 This is the Humanist Report with Mike Figueredo The Humanist Report podcast is funded by viewers like you through Patreon and Paypal To support the show visit patreon.com forward slash humanist report or become a member at humanistreport.com Now enjoy the show Welcome to the Mike report. I am a humanist Figueredo and this is episode 261 of the program Today is Friday, October 9th, and we are less than one month away from the election But before we get to any news, I want to take some time to thank all of the people that make this show possible All of our Patreon, Paypal, and YouTube members all of which just signed up for the very first time to support us this week or Increased the monthly pledge that they were already giving us and that includes Bang Duang, Carly Sewell, Daniel Gugwin, Douglas Young, Erica Farrell, Jamie, Kelly, Scrimstad, Kyle Rome, Marcy Nelson, Mark Muller, Mustang Joe 86, Omni, Rodney Nelson, this is not pizza and Valentin Garcia. Thank you so much to all of these kind individuals If you'd also like to support the show and join the independent progressive media revolution You can do so by going to humanistreport.com slash support Patreon.com slash humanistreport or by clicking join underneath any one of our YouTube videos this week We've got a lot to talk about Trump has COVID-19. We'll discuss the bizarre trail of events that took place after we learned about the president's diagnosis And also we'll look at the video that suggests he may in fact be downplaying how sick he really is and of course We'd be remiss to not talk about the totally normal reaction His die-hard supporters had after learning about his condition We'll discuss Tucker Carlson's outrage after some people dared to be mean to the president Additionally, we'll continue our coverage of the 2020 presidential election Including team Trump's attack on Joe Biden for not having COVID-19. I'm serious Biden's giant lead in the polls and Trump's decision to hold another stimulus hostage until after the election Also, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls on Tulsi Gabbard to apologize to Ilhan Omar After she signal boosted a right-wing outlet that smeared Ilhan Omar and the Supreme Court is already signaling its intent to overturn marriage equality We'll talk about that and finally be closed the week by talking to 2020 congressional candidate from California's 42nd district Liam Onera, that's what we've got on the agenda for today's episode. Hopefully you all will enjoy the program Let's go ahead and get right to it starting with the Trump COVID story which is Very weird With Donald Trump's positive COVID-19 diagnosis, you know, my thinking was that okay Well, at least at a minimum this is going to pressure him to take COVID-19 more seriously Because if you have it if you experience it firsthand, then you are going to know this is no joke However, that's not the case either because after announcing via Twitter that he would be leaving Walter Reed Medical Center today He also took some time to downplay the virus saying via Twitter I will be leaving the Great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6 30 p.m. Feeling really good. Don't be afraid of COVID. Don't let it dominate your life We have developed under the Trump administration some really great drugs and knowledge I feel better than I did 20 years ago Yeah So I mean there you have it if you contract COVID-19 just do what the president You know have a helicopter Escort you to a hospital for precautionary purposes just to make sure that you receive the best medical care in the country With some experimental drugs that are probably costly, but you know, don't be afraid. You could just do what he did He's downplaying it as he leaves the hospital after contracting COVID-19 So there is going to literally be nothing that will get him to take it seriously Now a lot of people thought well This is karma after saying that this affects virtually nobody, you know, now he's going to realize how serious it is No, that's not the case because even if he felt like death He's not gonna tell us the way he truly feels and over the weekend We have been getting mixed messages. How serious is the president's COVID-19 diagnosis. Is he actually doing okay? Is he requiring one or two, you know Measures of supplemental oxygen, we just don't know we're kind of left out in the dark and a lot of people may be wondering Mike, why didn't you talk about this over the weekend? And I'll be honest I was just exhausted and admittedly a little bit lazy like Dealing with Donald Trump's shenanigans. It really weighs you down and I mean, I would have talked about it if he died, of course But like this is something that really it's shocking to hear that the president got COVID-19 But at the same time it's not really that shocking because he hasn't been taking it seriously and it seems like most Americans Agree that this is kind of his own fault So as Justine Coleman of the Hill reports an ABC news Ipsos poll found that 72% of adults said the president did not take the appropriate precautions when it came to his personal health The same percentage of people also said Trump did not take the risk of contracting the virus seriously enough among Republicans 43% said Trump didn't take the appropriate precautions nor the risk of catching the virus seriously enough for Democrats 94% said he didn't take needed precautions and 95% said he wasn't serious enough about possibly contracting COVID-19 and I agree with most Americans and I feel like the events over the weekend Kind of confirmed that we are living in a simulation at least to me because it feels like we're watching a parody of 2020 While experiencing it for the first time because this is just this is bizarre like the setups of circumstances You know leading to us learning about his COVID-19 diagnosis was extremely strange And when you have an administration that won't be straight up with the American people it makes matters Even worse and I can't not mention how insufferable liberals have been throughout this process as well because Jail Biden decided to suspend all negative advertisements about Donald Trump for whatever reason because Trump wouldn't do the same thing On top of that you have some liberals saying well, you know, I Don't wish the president ill will in fact mr. President. We're praying for you We're wishing you a speedy recovery because we want you to see Yourself lose in a landslide and we can't wait for you to go to jail Please as if that's ever gonna happen and perhaps even more insufferable than smug liberals like Rachel Maddow Who wished him well and said she was praying for him or the Republicans who are now clutching their pearls talking about how negative the left has gone You know to Donald Trump when as these tweets point out Ben Shapiro in no way has ever held back wishing others harm Such as Trayvon Martin and whatnot You know, this is just this whole situation is exhausting and if you are a normal American I don't know how you're keeping up like I am forced to keep up with this stuff because this is my job But this is exhausting now I have to share something with you so in case you aren't necessarily sure what's happening to the president This animation that dr. Oz brought to Fox news definitely will clear things up I think I sent you an animation if you're able to show it might be beneficial here But the virus itself isn't the main culprit oftentimes the the virus you hear you are seeing little virus particles Those little red things are spike proteins and they're they're looking for areas. They're they're going into the president's nose We don't know what had happened, but a couple days before he tested positive down through his throat into his lungs Those little virus particles set up shop and begin to cause irritation They attached to the little green receptors that like a key opening a door They step right in there They take over the cell and they hijack the cell to release lots of virus which was exploding through here That was really helpful because if he didn't confirm that the virus was in fact going into the president's nose Then we wouldn't have known for sure. You know the animation itself wasn't sufficient. We definitely needed that commentary from dr. Oz Thank you so much doctor Now we're gonna kind of recap what took place Starting with the genesis of this entire event But all of it has culminated in a dispute with the Trump family where somehow Trump junior is the one Who has the most common sense in Trump's inner circle? Yeah, so it started out when we learned on Friday evening that Hope Hicks Senior advisor to the president tested positive for COVID-19 after going on Air Force one With the president and other individuals within Trump's circle now She reportedly self-quarantined on Air Force one But still that wasn't enough because we learned that the president after taking a test Tested positive for COVID-19. We learned about this at approximately 1 a.m. Eastern time on Friday But turns out the president knew that he was positive the day after the debate and knowing he tested positive for COVID-19 He went to an in-person meeting with donors Exposed all of them more than a dozen people and he pretended as if everything was peachy keen And there was nothing to worry about now on Saturday He was escorted to Walter Reed Medical Center via helicopter after we received reports that his condition had worsened He was being treated with remdesivir and reportedly received supplemental oxygen The White House then tweeted out quote unquote proof of how well he's doing because he was actually still working In the hospital as you can see here He uh He was hard at work signing his name on a blank sheet of paper Then things got even more weird when he was escorted around with his motorcade All wall positive for COVID-19 might you? Because he wanted to wave at all of his sick of fans that gathered outside of the hospital And that of course was dangerous because as one physician at Walter Reed Medical Center put it Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary presidential drive by Just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die for political theater Commended by trump to put their lives at risk for theater This is insanity and members of the secret service whose lives were put at risk because of donald trump's antics Also spoke out But i've already gone ahead of myself because it seems as if we learned that the uh nomination announcement of amy coney barrett That event that seemingly was the super spreader event that led to 12 people at the time i record this video Testing positive for COVID-19 that includes of course the president himself his wife hope hicks kelly an conway rnc chairwoman ronna mc daniel senator mike lee tom tillis We have chris christie who is in donald trump's inner circle who also attended a debate panel on tuesday evening without a mask on abc We have keila meccananny nick luna all of these people have COVID-19 And after we were learning about more and more people within trump's inner circle catching COVID-19 Um, they still decided we're not going to institute a mandatory mask requirement at the white house. It's personal What you're leaving that up to personal choice when we don't know how many people were exposed now Thankfully, they reversed that because it is affecting them personally. So, you know, they quickly learned Okay, a lot of people have it or have been exposed to it We have to do something to stop the spread and contain it. So we're all wearing masks So that's actually surprising to me because i didn't think they'd actually budge uh, but another weird aspect about this story is that Trump's behavior as it becomes even more bizarre than it usually is Is actually worrying people In his own family not just like in his inner circle But members of the trump family are getting worried because what he's doing is bizarre So on monday, he went on a really long and bizarre tweet storm In all caps tweeting about why you have to vote for him And it's gotten to the point where even trump jr wants to stage an intervention Literally his family is fed up with the tweets and trump jr wants to step in And try to get everyone close to trump to reign in his behavior In an article for vanity fair gabriel scherman explains Donald trump's erratic and reckless behavior in the last 24 hours has opened a rift in the trump family Over how to reign in the out of control president according to two republicans briefed on the family conversations Sources said trump jr is deeply upset by his father's decision to drive around wall to read national military medical center last night With members of the secret service while he was infected with covet 19 Don jr thinks trump is acting crazy One of the sources told me the stunt outraged medical experts including an attending physician at walter reed According to sources don jr has told friends that he tried lobbying Ivanka trump eric trump and jared kushner to convince the president that he needs to stop acting unstable Don jr has said he wants to stage an intervention But jared and Ivanka keep telling trump how great he's doing a source said Don jr is said to be reluctant to confront his father alone Don said i'm not going to be the only one to tell him he's acting crazy the source added One area where the family seems united is over the president's Manic tweeting early monday morning after trump sent out more than a dozen all caps tweets the trump children told people they want trump to stop They're all worried they've tried to get him to stop tweeting a source close to the family told me So when members of trump's own family are concerned that his behavior Is more strange than it usually is You know something is going on now as to the severity of trump's covet 19 diagnosis It's really difficult to say because we're not getting a straight answer from people mark meadows basically admitted to lying and downplaying the severity of you know, um His sickness we we just don't know he could still be very sick as he's being released and he's just like Acting like nothing's a problem exposing more people He apparently said he met with veterans. Um while he was at the hospital Was he wearing a mask? Um, should they be quarantined now? We just don't know There's so many questions that we don't have answers to And all we can do is really just step back and think about how weird this moment is And try to appreciate this because this really is something that we will look back on and even though We now know how weird it is but like when we look back on this This is going to be one of the strangest moments in american history Where the president catches a very contagious Deadly virus after months of downplaying it and not taking it seriously and leaving the hospital He encourages people to not let it control their lives And downplays it more and he may still be very sick He may possibly be meeting with more people Exposing them I mean, what do you even say? This is just so weird again. It really feels like we're watching A movie like a satirical film You know about the downfall of the american empire and how stupid it became So that's all that i've got i'll try to keep you all updated, but you know, this story is changing rapidly And i'm sure it's gonna get weirder I don't know if i'm ready for that, but we better be ready because it's gonna get even more weird And uh, there's less than a month until the next election All of this happening before a major election Strange times As many of you know, donald trump has been released from walter reed medical center after undergoing treatment for covid 19 And after seeing some video clips that we're gonna get to here Um, it's evident to me that he is a lot more sick than uh, he's leading on and these videos Are shocking to me like you can see him visibly in pain Gasping for air Um, but before we get to that I do want to share the tweet that he put out before he was discharged. He said don't be afraid of covid Don't let it dominate your life. I feel better than I did 20 years ago Yeah We're gonna see that that doesn't really seem to be the case um now first of all The main thing that I have to point out is that he is currently Contagious And he took off his mask. He should not be taking off his mask Ever unless you are in your room that