The ‘Kind’ Party Wants to Starve Babies (with NY State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi) | Full Episode

it's mid-term primary season and the gop. is in chaos meanwhile republicans are. voting against the baby formula they're. voting in favor of domestic terrorism. what in the world is going on and. republicans are cheering the release of. martin sharkelli i guess they're just. pro-criminal now just randomly rooting. for the strangest political parties. in the world and of course we have.

alessandra biaggi as a guest state. senator representing new york's 34th. district she currently is the chair of. the ethics and internal governance. committee she is running for us congress. and new york's third our hometown. includes our hometown of plainview a. candidate running to be a member of. congress from plainview. new york fellas can't wait to have. alessandra on the show but anyway we. have a great show for you welcome to the.

midas touch podcast ben brett and jordy. with you today happy birthday baby. birthday ben let's go. we gotta go big shout out. of 30 years old today. wow that's pretty good right there i. actually have no idea how old ben is. like zero. obviously 36. i believe you're being. sincere about that too i believe you're. being sincere now but ben is turning uh. yeah no ben is turning 37th this year as. crazy as that is wild humbin how do you. feel about totally and it's currently.

trending on twitter happy birthday ben. which is a pretty incredible thing so. thank you shout out to all the midas. mighty who are sending ben happy. birthday messages enough to make a trend. on twitter that's pretty good yeah. that's so funny that's a great birthday. present at the same time elon musk's bid. for twitter totally collapses to be. trending on the top 25 for my birthday. on twitter special shout out to the. midas going on with that what is going. on with that guy i mean i just want to. say jordy and i last week when when you. had to leave we were talking about the.

twitter situation and elon musk and we. said like this is about to get extremely. messy like musky in here. those jordies. get muskie in here and the day later is. when this whole thing just started. tanking and he started going completely. off the rails and it just it's just nuts. it's just chaos. elon musk. if you are skeptical of elon musk but. generally kind of on the fence and you. try to balance the evidence when it.

comes to elon musk like well tesla is a. pretty good innovation and did he you. know start paypal well he was definitely. involved in paypal did he star tesla no. you know but did he pioneer spacex like. he did a lot of great things objectively. that are impressive but at the same time. you have a whole lot of negative. associated with it and specifically with. the way he runs and operates businesses. and so if you're on the fence the way.

he's handled twitter has to make you no. longer on the fence and go this person. is a bit of a maniac and is everything. that's wrong with the billionaire class. in america just like. whiny. and complaining gaslighting trolling and. gaslighting like it is really just. objectively. sick to watch him whine and complain. over a deal that he insinuated himself. into it looks you know it looks like.

market manipulation is is going on as. well that's how he's trying to tank the. twitter looks this is what it looks like. he's trying to tank the twitter stock. and try to renegotiate a deal he. probably didn't want to do even in the. first place and it's all about attention. attention attention and not being. serious people right you know what it's. actually a good framing for this show. actually because yesterday elon musk. tweeted he goes in the past i voted. democrat because they were mostly the. kindness party but they have become the.

party of division and hate so i can no. longer support them and will vote. republican now watch their dirty tricks. campaign against me unfold so let's talk. about i guess what he views as the. kindness party the republican party. let's talk about the kindness of the. republican party because we've got a lot. to talk about and after we get through. this segment you let us know is this the. party of kindness who is the party of. kindness here who is the party that is. trying to help people here we will let.

you the listener the viewer decide and i. believe i already know what your answer. is going to be so should we start with. these crazy midterm elections that. happened this week uh biggest that. happened we're in uh pennsylvania jordan. your home state and i gotta give a huge. shout out to jordy who has really called. all these races to a t i guess that's. what you get for being a true yinzer did. i say that right you said.

very specific very specific why don't. you give us the specifics on what. happened in your state jordy wow i mean. it was where do we even start first off. i want to just start with posters in. general. unless you are physically on the ground. having conversations every single day. with people from all sides of the. spectrum here. i don't believe your pull the poles had. the oz mccormick barnett race early on. oz taking number one slot kathy barnett.

taking two and then mccormick coming in. at a third place now if we rewind this. podcast about two or three episodes ago. we were talking about that poll and i. told you guys i told the brothers i told. the listeners no mccormick is a pa guy. people here really like mccormick. especially in western pennsylvania which. is the pittsburgh side and so what you. saw come election day was mccormick had. a really really strong showing and was. leading for almost the entirety of that. first day and now the breakdown of that.

senate race is mccormick 31.1 percent. oz leading it now at 31.2 percent of the. vote and kathy barnett still coming in. with a hot 24 of the vote now she's out. of it but i just want to say she's an. insurrectionist she she was at the. insurrection and we'll get into mastiano. later who won the governorship but it is. bananas here in pa one of the most. exciting nights.

in primary history and one of the things. that i was so fascinated by in watching. this whole process unfold is the machine. the the right wing media machine of fox. news and all these networks how once. kathy barnett started gaining in the. polls they went on the attack against. her like ruthlessly attacked just like. madison cawthorn and i'll we'll get to. madison in a bit but they started you. know everything look at kathy barnett at. the insurrection yours are at the. insurrection i'm like dudes you've been. saying good things about the. insurrection for the past two years.

are are people supposed to think that. that's a bad thing that she's at the. insurrection now or a good thing that. the messaging is muddied when you've. hyped up the insurrection as a act of. patriotism and then in the same breath. they are supporting a literal. insurrectionist for governor in. masteriana we'll get to him in a second. but i just want to let you know how. close this race was 1 241 votes. currently separating ozil mccormick and. of course the irony of it all is. mccormick starts going we're going to. win this campaign we're gonna have tens.

of thousands of mail and ballots come in. they have to be counted unfortunately we. won't have a resolution tonight so now. they're relying on the mail-in ballots. to see if it's gonna give any of them. enough of a lead to avoid a recount the. margin of victory for a recount is uh if. it's under 0.5 which is where it is. right now but suddenly guys mail in. ballots totally cool totally cool in the. republican party remember mail in. ballots were always something in the. past before trump that was actually. supposed to favor republicans and the uh. the thinking was that because.

republicans were targeting older voters. that the older voters didn't want to. actually show up on voting day and then. they would vote early. by mail and so actually a lot of the. mail and ballot stuff that was out there. was pushed by republicans. until. donald trump believed that mail and. ballots were going to hurt his chance to. win so like the cult they are they had. to change positions that mail and. ballots are not good i think back to the.

john kerry george bush race and george. bush is in the news by calling uh the uh. iraq and um the united states invasion. of iraq to be unlawful he was. trying to refer to russia and ukraine. but it was the worst freudian slip in. history. the decision of one man. to launch a wholly unjustified. and brutal invasion of iraq i mean of. ukraine.

all right anyway. 75 uh. remember the bush made a ton of freudian. slips like during the president you. haven't seen that question you forget. that that's what that's what he was. known for but you remember that like. john kerry would flip-flop on like a. nuanced policy issue and the whole thing. was like he flip-flopped flip-flopper. flip-flopper there was the whole ad. which we made a trump ad about and like. inspired by that ad and it was the ad of. kerry windsurfing i believe going back.

