UNDER THE BUS: Trump's Cabinet TURNS on him in SHOCK update

A pretty stunning turn of events as even. Trump's closest allies, the people he. handpicked expressly because they would. tow the line on literally anything he. said or did, are now slowly starting to. show signs of breaking with the. president. Something that most of us and. frankly even Trump himself never thought. would happen. For example, Politico just. published a story with the headline, "Vance was skeptical voice in White. House on Iran strikes." To be clear, that story does not get written unless. J.D. Vance wants it to get written. That. was very obviously placed by somebody on.

Vance's team recognizing how much of a. disaster this war already is and Vance. positioning himself for 2028 as the lone. guy in the room who wanted to avoid. getting us sucked into war, which of. course is total In reality, not only was Vance not that guy, but he. was among the voices angling to go. bigger in Iran. According to the New. York Times, quote, "Few in the. president's inner circle voiced. opposition to military action. Even Vice. President J.D. Vance, skeptic of. American military intervention in the. Middle East, argued in the White House. situation room meeting that if the.

United States was going to hit Iran, it. should go big and go fast," according to. people familiar with his remarks. In. other words, Vance is of course just as. culpable as anybody else, but he can. read the writing on the wall. He can see. the polls like the one showing that this. is the single least popular war in. modern American history at its outset. He can watch the coverage, which of. course is overwhelmingly negative. He. can see oil prices surging and gas. prices rising, and he probably remembers. right now how the people who pushed us. into Iraq are viewed after the fact.

Meaning, he needs some image rehab and. he's wasting no time, waiting not even. two weeks before he starts planting. stories in Politico suggesting that he's. the one guy in the room who disagreed. with Trump as opposed to the reality, which is that he is in part the reason. that we're there. And it's not just J.D. Vance. Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of. Defense, also took the opportunity to. distance himself from Trump. Just days. ago, a reporter asked Trump and Hegseth. about a bombing of an Iranian school. that left over 160 children dead. Here's.

how that went. >> Did the United States bomb a girls. elementary school in southern Iran on. the first day of the war and kill 175. people? Based on what I've seen, that was done. by Iran. Is that true, Mr. Hegseth? It was Iran. who did that? We're certainly. investigating. Trump says definitively that it was. Iran, which of course is a lie, and. Hegseth, standing right next to him, would only offer quote, "We're certainly. investigating." He couldn't confirm. Trump's comments as Trump was literally. standing beside him. That's a pretty.

significant break considering Pete. Hegseth is generally so far up Trump's. ass he can touch the back of his teeth. Turns out these people aren't actually. in information bubbles, they just like. to pretend that they are. So, why is this significant? After all, these are just minor instances of. breaking with Trump, but the reason is. that these people are there expressly. because they would never break from him. Donald Trump expects total loyalty, total. That means 100% of the time. And. when he doesn't get total loyalty, as we.

know, he throws people under the bus. like he did with Michael Cohen and. George Papadopoulos and Kayleigh McEnany. and Mike Pence and Marjorie Taylor. Greene. The fact that now two of his. highest-ranking administration officials. have begun the process of distancing. themselves from Donald Trump is a. testament to his growing weakness. Remember, this guy like hosts cabinet. meetings where everybody takes turns. fellating him. I mean, it really is the. most insane humiliation ritual I've ever. seen. And yet now he's got his vice. president placing stories breaking with.

Trump in Politico. If that's not a sign. of his weakened grip on the presidency, I don't know what it is. And of course, more broadly, it tells us something even. more important. This really isn't a. story about Trump's own officials. They're not distancing themselves. because Donald Trump um. showed that his position uh is morally. bankrupt. They're not doing it because. it's the right or moral thing to do. They're doing it because of public. pressure. They're doing it because of. us, which should be a lesson to. everybody that these people are all very. much still susceptible to public.

pressure. I know that Trump likes to. fashion himself an autocrat who can do. whatever he wants and never face any. consequences, but that's not the world. we live in. And while Trump might delude. himself, the people around him aren't. willing to do that. Of course, the. reality is that no matter how many. political pieces they place, and no. matter how much they refuse to confirm. Trump's lies, even if they're right next. to him, they are all permanently marred. by their association with Trump. They. will not be able to outrun their. connection with the guy for the rest of. their lives. This is their legacy now.

An administration that launched a war. they promised they wouldn't launch, raised prices they promised they. wouldn't raise, and protected a child. sex trafficking ring that they promised. they would expose. This is a White House. based entirely on branding, and. unfortunately for them, this branding. has already stuck. You're watching No Lie with Brian Tyler. Cohen. Next up are my interviews with. J.B. Pritzker, Jared Moskowitz, Adrian. Fontes, and Gina Inahosa. No Lie is. brought to you by ZBiotics. So, I have. to tell you about a game-changing. product that I use the night before.

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have pre-alcohol before drinks, I notice. a discernible difference the next day. Even after a night out, I can. confidently plan on being on camera. without worry. And I won't lie, I was on. the fence about pre-alcohol initially, but I gave it a shot, and believe me, it. is the real deal. So, look, March is a. marathon of social events, from the. slopes to the bracket watch parties to. Guinnesses on St. Patrick's Day. Pre-alcohol is the tool that you need to. fully enjoy the end of winter. Go to. zbiotics.com/btc. to learn more and get 15% off your first.

order when you use BTC at checkout. ZBiotics is backed with 100% money-back. guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for. 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 governor of. Illinois, J.B. Pritzker. Governor, thanks for joining me. Great to be here, Brian. So, we have seen Donald Trump really. double down on this idea that there's. going to be some election interference. We've heard about reporting that he's. drafting an executive order as a result.

of China interfering in the 2020. election that would, quote, unlock. extraordinary presidential powers over. voting, not withstanding the fact that. the president doesn't have powers over. voting. Voting belongs entirely to the states. Still, that's not going to stop stop. Trump from thinking that he does or. trying to exercise this idea that he. does. And so, what is the plan in your. state of Illinois in the event that, in. what feels like the inevitable event. that Donald Trump does try to, you know, usurp control of our. elections?

We should begin by just saying it is. clear that he is going to use either ICE. and Customs and Border Patrol with their. uniforms and their automatic weapons, or he'll try to use National Guard to. protect the polling places. And I have. no doubt that that part of that plan is. potentially to claim fraud and to seize. ballot boxes in order to count the votes.

himself. So, he knows he's going to lose. this election. And so, he's got to find. some fraudulent means to overturn what. the voters want. So, you know, the protection aspects of. this we've been working on for some time. and I I will start by saying I don't. want to share with you everything that. we're talking about. I've talked to a. number of governors about what their. plans are. I can say that all of us have. thought long and hard about how do we.

protect the elections. Uh it starts of. course from the cyber perspective uh. because it wouldn't I wouldn't put it. past Donald Trump to be um you know, interfering with the systems uh the way. that we've heard Russia and China have. been attempting to do uh for some number. of years now. Uh we have a an advantage. here in Illinois which is that our. elections are not run on a statewide. basis. They're actually run in the 102. county uh clerk's offices. So, they're.

it's very dispersed. Uh we think that's. a big advantage here and run by the. elected clerks. So, we don't have a. Secretary of State for example. overseeing our entire election. We have. a Board of Elections, but uh it is. really the county clerks in charge. So, um. uh so, part of it is making sure that we. have a lot of poll watchers. Um some of them being deputized by the. state. Uh a lot of it is making sure that we. have attorneys available and on call cuz.

you can't have one at every polling. place, but you can have one in every. region at least where you expect that. there might be some uh effort by the. administration to overturn our. elections. Um I also think that Illinois. is probably not their number one target. uh for what they're, you know, hoping to. overturn. I'm guessing that it'll be. specifically in those states where. you've got a Senate race that they think. is going to be very close or where. they've got a Republican incumbent that. could be thrown out of office. Um we've.

