Republicans SINK Trump with FATAL mistake

The Republicans just committed the most. damning mistake of Donald Trump's second. term, something that's going to plague. them as we head toward midterms and. beyond. So, we just hit attempt number. four for senators to advance the war. powers resolution that would return the. ability of Congress to declare war and. curb Trump's power to act unilaterally. in Iran. And here's how that went. On. this motion, the yeas are 47, the nays. are 52. The motion is not agreed to. The resolution was blocked by a vote of.

47 to 52. Fetterman voted with. Republicans and Rand Paul voted with. Democrats, otherwise a completely party. line vote. And that vote means that. Congress has opted not to retain its own. authority as it relates to this. exceedingly unpopular war with Iran. So, why is this important? Because now this. war continues unabated. Trump gets to. continue spending roughly a billion. dollars per day dropping bombs in the. Middle East in direct contravention to. his promise of no new forever wars in. the Middle East. But here's the. important part. Now it's not just.

Trump's responsibility here. Remember, he can't do this alone and he isn't. doing this alone. He is doing it with a. big green light from his own party that. is actively and affirmatively giving him. permission to squander our money on a. war that nobody wants. According to. recent polling, only 29% of Americans. think this war is worth the cost and a. staggering 74% of independents. disapprove. Those are nightmarish. figures for the Republican Party. A. Republican Party that has just decided. to douse themselves in the stink of this. thing. So, the question becomes why.

saddle yourself with this insane amount. of baggage, especially in an election. year? And the answer is the same as it's. always been. Because these people do not. serve you, they serve Trump. It is more. important for them to avoid the ire of. dear leader and the inevitable mean. tweet. And so instead, they hug Trump. and they hug his policies no matter how. detrimental. Like I don't know how much. closer to a cult you can get than you. embracing policies that could lead to. your own ouster from office simply. because your only priority is protecting. a man who by the way would never protect.

you. The simple reality and I think that this. is becoming more clear for Republicans. and independents especially is that. voters are now realizing that both. Donald Trump and his party have zero. intention, had zero intention of. delivering for you. Which would be bad. enough unto itself, but worse given the. fact that if anybody understands the. pain of high costs, it's the party that. ran expressly on this issue. So they're. well aware and they were perfectly. content to exploit that pain to gain.

power, but when given the chance to do. something about it, remember that they. opted to do this instead. They opted to. make it worse. When prices were too. high, they all blindly lined up behind. Trump's trade war and watched prices. rise even more. When healthcare was too. expensive, they all stripped Medicaid. away from 17 million Americans and. raised ACA premiums on 24 million. Americans. When utility prices were too. high, they engaged in policies that sent. those costs soaring including with this. war that sent the cost of gas to nearly. its highest point ever. Like those.

aren't accidents. They are conscious. policy decisions at the hands of a party. that ran on the pain of high prices to. gain full control of government, immediately made those issues even. worse, and then sought to change the. rules of the game so that they would. never lose power again. They're rigging. the game because they know they can't. run on their record, so instead they've. just decided decided to spend all of. their time undermining democracy so that. they can reward themselves with. permanent rule. The only problem is that. even their own voters are now defecting. and voting for Democrats. Turns out. handing yourself tax cuts and green.

lighting forever wars in the Middle East. in defiance of your promises does not do. wonders for your election prospects. You're watching the No Lie Podcast. Next. up are my interviews with Raphael. Warnock, Elizabeth Warren, and Rob Sand. No Lie is brought to you by Ethos. So. unfortunately, I've dealt with some loss. in my family recently which. unfortunately means I have to start. thinking about some uncomfortable topics. like life insurance. And obviously, if. you don't know how to navigate this. world, it's pretty daunting. But. luckily, I was able to get life. insurance through Ethos. So, here's the.

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presented himself on a Truth Social post. as Jesus Christ. So, first and foremost, can I have your reaction to kind of this. this new tack that Trump is taking here. where he's taking an overtly. antagonistic. uh, posture against evangelicals and. Christians. Let's be very clear, and and this I've. known for a long time, but this is just. evidence. Don- Donald Trump. is not. a man of faith. Contrary to what, uh, some of the. loudest and most well-financed Christian.

voices in our country would would. assert, he is not a person of faith. In. fact, he has contempt. for faith. and for people of faith. It is language. that he really does not understand. Um, uh, th- this this idea that your. life is centered around something other. than yourself. is is a kind of foreign moral. vocabulary, uh, to Donald Trump. And so,

not only do you see this this image of. him depicting himself as Jesus, as king of kings, um, we shouldn't forget that just a. couple weeks ago, on Easter Sunday. morning, um, as I was preparing to deliver my. sermon, uh, to my congregation, the. ether was penetrated by the toxic and. ugly words of Donald Trump literally. dropping F-bombs. and threatening.

to drop actual bombs. on civilians, that he would bomb their. utilities, their energy, their bridges, which is a war crime, which is deeply. immoral. Uh, and then 2 days later he said, uh, "A whole civilization will die tonight.". because he's having a temper tantrum. about a problem that he unnecessarily. created. Uh, this is not a man of faith. And look, I know people who are not. given to any particular faith tradition,

but they are people of conscience. Uh, they are they are people of moral. courage. Uh, that's not who he is. He's. the opposite. And it's past time way. past time uh for some of my uh Christian. clergy colleagues to stop caping uh for. this man who has deep contempt for. everything. uh that our faith represents. You know, Senator, I'm I'm glad you did that you. said that he's showing nothing but. contempt because in fact, as a response.