and forth and whichever way the wind. blows john kerry i think it was made by. stuart stevens actually we've had on the. show yeah and in this case with. republicans flip-flopping doesn't even. do it justice because there is no. principles to begin with in an. authoritarian regime in a cult it. doesn't matter all that matters is the. pursuit of power and you go back have. you ever heard the quote brett and jordy. the banality of evil i was reflecting on. this term banality of evil and it's such.

an interesting term because it explains. that sometimes the evilness itself. the person committing the evil it is so. normalized that it's not even. sure you have the people who are. like overtly. want to have these horrible sick agendas. but sometimes evil just becomes. the s such banality to it that it's just.

ingrained in the fabric of what they do. and so at the end of the day you have. someone like a mitch mcconnell who. pursues power for the ends of power he's. destroying lives he's taking away his. own rights in the process and then you. have people like kathy barnes which we. literally want to overthrow him and they. they. it's just the ruthless pursuit of power. at the expense of humans even if that. means genocide even if that means.

discrimination even if that means hate. and that's what we see with the gop so. yeah you have dave mccormick now touting. mail-in ballots how he's going to win. with mail-in ballots you have trump. saying that dr oz should declare victory. and claim that the elections are rigged. meanwhile democrats are just having. normal. small d democratic elections like okay. you had fetterman run against lamb they. had normal conversations like incredibly. respectful to one another each other. betterment had to go to the hospital i. know you know where.

their thoughts are with veteran who's. recovering from a stroke still he seems. to be doing very well though that's. that's awesome um but like the the. outpouring of support for fetterman when. that happened the outpouring of support. for fetterman when he won by malcolm. kenyatta by conor lamb i mean that's. what i want to see in a country that's. what i want to see in a political party. you do things respectfully you duke it. out and then wherever the chips may fall. you go you know what good game let's all. fight together let's win this thing in. november and that's right for democracy. that's actually even when it used to be. democrats and republicans you'd go out. it but it would be like i want i called.

so-and-so i gave him my thanks i told. him that we support you the country. stands behind you you know that just. doesn't exist anymore with these. republicans who legitimately want to. destroy america we're talking about. republican hate i mean how much more can. it be bodied in state senator doug. mastriano who now has the. he's now the republican nominee for uh. governor he's going against shapiro. majority played basketball against and.

this doug mastriano talk about banality. of evil i mean this guy's as evil as you. get yeah this guy is a literal january 6. insurrectionist was there on the day. like alongside the proud boys and. everything the irony of this is what we. were talking about earlier what i was. hinting at is you have uh sean hannity. you have the whole fox news ecosystem. attacking kathy barnett. and as a january 6 insurrectionist while. they are supporting masteriano who is. also at january 6. so you got to say. what's the difference well they just.

pick their horses consistency doesn't. matter and i guess you also got a factor. in kathy barnett is a black woman he is. a white guy fox news takes a different. approach to each of those and now you. actually have an insurrectionist on the. ballot for a major political party in. pennsylvania in the commonwealth of. pennsylvania who has said that he is. going to make an abortion ban his. priority who has said that he's going to. make his priority putting in a secretary. of state who can. decertify elections is one of his goals. he wants to make sure that the people. who are running those positions are able.

to decertify elections so that what. happened in 2020 never happens again i. mean this guy is an authoritarian. entire platform is the following just. this is what his platform is. elect me. because in 2024. i will steal and rig the election for. donald trump or whoever the republican. nominee is elect me and i am going to no. matter what the results are. declare pennsylvania.

for the side of trump or the maga. candidate that i don't know that's his. only there's no other actual position. here's what i'm going to do for. pennsylvania here's what i'm going to do. for workers it's i will overthrow the. election you saw what happened last. election elect me i'm going to overthrow. it and his speech after was so boring. and bland jordy we were talking about. this the other day like he has to give. his victory speech it's just awkward and. stilted and like his main message is. like so yeah when i get in there i'm. gonna. ban mask and vaccine mandates and.

number two i'm in pennsylvania what mask. what masking vaccine mandates i go into. you could go into stores here anywhere. you want without a mask i live here i'm. telling you that's what you can do. there's no mass mandates so that was his. number one priority there number two. we're gonna ban critical race theory. okay so your first two priorities are. two non-existent things that's why. you're running for governor i i think it. was very telling that immediately when. he won um everybody switched over to.

pennsylvania for the governor's race to. a lean democrat favoring shapiro because. this guy is a radical unhinged nut. shapiro is an incredible candidate a.g. of the state has won statewide numerous. times and so all in all this is good. news for josh shapiro and his candidacy. but very scary to have somebody like. masteriano this close to the. governorship in pennsylvania the real. danger with him besides the boogeyman of. crt and these made up mass mandates that. he's trying to project he's vehemently.

anti-choice that's one of his big. platforms that he is running on i mean. if we could put a billboard up in the. state i'd say would be a good idea but i. actually fear that it would rally up the. crazies here it would be masriano. anti-choice pro-insurrection the guy is. a lunatic he wants a full abortion bank. what was the v-word that you just used. there jordy veminantly. what's what's eminently made like yeah. what's the definition of that vehemently. vehemently there you go. as as you long island. i like that it's a combination of. vehement and venom venomously yeah it's.

it's almost worse than vehemently but. the one thing that i'm going to be. interesting to watch jordy and you've. had a uh prediction on this too that. republicans are not going to debate in. the general elections of each of the. states definitely and. you know normally what's supposed to. happen in in the common theory is that. you have to like then go back to the. center to appeal to the larger base in. general elections but these republicans. have staked such far positions i don't.

know how you could actually go anywhere. near the middle with these positions. when your main platform for running for. governor is banning non-existent things. like crt and mass mandates in a state. that has neither of them and then when. you have to go on stage and debate a. serious individual like shapiro who. talks about helping workers and helping. people and improving education and all. of that like just what are these debates. going to even like look like. would mop the floor with masteriano if.

they debated masteriano is going to run. scared i will be interesting to watch. that and we talk going back brett too. that elon musk quote trying to frame. democrats like he literally says i. support republicans supported like a. literal insurrection they literally. everything a republican policy is right. now is how can we ban this to hurt this. group of people like that's the policy. how do i ban this to hurt this to hurt. trans people how do i.

a law that doesn't improve conditions. but how do i pass a law to outlaw. something that will harm particular. people where there's. where they just simply want their rights. to exist that's their only policies that. are out there today and so when you look. at this this vote from last night a. hundred percent. are we not going to mention cartharn at. all we've got to at least talk about. math let's talk about i guess i just got. to say it's another example i mean we. all know the carthage story but it's.

just another example of this right wing. this this psychotic machine that they. have i mean they crushed this guy they. crushed this guy once he started talking. about the cocaine orgies he crushed this. guy and by by the way shout out to. patriot takes because patriot takes was. the account that exposed that clip about. the cocaine orgies that led to this. domino effect that led to the entire. republican party eating their own and. essentially kicking madison quatthorn. out of the party so huge shout out give.