got a Senate race, don't get me wrong, and it's going to be very important, but. my guess is they're not prioritizing. Illinois. Is there a world where. given the fact that they're probably not. going to prioritize Illinois, they're. going to look at states like North. Carolina and Maine and Ohio, Alaska, maybe Texas. Is there a world. where some of the states that have less. of a risk and and probably more you know. additional resources where those can be.

shared with some of the states that are. more at risk? Yes, indeed. And you can imagine that a. big city like Chicago, a state like. Illinois has more lawyers, let's say, than some other places in the country. where you need to guard against the. election interference by Trump. So that. doesn't mean that they're licensed to do. to practice law in those other states, but having that legal background and. being there in those states is also. something that can be done. So yes,

let's just give as examples that you. know we have historically in Illinois. had activists who've gone just the. example here would be have gone to. Wisconsin, right? It's a nearby state. where there were have been important. elections, presidential elections for. example, and people have gone in bus loads and. we've you know sponsored that. We. meaning Democrats at the Democratic. Party have sponsored that sending them. to other states. I I'm very much a. believer in taking the talent that we've.

got here when we don't need it here and. sending it to other states where it is. needed. The DNC just filed a lawsuit against the. Trump administration for pretty much. exactly the reason that you laid out at. the top. They wanted to get any they. basically tried to FOIA Freedom of. Information Act request any info from. the White House where there were plans. that were that that were in process that. would describe any effort to send. ICE agents or law enforcement agents or.

the US military into these polling. places. The fact that they had to to. file this this this FOIA request and and. sue for it is a testament to the fact. that the administration isn't trying to. reveal any of this publicly. So, does. that suggest in in in your opinion that. this is exactly what's going on to the. point where where a lawsuit would even. be required? Yeah, and it's not just the recent. evidence that backs me up on this. I. mean, I've been saying this literally. since a couple of days after the 24.

election. that that you know, he has a history and. you know, Michael Flynn. was the one who suggested it very. publicly that that of let's use the. military to seize ballot boxes. So. >> Well, he tried to do it in 2020. He He. tried to seize the seize the the voting. machines in 2020 in Georgia. So, this is. not even theoretical. No, and Flynn. actually said it in 2020 in December. that that that's what Trump should be. doing is seizing the ballot boxes. So,

so this is not a new idea for them. They didn't do it back then. My guess is. that Trump thinks that now, you know, he's got free reign to do it. So, this is hugely challenging. Now, as. you point out, there is a memo that got. revealed very recently. I think it was. in Daily Beast but elsewhere someone. revealed a memo that at DOD that is a. preparation for using troops in the. elections.

to supposedly protect the elections. So, I this is happening. This is happening. and I know that when I was saying it. back in January and February and March. of last year, people thought, oh, it's a conspiracy. theory. That's never going to happen. I. don't think anybody thinks it's a just a. conspiracy theory or just a you know, flight of fancy. Now, I think we all. understand that that is precisely what. he's doing and you heard just the other. day. that you know his purpose in trying to.

pass the save what he's calling the save. America act is precisely because he. thinks that that will help Republicans. win the election. and that they will you know that that's. going to guarantee them the election if. they could toss people off the voter. rolls if they can keep people from. voting because they're afraid to go or. people who just don't have. you know the the ID that they're. demanding in the bill. So this is I mean. anybody who hasn't heard this before. anybody who doesn't think it's true pay.

attention now cuz it is happening. In terms of the save America act there's. some reporting now that especially led. by these Republicans who are vying for. Trump's endorsement in Texas that. they're even willing to to nuke the. filibuster to get this thing through. because as Trump says if they're able to. get it through they won't win another. they won't lose another election for 50. years. And so can I have your reaction. to the prospect of the filibuster being. nuked so that Trump can shoehorn in the. exact bill that would that would have.

you know you just listed all of the. things that that that would do to. suppress voting in this country. Yeah I think that the reluctance on the. part of Thune and and a few others of. the leadership of Republicans in the. Senate has been because they understand. that if they do this. that there is a future in which. Democrats will take over the Senate and. Democrats will be able to shove down. their throats the things that you know.

the opposite of what they're trying to. shove down our throats now. and again we can talk about the. situations in which there been you know. the filibuster has been used against. Democratic priorities. but I I do think that this is a. situation where there are some. Republicans who just can't fathom the. idea that democracy truly would be. uh you know tossed out the window. if they pass the Save America Act. I. have a lot of women that I know.

single women, people who are getting. married, people who have recently been. married just as one example of of people. who would not be able to vote if they. pass this law because who's walking. around with proof that well yeah I just. got married and my last name has changed. etc. Nobody's doing that and we can go. through all the examples of people who. will be prevented from voting homeless. people etc. That's just precisely what Donald Trump. and the Republicans want. But I don't.

think that they will in the Senate I. shouldn't say that. I do not know. anymore. whether Republicans will act in a. constitutional fashion or act in a. fashion that they understand what the. meaning of changing the filibuster will. will do. But. but I am you know John Thune used to be. a rational human being. Maybe somewhere deep down he still is. You know you you had just I just want to. add one thing to a point that you made. is is preventing certain people from.

voting like if if they if they preserve. for themselves the ability to prevent. certain women from voting for example. people would say well they're not going. to just prevent women from voting women. vote for Republicans too. But the Save. America Act also allows the states or. allows the federal government to see the. voter rolls. And so they would know who. that they who they want to target. And. so if they know for example that certain. voters are registered as Democrats. because they've taken the voter rolls. from the states into the federal. government now it gives them the. information that they would need so that. if they do want to prevent certain.

people from voting. given the the reasons that they've that. they've. reserved for themselves now they would. know exactly who to target. And so this. is all like small parts of a larger. whole in terms of what the Save America. Act would do. Um, want I have a question. to add to that, Brian, sorry to. interrupt, but add to that that that, you know, obviously the demand for the. voter rolls by the Department of Justice. is all wrapped in and that's actually. what I was founding my original belief. about this seizing the ballot boxes and.

interfering with the elections came. from. Why would they be you know, when. there's so little voter fraud that's. been proven anywhere in the country? Um, why would they want to grab all of the. data from the voter rolls in every. state? Why? Because they want to claim. more broadly fraud in the election. So, this is all part of a broad scheme to. keep people from voting and then to. change the outcome of the election once. they have voted. >> Yeah, that's perfectly put. And also I.

would add, you know, there was the most. extensive study that we have on on. ballot fraud or voter fraud in this. country was a study from 2000 to 2014. and that study focused on a billion. ballots, a billion with a B. And there. were all of 31 cases of of voter fraud. or ballot fraud. So, this is a solution. this is this is a. solution in search of a problem. basically when it comes to to this. issue. You had mentioned poll watchers. and you know, we're we're talking about. this idea of of the federal government.

using the military or using law. enforcement agencies to go to the polls. when voting comes around and you had. mentioned this idea of of poll watchers. and I think that's going to be important. because you know, a big issue that I think we're. contending with is until it happens. there's no standing to sue for it. Now, maybe there's a world in which if if. these FOIA requests. actually get these documents released, these plans released and then, you know, then there might be standing because now. the plans are already being laid out and.

and you know, we can hopefully see some. some attorneys litigate that. I'd spoken. about this issue with Mark Elias as. well. But in the meantime. are the states recognizing that the way. to to, you know, make sure that these uh. law enforcement agencies or military. members standing at the polls, the way. to to make sure that they're not just. that they don't have carte blanche is so. that there is, you know, other people. there uh to push back against what. they're doing. Are there budgets for. these poll watchers in the.

in the states and the other have have. the other governors that you've spoken. with said that this is a priority that. they're uh that they're going to make. sure to counteract these members of the. military with either attorneys or or. trained poll watchers so that those. people aren't acting alone or with. impunity? So, there are certain aspects of that. that can be covered by, you know, a. traditional state budget. And there are. certain aspects of that that have to be. covered by the state parties. Um so, you know, you can have when you.

talk about poll watchers, I mean, there. are people who can man the polls whose. job it is to make sure the law is being. followed. Um. the problem is those are tend to be. people who have a higher level of. sophistication so they can sort of call. it out and deal with it right on the. spot. Um and then there's, you know, the. what I would describe as regular rank. and file volunteer, you know, or even. paid uh sort of canvasser type uh poll.

watchers uh who may or may not know, but. they have the phone number of somebody. who can deal with it. And so that it's. eyes on that that's helping. And so that. that's sort of like two levels of it. I. think the following the law part. absolutely can be done through a state. budget. Um the kind of calling it out. when you see it probably needs to be. done by uh you know, by volunteers. So, two aspects of it. Is there a budget for. it? Well, there never before has been.

