taking big stock. stock buybacks. where these workers are actually more. productive than they've ever been. Yet. more money's going out the door than. coming in. And that's the struggle. That's the rigged system. And then on. top of that, John Husted's taking. people's healthcare away and so he can. get more tax cuts to the rich. And. people. I don't see politics as left or right. I. see it as whose side you're on. And it's.

clear John Husted's on the side of the. billionaires. He's on the side of First. Energy, the electric company that's overcharging. and he was part of the corruption where. the speaker of the house went to prison. for taking a 61 million dollar bribe and. now the executives are on trial and John. Husted was called to testify. All of. those things are his life, not the. struggles of so many middle class and. working class and poor people in this. country. >> Which might explain why even as we're.

spending what, a billion dollars a day. in Iran? I think the first six days of. the war in Iran cost 11 billion dollars, even double what I what I had just said. before. He's claiming that it's going uh. much better than expected. So, he is, you know, cheerleading on this effort. that sends money overseas instead of. keeping it right here at home. Should. the US be engaging in a foreign war in. the Middle East right now? And can I. have your reaction to the fact that John. Heusted seems to be cheering it on? >> Yeah, thanks Brian for that question. Absolutely. Um I mean, the the White.

House, the government has not explained. why we're there, has not explained any. plan to get out. Um and hasn't really. given answers for what's happened to the. price of gas, what's happened to the. price of diesel, which affects rural. America especially. Um hasn't done to. talk about the cost. That number you. gave just keeps going up. It's not just. I was with a bunch of veterans in. Jackson County uh last this this past. week. And the many of them were Vietnam.

vets. There's a There's a VA hospital. which was going to close and we kept we, meaning all the veterans and working. together with my office, kept it open. Uh they understand it's not just the. cost of this war and they're. overwhelmingly against it. It's the cost. for a generation or two of health care. for these men and women. There were at. least three people in this crowd that. have had health that have had illnesses. coming out of exposure to Agent Orange. Even though the government fought them.

one at a time, this time when we wrote. the PACT Act, uh veterans are going to. get their care immediately. But it's. money that we should spend, but you. start a war like this, uh and it's money. that again, we're going to spend it, we. should spend it. But what's the point of. this war? And I would add to the cost. today, um the number you gave is sort of. the updated number um every, you know, every every day or two or three, Brian. In Ohio alone, the cost of the war to.

all the Ohio taxpayers are paying about. $60 million. a day for this war. We're underfunding. education. We're underfunding highways. Uh we're under funding the EPA. We're. under funding things that matter in. health clinics, all that. We're. We're under funding things that matter. every day in people's lives. And people. increasingly are saying, including. veterans, maybe especially veterans, why. are we in this war? What's the point? Why did we go to war? How are we going. to get out? What's the plan here? And.

And damn it, explain to to the American. people and explain to the soldiers. you're sending and the Marines you're. sending to the Middle East why we are. there. Sub-13 people as of this. interview and this taping have been. killed, 13 Americans. Three of them are. from Ohio. Ohio has always paid a larger. price than our population would suggest. in in foreign wars. And it's it's just immoral to be doing. this when we should be focusing on. people's everyday lives in our state.

>> You know, I I I think that you touched. on a really important point, which was. what we could get instead of paying for. this. And so, I want to I just want to. pose that question to to you. And I know. that you alluded to this a little bit in. your in your previous answer, but but. what could Ohio get? What could the. United States get with the billions upon. billions of dollars that are right now. being spent dropping bombs overseas, which by the way would be bad enough. unto itself, but even more egregious. given the fact that that is expressly. what Trump campaigned against. That is. expressly what Republicans campaigned.

against. This entire party embraced no. more forever wars in the Middle East. And yet, all of them are are approving. it and and enabling it by virtue of. their actions. >> So, what. >> That's what they campaigned against, no. more forever wars. What they campaigned. for is lower prices. on everything from eggs to gas. to healthcare to going to the grocery. store and shopping for everything. So, it's it's kind of both things there. But. what the the money I think about I think.

about what's happened this year. The. money we're spending, the billions of. dollars a day now. It's It's close, I believe, to $2. billion a day that we're spending. At. the same time, they. refused John Housted nine times voted. against putting a lid on premiums for. health care. 120,000 people in Ohio. alone, 120,000 have dropped their health. insurance because of the doubling and. tripling of those premiums. They could. have funded that they could have funded.

the child tax credit, which is a bill I. worked on for years. The child tax. credit dropped the child poverty rate by. 40%. Middle class kids, working class. kids, poor kids, it made a huge. difference in their lives. We're not. doing that. We're not funding health. clinics for underfunding the VA. People. that go to the VA now, it's not just. they've they've laid off doctors and. physical therapists and nurses. They've. also laid off administrative. administrative costs. They've There. aren't people answering the phone as.

quickly. All the things that you're a. frustrated veteran, you can't get the. appointment you need because you can't. get through on the VA line. I mean, things like that that Not not to mention. what's happening right now with TSA. agents. They're not paying. So, we're. spending we're spending so much money on. tax cuts for the rich and the war that. is so unnecessary. You put those two. together and government could make such. a positive difference that would have. immense public support across party. lines, could make such a positive. difference in people's lives.