to him having posted a picture depicting. himself as Jesus, he doubled down and he. decided to say that um this was him. being depicted as nothing other than a. doctor. And so, you know, it would be. bad enough if it was just the blasphemy, uh especially when he's pandering to a. certain segment of the population for. whom that is uh or should be. disqualifying, but then to just lie to. those people's faces, what what what did. that say to you that instead of, you.

know, seeking to to remedy the situation. or or own up to it own up to his own. actions, he decided to just double down. and lie even further by claiming that. the picture very clearly depicting him. as Jesus was just him as a doctor? Uh let me let me just say this to my. MAGA sisters and brothers. We have. different politics, but I I do mean. this. Whatever you think of my politics, I mean it sincerely when I call you. sister and brother, uh child of God, because I believe all of us reflect the.

divine image. Um Donald Trump is sending a clear. message to his supporters. He thinks. they're stupid. He thinks they're stupid. Uh you know, to to say I I thought I I. thought I was depicting myself as a. doctor. Come on, give me a break. Um uh we know that Donald Trump has not. darkened the doors of a church much at. all. Uh but I mean, you don't have to spend. but. a few minutes in in any house of.

worship. Uh you don't have to go to a. house of worship uh, to know uh, depictions of of of Jesus when you see. them. Right. And so I I think, you know, it's one thing to lie, but he has such contempt for the for his. supporters. that he's too lazy to even offer up a. respectable lie. They should be deeply. offended and embarrassed. You know, Senator, um, we we'll see. stuff like this happen and and and I.

think that you can shine some light on. this better than you know, better than. someone like me. Um, then you know, you. and I have spoken uh, many times in the. past about this idea that that I'm that. I'm, you know, as as secular as it gets. Um, but I have trouble understanding how. he could cross what I've been told are. red lines um, and still and still be. able to garner support from people. for whom their Christianity is a is a. guiding principle. And so, can you help. help reconcile that idea where where we.

see him commit, you know, these either. contemptible behavior or outright crimes. against women, where we'll see him. disparage um, either the church or the. Pope or the ideals of Christianity and. still there be, you know, perhaps. slightly less support, but still. overwhelming support. And so, can you. help reconcile those ideas for me? Well, what you are are rightly pointing. to is the deep chasm, the divide between.

faith claims. and what people are willing to support. if it, you know, serves their political. purposes. And I I would submit that the the answer. or the lens for understanding that is. actually buried within the faith itself. There's a word for that. It's idolatry. Everybody's pointing to the blasphemous. part of this, but but what I what mean. by that is is those of us who who are.

people of faith in my faith tradition, we're we're we're required not to put. any God before God. Thou shalt have no. other God before me. And I think that what what our what gets. revealed sometimes over time is that. people say they're committed to. something, but but there's always. something else that's competing for. that. And I I think that the rise of. Donald Trump. and the support that he receives. is indicative of.

a long and sad history in our country. where people are deeply committed. to. faith as. cultural identity. They're deeply committed, dare I say it, to white supremacy. They're deeply committed to. the politics. and the theology of domination. And so the religion just becomes one.

more tool in that effort. And the thing. that that they have to ask themselves is. are you putting some other God before. the God who is the true God? And because when you do that, this is. this is this is what you get. And so. here here you here you have a man that. folks have talked about as if he's. somehow the God's messenger in this. moment. Little really? As he takes. health care away from 15 million people, as he doubles the health care premium of.

22 million people, as as he makes of. immigrant communities something other. than human beings, in. the midst of the cruelty that he's. unleashed in our streets, masked men. jumping out of unmarked cars, creating. terror, havoc, death, and destruction. uh both for citizens and non-citizens. alike. You you. Do you not have any critique of any of. this? Jesus.

is a victim of identity theft. Uh I don't know who this this hateful, homophobic, xenophobic uh Jesus is. Uh who is. okay with billionaires getting a tax cut. while people in poor rural communities. all across my state in districts that. didn't vote for me, and that's fine. because I'm going to keep showing up for. those people. They they snap Those snap cuts that they. put forward uh in that one big ugly bill.

are hurting people in rural districts uh. more than blue districts. Uh those are. the places where hospitals will close in. a state like mine because. uh our state leaders uh refused to. expand Medicaid because they cut a. trillion dollars out of Medicaid. Uh and and somehow. um I I think we we've got to put forward. a version. of the faith, which is what I try to do,

that centers our humanity. You know, I pastored the church led by. Martin Luther King Jr. There were people who who claimed to be. Christians. There were people who shared. the same faith on the other side of the. debate about segregation. Now, Dr. King's biggest adversaries, his biggest. critics. uh were folks who went to church every. Sunday. Some of them members of the. clergy. They clearly had a different. view of the faith. There there there. were folks who supported slavery. And.

they used the Bible. And they lifted up. certain texts to justify their support. of slavery. It just so happens. uh that I have been shaped and nurtured. in a countervailing. uh tradition. uh that was was literally born. fighting for freedom. Literally born. saying slavery is wrong. It was a voice. against segregation. And uh I think in that spirit, in this. moment in which we're seeing the rise of.

this. uh nationalist Christianity, um. uh that is mean-spirited, uh that narrows the view even of what it. means to be an American, let alone a. child of God. Uh I think there are those. of us who are called in this moment, whatever our faith tradition or whether. we claim no particular faith tradition. at all, to point to our common humanity. uh and to center the people who are most. vulnerable in a time like this.