him a donation if you can i think that. is just monumental work if patriot takes. doesn't post that video madison. cawthorne gets reelected and trump of. course went to bat for hawthorne right. at the end hey didn't work now we got. this guy chuck edwards to be honest i. don't know about chuck edwards all that. much i'm sure he is just as. radical as madison corthorn but and. honestly you know and in terms of like. democrats running in the district it's. probably better for us of madison. courthouse running it probably would. have made our chances higher to win back.

that seat but you know sometimes just. got to say this is better for america. it's better for america that we don't. have somebody as irresponsible as. anti-democracy. as anti. ukraine as madison corthorn i mean he's. like a literal insurrectionist so i i'm. happy that he is out regardless of how. that impacts democrats chances for that. seat and ben let's talk about the. kindness of the republican party in. those votes that you were speaking about. because there were a handful of votes. last night we'll talk about three of. them that speaks to everything that. we've been talking about so 192.

republicans voted against funding to fix. the baby formula shortage they voted. against that because they don't give a. [ __ ] they like the crisis they want the. suffering so they can use it as an issue. to run on versus fixing the problem the. same way they actually want to harm the. economy that's why governor abbott. pulled the stunt on the border where he. tried to shut down the border to harm.

commerce coming in from texas and that's. why people like senator cruz tried to. incite and support on the other border. on our northern border with canada. another economic insurrection there. where they tried to have encouraged like. basically like. they call it a trucker rally but it was. not even real truckers it was just the. kind of standard gqp crazies like. standing on bridges and preventing. actual trucks and people who want to.

earn money from like going you know back. and forth through the border that's. their policy is how do we harm america. and as you said we constantly say on the. podcast. problems arise. in life. we're not problem free like there's. going to be a crisis that's why we elect. presidents that's why we elect. legislators to handle with the problems. and so. what the democrats do and what biden. does is how can we solve the problem so.

let's introduce a bill that would. provide 28 million dollars in emergency. spending to tackle the shortage of. infant formula and provide emergency. funding for fda inspection staff. resources for market data collection and. helping the agency stop fraudulent baby. formula for entering the us marketplace. at the same time. joe biden. institutes uh emergency orders. to boost production for baby formula.

something that trump did not do. during covet. for trump refused to do during covet as. a is what biden invoked and we're trying. to solve it what do the republicans do. 192 vote against it and try to stall it. and stop it and then blame it on. immigrants. yeah they're. let's remember the republican strategy. to solve this problem because they did. have one policy that you're forgetting. about their one policy was let's start. with the immigrants that was the.

republican policy they came up with we. need to starve the immigrants we need to. take away all the baby formula at the. facilities on the border that's what we. have to do no and so not only did. president invite invoke the defense. production act to help us out he's also. using federal planes to actually fly in. formula from abroad you got to remember. like the sources of the issue that we're. having here and why america is like the. only country that's having this issue. it's because we have a monopoly of like. three companies who made baby formula. there was a contamination the fda had to. shut one of the plants down um they.

needed to fix the contamination issue. because babies were actually dying um. and this is because the fda decreased. regulations under trump for these. facilities and not only that normally. you'd be able to go okay let's get some. you know let's get from canada then they. have in canada no we couldn't because. the revised nafta deal made by trump. made it all but impossible for canada to. export baby formula into the united. states so we were couldn't even do it. because of these trump policies and then. you have all the republicans trying to. blame it on biden blame it on democrats.

rick scott had his press conference cod. has got to be like the worst senator on. the planet and he goes canada has plenty. of baby formula not the united states. yeah yeah well trump's trade deal made. it impossible for them to export that to. the united states so that's your guy so. like they just want all these. distractions distractions distractions. distractions wasn't only that though. nine republicans also voted against. allowing low-income parents to use their. wic benefits the that's the special. supplemental nutrition program for women. infants and children to buy other kinds. of formula this would ease restrictions. currently you could use wic to buy.

certain kinds of baby formula like those. big brands but there are other brands. who aren't included when you use the wic. benefits and and eight nine republicans. voted against it nine republicans voted. this doesn't even require like anything. and it's the usual suspects andy biggs. lauren bobert matt gates louis gomer. paul gosar marjorie keller green clay. higgins thomas massey chip roy i mean i. could have guessed those you know i. could have guessed those if you didn't. even show me these so is this the party. of kindness is that. the kindness party 192 who voted against.

fixing the baby formula shortage nine. republicans who voted against allowing. low-income parents to use wic benefits. to get expanded access. to baby formula this is kindness. and then that's why we say the. republicans are not pro-life they're. pro-force birth. they don't care about you after you exit. the womb they're hateful spiteful people. and then also you have the vote 203. republicans voted against a bill to. combat domestic terrorism a bill that. would require the justice department. department of homeland security and the.

fbi to open offices specifically. dedicated to investigating domestic. terrorism and create an interagency task. force to combat infiltration of white. supremacy in the military the objection. that republicans had is the focus on. white supremacy terrorism and that it. didn't specifically mention left-wing. terrorism something that actually isn't. taking place and happening but they. wanted left-wing terrorism mentioned in. the bill an earlier version of the same. bill.

the same bill unanimously passed the. 2020 and it just goes to show you really. where we are now we talk about it you. can't be bipartisan with republicans i'm. just sorry you can't you know democrats. need to build a bigger tent and. we need to also recognize that sometimes. we have to be bipartisan within our own. tent to make sure actually at the end of. the day kindness is what prevails and. the rule of law truly prevails and from. time to time we may not like and i know. this is going to sound horrible to say.

and everyone's going to say ben ben ben. what are you talking about but i don't. know i i'm going to say they cut him. it's his birthday cut him some slack i. don't know i'm going to say this and i. said this on the last podcast and i want. to reiterate it there are so many things. that joe manchin does. that really bother me to the core. but. joe manchin needs to stay a democrat. because i'll tell you if joe manchin was. not a democrat you would have mitch. mcconnell controlling the senate you. would have no katanji brown jackson as a.

supreme court judge you would have no. federal judges appointed by biden you. would have literally zero. zero. legislation passed. zero because that is all mitch mcconnell. would do he would purposefully destroy. every legislation from even happening. and so does it absolutely bother me that. what mitch what uh joe manchin does yeah. but that almost feels like. bipartisanship of the past like.

someone's. don't get me wrong mansion is like one. of the most corrupt people on the planet. as well but but i i know what you're. saying and that's why we also need to. add on to our majorities that's why we. need to focus now as we get our. candidates we need to focus on making. sure that fetterman becomes a senator we. need to make sure that we can get ron. johnson out of office in wisconsin we. need to elect someone like tim ryan in. ohio someone like val demings in florida. we need to be paying attention to all. these races uh north carolina is. winnable like we need to pick the races. that we're able to win and we need to.

hold the senate in some states that are. very important to hold we need to hold. raphael warnock seat in georgia we need. to hold kelly's seat in arizona new. hampshire and nevada like we need to. make sure that you imagine brett the. raphael warnock debate the guy's not. going to debate raphael warner i can't. speak a sentence. huh and the guy can't say a sentence. like yeah it'd be a disaster you have. you have raphael warnock who's like one. of the best orators like on the planet. like just a brilliant brilliant. political mind just like a good person.