Right. Um but we've never been before. been in this situation where literally. we know that the federal government and. Donald Trump in particular are. threatening the elections. >> Yeah. And I would add one other one. other thing, you know, um I don't know. if you're aware. that uh there is a federal law that. allows states to have something called a. state guard. Are you aware of this? >> No. So, it's a very interesting uh point to. to uh to bring to your attention.

There's a National Guard, we all know, and we know what the rules are around. National Guard cuz unfortunately we've. been dealing with Donald Trump on it. Um. so, people have paid attention. Uh they can be federalized uh by the. president and sent overseas and or any. use that uh is, you know, is according. to the act. Um a state guard is. something that was created during World. War when National Guard were actually. called up and sent overseas and states. didn't have the ability to call up their. National Guard because they were gone. And so, uh they gave states the ability.

to create a state guard which does not. have any federalizing associated with. it. So, just under the control of. governors. Um the state of Florida, I. only learned about this honestly because. uh. under DeSantis, he. funded his state guard to do things that. were frankly seemingly hyperpolitical. Um but uh but who knew this existed? Uh. it turns out that we all have the.

ability to create a state guard. New. York a state has a state guard that's in. existence with people who belong to it. Has to be funded by the state budget. Um. but that's an example of you don't have. to use that method, but it's an example. of you could recruit people. By the way, state guard can be you can call them. generals and captains and you know, enlisted people or you can call them. poll watchers. Um. so, that's something that could be done. in various states. Every state has the.

ability to do it, it's under federal. law. Good flag on that. And And you've. spoken with other governors on that as. well? Yes. Okay. So, I want to switch gears. here to to housing. And that's an issue. that often goes completely ignored. And. And it's also one of the most important. issues for people around the country. And I think as we head toward a midterm. cycle where, you know, look, in the last few elections we've seen a. massive realignment. And it's not. guaranteed that certain voters or. certain demographics are going to vote.

for a political party. I think people. are desperate for. someone. who is actually going to focus on the. issues that they're contending with. And. it feels very much like, you know, you you've had years and years. and years of politicians saying one. thing and doing the other. And Trump. exploited that in the lead-up to the. 2024 election. And of course, now he's. in a position where, you know, he said. that we're we're finally going to focus. on regular people. We're finally going. to going to focus on the cost of housing. and rent and groceries and eggs. And.

yet, here we are like a year in. a little more than a year in and and of. course, we're we're dropping bombs in. the Middle East. plenty of money for. that, but not enough money to fund. Medicaid, not enough money to fund the. ACA, not enough money to fund food. assistance. Rent is rising, mortgages. are rising, costs are rising, and Trump. doesn't seem to give a And so, what are what is your focus in terms of. housing? Yeah, you you didn't mention the $60. billion. additional for ICE. You know, that that could be spent on.

things that actually matter to to. regular people. Um So, housing let's start with this that that, you know, in this world where the. federal government is making it harder. to balance budgets at the state level. The, you know, so there's it's hard to. just come up with new money in an. operating budget to pay for housing. On. the other hand, we traditionally have. always really um, had affordable housing. focus. That's a lot of it funded by the.

federal government, but the state's been. involved in that, too. But no effort, really, or money traditionally on what I. call middle housing. So, people who make. 80,000 to 180,000 dollars a year. historically have been able to buy a. home, and in the Midwest, more. affordable homes. But not anymore. You can't afford it. with all the rising costs of everything. else, can't afford to buy a home. Many. people can't afford to rent a home. But.

the point being that that we have to. solve the problem not just for people. who don't have any housing at all, uh, and provide affordable housing as. it's traditionally been defined, which. typically are people who are at 80% or. below of median income. Uh, here we've got people who are, you. know, average working folks who are. making 80 to 180, they can't buy or find. a home. So, that is what we're trying to. we were trying to address with a. proposal that I made that goes along.

with our affordable housing agenda, as. well. The idea here is. there are obstacles. We We're not We. can't write checks for everybody to get. a home, but what we can do is provide a. little bit of help on your down payment. And importantly, we can remove some of. the barriers to the development of. That was That was going to be my next. question, because I, you know, I live in. Los Angeles. This is like the mecca of. of red tape, and it's and it's really. difficult to build. And a lot of what,

um, California Democrats are doing is. focusing on on deconstructing a lot of. that red tape and those barriers to. actually, um, uh, to to build that makes. it that makes it, you know, um, impossible for for developers or. contractors to even start the process. because it's not financially viable for. them. That's right. And we need about 225,000. new, uh, homes for people, or between now and. 2030 here in Illinois. The challenge and. you're raising it when you talk about.

Los Angeles is when you start to think. about each. Township and each city each municipality. and all the different red tape in all of. those places and how over the years that. red tape just piles up and piles up. Nobody ever removes any barriers. That you know, we need to do something. about that and I think now I'll give you. the example in my state of you know, Rivian the electric electric car company. is based in Normal, Illinois next to. Bloomington Bloomington Normal in the.

center of my state. That's where their. large plant is where they're producing. Just for those brief moment where I. thought you were just saying like as. opposed to like the abnormal part of. Illinois, but go [laughter] on. Okay. It's a town called Normal. And and they that's where they produce. the R1 and R2 vehicles. The R2 is just. coming out now. And because of their growth when I took. office there were 27 people working at. Rivian. There now more than 8,000 in.

Normal. And. the housing stock, you know, that was. necessary for people to take the jobs. there didn't exist. And and it still. doesn't. There still isn't enough. housing. They taken over hotels there. and basically house people in those. hotels. So they need a lot more housing. The problem is there aren't a lot of. developers in the area and there's red. tape that takes too long for that. housing to be developed. I give that as. the example because we had I mean we are.

continuing in a crisis for a place like. Bloomington Normal. The same thing's. happening in a place like Rockford, Illinois which has gone from a place. that had high unemployment to a place. that's just booming. And and we we need. more housing. Chicago of course, that's. the case. So, I what I'm saying is each. one of these places has a different set. of barriers that you've got to remove. But, the answer is we need something. that's statewide that says that they've. got to approve permits within a certain.

period of time or else there is going to. be a third-party method of getting those. permits approved. Um the same thing goes. for other of the local regulation that's. just I mean, for many developers, they. say, "I don't even want to do business. in these places where they need houses.". Yeah. So, I we're working very hard on. that. I put a proposal before the. legislature that will not only deal with. the developers and help them develop.

more housing, but also the problem of in. a lot of jurisdictions, you know, you've. got an apartment over a uh uh. a garage, for example, and the. jurisdiction won't let you rent that. out. That's a home for somebody. Yeah. Um and yet it might sit empty. It could. be income for the family that owns the. home next to the garage. So, we've got a. lot of those situations where we just. need to loosen it up a bit and let. people do what they naturally would like. to do. This isn't about stuffing.

communities with um you know, let's say. a middle-class or an upper, you know, middle-class community with low-income. housing. That's not what we're talking. about. What we are talking about is just. using available housing stock uh that. could be homes that were when at a. moment when we really do need some new. homes. Uh and that would take for my. 225,000. need, that would be about 100,000 of. those 225,000, just the available.