Senator, do you think that whether it's. the idolatry, whether it's the. blasphemy, whether it's the examples. that you gave, um which are using funds. that could go toward people's health. care, people's food assistance, um. making their everyday lives more. affordable, child care, you name it, um. instead being sent to fund, you know, wars overseas, which bad enough unto. itself, but even worse given the fact. that this administration actually came. into power promising not to do that, have all of these things, either one or. the other, um created a vacuum that that.

you have found is being filled by folks. like you? Like what I what I mean by. that question is. in your conversations with voters out. there, people um who believe that this. Republican Party or that Donald Trump. was going to be a good shepherd of. Christian values, have you seen a switch. given what we've seen during this. administration thus far? Uh I think we're definitely seeing. buyers remorse. Donald Trump's poll numbers are in the. dumps right now.

And every day they seem to be getting. lower and lower. I guess that's why he's trying to pass. the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act is certainly. not about saving people's voices, is not. about saving our democracy. It's not. about saving the country. It's about. saving his power and his enablers in. Congress. And so they're trying to change the. rules, trying to pretend that this is. some basic voter ID law. It's it it is a. law that they want to pass.

that will make it very difficult for. people to register to vote. They are. afraid. uh. of hearing from the voters come. November, and they should be. They. should be afraid of hearing from the. American people come November because he. ran saying he was going to lower. people's prices, focus on their needs, and not get us into any new wars. And instead, he's taking us into an illegal war of. choice.

in the Middle East. on the heels of years of what felt like. endless war in this country. And every day guys gas prices are going. up every day, and he's telling people not to believe. their lying eyes even as they're seeing. uh the price of gas and what it takes to. fill their tanks and take their children. to school. We intend to hold him. accountable. I'm going to do everything. I can to make sure the Save Act does not. see the light of day.

Um they don't have 60 votes for it in. the Senate. Uh Donald Trump is so desperate that. he's leaning hard on Republicans trying. to get them to uh kill the filibuster in. order to save his political life. Uh. we're going to do everything we can to. hold the line. We're going to keep. centering the American people and um. giving them the power they need to hold. Donald Trump's congressional enablers. accountable come November. How do you reconcile those those what.

what may seem on the outside like. conflicting ideals? This this idea of. mercy um versus accountability because, you know, from my vantage, having seen what happened during the. Biden administration where you have. Merrick Garland's DOJ that opted not to. act aggressively enough has kind of. given rise to a feeling of lawlessness. among Republicans. Um but at the same. time, you know, there are critics of of. that approach, the the approach that I. would agree with, that say, you know,

this is just going to continue to be. a race to the bottom where both sides. will attack the other. And so, how do. you think about that as we look toward, you know, a next iteration of the. government, 2028 and beyond, if. Democrats are lucky enough to take power. once again? Yeah. Well, you know, Donald Trump often. says that he's the best at everything. You know, this is Trump talk. No one No. one knows more about, you know, you name. the topic than me. No one's better at.

this than me. Let me Let me tell you the. thing the singular thing. that Donald Trump really is better at. than any politician in my lifetime, anybody I can think of. He is the master. at dividing us. He He really. has a knack for that. I mean, look Look. at the fact that even as we. make our way towards this November. midterm election, what has Donald Trump. done? He called into the state of Texas. He said, "I need a few more seats.".

And so, we're going to do mid-decade. redistricting. And so, you talk about the race to the. bottom, we're in the midst of that right. now because we can't afford to. unilaterally disarm. Right? So So So I I am a vocal. vocal critic. of partisan and racial gerrymandering. And I've been a chief sponsor of bills. in Congress to get us past this. But. right now, we're in a moment where we.

have no choice. but to respond in kind to the. redistricting war. that Donald Trump began. mid-decade. uh because he's trying to rig the. outcome of the elections. But I do hope. that uh we will get. past this. get to a place. where there will be a reckoning to be. sure. If you commit crimes, you ought to be.

held accountable. Um but we will get to a place. uh where we where we recognize. not the ways in which we did prior to. Donald Trump because if if if the way we. were was so great. we wouldn't be here. It set the context. in many ways for where we are. Uh. too many people were left behind uh. prior to Donald Trump coming in coming. to power. And so we've got to. paint a picture, pave a path for a new.

America that embraces all of our. children. That's what what I work on and. that's what I pray about and I fight for. every single day. Senator, last question here. Um you. know, you you had you had begun your. previous answer by saying that Trump. presents himself as somebody who's who's. always competent, who's always the best. at something. And and he does, but. there's one thing that he kind of offers. some concession on and that is this idea. that he's going that he that he's not.

going to heaven. And I always found that. so curious because there's nothing that. he will say that he can't do, right? He's he's the smartest guy in the room, he always gets the highest grades on on. every dementia test that he's given. He. can build better than everybody else, he. can govern better than everybody else, he can market and sell whatever it is, he's always the best, but he he he. curiously concedes that he's not going. to heaven. And so I'm curious um from. your vantage what you attribute that to. I don't know. I'm I'm I can't get in. Donald Trump's head.