who really wants to help who's spoken. out passionately about voting rights any. of herschel walker who literally. literally i don't think i could speak. are they going to ask can you imagine. that they're going to have to go they're. going to they they schedule how many. debates in georgia at least two debates. two senate debates this is what i'm. saying they're not going to debate it's. not going to show up and this is why. podium this is this is why i implore. all the mainstream networks don't be too. chicken [ __ ]. we saw it happen with assaf and purdue. and you guys did the right thing and you. aired the empty podium make sure you.

take that same energy for every single. one of these debates moving forward. don't remove the debates if a republican. refuses to actually show up to the. [ __ ] podium and here's where i have. some confidence that that's gonna happen. jay because local media has actually. been pretty good. i do want to say that i'm very critical. of like the national media channels but. the local media that's in the. communities themselves. even in the primaries have been very.

very good they've been asking tough. questions of the candidates and i've. seen that across the country you know. and and that's why we also need to. protect. local media let's bring in. our guest and i'm really excited for. this interview this was a great. interview that we had and it's with. someone who was running for. to become a member of congress where. brett jordy and i grew up in long island. covering our district her name is. alisandra biaggi she's currently a state.

senator representing new york's 34th. district and she's currently the chair. of the ethics and internal governance. committee and excited to share that. interview with you wow i'm pleased to. introduce state senator alessandra. biaggi representing new york's 34th. district and she's the chair of the. ethics and internal governments. committee and she is running for united. states congress where else but new. york's third which is the district that.

includes the mycellus brothers hometown. of plainview it's an honor to have you. alessandra on the podcast thank you for. having me i'm so excited to be here to. talk about your. basically your origin story essentially. [Laughter]. well. we know. you misunderstand the interview it's. about your origin story not our origin. story and so we want to know just from. the outset alessandra biaggi how is it. that you became a state senator you. broke a important deadlock that gave.

democrats important control in the state. and senate and now running for congress. so give us that backstory so our viewers. and listeners who may not know the story. new york people know you but give our. national audience a little taste of your. career so i'm so excited to do that and. also excited to be here with you guys. and i will just say that for everyone. listening and for all of you i never had. this on a vision board this was not. something that i. dreamed about becoming and i will i say. this almost in just now because i've.

been doing this for four years i could. not be more involved in state politics. and local politics than i am i never. have been and. part of why it wasn't on the vision. board because it really wasn't in my. mind as something that was like a sexy. career right state government didn't. seem exciting until 2016. and coming off of the clinton campaign. which i worked on for two years i was. the deputy national operations director. losing on that race frankly not knowing. like what to do the federal government. felt like it was such a big issue.

and i was this like one tiny person like. how was i possibly gonna affect change. on that scale obviously we know that one. person can affect change on that scale. but at the time it just felt like like. what do i do so i moved back home to. pelham i'm. four generations in the district i. represent and also uh where i live and i. started teaching. civics in people's living rooms because. i. really didn't know what else to do and a. lot of people kept coming to me and.

asking me like what do i do like what's. my ritual of democracy how do i get. involved and is it marching is it. running is it writing postcards i did. that for four months and then went to. work for governor cuomo and for those. who are listening governor cuomo was our. former governor i was an attorney for. him they gave me this bill to work on it. was called the reproductive health act. to codify row and the long and short as. it didn't pass it didn't even make it on. the floor for a vote and i really didn't. understand why and when i looked really. closely behind the curtain in albany. which was not pretty i found my state.

senator who was a democrat quote unquote. he was running as a democrat elected as. a democrat and going to albany and. handing over power to republicans. which was complete madness until 2017. and 2016 when everyone started paying. attention and so i decided i was gonna. run against him even though at the time. he was considered a kingpin. like one of the most you know powerful. state senators had a three million. dollar war chest all of which by the way. he used again used against me um and so. i decided to run because of that bill.

and we won. and we won not just by a little bit we. won by 10 points um because we built a. coalition and we had essentially like an. army in the street fight that we took on. with these people. and i. really honestly um i'm glad i didn't. listen to the naysayers because. everybody told me that i was absolutely. out of my mind. which i think is a fair estimation. considering what i was going up against. but i'm glad i did it because frankly if. we didn't if myself and all the others. didn't run in 2018.

then new york state would not actually. be a place where roe is codified which. as we know right now is such an. important issue because the supreme. court is poised of course to turn. overturn overweight. so before talking about your run for. congress let's talk about the fight that. you had to codify row into law and some. of the other major issues in legislation. that you pioneered and fought with other. democrats for that are helping the lives. of new yorkers now.

as a leader in the state senate so what. were those issues and we could start. with roe we can talk about maybe the. healthy terminals act and the sexual. abuse survivor legislation that you. passed awesome. okay so row. which thank god is codified we codified. it in my first month of office in 2019. in january thank god um we. continued down that path and we did. something called the comprehensive. contraceptive coverage act to expand um. insurance coverage of contraceptives we. passed something called the boss bill.

which essentially says that an employer. can't tell an employee how or what kind. of. health care to receive or not received. on their employer's health insurance. plan. and then we continued we did. really record-breaking. legislation around climate justice we. passed something called the climate. leadership community protection act. which is the strongest piece of. legislation in the country on a state. level. something that every year in the budget. we continue to fund which i'm very proud. of um and then as the chair of ethics.

which just for everyone's context here. the ethics committee in the senate was a. committee that was essentially a dead. committee it only met two times in 10. years before i chaired it and so when i. won and i asked for the committee. everyone in the senate was like are you. nuts like why don't you want to do that. nobody even cares about ethics in albany. albany's like one of the most corrupt. places on the planet and that's why i. wanted to do it because i was like i can. actually make this committee real so we. changed the rules on the first day of. our session the committee was able to.

hold not only hearings but to actually. review bills and because of the hearings. i held in 2019 on sexual harassment in. the workplace the first by the way of. its kind in albany in 27 years we were. able to pass the strongest sexual. harassment and anti-discrimination laws. in the workplace in the entire country. and again every step of the way we had. resistance the other thing i'll just say. that i'm really proud of the healthy. terminals act which you mentioned which. is a bill that gives airport workers. health insurance we fought the airline. industries like tooth and nail they.

tried to come to us and tell us that. they were going to go bankrupt because. we had because we asked them to spend. like a dollar 30. more on each person to allow them to get. access to health care meanwhile they had. just been bailed out so we didn't buy it. we pushed through them and we did it um. and then you know one of the last things. i'll say is that as a as a child sexual. abuse survivor passing bills around. sexual abuse and sexual violence um has. been really important to me and it's. been really interesting to balance the. difference or excuse me to balance. between my stand that i take for.

criminal justice reform because i truly. um think it is one of the most important. issues of our entire generation and time. but also balancing victims rights and. that you can actually stand for both i. also represent rikers island so that's. why it's key to um really my leadership. but the the bills around sexual violence. and sexual abuse were i think. some of the things that i will look back. on my time in the senate and be the most. proud of because now in new york because. we passed something called aaron's law. children from k through 8 will receive.