only you and malania share Keep that mask on because now everyone who you come in contact with Is exposed and needs to self quarantine and you're not going to be able to contain the outbreak That's currently taking place in the white house if you do things like this So the fact that he's taking off his mask I mean he he just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand it Like he's still downplaying the severity of it after he was just released From being in the hospital and he's still not wearing a mask It's it's honestly incredible and another video that I want to share as he's leaving walter read medical center Look at all of the things that like He does like little things that he's probably not even uh aware. He's doing he's touching the handlebar We don't know if he coughed into his hand before he put on his mask I mean you're contagious You are contagious So you are putting other people at risk now directly because you have the virus What are you doing? But I mean this is donald trump. He doesn't care about anybody, but himself now I want to play a couple of clips that were astonishing to me. So this one, um This is a little bit of a snippet. It's eight seconds from a longer clip Where it looks like donald trump is gasping for air Like you can see him He's struggling Like the way that he's breathing He's trying to catch his breath looks like he's breathing You know in a more shallow way because he he doesn't have a choice This is genuinely like Cause for concern like when he says he feels better than he did in 20 years when I see this I don't I don't believe that at all now this uh video right here This individual says that it looks as if he's wincing in pain And you can see it. He is like he is struggling. He is suffering right now. He looks He looks like shit like this is This is bad So all of this talk of I feel better than I did 20 years ago Him being discharged from the hospital Um, I don't buy it And I feel like this is part of the facade that he wants to maintain like he wants to always Be you know this alpha male who's untouchable who's like this godlike figure in a way And he is incapable of succumbing to diseases that normal human beings You know catch That's all of a sod like that fades away when you see him In the wild and he literally is struggling to exist right now wincing in pain Now you can argue that maybe I'm looking too much into this and if you said that then I would say that that's probably fair Uh when we see those two clips it looks worse when it's isolated But as you can see here He was struggling to catch his breath After he came up the stairs So maybe it was the case that he's not doing that bad But just going up that set of stairs is what kind of like made him lose his breath Um, but over time you can see throughout this video that he's really struggling and he's trying to play it cool But even knowing that he's trying to play it cool The fact that he lets it be known that he's gasping for air looks like he's gasping for air It shows you how serious this is Now we're going to get to a certain portion of the clip Which is what we already isolated before but you can see he's talking and whatnot and right here, you know, he seems Okay, but you can you can just see like in the way that he's acting his demeanor He's really trying to play off How horrible he feels. I mean, he probably feels like death. This is a very serious virus Um, so, you know, he's kind of doing little things here and there fidgeting with his jacket probably trying to hide the fact that He's really struggling. Um, this is kind of where we get to that point. Uh, where we looked at that eight second clip that was shared Uh, where he's presumably gasping for air And then he's posing so he's really really trying to hold it in I do want to share This this is herman kane's timeline And I mean donald trump is not out of the woods yet, especially when you look at this So on june 24th Herman kane attended donald trump's rally didn't wear a mask on the second of july he tested positive for covid 19 By the 10th He said he was improving by the 15th his doctors They seemed like he they said he was improving as well. They seemed happy Um on the 27th said he's really getting better And on the 30th he died Now I think that this is a little bit of of an oversimplification because there were reports that herman kane was doing really bad But herman kane was trying to downplay how sick he was as well because currently that's what the republican party is trying to do They're trying to downplay the severity of covid 19 In fact, there's a gop senator Who uh said that the fact that trump is better shows you that it's not as lethal As uh, we previously thought that it was but I mean trump is not out of the woods yet Like just because he was released from the hospital probably to the chagrin of his doctors who are caring for him It doesn't mean that he's better. Um, and when you see him, especially like that portion where he's just Gasping for air right there, uh wincing in pain He's not out of the woods yet Now I do want to share this Video it came out after we got the footage of him Presumably gasping for air and I say presumably because we don't we don't know. I mean you can only Make a sophisticated guest base on what you see, but I mean keep in mind that this is just me I'm no medical expert. I'm not a physician So when I say it looks like trump is gasping for air, you know, maybe that's just my perception But you know, I was thinking okay, maybe he's not as bad like maybe this isn't as severe of a case The fact that they're giving him supplemental ox oxygen sure that is um That that tells us that this is something that the doctors are concerned with but at the same time if they're allowing him to be discharged Or released already I mean, he's got to be better than we previously thought but those videos changed my mind on this now This is what he released. You can tell uh, he looks better here I just left walter reed medical center And it's really something very special the doctors the nurses the first responders And I learned so much about coronavirus And one thing that's for certain don't let it dominate you Don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment We have the best medicines all developed recently And you're going to beat it. I went I didn't feel so good And two days ago I could have left two days ago two days ago. I felt great like better than I have in a long time I said just recently better than 20 years ago Don't let it dominate. Don't let it take over your lives Don't let that happen. We have the greatest country in the world. We're going back. We're going back to work We're going to be out front as your leader. I had to do that. I knew there's danger to it But I had to do it I stood out front I led Nobody that's a leader Would not do what I did And I know there's a risk. There's a danger, but that's okay And now I'm better and maybe I'm immune. I don't know But don't let it dominate your lives get out there Be careful We have the best medicines in the world and it all happened very shortly and they're all getting approved And the vaccines are coming momentarily Thank you very much and walter read What a group of people. Thank you very much So I'm probably reading too much into this, but it kind of felt like He was experiencing shortness of breath as he was talking But that's probably just me because like when you see something You know, like his gasping for air you kind of look for that in everything So it could just be that like my perception has been skewed because of that video But when he says oh Don't be worried. Don't let it dominate your life. You're gonna beat it Like he's assuming that people have access to the best medical care in the world that he got Like if you are sick with covet 19, um, that's not necessarily the case. Like I want to show you a tweet That stood out to me uh from one of my followers So I responded When trump downplayed covet 19 earlier I said don't be afraid folks if you get infected by covet Just get a helicopter to escort you to the hospital as a precautionary measure to receive the best health care available in the country All free of charge now somebody actually responded to that with a quote tweet saying My mom had to go to three different er's on four different occasions after testing positive They didn't accept her until the fourth time when she was literally gasping for air and going unconscious From hypoxia. Yeah So not everyone is donald trump not everyone is the president of the united states not everyone Is going to get access to a team of physicians who are working around the clock to make sure that you survived this so the fact that He is downplaying it After surviving it It's just it's Incredibly irresponsible And for him to make it seem as if Everyone is going to be fine. He's basically implying that you should pretend like It's normal. No, it's not normal. These are not normal times not everyone has health care Even if they have health insurance, they might still get a bill. We've seen the stories But I mean what's going to happen is you End up going out there you expose yourself because you see the president He got covered 19 and he's fine So you go and get it yourself because you think if he did and he's fine Then I I'll probably be fine too. This is the president. So I trust him like these This is the way that people think these are his supporters. So for him to do this It's incredibly irresponsible. But the fact that like He's lying to us about how serious this is Again, he was going up a flight of stairs But when you see him gasping for air And presumably wincing in pain while he breathes, which is something that you'd expect From someone diagnosed with COVID-19 It tells us he's trying to hide how ill he really is and I mean Maybe he would have stayed in the hospital longer if he didn't have such a huge ego But he doesn't want anyone to think he's ever capable Of you know getting this sick. He's just he's this macho man and He's always okay. He's always fine no matter what but I mean these videos are uncomfortable to watch where he genuinely looks like he is in pain So, you know, this tells me that he's definitely not out of the woods yet and um If he was smart he would have stayed at the hospital Especially because it's not going to hurt you to do that like you don't have to worry about a bill You have a huge team of doctors trying to cure you You have nothing to lose But his ego is getting in the way of his own health and safety, which is just astonishing to me because Even if you're narcissistic, you'd think that you'd at least have this instinct to you know, at least I don't know Self-preservation, but his ego overrides everything including his own physical health. So it's just crazy to me That the president is this sick and um He's not only pretending to be normal but trying to get everyone else To act like everything is normal as well It's crazy Donald Trump's positive COVID-19 diagnosis has led to his supporters reacting in a way that is It's predictable if you accept that this is a cult and there is a line between being worried about someone who you support and admire And just outright fanaticism and we see Trump supporters cross into fanatical territory case in point Let's talk president. I will die for him. I will die for that man happily I will die for him. Anybody want to mess with him? You mess with me first He is a hero that man They're nuts. This is not normal behavior This is not a group of people who are loyal to Donald Trump because of any policy This isn't about policy to them. This is about personality They worship the person Donald Trump and what he represents not what he is doing to them the way that he's impacting them In a concrete material way. So this behavior is completely bizarre and that's why I say This is a cult when I say that mega chuds are part of a cult. I'm not saying that as an insult I'm saying that because it is a matter of fact that what we see from them is very cult-like behavior And that's not to say that all Trump supporters are Cultists, but there is a large subset of the population that worship him on a level That almost seems religious now outside of Walter Reed medical center when he was staying there Were hundreds if not thousands of Trump supporters with balloons for the president They had signs that said get well They had signs saying that they were praying for him Just letting him know that they are there for him and then on top of that you had cars drive by with large Trump flags And you know, they were honking and the crowd loved it on top of that They were blasting staying alive by the bg's which I can't play did a copyright issues but There were a lot of Trump cultists that basically showed up to express their undying love And in the process of expressing said undying love You can see a lot of them were not wearing masks Now as Tina win of politico explains by sunday afternoon hundreds of people had congregated outside the hospital They handed out water and candy and stacks of pizza the trump campaign sent over They flew every brand of mago flag in the sky The most devoted carried 20 foot pipes with four flags of peace mounted on them marching them up and down the sidewalks ymca and proud to be an american both trump rally staples Blurred on repeat on boomboxes and generator powered amps MAGA country had gathered to celebrate and pray for its leader an impromptu festival meets vigil for its venerated living saint As the crowd grew larger and louder on sunday police put up barricades trying to contain the crowds from spilling into the streets Ad hoc caravans drove up and down honking their horns in jubilant support Social distancing seemed like a distant concern secondary only to the camaraderie and joy of supporting their convalescent leader Often maskless often yelling over the din of cars into the ears of their newfound friends Tamara a nurse from north carolina and a star-spangled MAGA hat who declined to give her last name Had driven five hours that morning to keep vigil for a short while with her teenage daughter and small dog She had to drive the five hours back home that night so she could make her shift the next morning Here and there a strain of religious fervor shot through the crowd Yeah, no shit Trump was sent from god declared one hand written poster mounted on the fence outside the naval center on the walter reed complex QAnon adherents the mushrooming conspiracy that trump is on the verge of purging satan worshiping pedophiles from government Made their presence known holding signs with giant cues on their windshields. Some had this secret hashtag wwg1 WGA which stands for the phrase where we go one we go all something of a QAnon Moto and pledge now if you find all of this extremely bizarre and cult-like Unfortunately, these are probably the more Sane or should I say less deranged? MAGA chuds because wind continues quote. You've never seen him sick You've never seen him without energy brendan dilly a self-described MAGA life coach told his viewers on his radio show friday He's not walking around with weak ass pussy fucking genetics. He ain't got those liberal genes These are like god tier genetics top one percentile genetics Yeah, further afield trump's most fervent supporters could hardly accept Could hardly accept that trump caught the disease in the first place with some suggesting the democrats are perhaps the deep state where somehow to blame Does anyone else find it odd that no prominent democrats have had the virus? But the list of republicans goes on and on twitter diane lorraine a former congressional candidate who has backed baseless theories from the QAnon conspiracy movement going on to blast masks as the democrat backed lie in questioning whether china had technically made An assassination attempt on the first family and not So when you hear some of his supporters talking about how he has god tier genetics And that this was an assassination attempt by china and that maybe it's a conspiracy Because republicans are catching uh covet 19, but democrats aren't I mean one party's taking it seriously and encouraging people to wear masks and wearing them themselves And the other is pretending like it doesn't exist But i mean when you see all of this when you hear people say oh he was sent