I I tell you as a preacher I I preach. redemption every every Sunday. So, obviously I I I believe that there's a. path for redemption. uh. for available to to every human being. I. don't have a heaven or hell to put. Donald Trump in and so I'm not going to. engage in that kind of eschatological. uh. guessing even if he does. I'm I'm more. concerned about the hell. that he's creating here on Earth. The. hell that he's literally putting people.

through as 15 million people have lost. their health care, 22 million people. have seen their health care premiums uh. double. Uh uh the hell that he's. creating in whole communities where. because of his. uh. uh his version. of a of an extreme and radicalized ICE, there whole communities in Georgia, in. Minnesota, all across our country where. children are in terror, afraid to go to.

school, and their parents are afraid to. go to work whether they are citizens or. not. Um he's creating hell for a whole lot of. people right here on Earth. And I'm. going to do everything I can uh uh to to. to save us from that. Well, Senator, uh I appreciate the time. and I think I've mentioned this to you. just about every time I've spoken to. you, but uh but there is at some point. in my life I I feel like I need to just. sit um sit in a church and listen to you. because uh you know, secularity. notwithstanding, it is uh it is it is.

always um you know, an an honor to. listen to the to the poetry um that is. like hearing you speak. So, I appreciate. you taking the time today. Thanks for. the work you're doing. Bless you, dear brother. Take care. I'm. joined now by Senator Elizabeth Warren. Senator, thanks for joining me. Oh, it's. good to be with you. So, we have some. big news from the Senate where you all. just voted on a war powers resolution to. rein in Donald Trump's basically free. pass. to continue these military I would say. incursions but apparently they're.

excursions in Iran. That that effort failed and so can you. explain why that failed especially in. light of the fact that Americans. overwhelmingly disapprove of this war? Right. It failed for exactly one reason, Republicans. Virtually all of the Democrats are lined. up and say look, we've read the. Constitution, we get it. You have got to. reel back in on bombing in Iran and. starting your own war. But the Republicans once again have just.

blocked it. They're just fine with. Donald Trump spending a billion dollars. a day to blow up stuff halfway around. the world. even while people here at home. are paying more for groceries now, paying more for gasoline, they're going. to be paying more for anything that gets. transported in a truck. And on top of. that because of his other policies, his.

tariff policies, his energy policies, they're paying more for housing. You. know, this is the man who said he would. lower costs on day one and he would not. start foreign wars. And he has gone back on exactly both of. those. Well, you know, the Republicans are all. pretty aligned in coming forward and. saying we have to do this because you. know, Iran has been a threat for 47. years and and the only thing worse than. this would be the impending nuclear. attack that would happen at the hands of.

a nuclear armed Iran. And so what would. be your response to those folks? You know, look, if the real problem was. Iran getting a nuclear weapon and I'm. going to be clear, I do not want Iran to. have a nuclear weapon. Barack Obama's team had negotiated a. deal with Iran. There were inspectors on. the ground. It had limits on what Iran. could do. Donald Trump comes in and he tears the. deal up quite dramatically. But here's. the thing that really gets to me. He.

tears it up and do you know what he gets. in return for turning Iran loose from. these constrictions on getting a nuclear. weapon? Nothing. Zero. Not a thing. So. he tears the deal up just because it had. been negotiated by Barack Obama. Right. And so then Iran starts developing more. nuclear capacity and spinning out. nuclear materials and so on. And so Donald Trump tells us. when was it? Six months ago? That US.

bombers had completely obliterated. Iran's capacity to develop a nuclear. weapon. Okay, so Trump puts back in. motion their ability to develop a. nuclear weapon. Then he says they. completely obliterated it. And now that's the excuse for having. bombed in Iran starting 46 days ago is. that somehow Iran was on the threshold. of developing a nuclear weapon. Look,

Brian, in a sense. you're dignifying. these. ideas that they keep throwing out. Well, this is the reason. Well, if that didn't. work, maybe this is the reason. Well, how about this other thing is a reason. This is not only. pretextual, it's just totally upside down in terms. of how it fits with reality. Yeah. Well, also, I mean, this has been this has. been a long-standing pattern where you. you know, you have these neocon. warmongers who conjure up some you know,

some some counterfactual that's. impossible to to to prove otherwise and. they say, well, if we don't do this. thing that I've decided I want to do, you know, and this goes back to the the. weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I. mean, if if you don't do this, then. we're going to be in imminent danger. And of course, it's impossible to. disprove because, you know, you. there's no way to because because of. that because it's just a a threat, a. promise from these people. Um and. there's always going to be some. rationale like that where, you know, if.

you listen to these neocon warmongers, there's always going to be some. impending risk and and, you know, again, that they can say they can kind of put. you in the bucket of, "Okay, if you. don't agree blind blindly with. heaping money onto some military. interventionism or or adventurism in the. Middle East, then you're going to be. responsible if and when everybody dies. as the result of our inaction." Yep. You. know, the Republicans. have been able to do two things in this.

century. And this is when Bush is. president and when Trump is president. And that is they cut taxes for rich. people and they start wars in the Middle. East. And that doesn't make America better. off. It doesn't make the world better. off. So, on that point of this not making. America better off, you had mentioned. that this is costing a billion dollars. per day. I'm curious from the folks that. you've spoken with, your Republican. colleagues in in the Senate, I mean, these people are not ignorant to what's. happening in the political zeitgeist. right now. They're not ignorant to how.

unpopular this war is. They're not. ignorant to how much everything costs. They're not ignorant to the fact that. this administration's failure to deliver. on its America First promises is kind of. wreaking havoc at the ballot box uh on. on all of their colleagues and all of. their Republican candidates. Is there is there no I mean, I'm not. asking you to get in the heads of these. people because that would be, um. you know, I think increasingly. difficult, but but is there no ability. for these people to reconcile. watching what's happening to these.