age-appropriate education around sexual. abuse and so we know it's working. because they've already started teaching. it in classrooms and these children were. learning this in in rochester new york. and eight kids got up in the middle of. the lesson to report that their. principal had been abusing them and so. these are the kinds of of policies that. i think um i hope to continue on the. federal level but really um without a. majority in the state senate in the. hands of the democrats we would never.

have been able to pass any of these. things because so many of these bills. have been prevented from even getting to. the floor for a vote. so actually doing things for people. versus hurting people that sounds like a. great what a concept what a concept so i. gotta tell you the one reason that i am. upset that you are running for congress. is i wish you could work with midas. touch with us because. i mean i mean i mean. thank you i mean i mean seriously that. would have been incredible but it's.

great that you're running for congress. and i do hope that you win your race in. congress and we need more leaders like. you um and let us know that what are you. talking about with people um when you're. going into the district if you're going. into plainview new york and you're going. into bagel brothers or la piazza bagel. brothers it's called bagel boss ben at. least get the names right at least. come on come on man that's something. that's embarrassing i just cringed. inside bagels. stays in the pot if you're going to.

golden myers there you go. there you go someone's ordering an egg. bagel cream cheese little smear of locks. what are you talking about with the. average long islander well so first of. all i will say that this new district. new york three is a. really wild shape and i think it's. really fair to say that if you look at. the map any reasonable person would look. at this map and think to themselves hmm. like how did this happen like why does. it look like a c. cut into these weird little shapes. redistricting um and i'll leave it at.

that for now but it's five counties just. for anybody who doesn't know what new. york three is it's suffolk nassau queens. the bronx and westchester which is a lot. of territory to cover um there's a lot. of similarities between the state senate. district that i represent right now and. new york three the state senate district. i represent is a suburban urban district. in fact i represent a tremendous amount. of the bronx right now in the state. senate from the north west which is like. riverdale all the way to hunts point in.

the south bronx um and so if you could. just imagine those two worlds and then. westchester county which is one of the. most you know wealthy and well-to-do. counties in the entire country and so. the disparities of just income. inequality and health um inequality and. just frankly inequality across the board. on almost every single topic the air is. even different in westchester and the. bronx it's cooler in westchester it's. not as it's warmer in the bronx and so. you know i think that the similarities.

between that and new york three have. allowed me at least to to understand how. to even go about talking about some of. these issues but the same things i hear. in my senate district i'm hearing in and. on long island and that's because i. actually like to knock on doors um it's. the thing that i think is probably the. most important thing a candidate can do. so you know health um health. outcomes and also the cost of health. care is a massive issue i knocked on one. door in actually plainview and a woman.

answered the door and she's like what do. you want and i was like well i'm you. know i'm here i'm running for congress. i'm a state senator come on mom that's. no way to treat that's not. so she answered the nurse like what do. you want and i get it because people are. tired of this they're like we voted for. you guys you know what.

but like nothing feels like it's. changing i can say on the state level. things are changing on a federal level. it does feel a little bit more. challenging especially because democrats. have power in every you know every place. they possibly could but are not really. using it but we'll get back to that. hopefully later so she answered the door. she's like what are you gonna do for me. and i was like well what are the things. that are most troubling to you and she. said i have cancer i am almost done with. my chemotherapy i've been living in this. house my whole life i'm in my 70s i. would like to retire i can't ever retire.

my teeth fell out of my mouth when i did. chemo and in order to get dentures i had. to refinance my home. outrageous like completely outrageous. and then we walk down the block and we. get to like you know another door and. some guy answers the door and he's like. he's like he's italian as an italian. accent clearly from my name i'm very. italian i felt really excited to talk to. him he was so proud i was italian and. then he was like hey listen like we're. okay but like i gotta tell you this. street that we're on not one time in 40.

years has anybody ever come down the. street to even pave it and like the. holes in the street were just outrageous. so like infrastructure basic things that. government should be doing. people feel like they are not actually. being heard but in addition to that. because this district is on the water. whether you know you want to slice it. that way or not. climate change and climate justice. issues are like front and center there's. not a home or a door i've knocked on. where that person their neighbors or. their family members haven't had a flood.

in their home or their apartment. building or have lost a car or a loved. one in some instances because again. queens is in this district and if you. just remember hurricane ida. um most you know recently um people. literally died in their basements. because. they flooded almost instantly and they. drowned and so there's so many things i. think around the issue of climate to. really allow us to move forward and. people just feel like nothing's really. happening as quickly or as urgently as.

it needs to be so though you know those. are some of the top things but. affordability in every category whether. it's housing health care um education a. huge problem climate a huge problem and. i think unfortunately what i am. faced with every time i knock on. someone's door is i have this like. really massive responsibility not just. to say who i am or what i stand for but. to also like spark some hope and like. really give them some kind of. understanding that it's like not not all. is not lost but it is not easy and.

frankly the national party has not made. it easy for any of us. to really sell the bill of goods that. we're trying to sell here so it's it is. certainly a challenge very different. than 2018 and even very different from. 2016. yeah and i'm trying to think back. to exactly what it was but i remember. there was a batch of local elections in. long island not too long ago and. democrats got trounced and i remember. the three of us brothers talking about. it because obviously long island means a. lot to us and it's probably because.

we're so close to it it's our hometown. but we view long island as a bellwether. of the country in many ways due to its. makeup and for a lot of factors so why. do you think it was that democrats got. trounced in that in that last election. what are voters not hearing from so i. have my theory and then i want to hear. from you guys like what you actually. think is the reason because i could i. can hypothesize all day but you know you. probably have more intel there or at. least understanding so tell me if you. think i'm at least close to. what the reason is let's hear it so. bail reform.

which is being essentially blamed for. like when it rains outside it's like. it's raining it's fail reform like my. car broke down bail reform it's. completely unhinged and out of control. so democrats on the state level myself. included we voted for bail reform it's. one of the most important things that we. could have done honestly to. not criminalize poverty because the. difference between whether somebody sits. in jail like rikers or goes home is. whether or not they can post bail. because just to remind everyone right.

when you're charged with the crime. you're not convicted you're just charged. nothing you haven't been found guilty so. a jail is a place where people sit and. wait trial but in new york we have like. notoriously long wait times for trial. that have led to people taking their own. lives after they're released so we did. bail reform it was really important in. this most recent election on long island. in 2021 um the democrats who ran one of. whom was my colleague in the senate. senator todd kaminski who ran for nassau. county d.a they got like trounced and.

what i think. looking back on why i think that is is. because. you know. sorry todd but this is the reality todd. and and laura kern who ran they ran. like republicans. right they ran so at least laura i know. like she ran in such a way that was like. anti-bail reform anti-criminal justice. reform was on fox news like was was. standing with law enforcement and by the. way like there's nothing with like.