housing stock today. Now, you had. mentioned that something needs to be. done on the state level. Is that Is that. in the works right now? Is there Is. there um legislation being drafted in. the legislature to actually get this. done? It has been. I in fact, I I gave. in my State of the State speech, which. was just a couple of weeks ago, I talked. specifically about this proposal, the. various elements of it, uh and the fact. that we've got to just think anew about. housing. This isn't just about building, it's also about existing housing stock,

and very importantly, you shouldn't have. to wait till you're 40 years old to be. able to afford to buy a home. Last question here. How are you thinking. about. the issue of housing in relation to the. 2030 census and and blue states like. yours not losing seats in deference to. red states down south? Yeah. This has always been a challenge, particularly because Midwest in general. has had a, you know, migration of people. to warmer parts of the, uh, country. Um,

what's interesting is if you look at. the, uh, latest data, what you're seeing is. that with there is an expectation that. there will be a reverse of that. migration back to the Midwest. You know. why? Because we have all the water. I mean, literally 80% of the nation's. fresh water is here in the Midwest. Yeah. And you think about a place like. Arizona, which has had so much migration. out there, they no longer have the water.

that they once had. Uh, California. suffers from that as well. The Colorado. River isn't going to be able to feed. California the way that it that. California needs. So, uh, people are. actually and not to mention industry, you know, is needs fresh water as well. So, uh, we're expecting and seeing. already a kind of a reversal of that. migration pattern. Um, so, that's something that we are. challenged with, uh, in Illinois, the. kind of being ready for that reverse of.

migration. Look, uh, you know, I'm I'm not going to. be governor forever, although I've been. governor for 7 years and I'm running for. re-election, but the truth is that that. migration is going to occur over. decades. But, we've got to be ready for it, and. we've got to continue our process of. adding more existing I mean, more. available housing stock among the. existing, as well as building new. Well, I appreciate it. Governor Pritzker, as. always, thanks so much for the time. Good to see you, Brian. I'm joined now. by Congressman Jared Moskowitz. Congressman, thanks for joining me.

Hey, Brian, good to be with you. So, I. want to get your reaction to an. announcement that Donald Trump made this. morning that's raising a lot of eyebrows. here, and that is the United States is. the largest oil producer in the world by. far. So, when oil prices go up, we make. a lot of money. And then he goes on to. say, but the the the issue of greater. importance to him, of course, is. stopping Iran from having nuclear. weapons, which is clearly why he decided. to blow up the Iran nuclear deal. But, all of that notwithstanding, your. reaction to this new talking point from. Donald Trump that actually high oil high.

oil prices, high gas prices are good. Well, I guess I could say that he's def-. definitely testing his theory that he. could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and. get away with it, because this is. obviously this is he's going to try to. defy gravity here. Okay, everybody knows. that when they go to the gas pump, they're going to see what they're. paying, right? That is where all the. talking points and all the propaganda. and all the spin, all the marketing, all. the sales that Trump tries to do, all of. that dies at the gas pump. Because math.

is still math. People can see that. they're paying more for gas as a result. of the president's strategy and plans. And so, listen, this is not going to. work out how he thinks. He's not going. to be able to convince the American. people that we're making more money. Who. is the we? It's not the American people. who are suffering every day, obviously, under this economy as costs continue to. to go up. And so, this is not going to. work out for the president. The. president's going to see that he's not. going to defy gravity when it comes to. gas prices. Well, so I I you you touched.

on something really important there. On the we, isn't the we in this scenario. just the oil and gas companies? Like. isn't that aren't these multi-billion. dollar multinational conglomerates the. the entities that he's referring to here. when he beats his chest about making. more money? Well, I listen, that might be for his. donors, it might be for the. conglomerates, right? The American. people aren't in the we. Okay. >> [laughter]. >> That is not that is not the we. It is. not the it's not the folks by the way, Brian, who are going to go to the ballot. box in the primaries and in the general.

right around the corner. It certainly. ain't those people, okay? Because those. people are going to be bearing the. brunt. It's why you've seen, you know, special elections and other elections. not going the way Republicans had hoped. And now you add to this gas prices going. up after they've dealt with grocery. prices going up, you know, they are going to face a tsunami at the. ballot box. You know, something that. that's especially striking about this is. this is the issue on which, you know,

Trump ran. Like he exploited the issue. of of higher costs that that regular. people were. were were enduring when he was on the. campaign trail. And so what does it say. that Donald Trump will will not only, you know, recognize that this is a. potent political issue, but it's it's an. issue that was so potent he basically. won the presidency off of it and now is. just pretending that it doesn't even. exist. Let me say it let me say it a. different way, okay? Donald Trump is. underwater on the two issues that the.

poll said he got elected on. One was the. economy and two is immigration. He's. ruined both of those things, okay? He's. ruined it by what he did. all over the country and in Minnesota. and what he did with TPS, okay? He's. absolutely destroyed himself with Kristi. Noem on immigration. And now on the. economy, right? He told everyone Joe. Biden's policies were terrible. Bidenomics are awful. And yet he's. literally bringing us back to what he. said was terrible. Gas prices, cost of. living, cost of groceries, but now he's.

going to tell everyone everything's. fine, right? Don't look at the math, don't look at the gas pump. It's not. going to work. We tried By the way, we. tried that. We tried in the last. election to tell people how to feel, right? We tried to tell them things are. getting better. Don't worry. We tried to. do that. But at the end of the day, the. bills still show up at the kitchen. table. Yep. And every time someone. brings their car to the gas station, they're going to see that bill. And. every time the you know, their the. utility bill shows up on the kitchen. table, they're going to see that bill.

Okay? And and the propaganda ain't it. doesn't not going to go further than, you know, when people have less money in. their savings account because of the. president's policies. Right. I think. that's perfectly put. And in fact, one. of the issues that he tried to exploit. on the campaign trail against the. Democrats was the idea of housing. There is legislation that's working its. way through the Senate right now that's. called the 21st Century Road to Housing. Act. Again, that's Republicans kind of. hewing closely to what they said on the. campaign trail that they cared about the.

cost of of rent and housing and. groceries and eggs. And so now there's a. big piece of bipartisan legislation. It. was it was put forward by Elizabeth. Warren and also Tim Scott on the. Republican side. And according to. Punchbowl News from today, Donald Trump. wants Mike Johnson not to focus on this. bill because he wants all the focus to. be on the Save America Act so we can. have some voter suppression suppression. legislation. And what he told Mike. Johnson was, quote, "No one gives a. bleep about housing." So.

another instance of him doing exactly. the opposite of what he kind of ran on. during the campaign. Yeah, listen, you know, we thought. the affordability is a hoax was a great. line, which now the president stopped. using, of course, after all of his. consultants and pollsters said, "Stop. saying that, please." Now we're hearing, you know, "No one cares about the cost. of housing, right?" So, we got. affordability is a hoax, high gasoline. prices, you're going to love them, they're fantastic. And by the way, the.

cost of your house and the cost of your. rent, nobody gives a I mean, those. commercials are going to be crazy to. watch. Those those mailers that are. going to go out. Can you imagine? You. turn on the TV and it's like, "Are you. headed to the polls in 2 weeks? Higher. gas prices, higher housing, higher. grocery prices. These are fantastic for. you, the American people. Vote for us.". This is their plan? And finally, Congressman, one one last one last topic. here, and that is the Shield of the. Americas, which is the uh the the the.

the very important um. I don't even know what it is, but Kristi. Noem was running the. >> it is. [laughter] The I know what it is. The president was watching uh Endgame, the last Avengers movie. Uh Well, well, Kristi Noem lost her job as DHS. secretary. She's been relegated to the. very important position as, I don't. know, head shield at the Shield of. Americas. There was some event uh to. honor the Shield of Americas that Donald. Trump went to, and Kristi Noem was. there, wasn't even featured. She was. just relegated to audience member, even. though she's going to be the special. envoy or whatever her position calls. for. So, uh your reaction to uh to this.