from god How could you not come to the conclusion that this is a cult of personality? It's not even about politics anymore. This is about donald trump The person the figure and i think the onion basically had the best take on this tweeting out trump supporters fighting over Used tissues president tossed from suv and even though this is satirical I mean does anyone think that they wouldn't do something like this like these people have expressed such a profound level of delusion That it wouldn't surprise me if you know trump were to do something like this and like throw one of his tissues out They would fight over it and try to like Inhale it and catch the virus because they think that they're catching like some of donald trump's powers or genes like This is deeply scary because when you get to this level of worship Of a political figure Then you know nothing that you say will get through to them It's just a cult of personality and whenever he's attacked if you try to you know speak Some sort of common sense to them. They only rally around him more Now to get a sense of the mindset that we're dealing with here NBC news reporter shimari stone actually talked to some supporters who were rallying outside of walter reed And um, he did ask them something that was on my mind like why aren't you guys wearing masks if the president who you support Got covet 19 wouldn't that make you want to Take it more seriously Their answer is um, not surprising, but it is still depressing nonetheless. What are your thoughts right now? My thoughts right now is that The trump is in his 70s, you know, he is at risk, but he's taking it like a champ You know compared to what a lot of other people would say so that's my take on the whole issue And you know, I have to ask the question. Why aren't you wearing a mask? well i'm young And i'm not at risk for covid so With the survival rates that we've seen um, it's frankly hysteria what we're seeing with covid so Are you ever concerned it could be you could possibly be asymptomatic and pass it to someone else? Yes, I do have those concerns But I don't buy into the fear mongering because where i'm at, you know, i'm around other young people You know, we can power through this but the fear mongering about covid needs to stop Okay, let me get this rate So you don't want to wear a mask because to do so means you're buying into the fear mongering But you support donald trump just two years ago He was screaming at the top of his lungs about the migrant caravan now He's screaming about how joe biden will bring socialism to america. Yes, joe biden functionally a republican Is supposedly uh posing this socialist threat to america So you don't buy into the fear mongering Except all of trump's fear mongering. So it's you know, select a fear mongering that appeals to you If you're if you're mongering about you know, a virus that's highly contagious and very serious Um, you know, you'll only take it seriously in so far as daddy trump takes it seriously I mean, this is a problem with cults of personalities because they they really hold on to every single word that their leader says So they're not going to do something unless their leader does something so as long as donald trump doesn't take this seriously Then they're not going to take this seriously as well And this is dangerous because think about this if donald trump were to actually die because of covet 19 They have put him on such a high pedestal That they wouldn't believe that it's possible It would have to be some sort of conspiracy to them that the deep state did this or he was given covet 19 Or it was something else he was poisoned like i don't want to put ideas in their head But when you've reached that point where you're that delusional where you have literally deified someone To the point where you believe that they are almost a demigod of sorts and this type of virus can't possibly harm someone who you view as superhuman That is deeply troubling But at the same time, you know, if he survives then that is going to embolden them and they're going to Think that they were right to not take this seriously when in actuality Trump's survival is a likelihood only because he has access to the best healthcare in the world, which you lack You may have health insurance, but you're not going to get the care that Trump's getting You're not going to have a team of multiple doctors working around the clock to make sure that you're okay You're not going to have to crunch the numbers to see what you can and can't afford You're not going to have to bicker with your insurance company to make sure that they cover what you need to survive this So trump surviving is different from other people surviving He is not representative of the general american population So when you get to this level of derangement and cult-like behavior, it's just Nothing good will come from it. You don't want that in politics We want people who are being objective who are supporting politicians Because they've made an informed decision to do so because that person's ideology and policy agenda aligns with theirs But when we see this where they're saying they'd die for donald trump I mean, it's just to say the least it's fucking strange So bernie sanders had a heart attack a little more than a year ago as of today and as a bernie sanders supporter I will admit that I was definitely worried about him You know not just because Of what he would be able to do if he were elected president, but as a supporter I wanted to see him recover. So of course, you know It hurt to see people online saying that They wanted him to die and to see you know, for example, kamala harris supporters wish death on him But at the end of the day, did it really bother me that much? Did I lose sleep over it? Did I make a video about it? No, because people are going to say things like that online You are literally going to find every conceivable opinion for every single issue out there and You know, you're going to be offended if you look for things to be offended by so of course You know, if you see someone talking Badly about someone that you admire then, you know, check out take a break from the internet Tucker Carlson, however, does not have that same philosophy because he was really heartbroken at the fact that some people online Were laughing at trump's diagnosis However, he wasn't even talking about those people For you know, uh, most of this segment that we're about to see would really offended him Were people who had the audacity to point out that maybe trump got covered 19 Because he wasn't taking it seriously wasn't wearing his mask wasn't social distancing was meeting with people indoors To point that out Tucker Carlson is deeply deeply offensive. Now, maybe, you know, I'm mistaken Tucker Carlson for someone else But isn't he the person that oftentimes complains about the pc police and sjw's But here he is getting overly offended Getting up in arms because his feelings were hurt because people dared to point out the reality That trump got covered 19 because of donald trump across the world tonight People are praying that we will learn good news about the president's condition Over at cnn, however, we were told again and again that the president deserved the sickness that he got and they tried Tried out the usual hacks to explain why he deserved it a lot of people have been put in jeopardy By the president's behavior and now we've learned of course this morning that one of those people is the president himself But he just Couldn't get over the fact that in his mind the mask equals weakness equals. I'm not On top of this virus. So perhaps a bit of a shock this morning for americans, but not necessarily a surprise It is also the most vivid possible demonstration of the incompetence and the Irresponsibility of the administration in large part. Uh, it's his own dereliction is Partly to blame for this. He chose to go out to rallies Imagine he just announced he was infected. He just got to walter reed. He deserved it They didn't wait long Of course millions of americans have been diagnosed with a coronavirus probably people, you know probably people in your family We can say that Hundreds of thousands have died CNN's expert panelists are saying they all deserved it. They must have they were careless. They were derelict in their duties If there was a lesson from the coverage of this, it's a very familiar lesson The media class is willing to attack the rest of the country if they think it will hurt the president They despise if they think it will give them more political power And of course, it wasn't just the media. In fact, the official message of the democratic party is that donald trump had it coming We all receive that news with great sadness. I always pray for the president's family that they're safe Uh, I continue to do so more intensified. This is tragic. It's very sad But it also is something that that Again Going into crowds Unmasked and all the rest was sort of a a brazen invitation for something like this to happen Raised an invitation He asked for it. He was dressed provocatively That's what Nancy Pelosi just told you many other democrats are echoing that sentiment Rick leaventhal has been following this reaction from the democratic party. He joins us tonight to explain more rick Hey tucker, there are a lot of people wishing the president and first lady well on twitter sending thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery But no surprise the haters are not holding back actually saying they hope the first couple die And twitter says it's immediately removing those messages because they violate policy Here's one from former obama staffer zara raheem who Shared this and then apparently self-deleted a post reading. It's been against my moral identity to tweet this for the past four years But I hope he dies Then there's steve cox an independent candidate for california's 39th district who posted numerous tweets wishing death on the president And then wrote by quote. I hope they both die. I was talking about trump and biden not melania She seems nice And former elizabeth warren staffer max berger wrote Trump has destroyed millions of lives. He deserves none of our sympathy Some twitter users have compiled a library of mean tweets wishing the worst on the president and there are too many of them to count Tucker in a statement twitter says content that wishes Hopes or expresses a desire for death serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual is against our rules And twitter says it will prioritize the removal of content when it has a clear call to action That could cause real world harm. That's a quote Meanwhile the president's tweet announcing he had the virus was his most popular ever at last count tallying 1.7 million likes. Tucker Unbelievable rick levin. Thank you. Sure If you find yourself rooting for someone's death anyone's death It's time to pause and take stock of how your own soul has rotted We're all going to die in the end and trust me as we do we're going to regret thinking things like that about other people We actually debated whether or not to put that on the air tonight. It's so ugly in general our Our viewers don't put things on tv that are that ugly, but we felt we should because it is everywhere today really Tucker Really you were so offended by that that you debated whether or not you'd air it on television I mean, I thought that right wingers Were against this sort of pc outrage. Isn't this just political correctness? Aren't you just acting like trigger little snowflakes right now? And what's astonishing to me is that he got the most offended At the most benign aspects of what was said The media clips that he showed were basically people rightfully pointing out that trump Has put other people's lives in danger because he doesn't take it seriously. He doesn't wear masks He doesn't take it seriously. That's why he got it now. You can say maybe there's this underlying application that they think He deserves it. But when I hear them say things like that It seems like they're saying play stupid games win stupid prizes and they'd be correct As president you should be setting an example But trump was not doing that Trump didn't just downplay the severity of covet 19 for months But he himself did not take it seriously when he has a bunch of co-morbidities Like it was dangerous For him to catch it and now he has it and people are saying well, look we were telling you and Tucker Carlson has gotten outraged Because how dare they point out that trump got this because he wasn't taking it seriously Well, guess what you're a really bad populist Tucker because 72 percent of americans Agree that trump did not take the risk of covet 19 seriously So they're not very sympathetic And you should know this you should have your finger on the pulse As a so-called populist but to point that out is offensive to Tucker Carlson interesting Whatever happened to facts don't care about your feelings I mean, I think it's Pretty factual to state it's not surprising that he got the virus because he doesn't take it seriously But Tucker Carlson is offended. Oh, you poor thing Poor thing now what I love is that all of a sudden Tucker Carlson wants us To take covet 19 seriously. How dare we be so insensitive 200 000 americans have died Yeah, that's what we've been saying Tucker Carlson That's why we've been wanting donald trump to take it serious because it is serious But now you're saying that the left and democrats and the media aren't taking it seriously when they point out how donald trump Hasn't taken it seriously And it's funny that all of a sudden he wants to take it seriously when for months Tucker Carlson like the president has also been downplaying it not only did he critique anthony felgi But he downplayed the severity of the virus by citing two quack doctors that used a widely discredited study that they conducted themselves to conclude That the infection rates were lower than the national numbers that were being reported But because daddy trump got covet 19 now. Tucker Carlson wants everyone to take it seriously How dare you just point out the fact that the president got this because he wasn't taken it seriously The call I mean He's supposed to be The more savvy propagandist right the the more populist member of media But you can see he's just batting for a team and he'll go to bat for his team. He'll be a hack. He doesn't care He has no principles daddy trump has covet 19. So now we have to take it seriously And what's weird is that he got seemingly the most offended at what Nancy Pelosi said When she stated very clearly she wants him to do better. She's praying for him but because she said that um His behavior has been irresponsible He said that that's so bad It's comparable to rape apologia He literally said, oh, maybe he was asking for it because he was dressed provocatively You're comparing Nancy Pelosi's comments where she wishes the president president well But points out that he's been irresponsible to rape apologia Tucker Carlson Is a fucking moron and he's not just a moron. He's a snowflake moron He's a triggered little baby moron to be offended by something that doesn't even matter But when they actually got to the comments where people said they want the president to die What does he do? Then he starts celebrating twitter censorship and becomes the sjw That he often criticizes because the person who he was interviewing said well, you know We're banning people who um say anything negative or wish death upon the president Okay, so you support this Why weren't you speaking out when Ilhan Omar was receiving death threats? Twitter wasn't banning anyone who was coming after Ilhan Omar After a crowd of trump supporters at a rally chanted send her back But now all of a sudden when you're offended you're okay with censorship You're okay with deep platforming Only because you're the one who's offended your outrage is wholly legitimate And justified but anyone else's outrage ever Is bad and they're being snowflakes and they're too politically correct, of course Tucker Carlson is a hypocrite Of the highest order and I want you all to remember this the next time he does a segment about college students on campuses Supposedly being too outraged whenever he claims that the mob And their political correctness is