>> You know, I think I think all of this. kind of pointing out where John Housted. stands, who he stands with, the ways. that he's emboldened some of the least. popular parts of this MAGA GOP agenda, that's one thing, but I think it's also. important to have an affirmative vision. for what Democratic leadership could. look like if and when Democrats are able. to take control. And so, what does that look like for. you? If If If you're in the US Senate. again and Democrats have a majority. And. you know, it's obviously going to be a.

little different from 20, you know, from 2026 to 2028 while Donald. Trump is still president. But what does. Democratic control look like if we get. to that point? And what could it mean. for people in in your state if you've. got the majority? >> Yeah, I I thank you, friend. Very much. appreciate that question. I mean, it's. it's displacing people like John Husted. who was a special interest guy in. Columbus in state government and goes to. Washington to special interest guy. there. We we know who they are. And we have to we have to do a couple.

things. First, we we need a government, we need a House and Senate. that's going to build guardrails so. these things can't happen again. I was. with a I was talking to a flight. attendant on a plane recently who's. based in Columbus and she said, "What. what's going on? Why is all this. happening?" I said, "Well, all three. branches of government failed. The the. the Senate failed, Senate House failed. to do their job. The judiciary failed to. do its job, and the White House has gone. beyond anything we've ever seen.

to do to do its job." So, um the first. thing we do is is is come back is build. guardrails so they can't do that kind of. power grab. The second thing we do is. hold people accountable. for things they've done. But I don't. want to spend the next 2 years. making it look like we're just getting. even and tit-for-tat. I we need to do. affirmative things. And thing I've. thought of, partly cuz I worked for 10. years to get the child tax credit, is. one of the first things we should do is. pass the child tax credit.

2 million so the families of 2 million. children, state of 12 million in my. state, families of 2 million children. So, a huge swath of the state benefited. immensely from the child tax credit. And. it gave it gave poor kids, families of. poor kids, it raised them above the. poverty line, kind of middle-class kids, working-class kids, it gave their. parents maybe they have a little money. to pay school fees, to so you so their. daughter can play basketball or their. son can be in theater, or just take.

their kids to all the things that that. people in this country ought to be able. to have if they're working hard and. playing by the rules. So, that's that's. why we need to do some a few things. really affirmative quickly. We passed. the house, we passed the Senate. Trump may sign some of them, but if he. doesn't, we know whose side people are. on. Again, it's it's not left or right, it's two sides you're on, and we need to. show we need to show in an affirmative. way how we're going to fight for people. It means, you know, uncanceling the. clean energy projects he canceled. Means.

a lot of things like that. But we've got. to do something very tangible that. people can feel and people can see, and. something like the child tax credit. There are there are probably a dozen. others that we should move quickly on. >> I think we're at a moment right now. where the top 1% controls about $53. trillion in this country, while the. bottom 50% control $5 trillion. So, a. massive wealth disparity in this country. happening right now. And and frankly, it's egged on by the policies of this. Republican Party and this. administration, which again, they ran on.

this idea that they were going to be. champions for the little guy. And all. that we've seen thus far is a tax is a. tax cut that disproportionately. benefited the ultra-wealthy in this. country. So, I'm I'm glad to have heard. you uh um focus, you know, on on the. right things. And frankly, the things. that Republicans pretended to care about. when they were running in 2024. So, with. that said. >> within people within sight like like. you, Brian, knew they weren't, but. that's what they said. I mean, look at I. wasn't going to get in this race. I. thought I was done.

I don't want 5 years from now to look. back and say I would have beat you. standing and I didn't try. But on that. first day, these billionaires stepped. down from their limousines, and they. walked through the hallowed halls of. Congress. I still believe it is that. And they walked in like they owned the. place, and it's pretty clear by day two. or three or week two or three that they. did own the place and still do. And I. you know, it sort of begs the question, how much do you need? >> Right. >> But the richest people, most powerful. people in the country, maybe in the. world, they never have enough. They are.

in a power, they never have enough. money and it's up to Congress not not to. help with that. It's up to Congress to. change direction and this this Senate. and this house with people like John. Husted just feed into those special. interests by giving them more and more. and more and more. >> Well, look, your election is is crucial. in terms of making that happen. So for. folks who are looking to help your. campaign, where can they go? >> Um they can come to sherrodbrown.com. Uh we want volunteers, we want dollars, we want any help you can give. One of.

the things that's exciting this year is. um as I've said before, the day I. announced 31,000 people went online and. contributed to average something like. $40 each. But those 31,000, most of them. because we have their names, we're going. to be in touch with them. Most of them. want to do something else. Maybe they. want to stand at the polls to make sure. elections are the elections are fair. Maybe they want to um hold little. parties in their neighborhood and get. people registered to vote or to get make. sure that that you know, it's people.

that go to No Kings rallies um who often. are a little bit older make sure their. their children and grandchildren vote. Um older people vote in large numbers, young people in lower numbers and. there's a real generational uh sort of. synergism there that we can play and uh. I I I'm so optimistic because I've never. seen this kind of energy, this kind of. uh you know, in Texas for instance, um. more Democrats vote in the primary than. Republicans. >> Yeah. >> I know you've talked about that. Um and. think think what that means in a state.

like that. In Ohio, we're seeing the. same energy. >> Yeah, we can absolutely see uh see, you. know, the the the course of history. change here and frankly, Ohio is ground. zero of exactly that. So for folks who. are watching and listening right now, uh. if you have the ability to contribute, to volunteer, again, I'm going to put. the link to Sherrod Brown's webpage. right here on the screen and also in the. post description. If you're listening on. the podcast, I'll put it in the show. notes. Please do whatever you can. because if we're able to flip this seat, that means that we will control the US. Senate as well. So, with that said,

Sherrod Brown, thank you so much for. taking the time. Best of luck in the. campaign trail. >> Brian, thanks for making a difference. for our whole country like you do. Thanks so much.