Republican candidates who hug Trump and. the and the increasingly unpopular MAGA. agenda. while also enabling that very agenda by. virtue of votes like these? Yeah, you. know, you've you've put your finger on. it, but it's the question we've been. asking. for a year and 4 months now. Like, is. there no place that these Republicans in. Congress will draw the line? You know, Brian, the whole US. Constitution. is set up, we all talk about the. separation of powers,

but there's an unspoken part to it, and. that is. that the president will protect the. powers of the administration, the courts will protect the powers of. the courts, and Congress will jealously. guard the powers of Congress. And the moment we find ourselves in now. is that the Republicans in Congress know. exactly one action, and that is bow down to Donald Trump. >> Yeah. No matter what Donald Trump says, no matter how counterfactual it is, it.

no matter how much damage it is doing to. the people of the United States, no. matter how much it's driving up costs, no matter how much it breaks the law, no. matter no matter no matter if Donald. Trump says it, the Republicans in the. Senate and the House bow down and say. yes, master. What could we do domestically? And I And. I feel like I'm going to ask you a. question that Donald Trump himself in. 2024 could have him could have best.

answered here, but what could we be. doing with the more than a billion. dollars per day that Republicans are. currently spending dropping bombs in the. Middle East? Well, for openers, we could. make sure that all the people who got. pushed off their health care. um because of that one big beautiful. bill, you remember you and I talked. about that, big tax cuts for the. billionaires and pushed 50 million. people off their health insurance, we could actually make sure people have.

health care and health insurance that. they can actually afford. Um we could be. making those investments right now here. at home. We could be making the. investments in child care. So mommies. and daddies can go to work and know that. their kids are in safe, bright, cheerful. places and their child care workers are. being paid a fair wage. We could be. making investments in helping people. deal with student loan debt. We could be.

making investments in making college and. technical training after high school. more affordable for people. We could be. making investments in us, in the people. of the United States and instead. literally blowing that money up a. billion dollars a day halfway around the. world. Wow, that is not America first. I want to talk to you about a different. topic and that is the the new Live.

Nation Ticketmaster ruling. So can you. give an update on what that ruling just. was and what you expect to see now. moving forward? That ruling was watching a little. straight justice in action. You know, this is the case. Remember Live Nation, there's the whole. Ticketmaster. I assume many of the folks. here have had experiences with. Ticketmaster and the big problem is how. this company has just grown bigger and. bigger and bigger.

and musclier and musclier. and how they've used that position to. drive up prices, to drive down services, and not to. innovate. And it appears. this came out during the trial, the. antitrust trial here. It appears that. their business model. was rob your customers blind. I mean. this this literally came out in their. emails back and forth.

And so, the Trump administration. Justice Department, they settled out, little slap on the wrist, and said, uh, "You boys go ahead and do whatever you. want to do.". But, I want to give a big shout-out to. some of the state attorneys general. They were also in the lawsuit, and. everybody thought they'd just cave in. Instead, they stepped up in short order. and said, "We'll continue this trial.". So, it ended up in the hands of a jury. And by golly, that jury listened to the.

facts and said, "Yep, that that one is is a monopoly, and. they're using their monopoly power in a. way to, uh, take advantage of American. consumers. So, this is a big deal. I. mean, this is like, boom, right? But, the best part is what comes next, and. that is, what's the remedy going to be? Cuz what I'm looking for here is in. antitrust law. is not just like, make them pay money.

It's you're going to actually break. these companies up. Yeah. And you could make 10 companies where. there used to be one. You could make. three companies where there used to be. one, and the importance of that. is then there's competition. So, you know, they're competing to be the. one that sell you the tickets. They're. competing to be the ones that book the. acts and the venues and where it all. goes. And that is supposed to be the magic of. our economic system. As you get.

competition, and that's how you get lower prices and. a lot more innovation, and a lot more. focus. on the consumer and making the consumer. happy. So, you know, this is this is a. good day on the antitrust front. You know, we we have we have so few. instances of good news on the antitrust. front and and admittedly it's it's not. the sexiest topic in the world. I think. when you know, people's eyes tend to. glaze over when you talk about.

antitrust, but it's something that. impacts people probably more than. anything. I mean, as you have fewer and. fewer companies that are delivering. goods and services as the Amazons of the. world and the apples of the world. and you know, whatever it may be. continue to consolidate. That's why. we're contending with higher prices, which is the principal issue in all of. these these campaigns that we're seeing. right now from 2024 right right up to. today. And so I guess the question is. did even the Biden administration go far. enough in their pursuit of of enforcing.

antitrust law and what do you hope to. see in the next Democratic. administration as far as enforcing. antitrust laws concerned? So I love the. question because with the Biden. administration, we always have to put. this in context. For basically. 40 years before that, there was almost. no enforcement of antitrust law. Not. zero, but pretty damn close. And the. consequence is the big just got bigger. and bigger and bigger.

And Lina Khan came in as the head of the. FTC, Jonathan Kanter headed up the. antitrust division over at the. Department of Justice. and they took the United States. basically from zero enforcement to 50. and God bless cuz boy, that is the hard. part. They got the rock rolling, right? Trump administration comes in and whoa, if you're friends with the Trump. administration, now it's headed back. down. But here's the thing. The genie is out of the bottle. And on many of these antitrust laws,

people have begun to discover, wait a. minute, the state attorneys general also. have the legal right to intervene and be. part of this. That's what's happened. just now in the Live Nation case. So now. you got more enforcers. You got. enforcers Rob Bonta out in California, go. You know, you've got enforcers. around the country including there have. been a couple of Republicans jump in on. this. So now you're starting to see more plus.