latest uh this latest job move uh from. Kristi Noem. Yeah, I mean, first of all, I. congratulate the former secretary of. Homeland on her new position as head of. the Shield of the Americas. Obviously, uh President has so much faith in her. that he refused to even include her in. the announcement. She was literally just. an audience member. Uh which, by the. way, is what he did with her at his last. cabinet meeting. He wouldn't even let. her speak at uh at uh the last cabinet. meeting. And so, listen, uh ding dong, the witch is dead. I'm.

glad that she's no longer there. I'm. glad that she's at that she's gone. She's absolutely destroyed that agency. She's really hurt FEMA. FEMA We don't. talk a lot about FEMA cuz we haven't had. a hurricane to deal with FEMA. Yeah. But, what you're going to find out is. the damage, systemic damage she's caused. at FEMA. It will take years to rebuild. FEMA. And so hopefully we don't have a. major hurricane this summer because I. can tell you that agency has a lot of. good people there, but they're not ready. because of what she's done there. And. then the corruption. You think the $200.

million. commercial contract is bad? Wait till. you hear about the internal lobbyists. that were making money, people who work. there, Corey Lewandowski, who was also. making money as a lobbyist, tens of. millions of dollars allegedly is what it. it it it is what I'm hearing. And a. quote came out from Corey Lewandowski. the other day said, "I don't give a. you know, the president will. pardon me." Well, it's not going to. pardon you from state crimes. Uh and so. look, when we get that gavel back, where. Robert Garcia gets the gavel and Jamie. Raskin gets the gavel, man, those.

hearings are going to be much watched. television what we're what we're going. to find out that went on in Homeland. Security under Kirstjen Nielsen. Probably the worst secretary of that. agency uh of all time. The American. people are happy to have a national. divorce from her on biblical grounds. You know, you uh. I want to I want to dig into that that. part as as uh just in the in the few. minutes that we have left here. Um this. idea that when Democrats get the gavel. they'll be able to they'll be able to do. proper oversight on uh on some of the. stuff that we've been seeing. You know, one of one of the issues is the Epstein.

files. Obviously, the Trump. administration will protect anybody from. being called in so long as they're not. named uh Bill or Hillary Clinton. Do you. presume that some of these Trump. administration officials, like Howard. Lutnick for example, uh who have been. able to to avoid being subpoenaed. because everybody knows that Jim Jordan. won't subpoena them and that and that. Pam Bondi won't enforce any subpoena. Do. you think we'll see some some difference. here when Democrats are actually in. control? Oh, yeah. And and by the way, Lutnick is. coming. Right? Lutnick is coming. They've subpoenaed Lutnick. So, he he'll.

be he'll be appearing in oversight. Pam. Bondi will be appearing in oversight. again. They're they're coming, but it's. going to be very different when we can. all all of a sudden get bank records. Right? When you could start following. the money, right? When we can actually. >> Comey, for example, led the. investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and. Ghislaine Maxwell. And not only was she. fired, but now we haven't heard anything. from her. And she'll have all uh you. know, a a wealth of information on on. all of this stuff that that otherwise. wouldn't come into that that we wouldn't. know. And Brian, this is why the. president is incessantly focused on the.

SAVE Act. Okay? The reason it's called. the SAVE Act is because he's trying to. save himself. Okay? That's why it's called the SAVE. Act. The only way he can save himself is. to disenfranchise Americans from voting. at the ballot box. Because come. November, when we do get a chance to. vote, they are going to lose the House. and maybe the Senate. Uh and when that. happens, the next 2 years are going to. be very different than the first 2 years. in which the president has had. unfettered reign, right? He's had no.

oversight from Republicans on the House, no oversight from Republicans uh in the. Senate. The executive branch has acted. like a king. uh because there's been Article 1 of the. Constitution seems to not matter to to. Mike Johnson. Uh and so it'll be a very. different when we can put brakes on the. administration, when we at least take. back the House, and make Hakeem Jeffries. the speaker. First black speaker in. American history. When Hakeem holds that. gavel up, it's not just going to be a. historic moment for America. It's going. to be a historic moment for the next 2.

years of the Trump administration. We'll. leave it there, Congressman. As always, thanks for the time. Thank you. I'm joined now by the. Secretary of State of Arizona, Adrian. Fontes. Thanks so much for joining me. Thanks for having me. So, Arizona is in. the news in a big way right now because. Donald Trump has turned his attention to. that state, pointing to this idea that. voter fraud took place in Arizona. And. of course, this is especially ironic. considering uh this was really litigated. over and over and over. There were even. the Cyber Ninjas who came in in the. aftermath of the 2020 election from.

these Republicans who actually found. that not only did Donald Trump not win, but the margin that Joe Biden beat Trump. by was even larger than had been. previously suspected. But still that. isn't stopping Trump because he's. looking for any pretext to be able to. claim voter fraud. So, what can you tell. us first and foremost about the prospect. of voter fraud in Arizona? Well, I don't know how many times we. have to exhaust this notion that 2020. was a clean election in Arizona. It was. fair, it was accessible, it was secure,

it was all of those things. I mean, look, even I was on the exact same. ballot in Maricopa County at the time. running for my re-election and I lost. But you didn't hear me uh. you know, and complain about it. We trust our voters, we trust our. systems and they worked out well. But. one thing you didn't mention was the. sitting Attorney General at the time, Republican Mark Brnovich, who since has. passed away, may he rest in peace. Uh. his office put out a report. Uh well, they didn't put it out, the next.

Attorney General Chris Mayes did. And. even that report said that they couldn't. substantiate any of the claims that were. made. Look, this is just part of the. continuing grift that we see on the part. of election deniers. The continuing. sowing of doubt on the part of this. president. Uh and it's really just a. power grab. It's very elaborate. Uh and. and the one thing I will say is this, you got to give the guy credit. Uh he. gets a lot of people to believe all of. his lies. Uh and so,

you know, credit where due on that one. But at the end of the day, this is all. just nonsense. It's not going to. ultimately go anywhere. It is just. another distraction away from all of. those things that we should be dealing. with. Iran, affordability, um. the Epstein files, all of that stuff. You know, Arizona is just the latest. iteration of this same claim that's. being surfaced by Trump. Uh just days. earlier, we obviously found out that. Donald Trump had sent his director of. national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard uh.

to Fulton County to seize those ballots. So, obviously, Fulton County is going to. be another another point where Donald. Trump says that the election was stolen. from him. Prior to that, in the. immediate aftermath of the Iran bombing, he said that Iran had interfered in the. 2020 election. Just before that, we had. reporting from the Washington Post that. the White House was putting together an. executive order um on this uh. on the foundation of this idea that. China had interfered in the 2020. election. So, at this point, we're just. doing this whole thing where you know,

Trump basically points at a map and any. place that his hand lands on is is uh. you know, responsible for interfering in. the election. I'm surprised we haven't. gotten Hugo Chavez, the dead leader of. Venezuela, um having interfered in that. election as well. But, why do you think. it's so important for Trump to try and. find some place to serve as a pretext. for him to claim that there was fraud? Well, the only way he can stay in power. is if there's if the reason he would. come out of power is illegitimate. Uh.

and so, he's going to do everything he. can to subvert the 2026 elections, which. if if he keeps governing as poorly as he. has, his party will lose. Uh his party. will lose the House of Representatives, potentially lose the United States. Senate, and then his presidency is in. jeopardy. And that's the one thing a. wannabe dictator doesn't want. But, but. there's something a lot more important. underlying this. You know, people often. will say, "Well, this isn't how we do it. in America." This isn't a democracy.

that's functioning with all cylinders. firing anymore. You have the. prosecutorial branch of the government. in the Department of Justice and its law. enforcement agencies, the FBI, chasing. ghosts and conspiracy theories and lies. And it's not just in elections. We've. just learned that subpoenas. uh in an investigation into. Jerome Powell were kicked out of court. Now, these folks are are are not making. it past the judiciary, but the the mess. that they are leaving in their wake with.