standing you want to stay with law. enforcement okay fine but like here's. the thing okay there's not a system on. earth that can't be made better. including law enforcement and all of us. know that like we can't put the genie. back into the bottle on that and so the. lack of integrity and i think the lack. of frankly like running on the values of. what it means to be a democrat do not. make people excited to get off their. couch and vote so i think that the low. voter turnout and the reason they got. trounced is frankly because if i'm a. democrat sitting at home watching.

somebody who doesn't even like they look. more like a republican or sound more. like a republican i don't actually want. to vote for them why would i i might as. well vote for nobody or vote for the. republican because at least those are. the people who are going to stand for. the things that they. you know want to do i'm not by the way. advocating to vote for republicans. but the point is like i just feel like. they abandoned their values and so why. would anybody vote and there's this. whole confusion and you know the chair. of the democratic party in the state jay. jacobs is also the chair of the.

democratic party in nassau and he. confronted me with this and he was like. well. why could you run you know you're. progressive you stand for all these. things like all these democrats here. lost and i was like to be frank with you. this would be a very different. conversation if your candidates who were. anti-bail reform had actually won. maybe we should start standing for the. things that we actually say we do and. have like a united front of strength as. opposed to constantly trying to be more. like republicans it's so unattractive. and deeply uninspiring so that's my. hypothesis and i wonder what you guys.

think yeah i think it's a fair. hypothesis um i think that. democrats too often run away from things. that are popular because they're able to. be messaged by republicans as oh so you. are pro-crime you are anti-cop. and instead of embracing your position. defending it and saying no i support the. police i want to strengthen the. department by doing x y and z and. actually these reforms will help out. they run away from it and run as. republicans i think that's i think. that's a good point i think there's a.

way to stick to your values and. show people that you care about their. problems and the things that are are. scaring them 100 i i have to say you. mentioned the name we went to jay. jacobs's sleep away camps uh i'm sure. you know about um. we did go to jay's so i used to know him. as the camp owner not the guy who runs. the democratic party in new york so it's. such a bizarre thing to me for that name. to come up in regards to what i do for a. living now and not for going to him if i.

get hurt at camp or something like that. anyway let's switch subjects now you. spoke before about leading the charge to. codify roe v wade into law in new york. how do you think new york could be an. example for other states now in light of. the supreme court decision to protect. the right to choose sure so this is. going to be i think a question that we. ask ourselves probably for the next. couple of months until when i say. ourselves i mean blue states are going. to ask themselves for the next couple of. months um until the opinion is finalized. i think in june when um unfortunately. roe will actually be overturned by which.

by the way um in the opinion it's. it's being overturned on rationales that. are completely off the wall some of. which are referencing 17. 17th century. uh thinkers and rules of law so that's. just you know a preview of what's to. come here um. but places like new york and and any. democratically run. state. on the there at the very least should be. codifying row right so if any states. have flipped their legislatures or.

flipped their governor's mansions to. blue then what should be happening is we. should see a codification of roe in new. york we did that in 2019 in the first. month um. in fact we didn't just codify row we. took. uh the place in the law that was. allowing for abortion to exist out of. the penal code which is the criminal law. and we put it where it belongs into the. health law so that's another just you. know small little nuance that i think is. important because it sends an important.

signal that. this is healthcare abortion access is. also reproductive access is also. healthcare and so. where you place it in the law matter so. that's number one codifying it bottom. you know baseline. places like california codified it okay. great so then what well having the right. to access an abortion does not mean you. actually can access it right the right. to choose doesn't mean you can actually. you go to somewhere to actually get an. abortion or even travel there so that.

oftentimes comes down to money so. establishing or creating something. called an abortion access fund which is. a bill that i have i introduced it. actually in july of 2019 so after the. legislative session where we codified. row my thinking was we have to keep. going because republicans clearly across. the country are introducing bills in a. coordinated way. so obvious right like you all are. watching it so establishing an abortion. access fund. which again hopefully this year will. pass um it allows for new yorkers to. make voluntary contributions that will.

then be distributed through the. department of health every state should. be doing that it's just a no-brainer the. next thing i'll say and that's i think. this is one of the most important things. is that because these red states are not. just saying that abortion is illegal. they are they are also saying if you. leave this state and you go to another. state and you get reproductive. health care or receive an abortion. somewhere else we will literally. penalize you we will we will prosecute. you we will you know make you pay civil.

fines so in blue states establishing a. cause of action that a person who comes. to new york or california or any other. blue state to get an abortion can then. use as a countersuit to any state that's. trying to sue you or just being able to. access and. really exercise your civil rights is. another key thing and i think we have to. even get more creative. than that and and frankly go even. further and so you know these are two of. the things that i think that we can do. but what i will say is that um you know.

at the very at the very bare minimum. places like new york which right now can. barely actually meet the need of the. people who actually have to receive. abortions are going to see such an. influx of people that we probably should. even go as far as paying for people to. fly here honestly because. the alternative is going to be. so many thousands and thousands of. people dying and we obviously can't. afford not to do that. yeah it's almost blue states have to.

really think about what it truly means. to be a sanctuary city for. women seeking abortion and you're. clearly not afraid to mince words. whether it be at republicans or. democrats and you tweeted recently you. said a whistleblower just gave us a. seismic warning democrats in the senate. could suspend the filibuster and codify. road tomorrow where is the. accountability for dems standing in our. own way. in a way democrats like manchin and. cinema who i believe you're probably.

referencing there might be some others. are holding us back in a similar way to. the idc those. kind of democrats and names only that. you challenged and defeated to get your. current seat so if you were in this. senate you know i i get that point we. need to hold them accountable they need. to take action they need to do something. but. what can we do. actually told them accountable well i. mean the long term first of all having a. long-term strategy is like part of what. we can do so part of the problem that i. see that plagues the democratic party is.

that all that. and i'm i'm i'm really over generalizing. so i apologize for anybody who's like oh. i roll here she goes on her like soapbox. no i expect the democratic party to be. excellent and i expect us to win things. for the long term because what we stand. for which is protecting people's civil. liberties and civil rights is incredibly. important and should be treated with. care. just like the republicans treat these. issues with destruction and their level.

of vigilance we should be doing the same. but for the positive outcomes that we. hope for okay so. number one having a long-term strategy. which we don't so like let's just be. very clear about that um we don't even. have a strategy at the state level okay. if we're going to talk about it this way. to introduce the same kind of bill. across the board in blue states like red. states do red states will put a bill in. in tennessee and before you know it. alabama has that bill and they're. introducing it into their legislature. key thing that has to exist on the.

republican side it's called alec we. don't have anything like that on the. democratic side it's kind of crazy so. that's like again another baseline thing. to do but when it comes to what we can. do at the federal level i mean manchin. and cinema who are of course democrats. are two people that are part of the. democratic. united states senate conference so i. cannot imagine in my mind that there is. not something that can be done to take. away. all the money. going to their states or to literally.

physically if we have to move their. offices out of the building and put them. into the middle of the street these are. extreme things it sounds almost crazy. right it's like so hyperbolic but like. think about it there are two people who. are determining the fate of half of this. country's population. half of this country's population so 150. plus million people and their fate is. going to be decided by two people who. refuse to suspend the filibuster it's. insanity and to people who represent so.