I'm just just a little bit. private enforcement. If you're one of. the competitors, your potential. competitors who got knocked out, Yeah. you're one of the customers who got. cheated, you also have a right under. some of these laws to be able to come in. and to push on them. So I think of this as a moment that. the fire kind of blazed up during the. Biden administration. We got it started. You see we're at a 50. Now we need to. get to a 100.

It's gone back down at the federal. level, but. boy, there's more out there, more talk. about it. You talk about it, I talk. about it. I like to remind everybody the. things that really make you grind your. teeth, when you're left on hold forever, when Live Nation, when they charge you a. fee for this and then a fee for that and. then while you're checking out you have. a fee for checking out for the fee, right? All of those kinds of things, when your. your cable bill just keeps going up and. up, almost always.

lift up the curtain and look just a. little bit and what you see behind it is. usually a violation of antitrust laws. >> Yeah. It's one or two big companies that. own the whole thing. And I think we're in that moment now. Maybe a little like the Wizard of Oz. The curtain is starting to come back. More people are engaging on this issue. and not willing to just say whatever. some giant company wants to do, whatever. Amazon wants to do. Thank you, Amazon,

but instead to say what the hell. and and start getting some pushback. So. this is a moment as you say. We don't. get a lot of good news. It's good news. today, but overall I'm feeling better about how. things are looking in this area. Right. And And I think to your point that you. made before, I mean, this isn't even. necessarily a right versus left issue. This is a top versus bottom issue. And. that's going to be especially important. in building up a coalition to fight. against this stuff. So, with that said, Senator Warren, thank you so much, as. always, for staying on top of these. issues and for taking the time today.

And thank you for staying in this fight. I'm joined now by the Democratic nominee. for governor of Iowa, Rob Sand. Rob, thanks for joining me. Yeah, thanks for. having me, Brian. Appreciate it. So, we. have some really big news in uh an. unlikely state, the state of Iowa. And. that is a major ratings change just took. place by the Cook Political Report. Can. you explain a little bit about what that. update was? Yeah, um they moved it from lean. Republican to a toss-up, uh which is the. second time they've moved it in this. race. They actually had it ranked as solid.

Republican in the day that I announced. that I was running for governor, they. moved it through likely Republican all. the way to lean, which is a pretty. unusual move on their part, but you. know, I've already been elected twice. statewide uh as state auditor. Prior to. that, chief public corruption prosecutor. in the state. I uncovered the largest. lottery rigging scheme in American. history. So, uh when I got into the. race, I was already bringing. um you know, a a body of work that a lot. of Iowans knew and had seen and were. familiar with and were supportive of.

And And the truth is that. I feel like they're. kind of late to the game in moving it to. a toss-up. Can I say that? I just did. >> [laughter]. >> Like, I think most people in Iowa are. looking at this race and and saying that. we've got all the momentum. And I And I. think that it's that that's right. We We. absolutely have a winnable race here. So, Rob, what do you attribute that move. from? I mean, again, to go from solid. Republican all the way to a true toss-up. in a state that Democrats have been. chasing for quite a long I I If I'm not. mistaken, was was Obama the last one to. win Iowa in 2008? Uh he won it in '12.

So, he won it twice. >> Okay. Yeah, so it's so it's been But, it's been a minute. Um so, what do you. attribute um this this trajectory to? I. so, a few different things. Uh Like I. said, it helps to have already won an. statewide twice. So, I'm the state. auditor uh chief public corruption. prosecutor prior to that. I think that. makes a lot of. a big difference that a lot of people. don't necessarily appreciate, but I have. been going to all 100 county seats in. Iowa. every year. I tell people before I come.

to town that I'm actually going to show. up, and so if they want to you know, throw a tomato at me, they get a chance. to do it. Whatever it is, I give them an. opportunity. And I think that matters. for a lot of people. I think the other. thing that a lot of folks don't. appreciate is how much is happening in. Iowa right now where the leadership, the. same people have been in charge for so. long that they have totally lost touch. with what Iowans want to be focused on. Uh the easiest way to understand that is. we are over the last 3 years, 48th for. personal income growth. We are number.

one for cancer growth. And they're. spending their time in the capital. building figuring out how to make it. harder for the state auditor to find. misspent tax money. We uncovered a. record amount of tax money misspent in. my first year or my first term. And they. changed the law after that to make it. harder for us to do it. They now state. agencies can hide misspent money and. hide documents from the auditor's. office. This is wrong, and the average Iowan it. you can like see their face twist in. disgust when they talk about it. They're.

they're upset by that. They're upset by. a school vouchers program that has no. accountability. They're upset by. the idea of the use of eminent domain. for a carbon capture pipeline. There's. just a lot of stuff where you know, people feel often times, I think in both. parties, voters feel trapped into voting. for one party that they're not. particularly excited about. And they've. been ticking them off enough up there by. doing things that don't help ordinary. Iowans that I think they've had enough. And then they look across the aisle at. me, and they're like,

he seems reasonable. Yeah. Well, it's it's worth asking here, you. know, while we're on the topic of of. policies that don't work for Iowans. Can. you talk about how the Iran war and. especially the closure of the Strait of. Hormuz. um has has kind of hit your state. particularly hard? Yeah, absolutely. Um. it's been brutal. I mean, we're in planning season right now. Uh farmers need fertilizer and a huge. chunk of the world's fertilizer goes. through the strait. And so the fact that.

it's all tied up in knots there means. that they're not getting access to it. It means that prices have skyrocketed. And prices were bad to begin with. There's really only There's less than a. handful of sellers of fertilizer. It's a. heavily concentrated near monopoly. market and that's already bad enough. uh for growers and producers in the. state of Iowa. And and I think the big. difference is, you know, I I think a lot. of these folks They're They're They're. sick of having somebody piss on their. leg and someone else tell them it's. raining, you know? They know that these.