these illegitimate prosecutions, these. unfounded investigations, and this abuse. of power I think is really important for. folks to realize. We cannot be. comfortable with where we are, and we've. got to be uncomfortable to get us away. from where we are right now. Uh, and. these subpoenas in Arizona I think are. another example of subversion of the. judiciary, and I I get a little tighter. into that like me to. Yeah, I would love. to I would love to hear more about that. Sure. So, in June, as you recall, along.

with many other states, the Department. of Justice tried to get the sensitive. part of our voter rolls so that they. could do whatever they wanted to do. And. there's So, there's two parts of our. voter rolls. There's the public part, names, addresses, party stuff that that. folks can get with a public records. request, depending on their use. And. then there's the private part, mother's. maiden name, father's name, part of. whole of your social security, driver's. license driver's license numbers, day, month, and year of birth, tribal ID. numbers. That's secure stuff that we. don't give away. It's actually a crime. for us to give that up uh, under any.

circumstances really that aren't very. very narrowly provided for in law. I've. said no, and they've sued us. Well, that. lawsuit is pending. I think it's possible that this. Department of Justice impaneled a grand. jury to chase after these conspiracy. theories in order to subvert the current. pending litigation. And if that kind of. prosecutorial misconduct is coming out. of this DOJ, which I would not put it. past them, then then then they've got.

another thing coming. So, that's one of the reasons why this fight. is still alive. And and that that they. may have gotten that stuff from the. State Senate, but what they can do with. it and how they use it, uh, they might. have some real problems coming. And so, we're going to pursue this as far as we. can, uh, and I think the DOJ is on some. shaky ground, uh, if these if these. questions that we have turn out to be. true. Can you speak a little bit about why the. DOJ is so hell-bent on trying to get. these voter rolls from state control. into the federal government's hands? And.

by the way, this is not just an effort. that they're pursuing in the court, it's. also a tenant of the Save America Act, which Trump is so hell-bent on passing. that he's willing to throw every every. other legislative priority to the. wayside to to get through. Well, first and foremost, it reveals. something really important, and that is. how hamstrung the federal government is. and how bad their data is in the first. place, because people are like, "Oh, well, they've already got all this. data." If they had it, they wouldn't be. asking for it. >> Right. So, what they want is they want. to know.

who is voting, who has voted, and how to. find them. How to find folks like you. and folks like me, whose data may not be. available. Because if they can find us, they can pursue us. They can send folks. to knock on your doors and ask you. questions. This is what authoritarians. do. This is what a regime like this, who's hell-bent on keeping power, does. It's just part of the regular playbook. Now, do I know that that's their plan? No, but that's one of the worst-case. scenarios that you can think of, and I. wouldn't put it past them. They are. trying to, however, justify it with this.

mythology of non-citizen voters. And and. you and I both know, even the Heritage. Foundation, the ultra-conservative. Heritage Foundation, has found that. since 1982, with literally billions of votes cast, there've only been 68 instances of. non-citizens who've confirmed to have. voted out of billions. This is wholly. and completely unjustified. It is the. tail wagging the dog. It is a solution.

looking for a problem, and it's. justifying. this whole non-citizen voting thing is. justifying something far more nefarious, far more dangerous for our democracy, and we really got to wake up to the fact. that these guys do not want to get out. of power, no no what election results. might say. Yeah, that was perfectly put. I I I often point to there was a study. done from 2000 to 2014 that looked at a. billion ballots over the course of 14. years um to to find instances of ballot. fraud, not just undocumented immigrants,

just general instances of ballot fraud. in the United States. They found 31 over. the course of 14 years with a billion. ballots cast. So, like you said, this is. a solution in search of a problem. Um I. want to ask about something in. particular, and this is with the Save. America Act. You know, they had they had. um put forward this idea that the only. acceptable forms of identification are. going to be passports, for example. And. so, I presume that it would lend itself. to reason that because the federal. government is in charge of distributing. passports, that if, for example, they.

get the voter rolls and they can see. what your political affiliation is, your. partisan affiliation, what what party. you're registered with, and then you. have the federal government who's in. charge of giving you the documents that. you would need to go vote, and they can. see, for example, because now they have. the access to the voter rolls, who are. Democrats, wouldn't that put them in a. position where they can say, "Well, now. we know who the Democrats are." And so, when those people try to get passports, try to get birth certificates, because. of those are the only two approved. sources of identification um that we're. going to allow, doesn't that put them in.

a in a position where the federal. government of one party can determine, in effect, who can vote? Well, it doesn't just determine that. Let's talk about fundamentally what this. is from a legal perspective. What you're. saying is you've got to have a. government-issued ID uh and and this. database is going to know exactly who. each of us is. It's exactly what the. Privacy Act of 1974. uh was built against. But, once you do. that for one fundamental right, now.

that's going to end up flowing to all of. the others. It's going to flow to your. right to travel, your right to bear. arms, your right to speak freely, to. have this national ID. Now Now, what do. you do with that? Is that going to be a. hook to health care, to banking, to. insurance, to all kinds of other things. that we do in this country? Are we going. down that authoritarian path for reals, and this voter ID thing is just the. first step in that direction? That's. entirely possible, and that terrifies. me, and that's why I'm fighting so hard. against it. Look, Arizona has had voter.

ID laws for years. Our voters who vote. in person have to present their ID. We. enforce that law here. We've had. documented proof of citizenship for. years. That's fine. We've figured out. how to deal with it after fits and. starts and 20 years of experience in. Arizona. But the bottom line is this, Arizona runs that system, not the. federal government, and that is the. bright line difference between what the. Trump administration is trying to do and. what other states are working towards or. have already been doing like Arizona. So.

this is much more than just about voting. rights and voting. It is far greater in. so far as a real power grab from a legal. perspective. But at the end of the day, what we've got is a federal government. that we just can't trust with data. We. saw them put a bunch of social security. data up on unsecured servers. We've seen. recently released. um. interviews that they were having in some. depositions from the the douche. teenagers who were out there, you know, screwing around, not even being able to.

define basic terms, and transferring. stuff to their Gmail, and all kinds of. unsecured stuff with some pretty. important uh government work. This isn't. how government is supposed to work. These folks are rank amateurs. They. don't know what they're doing or how to. implement this. Uh and and the. sloppiness and laziness of the way they. work things isn't good for the American. people, no matter what systems they're. trying to work through. Well, I want to. add one more variable here, and that is. the prospect of Trump sending the. military or law enforcement agents to.

the polls. This is um an issue that's. that's so concerning that the the DNC. has filed a lawsuit against the Trump. administration to find out if there are. any ongoing efforts to do exactly that, where the administration is planning to. send military members to the polls. And. so, in the event that this happens, because obviously that litigation is. going to play itself out, the White. House is going to try and block this to. the ends of the earth. So, we probably. won't get anything until until the. lawsuit moves forward and a judge. demands that any correspondence be.

released. But, in the event that this is. going to happen, what's the plan in. Arizona to keep the polls safe from. having members of the military there. expressly to intimidate people into not. casting ballots? Well, first and foremost, let's look at. this one way that the president might be. thinking about getting there that a lot. of folks have been talking about, and. that is the possible declaration of an. emergency of some sort in order to be. able to do what it is that you're. talking about. The president doesn't. have the power to do that. There's about. 130, 140 or so reasons why the president.