few people in comparison to the rest of. the country but what if they go you're. gonna move my desk to the street while. i'm changing my party affiliation to. republican i and then we'll use all of. our power we see and that's okay so good. question i'm glad you bring that up. because i think often times too we make. decisions based off of fear and so they. should go to the republican party if. they want to go please just get out of. this party because what they do by being. here is they break our ability to have. power because they fracture our. integrity to have the ability to have a.

strong foundation so honestly. might as well go there and then what we. can actually do is use all of our power. and all of our money to actually primary. these people and get them out of here i. don't believe that there's like one. savior for everybody you know how people. are saying like mansion he's the only. one who can win in west virginia that's. bs that's a that's a scarcity mindset if. i have ever heard one that is not real. but they want us to believe it's real so. that we keep up this like. theme or myth around like he's the only.

one so we have to like be really careful. with him that's nonsense there are. literally so many people in west. virginia and the democrats actually. built a bench. another thing that we have to do if we. built a bench and actually mentored this. next generation coming up people like. myself who are frankly like dying for a. mentor to tell us like how not to. stumble because sometimes we. don't actually want to have to jump off. the cliff in order to get the thing done. because it's really not necessary but. without the help of other people who've.

actually gone or walked that path it. makes it a little harder like these are. the things that actually matter so i. feel like there there are always ways to. um to threaten other people's power. and i say i use that word really. intentionally because i do think that. their power needs to be threatened but i. really don't believe that we're doing. enough and i'll just go you know say one. final thing here. the president of the united states is. arguably the most powerful leader in the. entire world he represents democracy at. least the most powerful and strongest.

democracy on earth so you you cannot. tell me that the most powerful leader on. earth cannot do something to hold. accountable to. united states senators it just doesn't. it just doesn't actually it doesn't sit. with me in a way that i can believe so i. and i don't accept the frame because i. feel like they have to do everything in. their power and that they're not that's. absolutely fascinating and i want to. take a step quick step back here and. talk about new york i think our. listeners and many people just around. the country in general they say new york.

they say that's a blue state we even. said in this interview. but one of the crazy realizations that. have come to me as i gotten older is. it's more of a purple state these days. it's very very interesting um sort of. the dichotomy of folks that are living. down there on long island specifically i. visited my hometown not too long ago and. i was shocked by how many let's go. brandon flags i saw unironically flying. around and now granted some of this.

might be me living in my own little. bubble when i was growing up there but i. don't remember it being this extreme. this divisive. have you felt the same stuff have you. seen the same stuff and what do you. think you know that rise of trumpism. could be attributed to. it's such a good point um in terms of. like. being young and not feeling like things. were this polarized or kind of wild and. i think wild is a really good word. because. how you describe right the the. go brandon signs yeah down the street.

from me. like one block away is a [ __ ] biden flag. um that children literally see when. they're walking home from school every. day and the people refuse to take them. down so it's just you know. it's not like it's not like we live in. the middle of the city which i don't. know why i even use this i'd use that as. an example but frankly anything goes in. new york city like we're in a suburb. it's pretty quiet here like. it's very hot it's very aggressive right. there. so like that flag is pretty it's like. wow oh my god um i mean i think i think.

there's something about this that we. don't really talk about and i really. i've given it so much thought because. part of me there's a part of me that. really does actually want to try to. relate to people who feel like they have. to resort to a party that is. i know. not wholly aligned with their values but. for some reason they don't feel like. they can either be part of the. democratic party or feel welcomed or. included in the democratic party and i.

can only share how i feel through this. example and story which really began in. 2016. so and i was working on the. clinton campaign again had never worked. on a race before. let alone a presidential race so i had. no idea what was right or wrong or like. what the rules are like you just don't. know and so i was there and i just. remember there's like a few key points. but one in particular where we had all. this merch right if you go on the. website you could buy like women for. hillary or like dogs for hillary like. there were so many different groups but.

there wasn't any group for men. and i just remember asking someone like. hey like where are like the shirts for. men for hillary and they're like oh yeah. like that's not like our target. okay again 50 of our our. population and it's not to say that we. weren't reaching out or calling men on. the phone or texting them or knocking on. their doors but the point is that it. wasn't part of the oh it wasn't part of. like. the uh the ethos necessarily and i don't. think anybody on the campaign would say.

we were anti-man that is not what i'm. saying but the point of me using that. example is because i think it signified. something to people who identify as men. or identify as people who want to you. know support hillary as maybe like hmm. i'm not really liking i'm not really. being spoken to. it's interesting right and so then take. it one step further to where we are now. and i think it's like. something that i i even just heard this. morning which is. there's a lot of young people who are. politically um active they are outspoken.

they are taking stands against things. that i didn't even think about when i. was 16 or 17 years old racism sexism. really being um brave about how they. are taking stands and. their classmates who for example might. not want to take that kind of a stand. are essentially being told that if you. don't take a stand with us you're racist. or if you don't take a stand with us. you're sexist and so why i use that as. an example is because a lot of also what. happens on the left i'm i'm a proud.

progressive is that there is a shaming. and a. making wrong. of others who are not with us i get it i. really do because it feels really good. to point out injustices and also people. who are causing harm but not everybody. who doesn't stand with us. is. causing harm right and we have to bring. people in and enroll them. here and not make them feel like they. are bad because they don't agree with.

10 out of 10 of the points that we care. about like 9 out of ten is great even. one out of ten is amazing like join us. let's go like let's stand for people and. their you know and their ability to like. live freely despite. who they are and what they stand for. but that's not necessarily the ethos of. where we are right now so there's the. evolution of thought and just i think. where people um. find themselves is very much like well i. don't want to be over there where. they're yelling at me and telling me i'm. like an i'm a jerk or i'm racist so i'm.

going to go over here and i'm going to. hide behind all the other crazy stuff. but like at least they're not going to. call me racist because like these people. are out of their minds they're racist. and they're doing crazy things so that's. just my like very um my very primal. basic understanding of it but it's such. an interesting no it's it's it's a. fascinating and interesting point too. especially when you talk about hey you. could agree with me on nine out of ten. issues and all of a sudden we see it. here at midas touch oh we agree with you. on non-issues but this one issue we.

don't see eye to eye on so you guys are. canceled we don't follow you anymore i. think the democratic party as a whole. has to be we're a big tent party so let. ideas and let let the best ideas sort of. sort of win and rule the day and so. going back to sort of the flags that you. have a flag by you i saw flags you know. flying around like crazy i'm talking. let's go brandon flags uh [ __ ] joe biden. flag stuff like that in my hometown i. think one of the major problems is. extremism like that and i think by and. large like the average long islander.

doesn't like that extremism those kids. parents must hate the fact that they get. off the bus and see an f joe biden flag. and you know the flags in my. neighborhood too like that's got to. infuriate the neighbors and i just think. democrats need to talk with people and. just show compassion and decency because. at the end of the day that's what i. think people are attracted to. i agree and to be honest with you. there's a there's a part of me that is. like. very i have a lot of rate i'm not. expressing it right now because i don't.