tariffs are terrible for Iowa, but. Republican elected officials are so. blinded by their party allegiance that. they're not willing to say the obvious. truth of what's happening to Iowans. And. what they do instead is they try to. pitch Iowans on the idea that, "Oh, there's this golden age right around the. corner." Yeah. >> When we are seeing, Brian, a raise in. bankruptcies and suicides among farmers. It's kind of offensive, honestly, the. unwillingness of elected officials who. were supposed to represent this state. instead just doing anything that their.

party leader tells them to. Well, I. mean, that's the elected officials. Is. there a recognition by voters and. citizens in Iowa um. who, you know, despite the fact that. these elected officials are going to, you know, blindly defer to Trump and the. administration and, you know, take his. side on on all of this? Are the voters. recognizing the reality of what's. happening? Yeah, yeah, they are. I mean, we actually just had an announcement um. that, uh, an additional 15,000 jobs, uh, had been lost in Iowa. Uh, we just put.

out a release on that today. And I think. that Iowans across the board are. hurting. You know, there's we've got an. affordability crisis in this country, but it's worse in states where personal. income growth has been so slow, and. that's where where Iowa is. Uh, at the end of the day, affordability. is a two-part equation. It's number one, you know, how much money they have, and. number two, what's it cost? And if you. don't have a lot of money because your. personal income growth is one of the. laggards in America, then it's worse. here. And I think Iowans see that, and.

they know that. And when people try to. tell them something else, and try to. tell them it's, uh, it's a sunny day out there, uh, then. they know two things. Number one, it it. doesn't change what they're going. through financially, and number two, that someone's lying to them about it, too. Right. Well, you know, look, running in a state like Iowa, um, as is the case with where Democrats are. trying to be competitive in other red. states, is going to require support from. independents and Republicans. And so, on. that front, how has it been for you? How. has it been on the donor front? How has.

it been, you know, anecdotally speaking. with voters who may have cast their. ballot three times for for Trump, or. Joni Ernst, or any of these other. Republican officials statewide? I can give you a anecdotes, and I can. give you a number, too. I'll start with. a number. This blows my mind, and I'm genuinely. curious if this has ever happened. anywhere before. We have more registered Republican. donors to our campaign than any of the. five Republicans have who are running. for governor on the other side of this. race. Yeah. Like that.

>> Yeah. We didn't And we didn't We We. never set out like we weren't targeting. them. It just happened. And I think that. that's an indicator of just how. frustrated people are. But honestly, Brian, like a big piece of this campaign. is is is also it's acknowledging, I. think, what we all know, which is that. our democracy is run by two private. clubs, neither of which are particularly. good at solving our problems. Uh. and the fact that we say that out loud, I think a lot of people can find. themselves a home right there, where.

they're they're sick of Democrats and. Republicans, but when you acknowledge, as I do as a candidate, that Yeah. I. don't know why we only have two options. I think a lot that resonates for a lot. of people. But another really fun story. is um. I met a guy recently who. um. he he he had some tough some tough. stories to tell about his his parents'. political views. And when I had to cheat and had a chance. to meet him after that, you know, I was. like, "Oh, I'm I'm I'm running for. governor in in Iowa, and I'd be curious.

to hear, you know, if they've if they're. familiar with our campaign at all, because we tend to get a lot of. supporters from across the aisle, because our our message inherently is, well, shoot. I mean, our campaign slogan. is not redder or bluer, but better and. truer.". And the guy's like, "There's no way. Like, they'd never support you. You got. a D behind your name. I'm sure that. you're dead to them." Yeah. And I get a. text message from him like maybe 2 days. later, "I talked to my dad. He knew who you were. He even donated to. your campaign last year.". >> [laughter]. >> Yeah.

So, we're bringing people together, you. know, we're making Thanksgiving fun. again. That's that's another slogan that. we like to throw around. >> [laughter]. >> Rob, you had mentioned something at the. top that I that kind of caught my. attention, and and that was that you. were responsible for taking down the the. lotto rigging scheme, the largest lotto. rigging scheme that we'd seen in this. country. Can you talk a little bit about. that? Yeah. Um in fact, if you uh. >> [laughter]. >> sitting underneath my laptop, one of the. books is actually the book that I wrote. about it, the winning ticket. Uh if you.

like true crime stories, uh I'd. recommend reading it. I know you would. expect me to say that you should read. it, but the the Washington Independent. Review of Books actually said it was a. favorite read of the year the year it. came out, uh which is 2022. So, I I. bottom line on this thing is um. this was something that happened I was. an assistant attorney general as a. prosecutor. There was kind of this mystery of this. unclaimed lottery ticket for 16 million. bucks and then it kind of got claimed at. the last minute. They didn't pay it out. and lots of questions about who was.

connected to it and why. And my boss. retired and one of the last things he. did was hand me the case as he walked. out the door, which I was not happy. about. But he said like, well, you're the. youngest one in the office, so you know, all the all the unpleasant stuff goes to. the people with the least experience. >> get you get saddled with the the lottery. ticket. >> Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. But, you. know, look, I I did my job. I worked at. it. I had some great helpers in the form. of some.