ruining american society whenever he brings that up Throw this in his face him being a little snowflake baby Because people very tepidly criticized the president on the media. I mean give me a fucking break This Is what I'd like to call an sjw if I've ever seen one, right? He's not a social justice warrior because he doesn't care about social justice, but he's a social injustice warrior He's the right-wing equivalent to an sjw to where he you know Can get offended and call for deep platforming and censorship and that's okay But if you do that on the left you're a bad person Yeah, Tucker Carlson is a fraud and if you don't see that by now You're never gonna see it because he's given you more than enough To know who he really is Aaron pereen is the director for press communications for donald trump's re-election campaign and in an interview with fox news She tried to make the case for donald trump as to why he should be reelected And part of a reason why she thinks he's more qualified than joe biden is because he had Covid-19 or I should correct myself. He has Covid-19 currently and because he's had this experience That's a good thing. It makes him more Capable of dealing with this pandemic than joe biden now what she does is basically suggest That joe biden is not qualified to be president because He has not had Covid-19 I wish I were making this up because this is politics That you would see in like some sort of satirical film, but nonetheless. This is real life This is a real argument that I suppose it's serious person made on national television So is that something we should expect with a best-case scenario? The president leaves the hospital today Gets back out on the campaign trail. Will we see changed messaging when it comes to the coronavirus? And will it move more to a forefront of the president's messaging and key issues? Well firsthand experience is always going to change how someone relates to something that's been happening The president has coronavirus right now. He is battling it head on as toughly as only president Trump can and listen that of course that's going to change the way that he the way that He he speaks of it because it'll be a firsthand experience But you know that experience that experience of not only coronavirus, but being president of the united states That's why you just see a different tone overall from him But it's been law and order and it's been experience. Sorry. I am really out of time It's been law and order and it's been the economy. Does this become a key issue and he talks about coronavirus as well He's talked about it all and listen. He has experience as commander-in-chief. He has experience as a businessman He has experience now Fighting the coronavirus as an individual those firsthand experiences joe biden. He doesn't have those Wait a second So She's literally saying that because joe biden hasn't had covet 19 because he hasn't been infected with the virus He is less qualified than donald trump who has been infected with the virus That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why would that make joe biden less qualified than donald trump? Why do you have to experience the virus? to Know how to legislate properly with regard to containing the virus that doesn't make any sense at all And um, apparently the american people aren't with her because 72 of americans believe donald trump contracted covet 19 Because he wasn't taking it seriously So it doesn't seem as if that's going to change anytime soon because as he's being released from the hospital Guess what's happening? He's still down playing the severity of covet 19 if you could believe that Tweeting out. Ivan felt this good in uh 20 years or this is the best i felt in 20 years something to that effect saying Don't let covet 19 affect your life Basically down playing it. So if anything you think that maybe you can make the case that going forward. He's going to be A better leader at least with regard to the pandemic because he's experienced how Horrible it is firsthand, but no so you can't even make that case now He's still horrible He's still the worst and the fact that joe biden hasn't had covet 19 doesn't make him less Less suited to deal with it the fact that she made this argument with a straight face is baffling to me It's not like joe biden isn't immune from the virus. He still travels He's around a lot of people he could still catch it But he wears a mask all of the time the people around him actually take it seriously And trump makes fun of him for wearing a mask So even though it is still likely that joe biden could catch it given how much he travels around the country I mean the fact that he hasn't gotten it as someone who is exposed that much potentially It should show you that at least he knows a little bit more about the minimum steps that you should take as a grown-up To not catch this virus So the fact that donald trump just Didn't even take it seriously for himself and he downplayed it For moms saying it affects Virtually nobody and now for you to say that makes him more qualified because he had it I mean, that's just laughable again if he actually changed if having the virus Experiencing firsthand how horrible it is made him want to change and actually do better You can make that case you can make that argument and I wouldn't be mocking you for it But because you're saying He had it and that automatically just is inherently a reason why he's better than joe biden is just laughable Donald trump is not going to take this virus seriously and even getting the virus Is it enough to make him want to take it seriously? He's just not going to take it seriously because that's who he is even catching the virus when you can see videos of him literally gasping for air That doesn't mean he's going to start taking it seriously because he doesn't want anyone to think that he's that sick because he has an ego So the fact that this person said this on national television Is honestly bonkers to me and she should be ashamed of herself Not necessarily because she did something That is bad theoretically speaking But because she's so shameless That she's literally willing to attack joe biden because he didn't catch covid 19 like what a stupid thing to say Last week we talked about how the first post debate poll showed that joe biden got a substantial bump after he debated donald trump because it seemed as if a lot of people Thought that joe biden outperformed donald trump at the debate not necessarily because joe biden himself had a good debate performance But because donald trump was so insufferable wouldn't stop talking and presumably turned a lot of people off So in that first cnbc change research poll that was taken after the debate He got a huge bump showing that he's leading by 13 points nationally Now i said at that time that you can't necessarily take this at face value because this is just one poll And it could be an outlier You know the number is more reliable from polls when you look at average polling data But now we know for sure that was not an outlier because another poll confirms that joe biden did in fact Get a large post debate bump and as richard lust come up the guardian explains Donald trump's beleaguered campaign team woke up to another setback on sunday as the president began his second full day in the hospital A new national poll showing their candidate 14 points behind his challenger joe biden with less than a month until election day The nbc slash wall street journal survey indicating a 53 to 39 advantage for the democratic party's nominee Injected urgency for trump's advisors already scrambling to find the strategy for the final weeks of the campaign until the third of november It was becoming clear that vice president mike penns who has tested negative for coronavirus and members of trump's family Once they emerge from quarantine will assume leading roles at virtual Then in person rallies until or unless trump himself recovers in time to resume campaigning The nbc poll showing biden widening his lead over trump was taken immediately after last tuesday's tumultuous first presidential debate in cleveland At which an argumentative president constantly interrupted both his rival and the moderator christ wallis jason miller another senior advisor to the trump campaign Said he had no concerns about penns traveling and campaigning I doubt that because mike penns has the charisma of a house plans So you don't want mike penns to be the one campaigning on your behalf if you're donald trump and you're the star You want to be front and center, but the fact that he can't be front and center This is damaging and when you take into account the fact that the first debate didn't go so well for him Well, we're looking at a pretty disastrous situation now those two polls the cnbc and now the nbc news ones These are the only ones that show joe biden having that big of a lead But when you look at other polls, they all do show a post-debate bump The hill and harris x shows that he got a two-point bump the same is true for jt end and rmg Now this is in addition to the four-point bump that he got according to cnbc Which shows biden leading by 13 points overall and the six-point bump that nbc news in the wall street journal found that he got You know in comparison with their last poll a six-point jump from a credible pollster Is really something now there is one poll that shows that joe biden actually decreased after the debate by three points This is from ibd Although this pollster does usually swing to the right most times that is most polls favor republicans slightly And since this is the only poll showing that biden actually decreased I think that we have enough other polls to determine that this is most likely an outlier Now of all these polls biden's lead nationally is now at 8.5 percent. That is huge So at this point in time it seems like joe biden is poised to win the popular vote Perhaps by a larger margin than hillary clinton However, as you will know winning the popular vote is not enough to win you the presidency So what you need to do is win where it counts you need to do well in battleground states and joe biden is in fact performing Surprisingly well in battleground states. He has a two-point lead over trump in florida a six point five percent lead In pennsylvania a five point two point lead in michigan a five point five point lead in wisconsin A one point two percent lead in north carolina even and a three point four percent lead it in arizona Now when it comes to the state of ohio a state that a lot of people believe a republican has to win in order to claim the white house Joe biden is leading there by one point two Points now it's a narrow lead, but nonetheless it still is a lead in georgia Joe biden is edging out trump here with a point three percent lead overall And even in iowa they are neck and neck with biden leading by half a point on average now in texas trump is leading But within the margin of error so even though a biden victory in texas is unlikely You know, it's not out of the realm of possibility since they are within the margin of error of each other so at this point in time joe biden is Looking very likely to win the presidency when the popular vote and the electoral college But there's a caveat even though he's currently doing better than hillary clinton That is assuming nothing changes between now and november third and as we've seen 2020 is crazy We've been thrown a ton of curveballs I mean just last week would happen with trump's tax returns and the debate that seems like a month ago, right? So the new cycle moves fast And a lot can change but if everything remains static and joe biden maintains this lead He is in fact going to win now There is one more caveat that i want to add even though joe biden has a pretty sizable lead In some rust belt states such as you know five percent in michigan and wisconsin That still might not be enough Because we have to factor in voter suppression Right in states where it's really close like georgia and he's just barely edging out joe biden You have to account for voter suppression and not assume that he's going to win there because Voter ID laws are a thing in a lot of states on top of that. We'll see voter purges Some ballots not actually being counted because there's a signature that doesn't match For example and a lot of ballots already have been disqualified because of that So there's a lot that we're not accounting for and just looking at these poll numbers and even averaging them out Isn't enough. It doesn't necessarily guarantee a biden victory. It looks really good for biden If I were anyone in this race, I would want to be in biden's position right now But there's a lot of other factors that we're not accounting for which is why I say, you know It's not a foregone conclusion Even if it's the case that joe biden wins the popular vote again, that doesn't mean that you're going to win Uh the presidency and take the white house So you've got to account for these things voter suppression is a real issue that Disproportionally impacts democratic party voters because they happen in communities of color more often than not You know polling stations get limited voter id laws Get imposed which hurts people of color disproportionately So you never know what can happen and you can't assume that a victory is a certainty because it's not But does it look really good for joe biden looking at this snapshot that we have currently? Yes, it does and with less than 30 days until the election if your team trump you're panicking Especially if mike pence is supposed to be the face of your campaign because he doesn't have charisma He doesn't have the appeal or the cult of personality that donald trump has so when you put out someone who isn't your star That's going to hurt you also and on top of trump's performance just overall He's turning off a lot of people and even though his his base like the diehards the cultists love it That isn't enough to win an election So you have to expand your base and everything that we've learned so far tells us that trump is not expanding his base He's losing some of his base Some people will never abandon him no matter what because again, it's a cult But there are individuals who uh, you know voted for donald trump in certain districts after voting for obama And that's something that they're not really accounting for I think that he believes he can win Using the same antics that he used in 2016 but 2020 is an entirely different era in american politics There are so many different things now like the economy this pandemic. I mean you can't just play The same greatest hits and expect them to lend expect the crowd to love it You've got to bring out new things you've got to adapt with changes and the fact that trump isn't able to adapt In fact, he's incapable of adapting giving given everything that we've seen Um, you know, it looks really good for joe biden But again, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a guarantee that he's going to win because that's not the case Because there are other factors uh that we have to account for So i'm not sure how many people remember kim davis because this was a while ago But if you don't remember her allow me to quickly refresh your memory kim davis is the uh, Rowan county clerk from kentucky who in 2015 after the supreme court held That states cannot deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples She did just that she broke the law and as a result of her breaking the law She went to jail because of it and now she's being sued because she broke the law And she's currently trying to get the case against her dismissed However lower court said no And they allowed the case against her to move forward and now the supreme court Has refused to grant her a writ of certiorary, which means that they are not going to hear her case So basically, um, we're not sure where that's going to go with regard to kim davis But that is uh, not the most important detail the reason why we're bringing up kim davis is because In the supreme court's denial of her writ They said something really alarming about marriage equality and the oh berge fell the hodge's case Which is what you know led to her getting arrested and everything to begin with so this is what cbs news reporter melissa quinn Says the supreme