necessarily feel it fully at this very. moment but when people say things or do. things that. cause other people harm. whether they say racist things or they. you know abuse them in some way or they. um just use their power to try to. dominate over others to me that is like. some of the most. outrageous behavior and so i have always. tried to like think in my mind like how. can i like take a stand for this but.

also. you know not necessarily like squash the. people who might think the opposite it's. it's really a difficult needle to thread. and i felt like i really went through. this a lot when i was being outspoken. against cuomo our former governor who. was a democrat. because i could see the things that he. was doing i could understand the. decisions he was making i thought that. he was completely um egregious in the. way that he acted and yet there were so. many democrats who were like yeah but. who cares because he literally is our.

only hope to the presidency or like why. are we eating our own and and so this. kind of goes back to like the bigger. question here which is like it just. depends what we're optimizing for and. like what we're committed to like i. think that our party any party or any. like movement can't really be as strong. as it wants to be if there are cracks in. the integrity and there are so many. cracks in the integrity of both parties. and i think we can. like build on them and and heal them.

but also build our political power but. the problem is that generationally the. generation that's come before me does. not actually want to take a look at. those cracks in the foundation they just. want to keep charging through and then. wonder to themselves why do we keep. losing well you know i don't know. without integrity nothing really works. so that's kind of i just keep coming. back to this really basic principle but. again people have to be willing to want. to also use their power not everyone. wants to use their full power because.

sometimes it means that they'll lose. their seats or lose you know you lose. support from whatever group it was or is. that actually supports them today. and the one thing democrats are so it's. funny but it's also sad they're like. well what's the secret how do we do it. and then we start talking and we. interview people like gloria johnson. from tennessee or karen berg from uh. kentucky or mallory mcmurrow right and. we speak and they all flipped trump. districts and by talking to people about.

the exact same things that you've been. talking about and it's like people. the road map is right there just be. normal communicate with people and we're. going to win stop focusing on you know. let's coming up with the best acronym of. the day and isn't using three b's build. back better blah blah blah no just focus. on the issues that matter to people and. they're gonna be like oh [ __ ] these are. some normal people they're not like q.

anon they're not some weirdos like this. they care about me and my family that's. actually who the democratic party are. and the secret sauce again everything. you've talked about and so it's just. such an honor to highlight that. and to just i feel your passion like. when i leave an interview like this. i'm like ready to go and and it's. incredible so just thank you so much for. joining us we're so grateful. thank you for having me thank you for. pointing that out there really is no. magic wand right it's like you got to do.

the leg work there's no shortcuts and. you you're not going to figure it out. through a pull or you know through some. other ridiculous way you got to like. actually do the work and we need to do. the work in this party. and in this country because my god do we. have a lot of work to do so i'm just. glad we got to have this conversation. well with people like you i'm happy i'm. optimistic alessandra biaggia thank you. so much new york state senator running. for congress in new york's third my. hometown looking forward to it and.

rooting for you thanks so much for. joining us on the pod thank you so much. for having me. and welcome back to the midas podcast. alessandra biaggi everybody jordy what'd. you think about that interview man it. was a great interview she's amazing i. can't believe she's representing our. home district let's go and ben of course. uh not here right now had to run to. court uh you might be saying hey where. did ben disappear after that interview. he is working away on his birthday happy. birthday ben though seriously uh ben we. love you even if you don't remember. bagel boss and you call it bagel. brothers i mean that was just so.

embarrassing i i can't even i think one. point i have to listen again but i think. one point in the interview he said in. long island and not on long island and. well if you're from long island you just. know that's a cardinal sin right there. it's always on long island but ben not. trying to make fun of you too much on. your birthday we love you brother happy. birthday what happens you're getting up. there ben getting up there i'm just. kidding i'm just kidding then you have. like republicans now jordy i'm not sure. if you saw this like. celebrating martin shkrkely getting out. of prison and i'm gonna have difficulty.

saying the guy's name because i just. cannot say his name so just bear with me. i think yeah. i'm gonna call him the pharma bro cause. that's what he's known by he gained. notoriety for raising the price of an. age drug by five thousand percent um he. had served a seven year sentence at. prison in pennsylvania jordi no visit. what's up with that what's up with that. definitely not visiting the farmer bro. definitely not visiting him he's been. banned from the pharmaceutical industry. and now that he's out of jail a criminal. who raised the price of life-saving. medication uh republicans are. celebrating him and you have marjorie. taylor green saying i hear martin kelly.

has been released having paid his debt. to society 2016 energy everywhere you. look as if that's a good thing and she. is not the only person who i saw on the. right celebrating his release and it's. just a real sickness it's a real. sickness to celebrate somebody who's a. scammer it's real sickness to celebrate. somebody who raised the price of an aids. and malaria drug by five thousand. percent and say that you're that's a. good thing this is the party of kindness. to elon musk this is who elon musk wants. to support and this is why the gas.

lighting is so crazy i saw brian tyler. cohen actually pulled up a wild thing. that i never even seen before but elon. musk also right after the insurrection. so the insurrection happens on january. 6th right a day later elon musk donates. to the rnc. and then a day later he donates again to. the rnc. so elon musk saw what happened on. january 6th and then decided let me give. my money to those people. that's who i want to support so it.

really just shows a sickness you know. it's a it's a real sickness it's a real. gaslighting but i am proud to be a part. of the real party of kindness the party. that's actually trying to help solve. issues huge shout out to brian for that. little fact i i truthfully didn't know. if you've been on youtube or facebook we. could guarantee you've seen a video from. brian tyler cohen he also one of the top. ranked political podcast called no lie. with brian tyler cohen where he breaks. down the biggest stories of the week and. interviews the biggest names of politics. he sat down with president biden kamala. harris elizabeth warren katie porter.

jamie raskin pete buddha judge nancy. pelosi and on and on so when we say big. names it doesn't really get any bigger. than that so check out no lie with brian. tyler cohen see why he has more than 2. million subscribers across the social. media platforms and why his videos have. been viewed more than one billion times. it's a political podcast that cuts right. to the point focus on the issues that. you care about and as a destination for. our leaders in the house the senate and. the white house that's no lie with brian. tyler cohen available anywhere you. listen to podcasts so folks. listen to that podcast get the truth.

understand what is actually going on in. this country and we should be proud of. these candidates like i am so proud to. have a candidate like a.g josh shapiro. running for governor i'm so proud to be. having fetterman right i'm so proud to. be having tim ryan right yes i'm so. proud to have people like alessandra. biaggi running for office these are all. people who want to help other people and. when you're in politics that is the only. reason why you should take the job. because you want to help people because. you don't want to perpetuate problems. for your own power but because you.

actually want to make things better this. has been an episode of the midas touch. podcast thank you for watching thank you. for listening remember to tell a friend. give us a five star rating on your. favorite podcast apps if you enjoyed the. show it just takes a couple seconds. leave us a little review if you like. once again happy birthday to ben shout. out to brian tyler cohen thank you. alessandra biaggi and jordy i will let. you take us out with a shout out too. shout out to the midas my day. [Music].

you.