law enforcement officials, Don Smith and Matt Anderson and and. we ended up uncovering this case. We had. a trial. in the Polk County Courthouse when we. only knew about the Iowa ticket. National media the day that we picked a. jury said that they thought that the. defendant would get acquitted cuz they. didn't think I had the goods. We got two. guilty verdicts and the case grew from. there. So, oh, and my goodness, I have. to mention there are Bigfoot hunters. involved in the case. Like people who go. out into the woods to look for Bigfoot. So, Yeah. if you're not a true crime.

fan, maybe that'll make you want to. >> Yeah, I was going to say that's got like. all the all the all the all the. buzzwords you need for like for a for a. 2020, you know, post-2020. story. You know, I think I think this is. resonant because, um, you know, in large part this Republican. Party came into power on on this. pretense that they would be the ones. focusing on, you know, fraud or waste or abuse. And in fact, we've we've seen the opposite. I mean, we've, you know, there there are these.

announcements every day where somebody. gets rich because they've bought, you. know, positions 5 minutes before those. announcements come out. I mean, this is just a recurring theme, the the rampant corruption that we're. seeing right now to the to the point. where it almost feels like like crime is. is legal. And so. have you heard from folks that you've. spoken with in Iowa where there is a. disillusionment. over that point in particular. And I. mean that's a. that that's a role that you can fill in. a way that nobody else can given your. past. Yeah, yeah. I I think that's a.

good point to make and I I do think that. that's right. I haven't heard many. people other than Democrats make the. point that you made. But I think it's. out there in the ether. And I think the. thing that we all need to keep in mind. is. that right now we are at a point where. people are so divided that sticking your. neck out to suggest that there might be. something wrong with someone that you. voted for. is just going to get your head chopped. off. It's either going to be by the. people who are who voted for that same.

person and call you a traitor or it's. going to be by the other people who say, "Well, you voted for this." because. there's so much scorn in our politics. right now. It's really hard for people. to do that because we haven't been. willing to give each other any grace, which. it's there in the ether. And and that's. part of the reason that one of the first. things that we've done, our first plank. actually for our platform that we just. rolled out last week is accountability. for all. And it has to do with doing. things like banning stock trading for. elected officials, mandatory prison time.

for people who steal from taxpayers. Yes, age limits. Yes, cognitive tests. People who are in positions of trust and. power should we should be making sure. that they deserve that trust and power. But there's a couple things that we're. doing that are bigger than that, too. And and I and I think Brian, this is. these are some of the reasons why our. campaign is on fire. We are actually. creating opportunities for people to. feel welcome to have a real political. conversation. At 100 public town halls last year, we. had people actually applaud for the.

attendees of the opposite political. party. After we acknowledged that we disagreed, the people in the room, We together we. sang the first verse of America the. Beautiful. And then this year we've been doing. events that we're calling democracy. revivals. Where we we sort of pre-select. we have we have people sign up in. advance and so we try to make sure we. have an even distribution of. Democrats, independents, and. Republicans. So that we can have balanced. conversations and it's not me in the.

room being a candidate, but it's the. attendees leading conversations where. part of what you're going to be asked to. do is you introduce yourself to some. people who are in the opposite political. party and you're going to have to say. something that you like about their. party or something that frustrates you. about your own. And by doing that we. give people just this little bit of. space where they can meet in the middle. and say, "All right, maybe the problem isn't my neighbors, maybe it's this two-choice political. system that wants us to hate each other. because then we're easier to control.". Rob, I want to finish off with this. You.

know, there are going to be people who. take a look here and recognize, "Okay, we've you know, we've got limited. resources. We got to focus our attention. on on where we have the highest. likelihood of winning." And the reality. is that in Iowa there are more. registered Republicans than Democrats. And so what do you say to those people. who write off any hope or desire to win. Iowa as just wishcasting. and you know, and and and kind of cast. aside the the ratings changes or polls.

or whatever it may be. Yeah, I mean. number one, like yes, the Republicans. are the larger political party in Iowa, but when you combine independents and. Democrats, the Republicans are dwarfed. And so there's a lot of people in the. state who haven't affiliated with either. political party who are ready for. change. The other thing is that I think that. there's a lot of people in this state. who are registered either as Democrats. or as Republicans who want to. participate in primaries because we have. closed primaries. We tell independent.

voters in this state wrongly. that they are less equal, that their. vote doesn't count, right? And so you'll. find people who are signed up with a. party. who that doesn't mean that they. live and die by that party. They've done. it because they want to be enfranchised. But the other piece of this that I think. I just I cuz cuz you do hear this in. Iowa and I really want to push back in. this way. Your party affiliation is not your. destiny. And the idea that you can't. vote across party lines is just bizarre,

right? Laura Kelly. was elected and reelected as the. governor of Kansas when Kansas. went for President Trump by. substantially larger margins than Iowa. did. Andy Beshear was elected and reelected. as the governor of Kentucky when. Kentucky went for President Trump by. sometimes three times the amount that. that Iowa did. And there's a tremendous. number of people in this state who are. frustrated with the status quo and who. are ready for change. And when they find.

someone who genuinely wants to bring. people together dis- and look past. disagreement to places where we can. agree, they're willing to they're willing to. cross the aisle to do that. Rob, for folks who are watching and. listening right now, how can they help. your campaign? Ah, yes. Thank you. robsand.com. r o b s a n d dot com. Awesome. I'm going to put that link. right here on the screen and also in the. post description. For folks who are. listening on the podcast, I'm going to. put it in the show notes. Rob, your. campaign has been stellar. It's super. exciting to watch. Really grateful for.

you taking the time today and best of. luck on the campaign trail. Thanks, Brian. 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 of. my video content, that subscribe. button's on the screen as well.