court on monday turned away an appeal from kim davis a former kentucky county clerk Who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples under her name because of her religious beliefs Letting stand a lower court ruling allowing a lawsuit filed against her to proceed The protracted illegal battle involving davis occurred against the backdrop of the supreme court's landmark 2015 decision In oberge fell the hodge's in which the court ruled same-sex couples have the right to marry Although justice clarence thomas agreed with the court's decision not to take up the dispute in a scathing statement joined by justice samuel alito He criticized the supreme court's 2015 decision and said it bypassed the democratic process and left people with religious objections to same-sex marriage In the lurch davis may have been one of the first victims of this court's cavalier treatment of religion in its oberge fell decision But she will not be the last thomas wrote due to oberge felled those with sincerely held religious beliefs concerning marriage Will find it increasingly difficult to participate in society Without running afoul of oberge fell and its effect on other anti-discrimination laws thomas said the high court's 2015 decision Quote enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents Who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman as bigots making their religious liberty concerns that much easier to dismiss This petition provides a stark reminder of the consequences of oberge fell thomas wrote by choosing to privilege a novel constitutional Right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the first amendment and by doing so undemocratically The court has created a problem that only it can fix Whoa, so i want to repeat that last part of that sentence there The court has created a problem that only it can fix So what thomas is saying is listen at the time When we ruled on this case, we had kennedy on the court and he was the swing vote But now kennedy is not here And we want to hear this case And if amy coney barrett is confirmed We're not just going to have a five four majority against this decision. We're going to have a six three majority enough Comfortably to overturn this decision with ease Now i know a lot of people are going to say well, my the supreme court very rarely likes to overturn their own precedent But let me burst your bubble The supreme court is not some sort of principled judicial body that cares about upholding the sanctity of our constitution They don't give a shit. This is a political body. Stop fooling yourself into thinking that they actually care This is a political body And they will make political actions if it is something that they have the power to do They've proven time and again. It doesn't matter how far they take us back in history They will do what they need to do To appease their base and some of you may say well, look Justice roberts oftentimes sides with the liberals so he wouldn't let this happen Except the problem with that thinking Is justice roberts was in the minority in that case, which means he voted against The legal right to marry for same-sex couples So yeah, they can overturn this decision. They don't even need amy coney barrett But if they get her then they definitely Can overturn this decision and clarence thomas is saying that they want to overturn this decision. We want to revisit this case Now you can argue That you know, maybe even though justice roberts You know back then he was against the same-sex marriage, but as chief justice, you know He has an interest in making sure that the court is legitimate, right? So why would he vote to overturn precedent? That's just five years old. Doesn't that make the court look bad if they overturn a landmark case five years later? doesn't he have an interest In making the court appear as if it's not a political entity well, I mean sure you can argue that but it's Not like we should be relying on roberts to do the right thing when repeatedly he has done the wrong thing And that's why they want to rush through the confirmation of amy coney barrett because that gives them that cushion in the event roberts does flip to where they can still overturn this precedent from five years ago Now as this person points out on twitter on the very first day of their new term They're already saying they want to overturn oberge felvey hodges And as incoming progressive lawmaker from new york monday r jones put it due to justice candidates replacement in 2018 There is now a five three majority on today's supreme court that believes my ability to marry who i love Is a novel constitutional right that should not exist. Amy coney barrett would increase the majority to six Expand the damn court and uh, I think he's right. We don't have time to be relitigating these battles We have same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Why are we going to revisit that and undo it? There's no harm that's being caused it is overwhelmingly popular the individuals like kim davis They are the fringe aspects of society And it doesn't matter even if they were the majority and you know They didn't want to see gay people have the right to marry it doesn't matter somebody's religious predispositions Doesn't override civil rights or civil liberties And the fact that conservatives think that it does Shows you that they're not serious like people like clarence thomas should not be on the supreme court Because these are ideologues They're not interpreting the constitution objectively or impartially. These are ideologues trying to carry out the republican party's agenda And the quicker that people on the left and liberals realize this that the court is deeply political and stop folding themselves The quicker we're going to realize that we have to fight fire with fire and do things like monday r jones I suggested here expand the court because again, we shouldn't be relitigating these battles. We fought this battle We won. Why are we going to wage this war again? It's ridiculous. Now in the event the supreme court did decide to Rehear sam sex marriage and the constitutionality of it and they overturned the president that they said in 2015 Understand what that would mean for thousands if not millions of gay people Across the country that means if they get their health care through their spouse They lose it like that If they're getting social security benefits from their spouse who recently passed away They lose it like that There are more than a thousand federal benefits That go to same-sex couples. I mean The devastation would be horrible thousands of lives would be ruined If the supreme court got their way if clarence thomas got his way and actually overturned the president that they just set in 2015 So this is very serious and we don't have time to be considering the political ramifications about whether or not It's a good idea to pack the supreme court We don't have a choice These are battles that have been fought for for decades and to just have them overturned like that because there's a supreme court majority a conservative majority on the supreme court It's unacceptable. It's not even a question so they should absolutely be fearful of A growing court if they choose to fuck around and do something like this See the reason why clarence thomas is saying this is because he doesn't think that liberals are serious When they kind of flirt with the idea of expanding the court He knows at the end of the day They're gonna back down Which is why he's saying this because he doesn't really see any threat From liberals or the left. He doesn't think they'd actually expand the court And it doesn't matter what they do. So he thinks they could comfortably do whatever they want Reverse precedent that they've wanted to reverse Um take the court in a very Bad direction We're looking at, you know, a Lochner era on steroids if they get their way because they don't care These justices are not elected So they don't have to worry about, you know, their election campaigns They're there forever until they're ready to call it quits or they die So if they want to do some ghoulish shit like this, there's nothing stopping them Not even the threat of expanding the court because they know That Joe Biden isn't gonna do something like that And as a result, people are going to suffer. We're going to see Obergefell be overturned We're going to see Roe v. Wade be overturned And things are going to get worse and worse until they actually Are reigned in because they know that the Democratic Party is serious About this, but I don't want to take the time to dog on the Democratic Party for not fighting because we don't necessarily know what they will or won't do The fact that they want to do this shows you what a horrible party the Republicans are I mean, what are they offering people? I know these are justices, but the party overall they stand for nothing. They just want to go backwards Destroy what little progress we've made when it comes to climate change Rollback civil rights that communities have fought decades for and that's all that they want to do Just take us backwards. They are the definition of regressive And if they get Amy Coney Barrett confirmed They could do anything they want now COVID-19 Has postponed the hearing of Amy Coney Barrett If you have multiple Republican senators including two that sit on the judiciary committee not able to Do these hearings right away Then you know, that is going to put a little bit of a damper on their plans But the problem is they can still confirm Amy Coney Barrett After this election even if Donald Trump loses this election and Republicans lose the Senate They can still rush through this confirmation Before the new Senate comes to power before Joe Biden is sworn in in January So they can do a lot of damage. All they need to do is get Amy Coney Barrett confirmed And even if she's not confirmed, I mean, they're still in a great position. They can do whatever they want So if we're not talking about expending the court, then we are not serious about protecting the most vulnerable people in this country Because as Mondair Jones said, you know Expand the damn court That's it. You have to we don't have a choice. Again, we don't have time to relitigate these battles We have to move forward and fight the existential threats to humanity climate change Get healthcare to America But we can't do that if we keep fucking getting dragged backwards over these battles that have already been fought and won So, yeah, this is uh horrifying and I hope that people understand How important the supreme court is I've got to say the covid stricken version of Donald Trump is even more insufferable than the regular version of Donald Trump Because it's almost like he's going out of his way to be more obnoxious because he thinks he can get away with it because people are more sympathetic towards him, but He's just so insufferable And you know, it's not just the tweet storms and all caps But it's also him downplaying the virus while he has it And now he is effectively throwing a temper tantrum and saying the american people aren't going to get any relief Until after the election because I say so so he tweeted out Nancy Pelosi is asking for 2.4 trillion dollars to bail out poorly run high crime democrat states Money that is in no way related to covid 19. We made a very generous offer of 1.6 trillion dollars And as usual she is not negotiating in good faith I am rejecting their request and looking to the future of our country I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when immediately after I win We will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on hardworking americans and small business I have asked mitch mcconnell not to delay but to instead focus full time on approving my outstanding nominee To the united state supreme court. Amy cony barrett our economy is doing very well The stock market is at record levels jobs and unemployment Also coming back in record numbers. We are leading the world in economic recovery. The best is yet to come Now what I find hilarious is that after he tweeted this the stock market plunged But I mean This is the worst possible thing you could say If you're trying to win an election because you are openly admitting That your party Is the one that is obstructing everything your party is the reason why this stimulus bill isn't going to pass When was it that they passed the care act? It's been months since americans got a one-time payment of 1200 dollars And you're saying we're not going to do jack fucking shit until after this election. Okay. Well reasonable people are going to see this And think to themselves. Okay. Well, what happens? If donald trump loses this election because he's assuming that he's going to win What if he loses so no stimulus until after the election? But if he's but if he loses as a lame duck president Does that mean that he's going to take action when he has like a month or so left? No So what he's really saying in actuality is no action unless I win Because if you wait until after the election and he loses He's gonna sit on this fucking ass Wait for the situation to get even worse and then hand joe biden an even bigger disaster As his last fuck you to america as he leaves office This is horrible politics Horrible politics to openly admit that you are the ones being obstructionist Is like political suicide and it's astonishing that he's lost the plot this much because as dumb as he is He at least was a little bit more savvy strategically in 2016 But now he has no idea what to say to appeal to people and as he does worse and worse He only makes matters worse for himself You're basically admitting that you won't even try to come to the table To work with democrats on behalf of the american people as chris the ball put it Pelosi and the democrats literally wanted to help trump give out money to millions of americans just before the election And he said no, I mean think about that Usually if a party really was obstructionist Democrats are not they should be more but if they were actually obstructionist They wouldn't want to do anything That the sitting president who they're trying to defeat could brag about so by passing a stimulus package right before the election They're potentially giving trump something to brag about he could send out more checks before the election With his name on them He won't even do that. That's how petty he is. That's how petrol and he is That's how much of an obstructionist ghoul. He is all for personal gain Now trump is doing this because he thinks that it's going to benefit him electorally But down ballot republicans Are caught off guard by this and they should be because as cnn explains the timing of trump's sudden move Perplexed even republicans since there was little downside politically to allowing the tux to continue to play out Now they fear that trump's decision will make it easier for democrats to pit the blame squarely on the white house For the collapse of the tux as many voters are eager for more relief from washington And they're right to fear this because you at least could have left it up in the air Oh, well, you know tux was stalling, but we're still working on working on it. I promise you But now you just sent a huge signal to americans Blame me. I'm the one who's saying no more negotiations until after the election That is so Tone deaf and I don't know how you thought This would help you. I mean sure people value Strength in a leader. They want someone who's going to be, you know, uh tough Play hardball negotiate on their behalf, but you just told americans. I'm not going to do shit for you Vote for me. I better win this election or we're not getting another round of relief Fuck you That's what you just told the american people I honestly like I'm almost speechless Watching him put out this tweet. This is so fucking tone deaf As call kalinsky put it on twitter how to lose an election 101 you don't tell the american people You're not going to do anything for them until after an election Whether or not people can put food on the table or pay the bills Shouldn't be contingent on the outcome of the election and you telling them that you don't care about them is really bad for you Now bernie sanders, I loved his response because he blasted trump on twitter saying after receiving the best Socialized health care in the world trump just said no to providing any relief to the unemployed the uninsured or the hungry But he's still pushing the senate to confirm a supreme court nominee who will strip health care from 20 million Help pathetic and that's exactly it. That's probably the worst part honestly because You know, you're not just saying We're not going to do anything until after this election You're saying i'm not going to help the american people, but I do Want to get my supreme court nominee confirmed before the election. So, uh, mitch Have at it This is just so Craven you could tell how desperate he is and he thinks this is going to benefit him But this is not going to benefit him. That's not even a question like You're hurting people You're saying i'm shutting down even the possibility. I mean, I don't think many of us Expected there to be some sort of bill passed before the election, but for you to just like outright deny that possibility You're just a fucking idiot. I don't know what else to say. You are fucking stupid donald trump But I mean honestly I want to say have at it because you're only going to make it more likely that you lose this election But at the same time it's like This shouldn't be about politics We shouldn't have to think about what will or won't hurt donald trump electorally speaking If people need relief, we should have a government that gives them relief But the way that we've responded to this pandemic Is comparable to what we'd expect from a field state So, I mean, he's only hurting himself and he's making democrats look better They look more reasonable They look like the ones who want to get something done for the american people and he is unilaterally shutting down all negotiations right before an election saying We're gonna wait until after it's done And when I win Then we'll do the relief so you better vote for me or i'm gonna punish you even more This is a bold strategy cotton We'll see how it plays out Literally after I finished recording that segment He changed his mind He already Changed his mind Tweeting out if I am sent a standalone bill for stimulus checks $1,200 They will go out to our great people immediately. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening nancy mark meadows Senate majority leader kevin mccarthy speaker palosi senator schumer So somebody must have gotten to him And let him know that what he did was incredibly destructive not just to his own electoral chances But to their campaigns as well if there's a senator Who is in a purple state that Wants this relief bill to go through or at least wants to make it seem as if they're fighting to have this stimulus passed But understand you still Look like a petulant child because you flip-flopped within hours after tanking stimulus talks And then crashing the stock market after bragging about the stock market now you're saying okay Well, I changed my mind maybe we'll just do like the $1,200 payment so that way americans think that I sent them $1,200 Okay, but understand That's that's something that we should do. I don't care who signs the bill who passes the legislation Americans need relief immediately and $1,200 is not enough But it's better than nothing so pass that I don't care about the politics But understand why you still look like the one who's unreasonable here The democrats months ago already passed a stimulus package the heroes act and i'm not a fan of the heroes act It doesn't go far enough. It's insufficient. Nancy Pelosi did not Take in the input from progressive lawmakers. She rejected them and kind of isolated them But still it has A stimulus package in there It gives americans a direct cash payment and on top of that it provides schools With funding so they can actually open up safely and teach safely So what you're basically saying is i'm willing to do the bare minimum just so americans think that I personally gave them $1,200 but when it comes to everything else that is essential such as additional PPE and funding for schools I don't want to do that. I mean you've already dug this hole for yourself And it's really difficult for you to get out of said hole People need money people need PPE schools need funding And you're dragging your feet people are now going to say democrats can easily say Okay, well, we're fine with the $1,200 standalone bill But it's faster if you just have the senate pass the heroes act which we passed months ago Why hasn't mitch mcconnell taken action? They can easily say that so i mean there's really no way For trump to come out of this looking like the good guy you already look like a child And americans are going to see that you're only flip-flopping because it's politically expedient for you to do that After someone probably told you it's not the best idea to give americans the finger right before national election But I mean this is donald trump. So by the time I finish recording this, I'm sure he will change his mind once again You know, you never know with him. His twitter is just insane just trying to Navigate his timeline is honestly like a nightmare. He is extremely active on twitter. He's rage tweeting because he is pumped up on steroids and it is quite the spectacle, but it is Not necessarily something you want if you expect stability from the white house I think that most people by now acknowledge the fact that project veritas Is not to be taken seriously because this is quite literally a fake news organization They deceptively edit videos. They take people out of context and oftentimes they pay people to say things to reporters To set them up to entrap them and they've been busted numerous times But yet, you know, if you stumble upon one of their videos and you don't know about james o'keith's history as a fraud and a huckster It does look Relatively persuasive and incriminating. So it still does dupe a lot of people even if more and more Individuals are becoming privy to the fact that this organization is not to be taken seriously I mean james o' keith is someone who barely has any more credibility than alex jones So, you know, if you are a reasonable person and you learn about them Then you don't take them seriously. These are the people responsible for the 2015 plan parenthood video where executives were reportedly excitedly selling off parts of fetuses for personal gain on top of that when Roy Moore had multiple women come out and accuse him of sexual assault They tried to defend roi moor by paying someone to take a story to the washington post And say that roi moor sexually assaulted them so that way if the washington post takes the bait They can then say aha, they ran with this story and it turned out to be fake I guess that means we should question all of the other allegations that uh, Roy moor's other accusers brought forward too So this is what they do They have no integrity and they just did this again With regard to ilhana omore where they try to make it seem as if she was part of some intricate ballot harvesting scheme to buy off votes and This of course unsurprisingly was also revealed to be Afraud they paid someone off to say what they wanted to but I don't know if the Million plus people that saw this video are going to know that this was fraudulent The president of the united states already shared it so the damage has been done And let me just explain before we get to why this story in particular is fraudulent How damaging this is to ilhan omore who repeatedly receives death threats The president is screaming at the top of his lungs about voter fraud And ilhan omore is already a target of the right So this video puts her in danger Directly because you're saying hey voter fraud is an issue and she's the one who's perpetuating it. Look at this somebody is Buying ballots or collecting ballots on her behalf. This is fraud. Don't you care about democracy? You should be concerned about this So they work people up into a frenzy and they do it By deceiving them by lying to them as a journalist of fox nine explains liban osman Subject of project veritas alleged voter fraud story tells tom leiden of fox nine. He was offered $10,000 By omar jamal to say he was collecting ballots for congresswoman ilhan omore Omar jamal was project veritas's insider in the somali community Now this report explains in his first interview liban osman tells the fox nine investigators He was offered $10,000 by community activist omore jamal to say he was collecting ballots for congresswoman ilhan omore Quote he was setting me up said liban osman It is clear from the raw video obtained by fox nine that liban osman was working for his brother's campaign liban osman admits the project veritas video footage looks incriminating But he said the group deliberately left the full context on the cutting room floor Project veritas used two separate videos he posted on snapchat While driving in his car to make it appear as if he was illegally picking up ballots and offering money for votes He said in a video from july liban osman said he was collecting mail-in ballots From sick and elderly voters who had requested them through the campaign Now i don't remember if in that video He said that he had 200 ballots or project veritas said that he had 200 ballots But he said that in actuality he had like 20 ballots Which sounds reasonable if people are reaching out to the campaign To get them to collect their ballots So the story of course fell apart and was proven to be fake But that didn't stop congresswoman tulsi gabbard from signal boosting project veritas and promoting this story tweeting out Project veritas offers further evidence of the need to ban ballot harvesting. It's not a partisan issue It's been abused to help both republicans and democratic candidates including in north carolina and california Please help by telling your congressional representative to pass our bipartisan bill hr 8285 So first of all i would argue that this is not a bipartisan bill Because of the four cosponsors that this legislation has all of them are republicans Second of all you have a member of congress propping up project veritas She should know better But she propped up this literal fake news organization Who propagated this smear of ilhan omar that could have endangered her? And she did all of this to promote her bill on ballot harvesting so-called ballot harvesting First of all We shouldn't call it ballot harvesting because if we do that we're just buying into the right wing framing And they're using their terminology which benefits them This is ballot collecting and guess what? It's not a scandal. It's necessary Unless you want to disenfranchise potentially millions of sick and elderly people who are not able to drop off their own Ballots if you can't walk if you can't drive and you don't have anyone close to you Who's able to actually turn in your ballot for you you rely on campaigns to do this for you It's not that big of a deal have there been instances where this has been abused Yes, and actually republicans are the ones ironically who've done this as they scream about voter fraud at least in north carolina But i mean this is something that states are already regulating in north carolina You can only have a close relative turn in your ballot But in 26 other states it is lawful for someone who isn't a family member to collect your ballot But i mean if you just outright ban ballot collecting and you say no you have to turn in your ballot yourself I don't care about the circumstances. This isn't good for democracy. This is worse for democracy Because had my dad Lived in a state where we didn't have mail-in voting to where you can just put your ballot in your own mailbox This would have disenfranchised someone like him Who couldn't walk who couldn't drive So if they want to vote and they give us the ballot to drop off for them The state is going to determine whether or not that's lawful if you just ban it nationally That's going to do more harm than good now Maybe it's the case that tulsi gabbert is anticipating these types of You know situations where an elderly person needs someone to drop off the ballot for them But i don't know because we don't have the text of this bill if you go to the website Where it talks about this legislation there is no summary So she literally just wants a blanket ban on so-called ballot harvesting When no voter fraud is not an issue voter fraud is statistically insignificant But do you want to know what is an issue if you care about election integrity? voter suppression illegal voter purges removing polling stations from communities of color Making it more difficult for them to vote That is what you should be concerned with not Ballot collecting which has been a thing always which states have regulated Individually like this is a non-issue And I don't understand why at a time When the president of the united states is trying to get everyone to think that democrats are going to cheat and widespread voter fraud Is a thing a member of the democratic party would want to lend credence to his bogus claim So I mean I was disappointed in tulsi Once again, not just for you know propping up project veritas because I feel like she should know better But for making a bigger issue out of ballot collecting than it is this this isn't something that you should be concerned with If you care about election Integrity to the extent that it's an issue. It's not a big enough issue to where it's going to sway the outcome of A national election in the way that voter suppression might in swing states, for example I mean this is unnecessary to just blanket ban all ballot collecting But alexandria casio-cortez seemed to agree with me and she actually tweeted out Tulsi gabard you along with everyone else who amplified this fraudulent story o representative omar a public apology Ilhan omar then responded saying thank you alex lack of integrity from these folks is astonishing Tulsi gabard then responded to them saying aoc and ilhan omar the issue is not about any of us It's about voter harvesting ilhan I apologize for referencing the pv story as an example without thoroughly vetting it now Will you support hr 8285 to get rid of voter harvesting which undermines our democracy? If not, why not? So first of all, I do actually respect her for apologizing However, I explained in a quote tweet to her why ballot harvesting isn't actually a big deal And if you truly care about strengthening our democracy voter suppression should be your number one issue And she literally unfollowed me for that tweet. I kid you not So apparently she isn't open to listening To what people have to say about ballot harvesting When we're telling you you're helping donald trump with his narrative and this isn't really that serious of an issue I don't understand it because like here's the thing. She is retiring from congress She chose to not seek reelection because she was running for president. She wanted to focus on that and that's fine So you have what a month or two left in congress Why are you making this your lasting legacy when you actually do have good legislation? She is sponsoring a bill that would pardon julian assange and edward snowden Wouldn't you be championing this over ballot harvesting? I mean, I don't understand why this is the thing that you're focusing your energy on and I mean There are so many important things that we can do to strengthen our democracy You can opt for electoral reform tulsi gebert has not sponsored hr 4000 Which would move us to rank choice voting and gerrymandering get rid of our majoritarian electoral system She hasn't cosponsored this that would help make our elections more democratic There are things you can do if you truly care about election integrity This is not one of them But I mean if you are going out and you just want something to be your lasting legacy Why wouldn't you put your bill to pardon assange and snowden front and center? Why focus on this and make such a big deal out of it? Especially when it's not a big deal in actuality and you know it helps donald trump with his voter fraud narrative Like why do this? Like I don't get it. It's perplexing and apparently she doesn't Want to engage hence why she decided to unfollow me But I mean she didn't want to come on my program back when I had Legitimate questions about her campaign and you know some of her