can declare an emergency. Elections are. not one of them, because we run them. here in the states at our level of. governance, not the president. And so, that's not legally on the table for him. And I think he'd have a tough time. trying to get past that question. But, then there's this other thing about, well, he doesn't follow the law anyway. And so, what are we doing to to, you. know, be able to react exactly to those. things? Well, I'd love to tell you,

but we aren't going to reveal any of. what we're working on with the executive. and the attorney general. here in Arizona. And in speaking with my. colleagues and their attorneys general. across the country, through the. Democratic Association of Secretaries of. State, and even some Republican. Secretaries, by the way, are very. worried about this sort of thing. Let's. not forget the Trump administration has. sued several Republican states for not. giving up those voter rolls that we were. talking about a minute ago, as well. So,

is this prospect scary? Absolutely. Is. it possible? It may very well be. Is it. probable? I doubt it. And let's look at. the big, big, big picture here. Authoritarians who have taken over. democracies are generally somewhat. popular. This guy's not popular. The American public are railing against. him already. It looks like he may lose. political. any political cachet that he has Yeah. as the months and weeks go by and I feel.

you know, really good about that as as a. politician, as an as a statewide elected. Democrat. But, regardless of all the. politics, we're going to follow the law. in Arizona. Our elections are run by. local officials at the county level. We're a bottom-up state. I basically am. a regulator. We make the rules and all. that. But, we're going to be okay and I. want to ensure everybody understands. There are folks working every single day. right now planning on and working on the. November 2026 elections and it's going.

to take all Americans to get together to. either work through your party. infrastructure, your organizational. infrastructure, or even if you feel so. compelled, contact your local elections. officials now so that if they need folks. to work the polls, to make sure voters. are safe, to make sure the rules are. followed, that you can get the training. that you need moving towards the fall. and you can get in there early enough to. really help and and and make a. difference in your own communities. That's one of the things that I would. ask folks to do. Well, I think that that.

reassurance is especially important. And. that's what it looks like when you have. you know, someone like you in your position as. Secretary of State. So, can you talk. about, you know, you're running for for. re-election. Can you talk about the. importance of making sure that you are. in this position not just in 2026, but. as we move forward to 2028 where of. course, you know, there will be a. general election and Trump seems. hell-bent on making sure he he rig the. rules of the game in his and his party's. favor. Yeah, thanks for bringing that up. We've.

got a couple of really interesting. candidates that are running in the. Republican primary against me. It looks like I may not have a primary. to get reelected as Secretary of State. in November of 2026. So so the politics are going to play. out. Both of the candidates running against. me have very very deep ties. One of them has been endorsed by the by. Donald Trump in her race for Congress. I. don't know if she's going to get that. endorsement now for Secretary of State. The other one is a Turning Point USA.

guy. And as you know, Turning Point USA. is is based here in Arizona. And they. don't like the fact that I push back. against the conspiracy theories and the. lies and misinformation all the time. They don't like the fact that I will. hold up and celebrate local elections. officials regardless of their political. party because the local elections. officials want to help their. communities. And I used to be one of. those and I know these folks. They do. good work. They're your neighbors. They're your friends. The folks that work in the polling. places. Those folks on that side of the.

aisle don't want someone who's going to. follow the rules, support elections. officials, and secure Arizona's private. data from this office. And so they're. going to try to unseat me and that's why. it's so important that you know, I think. folks can support my reelection. They. can go to electfontes.com. I'll repeat that electfontes.com if you. want to help. We'd really appreciate it. It's going to be a slog because Turning. Point has been engaged in very deeply.

already. in Mesa City Council race. They're. working on the SRP board, which is a. sort of quasi-governmental board that. has elections. They're putting money into these races. So we know that we're going to have a. fight ahead of us. And I'm really really excited about. being able to show great support and. push forward so that we can ensure that. 2028 goes well, also. Because we don't. just have 2028, folks. Uh, getting getting reelected will help.

me set up so that we can have a really. good census in 2030, also. So, this. isn't just about 2026 and me. This is. about what's going to happen in the. presidential race in 2028 and and the. presidential preference election, the. the primaries, all that stuff, and. moving into 2030, how things are going. to flesh out. Arizona is getting ready. to flip, uh, and I want to be the man. who makes sure that the real voice of. Arizona's voters is heard, and that we. can get past the shenanigans, as we have.

done year in and year out. I'd love to. do it again as Secretary of State for. the next 4 years. Well, Adrian, I'm. going to put the link to your website. right here on the screen and also in the. post description. For those who are. listening on the podcast, it'll be in. the show notes. I appreciate you taking. the time today. I appreciate that you. have been, uh, uh, a a clear voice, uh, for, uh, for, you know, not that we're. contending with right now for so long. So, thanks again for taking the time. Super happy to be back with you. I can't. wait till next time. Take care of.

yourself. I'm joined now by the. Democratic nominee for governor of. Texas, Gina Inojosa. Thanks so much for. joining me. It's great to be with you, Brian. So, as. it relates to to Texas, we just saw, uh, a few weeks back during the primary that. a bunch of the districts that, uh, Texas. Republicans had redrawn to kind of, uh, engineer themselves a majority in the. house to win these five seats, that in. four of those new congressional. districts, Democrats actually turned out. more than Republicans. And so, what kind. of a blinking red light do you think. that is for the Republican Party as we.

head toward this midterm election? This 2026 midterm is going to be unlike. anything we've seen. We are seeing. Democrats making gains in Texas like we. haven't seen in decades. Something is. happening in Texas. And so, yes, they. way underestimated our energy and our. excitement. They way underestimated. where the Latino vote is in Texas for. this midterm election. So, this creates. in Texas at an opportune time a real.

opportunity for Democrats to make gains. in a big, big way this midterm election. So, talk to me about the Latino. population in particular because I think. the way that Republicans had looked at. that demographic group was, "Okay, they. are a a permanent part of our coalition. now, and so we can. gerrymander these maps assuming that the. Latino voters who swung for Trump and. Republicans in 2024 are always going to. be Trump uh and Republican voters moving.

forward." But, is that the case? No, they're not. So, I'm originally from. the Rio Grande Valley. Trump won the Rio. Grande Valley in South Texas. We. launched our campaign from the Rio. Grande Valley, and people are angry with. status quo. They're angry at the Trump. administration and the Republican. leadership that has enabled it. And so, Latinos swung in a big way. Let me give. you an Let me put it into context what. that means for Democrats in this midterm. election. In 2018, Beto got 64% of the Latino.

vote, okay? He came really close to. flipping Texas. In 2026, when I get 64%. of the Latino vote against Abbott, I win. because there's more Latinos in the. voting pool. Taylor Remmet, who just. flipped a an open Senate seat in Tarrant. County, the largest Republican. um county in the whole state in the. whole country, he got 79%.

of the Latino vote, right? It's It is. pretty incredible the way Latinos have. swung in a big way. Really, these. immigration attacks on our families, on. our communities our personal. Many of us. are from mixed status families. My own. mother was not born in this country. My. grandmother never became a citizen. So, these attacks are literally hitting home. for so many Latinos in Texas. We are a. very patriotic people and we take pride. in who we are. And so to have it be.

questioned and challenged by this. government is unacceptable and it's made. Latinos very angry. So, help me. understand a little bit here here. because I think the way that we used to. think about Latinos, you know, decades. ago was, okay, any any issues related to. the Latino community is like has has to. focus on immigration and then everybody. else talks about the economy. And then. it became clear that Latinos vote very. much along the same lines as everybody. else in this country, um which is to say.

that the economy, you know, if the. economy is the principal issue for for. most Americans, it's also going to be. the principal issue for Latinos. And so, when we hear that, you know, this issue. of ICE in particular is moving them, does that mean it's swung back to. immigration issues? Does that mean both. are important? Like just give me a. little bit of of uh help me understand a. little bit here because I think the way. that that we had been kind of trained. recently to think about the Latino. population is whatever, you know, whatever issue is impacting the rest of.