positions. She said she did Oh, I'd love to come on your show mic and then I never heard back from her once they asked for the topics and I sent them the list Apparently some things are just she doesn't want to be questioned or challenged and that's fine Look, you're you're on your way out. You're not going to be a member of congress next year So I get it, you know, it doesn't necessarily matter You don't have to explain yourself to anybody but if you genuinely care about election integrity like This is baffling to me The vice presidential debate took place and I know immediately who won as soon as it was over The fly bias against minorities Is is a great insult To the men and women who serve in law enforcement And I want everyone to know who puts on the uniform of law enforcement every day President trump and I stand with you And it is remarkable that Now while we're zoomed in on mike pence, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out That his eye is a little bit more red than usual Now some people were tweeting that covet 19. Actually one of the symptoms is pink eye I don't know if that's true But what I do know is that it was a little bit weird just for optics purposes I know that he can't control this but it made him look more evil Um, then I think he wanted to appear So overall, let's let's go ahead and get to some substance This debate was largely forgettable. It was more watchable infinitely more watchable than the first presidential debate But I think largely it was forgettable and it's not going to change the trajectory Of this race now going into this debate mike pence needed a really breakout performance He did not get that and I think overall, you know, if you compare both of their performances Kamala Harris definitely won to me now. This isn't necessarily a blowout win I think that she won but it wasn't necessarily her best performance ever I think that her performance at that first democratic debate That was the best debate performance that she's ever given at this debate You can tell that she came prepared. She brought her egg game But I think that there were a couple of moments Where, you know, she missed opportunities to really, you know, put mike pence On the offensive and you know, it really was fresh waiting to watch this now coming into this She really came out swinging and she took shots at mike pence and donald trump for their incompetence and mishandling Covid 19 and she had the perfect quips to respond to him when he said look you guys want to mandate everything such as masks Why don't we trust the american people? She responded by saying Why don't we trust the american people by telling them the truth? Then citing the fact that this administration lied about the severity of covid 19 when they knew back in january That was a really strong point Mike pence in an attempt to defend himself thought it was a good idea to bring up swine flu Which did not affect as many people in the way that covid is affecting people I mean trump did this too. I don't know why they think this is a good Idea because obama handled that competently you can say it was severe But the economy didn't crash as a result of swine flu 210,000 americans did not die as a result of swine flu So every time they bring up swine flu as a gotcha on joe biden and obama It reminds everyone that obama and biden are much more competent than they are So I don't know what they're thinking in bringing this up Now in a way to kind of pivot and divert attention away from him and donald trump He brought up the fact that their covid 19 action plan looks similar to theirs and then he attacked joe biden for plagiarism Come on man, and he's correct that plagiarism has previously ended joe biden's presidential runs However, you're bringing this up in the context of covid 19 and your failure which resulted in Hundreds of thousands of deaths He really needed to find some way To project some level of competence because donald trump has failed on every single front And he just he needed to reassure the american people that there's at least one grown-up in this administration That's going to take responsibility and has a plan of action He did not do that And for that reason alone, even if commonless performance wasn't great I think that mike pens lost this debate now I will say he is a better debater than donald trump I don't think that he turned off as many people as donald trump did but I will say maybe it's the case that people liked mike pens's performance if they're traditionally conservative But they're turned off by donald trump's belligerence and his antics Maybe but he came off as so fake and smarmy that I I don't know How this is going to sit well with people This is a little bit more subjective. So, you know, I could be imposing my own bias here in this situation But to me it was it was really really difficult to listen to him He was completely insufferable and there were a few moments Where he was let off the hook when he shouldn't have been both by the moderator and kamala harris So first of all, uh, let's be clear. He did not State that he believes in man-made climate change. He denied anthropogenic climate change He said look the climate is changing and then he went on to espouse more right-wing talking points in 2020 after we just witnessed wildfires Sweep the west coast You are going to deny climate change I mean, you just are tone deaf and you don't know how to read the room You're too far in that right wing bubble on top of that towards the end of the debate And we're going to talk about this in a separate segment. I don't know if you missed it But when he was asked whether or not he Would uh commit to a peaceful transfer of power or what he would do with trump didn't commit to a peaceful transfer of power rather Um, he did not answer the question. He talked about how oh well for the last couple of years Democrats didn't want to accept the results of the election. Yeah, but that's a little bit different Hillary clinton being bitter and insufferable That's difference, you know the her blaming everyone is different than an incumbent president Refusing to step down when they have power. That's a very different situation He didn't answer that question and while we're on the subject of mike pence not answering questions I can't recall a time where he answered a single question like every single question He dodged And it was so slimy and obvious that I was screaming at my tv hoping that calmly Harris would call him out for it Uh, and it was a missed opportunity when he brought up court packing and He tried to get her to give a direct answer And she fumbled right there. She fumbled and she fumbled badly and it was not a very good look um, the problem with her answer there is that you can tell that she was very Conspicuously trying to dodge the question and when she dodges questions, she doesn't do it as artfully as mike pence You know, you can see that she's floundering and she's trying to come up with something to say Whereas mike pence already has his dodges and answers the questions Predetermined, so it's a little bit more obvious and he kind of pressed her on this and it made it seem as if she wouldn't answer the question now That is just one instance where kamala harris explicitly avoided answering a question but compared that to mike pence. He answered Basically no questions. So at that point going forward. I really wanted kamala harris to point out He didn't answer the question You don't have to interrupt him to do that. But when you get your time to speak you can say He didn't answer the question america. I hope you're paying attention He did not give you a clear answer because that's something that needs to be addressed because the average viewer who's just kind of watching listening in the background, maybe they're not going to Really consciously acknowledge that it may be subconscious So you want that to be at the forefront of their minds that this guy Is a weasel if they can't already see it for themselves You want to point that out make it easy for them connect the dots for them Um, so that was a missed opportunity. Although kamala harris was decisive She seemed like she was a grown-up on top of that when mike pence attempted to interrupt her You know, she shut him down and that was really great because if there's anything that americans like it is strength It is someone who is not afraid to stand up to another individual I think that's going to play well for her and honestly all of the facial reactions that she was making I think that was a good look because like i was making those same facial reactions because the things that mike pence Were saying were deeply unpopular deeply unpopular and yet somehow the debate was still taking place On his terms on right-wing terms when this is a far right individual like he's talking about how extreme The democrats are and how liberal kamala harris is he even said that she's more liberal than bernie sanders Which is a joke But why are we allowing the debate to take place On the terms of this right-wing ghoul when he brings up that you want to ban fracking Don't just repeat. Oh no, of course joe would never want to ban fracking We know that that's the policy and he doesn't support banning fracking His policy is basically we're going to rein it in somewhat and not grant as many permits to frackers But it's still not great So like you don't want to lean into something that's unpopular and she even tweeted out on twitter Her campaign team said we will not ban fracking stop running away from things like this now This brings me to uh, my biggest gripe with kamala harris. It was when she tried to walk a fine line between Sanctuism and uh, you know trying not to Turn off the left-wing supporters that are reluctantly supporting joe biden now if you watched my pre-debate preview I brought up a situation wherein kamala harris could have face planted So my you know What came to mind when I was bringing this up was medicare for all because I was expecting my pens To bring up medicare for all and say well look You support socialized medicine And then when she says no he can then point out that she supported it in the primaries And her and joe biden actually went at it in the primaries over their disagreement when it comes to medicare for all Now we know that she doesn't support medicare for all But what I said was that her strategy Should be to either you know, uh swipe that aside and just attack go on the offensive and say Your administration supports a lawsuit that would overturn the affordable care act, which means that millions of people will lose protections Uh currently if they have pre-existing conditions or she can not run away from it. She can say Look, I don't necessarily support bernie's iteration of medicare for all But I do support moving towards universal health care system And this is a genuine disagreement between me And joe biden, but this is something that we're willing to debate. It seems like the american people is on our side So we're gonna work it out Now that didn't happen The medicare for all disaster scenario did not come to fruition Although a similar situation came up And uh, it basically played out exactly as I expected the medicare for all situation to play out the green new deal This was bad So, uh, mike pence brought up how she supports the green new deal In fact, she was one of the first co-sponsors in the senate to support the green new deal And um, she ran away from it Now she didn't handle it as poorly As I feared But it still wasn't a good look because climate change is a very serious issue And the green new deal is a very popular policy. So when you are Debating someone who doesn't even believe that anthropogenic climate change is a thing You in no way Have to grant him anything in this conversation You do not have to debate on his terms He is False on every single level when it comes to the issue of climate change And so the only thing that you need to do when it comes to climate change is shame mike pence for not even believing in climate change for not believing the science But I mean she kind of ran away from you know The popular thing which is what I expected, but it's still disappointing However, you know, even having said that I don't want to make it seem as if My overall impression of kamala harris was negative because I think she performed really well I think she did a good job at really holding her ground And mike pence kind of talked himself into a corner on numerous occasions and fell into the same traps That trump did even if he did successfully lay some right wing traps for kamala harris that she walked right into I mean he himself You know, he dug a hole for himself So literally on a national debate stage claimed that systemic racism is not a thing and he attacked kamala harris And joe biden for saying that systemic racism is real But what does he do minutes later? He disproves his own argument by saying well when you were attorney general in california Black americans were disproportionately locked up for low level drug crimes What do we call that mike pence? What do we call a system that disproportionately targets one group of people? So he does this And he looks foolish and I mean if you do one thing You say one thing at the beginning of the debate and then you contradict yourself towards the end of the debate That may not be as bad, but it stings when you contradict yourself within like five minutes And donald trump did the same thing, you know, he Shamed joe biden for the 1994 crime bill which suggests that he's too tough on crime And then minutes later he's saying you won't even say the words law and order So which is it? Is he too tough on crime or not tough enough on crime and this is a problem with the trump administration They attack joe biden and kamala harris and end up inadvertently taking Different sides on the same issue and it makes them look foolish and furthermore When mike pence was asked about whether or not justice was served in the bianna taylor case That long pause right there. It felt like it was an eternity before he basically said Yes, I trust our justice system No That is not a good answer because trump has not showed even a modicum of sympathy for the black lives matter movement And when you have a majority of americans according to one poll say that protesters were justified in burning down a Minneapolis police station If you want to win you've got to at least show that you have a little bit of a clue and mike pence Didn't even answer an easy question, right? So he pivots away from the brianna taylor question and he goes into rioting and looting You were asked about brianna taylor and you talk about rioting and looting So what you just admitted to the american people unwittingly is that violence against inanimate objects private property Is more egregious to you than violence against black people Now you know why you are struggling with the black vote Because of things like this you have not a single clue and you're unwilling to listen you condemn condemn condemn But you never ask why people are in the streets? Why they're protesting? Maybe it's the case that they have legitimate grievances that you are refusing to address So overall, I think that kamala harris won this debate. Was it a blowout? No, not necessarily, but you know comparing this to the first presidential debate. I think that Her victory was more clear than joe biden's victory because I don't necessarily believe that joe biden had a good performance at that debate But I think that Trump ended up losing that debate on his own because he wouldn't shut up And he ended up turning a lot of people off And in this instance, I think that kamala harris actually put in work And she won that debate now a lot of people widely believed that mike pence beat Tim kane in the 2016 debate But this time I just I don't see it. I will say that mike pence is probably more skilled than other republicans at debating if you Take into account the tactics that he uses to get someone on the offensive like the moment when he basically Got kamala harris to fumble when it comes to answering the question as to whether or not they'd packed the court That was a good tactical move however Just him refusing to answer any questions his overall demeanor and smugness the style I don't know if what he's offering