America is also very much very much the. same issue that's impacting that. community. Right. So, that's a great question. So, last election cycle, I will say that. border security was an issue, a. liability for Democrats. Biden was not. seen as strong on border security. Remember, at the time there were the. caravans coming, people were sleeping. under bridges. It did not feel It felt. chaotic. And so, I think Democrats were. punished because of it. But, this issue.

has It There's been a 180 on this issue. for reasons that I told you because. people feel personally attacked. It's. people who have been in this country for. 20 years, law-abiding, hard-working. members of our community are now being. targeted and then some, right? They're. even targeting citizens as we know. Um, and so on that issue, it is now a. liability for Republicans. It is a. winning issue for Democrats, but you're. right that the economic issues are. always at the forefront for this. community. And in 2026,

tell me who is doing better. economically. I mean, everybody is. struggling and in Texas, it's worse. because our income is growing at a. slower pace than the national average. We just there was just a study that on. this released last month. Despite the fact that we are a world. economic powerhouse in Texas and people. know we built that economic power, right? So people are very angry about. the cost of everything going up. We have. the most working people who are.

uninsured in this state. Most children. who are uninsured. Homeownership is out. of reach. The price of electricity has. skyrocketed since Winter Storm Uri when. Greg Abbott sold us out to industry. instead of looking out for the people of. Texas. Remember, we lost power. Over 700. Texans died. Like on and on and on. Texans are struggling with the basics. with a Republican governor in Greg. Abbott who just doesn't deliver for us. He only delivers for his billionaire. donors.

So you had mentioned border security and. and how that was a liability for. Democrats in 2024. And I understand that. that's not the principal issue anymore. because you know, obviously the the. issue of ice is kind of superseded that, but that doesn't mean that Democrats are. still viewed favorably when it comes to. border security and that's still going. to be a thing in Texas. So where do you. stand on the issue of border security so. that folks know. whether it will continue to be a. liability, continue to be a weakness for. Democrats or whether it's something that.

you are going to focus on. My position on border security is. informed by what I heard from people. that absolutely we should have border. security but targeting long-time. hard-working members of our communities. who have been here 20 years is not. making us more secure. It's making us. less safe. And so we can't be treating. those populations the same. People who. just arrive at the border absolutely. need to be vetted in a different way.

than people who have been here for a. long time. There should be a path to. legalization. I have learned from the. Harris County District Attorney in. Houston that in fact he has child sex. abuse cases that he cannot prosecute. because witnesses are either deported or. they're too afraid to come forward. So. it's making us more. unsafe. It's putting us in danger to. have these indiscriminate targetings of. immigrants in this state. And we know. that in Texas we're detaining more.

people than anyone. Greg Abbott has. taken big money from the private prison. companies who are now operating these. detention centers. He's padding their. profits by sending the Texas National. Guard in to be staffing for these. detention centers. We are the only state. in the whole union that allows for. little children to be locked up with. their parents like little Liam. And. that's after Greg Abbott received those. tens of thousands of dollars in. contributions from the private prison. companies and created a new kind of. licensing that allows makes legal the.

locking up of these little children. And. so that's just the corrupt reality we. deal with in Texas. And Texans have had. enough. The polling shows the elections. on the ground show that people are done. with politics as usual and they're. desperate for a change. So that's the. part I want to dig into here because um. I understand that people are are fed up. and and the the the former kind of. alignments that we'd seen in politics. are kind of blowing up. and and you know, it's anybody's guess. where large swaths of voters are are.

going to go, but it still remains true. that for a lot of people. their political affiliation is very much. very much tied to their to their. identities and and that's by design, I. think and so it's not a small thing for. someone who's been a lifelong Republican. to just go ahead and cast their ballot. for for a Democrat, especially if you. know, their families before them their. parents were Republicans and their. grandparents were public were. Republicans and on and on and so in the.

conversations that you've had with. people across the state. I'm sure that. you've encountered those people. What is. most resonant with voters to get people. who have voted for Republicans in the. past or for whom their republicanism is. such a such a major part of their. identity to say to you, you know, I. voted for these people in the past and I. I can't do it anymore. I'm going to vote. for you. Well, a few things on that. I do think. that politics is so broken and. government so broken that it's created a. real opportunity for people to just look.

for something different. And so we've. seen a lot of people become independents. in Texas, right? Who are open to either. party. It just depends on who the. candidate is. And in my poll in the only polling we. have it shows that I'm winning. independents significantly by 13 to 17. points. Right. The other thing is that for the last few. years, we have fought this voucher scam. that Greg Abbott has pushed and he got.

passed last year and that gave me. entry into Republican rural communities. who very much support their neighborhood. public schools. James Talarico and I. were co-chairs of the 2023 effort that. beat Greg Abbott's voucher scam and he. kept coming back and trying to get it. and he couldn't, right? And over the. years we've been working that fight and. those pro-education allies are still. there. In Texas, you should know that.

we're very much pro-public school. It's. part of our identity. Think of Friday. Night Lights. Most school districts. don't have private schools, right? And. so it's enshrined in our Texas. Constitution that we support public. schools. So this is a very kind of niche. Texas issue that resonates with people. and it allows me to build on those. relationships. Aside from from those. issues, I know that we spoke a little. bit about immigration and education. What else what else are you focused on. in this campaign? What can what what is.

your pitch to Texas voters? So what I have learned in the Texas. House is the reason why Texans are. struggling so much after 12 years of. Greg Abbott is because we are all paying. the Greg Abbott corruption tax. I. mentioned electricity. So Greg Abbott. allowed industry to withhold the gas. that our grid needed during Winter Storm. Uri until the prices were sky-high and. they could make billions in hours. As a. result, all of us in Texas are paying. about $40 more a month on our.

electricity bills. That's the Greg. Abbott corruption tax. Schools across. the state are shutting down and instead. we're paying for a $1 billion voucher. scam. That's the Greg Abbott corruption. tax. The detention centers I mentioned, it goes on and on and on. And so Texans. are looking for explanation about why do. I work so hard? I pay high taxes and yet. we get less and less and it is about the.

Greg Abbott corruption. tax. And so that seems to be resonating. We need a clean slate and a fresh start. because right now we have a system where. we're feeding into it with our taxpayer. dollars and it's working against us. It's not one, two, or three things. that's going to change this. We just. need to wipe this slate clean and come. back with something new. And I think in. this moment in history, that's what. people are thirsty for. Just something. totally new because the system hasn't.

worked for most people in the state for. a long, long time. And finally, I want to finish off with. with kind of taking a 30,000-ft view. here. And I know that we should be. focusing on 2026 and what's right in. front of us, but the reality is that we. have a census coming up in 2030. And. when new populations are taken into. account, it's likely that Texas is going. to gain four to five seats. And so, can. you talk about the national implications. of having a Democratic governor. in Texas versus a Republican governor in. Texas when it comes time to see that.

reapportionment happen? Yes, so Republicans in Texas are already. getting ready for those four to five. congressional seats that we are. projected to gain in Texas cuz we're. growing faster than the other states. So, they have already set in place plans. to redistrict our state house and our. state senate to begin to gerrymander. those houses within state government to. draw the maps. And this would lock out. Democratic control of Congress for a.

generation because at that point Texas. becomes too big and the math no longer. works for Democratic control. Because. these congressional seats equate to. electoral votes for the White House, we won't be able to elect a Democrat for. president for a generation. So, those. are the stakes. If they do this, and I know they will. try if they can to do this next year, we. need a governor in place who can veto. their rigged maps, right? And so, our. polling shows us in a statistical tie.

with Greg Abbott. He is deeply. unpopular. Public polling shows that he. is the most unpopular person on the. ballot in 2026, more unpopular than John. Cornyn and Ken Paxton and all others if. you can believe it, but he's just been. there so long. He's a known quantity and. people are tired of him. So, um, he's. trying to win a fourth unprecedented. term to be there 16 years. He will be. the longest serving governor in Texas.

history if as a if that happens and. people don't want more of that. People. are done with Greg Abbott. It's time for. a change. Working folks who are. listening watching right now go to help. campaign? They can go to Gina fortexas.com. ginafortexas.com. Great. I'm going to put that link right. here on the screen and also in the post. description for those who are listening. on the podcast that link will be in the. show notes. Thank you so much for taking. the time. Best of luck in the campaign. trail. Thank you Brian. I appreciate it. 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. >> [music].