is going to resonate with people I just don't and by the way, I think that when it comes to the court packing We should definitely pack the court because we don't have a choice We can't be going backwards in history and refighting these battles that we already won But I don't I don't know strategically if it would be who kamala harris to Admit this that they want to pack the court Because on one hand and david pacman made this point He says that you know if joe biden says we're not going to pack the supreme court You turn off the left who want you to pack the supreme court and some centrists to be fair Um, but on another hand if you say we are going to pack the supreme court You may fire up your own base, but also fire up the republican base And I think they're already fired up because they want to see amy koney barrett Confirmed, but you know if you keep your cards close to your chest in this instance I think that you might end up Being better off. I don't think that they're going to pack the court I am hoping so but I'm not getting my hopes too high. I'm not going to hold my breath um, but I mean when it comes to This issue in general mike pence he argues from a position and assumes that everyone Is a right winger like he called out kamala harris because Brett kavana was apparently treated so poorly He was incredibly accused of rape second of all the reason why she was questioning whether or not His religiosity was a factor in his uh judicial interpretation Is because knights of columbus the organization with which he is a part of Is a homophobic an openly homophobic organization So if that Influences him and the way that he interprets the constitution I think that that's something that you have to try to figure out In fact, I'd argue it's kamala's responsibility being on the senate judiciary committee to figure out whether or not this individual Will be biased against a portion of the population. So mike pence, you know, he makes this argument Not acknowledging that the overwhelming majority of americans now support marriage equality, right? And they don't believe That someone's religiosity Is going to justify, you know, bigotry against a portion of the population But he just like he assumes that everyone's conservative and he argues passionately from that point and he kind of like ropes people in Into uh accepting this notion That most people are right wingers when in actuality Just because the overton window is so far to the right that doesn't mean that most americans are conservative Even if they self-identify as conservative They support progressive policies. Look at the green new deal. Medicare for all raising the minimum wage Americans are with us Not the right So I think that you know going forward democrats need to acknowledge this and you know play offense more And not let's republicans, you know, back them into defending themselves when they're the ones who should be speaking of For their records But I mean look at the end of the day I don't want to spend too much time on this debate because I don't think it's going to change the trajectory of this race I think that Kamala Harris won for two reasons first and foremost. I think her performance was uh was excellent Right. It wasn't perfect. It was probably a minus wasn't an a plus but still it was really good And uh second of all the reason why I think she won is because Mike Pence I mean the expectations were really high He needed a blowout performance in order to even start to change The trajectory of this election in him and Donald Trump's favor And he didn't do that. He failed. He couldn't adequately defend himself Which is what americans are most concerned with right now. Why? COVID-19 is ravaging the country and why isn't this administration doing more and he didn't uh answer for that and Because of that, I think that Kamala Harris ultimately won But I don't think this is going to lead to a boost for joe biden because it wasn't as Striking you know when when you watch that first presidential debate like the takeaway is You just feel gross right like you almost have this visceral reaction seeing Donald Trump So unhinged and argumentative and just constantly talking over joe biden at that debate But in this debate it was relatively normal So, you know, I don't think it's going to further galvanize either side But I don't think it's you know, uh going to necessarily help at all when it comes to Saving the titanic that is, you know, the trump 2020 campaign. So they're losing time They've got to turn this around quick and this debate did not help them with that At the vice presidential debate COVID-19 Came up and Mike Pence had His work cut out for him because you had to do two things in order to be effective First of all, he had to prove to americans that he's at least one of the grown-ups in the room When dealing with this virus because we know that trump is incapable of acting like an adult So we just had to prove to us that he's at least a little bit more responsible than donald trump second of all He had to somehow defend What's effectively indefensible he had to defend and explain himself to the american people as to why this administration One was untruthful about the severity of this virus and why 210,000 americans Are dead on their watch How you do this? I don't know But before I show you what he had to say, this was the opening sequence of the debate And this was the first question that kawala was asked You can tell by the way that she shreds him It's gonna be really difficult for him to try To save himself here because again, this is difficult to defend something that's indefensible, but the way that she Attacked him for bungling this pandemic. It really was brilliant. Take a look What would a bidened administration do in january and february that a trump administration wouldn't do would you impose New lockdowns for businesses in schools and hot spots a federal mandate to wear masks You have two minutes to respond without interruption. Thank you, susan Well, the american people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country And here are the facts 210,000 dead people in our country in just the last several months Over seven million people who have contracted this disease One in five businesses closed We're looking at Frontline workers who have been treated like sacrificial workers We are looking at over 30 million people Who in the last several months had to file for unemployment and here's the thing On january 28th The vice president and the president were informed About the nature of this pandemic. They were informed that it's lethal in consequence That it is airborne That it will affect young people And that it would be contracted because it is airborne And they knew what was happening and they didn't tell you Can you imagine if you knew on january 28th as opposed to march 13th what they knew what you might have done to prepare They knew and they covered it up The president said it was a hoax They minimized the seriousness of it. The president said you're on one side of his ledger if you wear a mask You're on the other side of his ledger if you don't And in spite of all of that today, they still don't have a plan They still don't have a plan. Well, joe biden does and our plan is about what we need to do around a national strategy For contact tracing for testing for administration of the vaccine and making sure that it will be free for all That is the plan that joe biden has and that i have knowing that we have to get a hold of what has been going on And we need to save our country And joe biden is the best leader to do that and frankly this administration has forfeited Thank you. They're right to reelection based on that. So she Really did a good job right there. I think that that's effective. I think that's gonna land And I was a little bit worried when she you know, she was asked basically what would you do differently? And I was worried that she was taking too much time pointing out what donald trump did wrong But she did actually land on some solutions and she didn't spend as much time on that But the way that she presented it made it seem as if oh well the solution actually is pretty simple We need contact tracing We need to make sure we do more testing and these are things that trump says He's doing we have more testing than any other countries But I mean you keep talking you keep saying That you're doing all of this stuff, but we're seeing cases spike again 40 000 new cases a day 45 000 new cases a day 210 000 deaths So the solution it isn't that complicated Kamala Harris, I think she did a great job at explaining how you failed and why it's really not that difficult You just need a serious person to get in there And uh fix it. So, you know that right there If people tuned in just for like the first 10 minutes of the debate and then tuned out and all they saw was that Kamala Harris is coming away looking really good Now if they saw this Kamala Harris is coming away looking even better because Mike Pence tried to defend himself And he came off as smug And fake and what he says is honestly just embarrassing But I want the american people to know That from the very first day President donald trump has put the health of america first Before there were more than five cases in the united states all people who had returned from china President donald trump did what no other american president had ever done And that was he suspended all travel from china the second largest economy in the world Now senator joe biden biden opposed that decision He said it was xenophobic and hysterical But i can tell you having led the white house coronavirus task force that that decision alone by president trump Bought us invaluable time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since world war two And i believe it saved hundreds of thousands of american lives Because with that time we were able to reinvent testing more than 115 million tests had been done to date We were able to see to the delivery of billions of supplies So our doctors and nurses had the resources support they needed And we began really before the month of february was art to develop a vaccine And to develop medicines and therapeutics had been saving lives all along the way And under president trump's leadership operation warp speed we believe will have Literally tens of millions of doses of a vaccine before the end of this year The reality is when you look at the biden plan it reads an awful lot Like what president trump and i and our task force have been doing every step of the way I mean quite frankly When i look at their plan that talks about advancing testing creating new ppe developing a vaccine It looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something joe biden knows a little bit about I think the american people know that this is a president who has put the health of america first in the american people I believe with my heart Can be proud of the sacrifices they have made it's saved countless american lives Senator harris would you like to respond absolutely? Whatever the vice president is claiming the administration has done clearly it hasn't worked When you're looking at over 210 000 dead bodies in our country american lives That have been lost families that are grieving that loss and you know The vice president is the head of the task force And knew on january 28th how serious this was and then thanks to bob woodward We learned that they knew about it and then when that was exposed The vice president said when asked well, why didn't y'all tell anybody? He said because the president wanted people to remain calm Well, let's go. No, but this is not this is important. I want to add to it. Mr. Vice president. I'm speaking. I'm speaking Yeah, you can get 50 more seconds, and then we'll give the vice president chance. So I want to ask the american people How calm were you when you were panicked about where you're going to get your next roll of toilet paper? How calm were you when your kids were sent home from school and you didn't know when they could go back? How calm are you when your children couldn't see your parents because you were afraid they could kill them Let's give vice president pence a chance to respond vice presidents. You have one minute to respond You know, there's not a day gone by that. I haven't thought of every american family that's lost a loved one And I want all of you to know that you'll always be in our hearts and in our prayers But when you say what the american people have done over these last eight months hasn't worked That's a great disservice The sacrifices the american people have made The reality if I may if I may finish that The reality is dr. Fauci said Everything that he told the president in the oval office the president told the american people Now president trump, I will tell you has boundless confidence in the american people And he always spoke with confidence that we'd get through this together But when you say it hasn't worked When dr. Fauci and dr. Birx and our medical experts came to us in the second week of march They said if the president didn't take the unprecedented step of shutting down roughly half of the american economy That we could lose 2.2 million Americans That's the reality. So I know that there is a lot of donald trump diehards in this country But even they probably could sense that that was a bullshit answer. That was a horrible answer So first of all, he defends himself by saying or implying rather that They would have been more competent than joe biden because They instituted the travel ban from china, which you know, joe biden said was xenophobic Now, here's the thing and I wish that kamala Harris would have pointed this out You knew about the severity of covet 19 Kamala Harris and joe biden did not So forgive everyone else For expecting trump to just act in a reactionary manner and not really do what is reasonable or logical and just you know Try to ban people from entering the country. You already have a muslim ban on the books So it's like are we really that unreasonable? Especially if we don't know how severe this is but you do I mean you could have been up front with us and say Look, this is airborne. This is a lot worse than the common cold or the flu. So we have to take these precautions But you didn't do that. So to just say well, we did the china ban That isn't sufficient like that doesn't make you look good Especially because you had complete information and everyone else had incomplete information It actually makes you look worse because if that's all that you did I mean, I just can't see how he thinks this is going to land on top of that He brought up plagiarism. He says well, look your action plan looks pretty similar to ours Looks like it was plagiarized and joe biden wouldn't know a thing or two about plagiarism Now as I stated in my full debate breakdown. Yes, joe biden was humiliated before when he ran for president because he was busted plagiarizing speeches but You're clearly trying to divert attention away from you And attack joe biden. But here's the thing right now I don't give a flying fuck about that in the face of covid-19 Like if we're having a conversation within the context of like who's more trustworthy Then maybe you bring up the plagiarism thing But to bring up plagiarism just randomly and take that pot shot while you're talking about a serious issue where More than 200,000 americans have died because you have bungled it I mean the average person is gonna think I don't care If he's a plagiarist so long as he actually handles this virus so my life can return to normal Like for him to just shoehorn that in it was out of place It was Off-putting and it's just a bad look because you are the one who's supposed to defend yourself and kamala's not a plagiarist So what is she supposed to say to that? You're not even saying this to joe biden So it just it came off horribly And I think that kamala Harris responded in a way that was sufficient She said look whatever you guys are doing if we're copying your plan it hasn't worked and on top of that You were the head of the task force. So why are we seeing so many deaths? So he just there was no way that he was able to back himself out of a corner And you know to say all of these wonderful things about how oh, we love the american people We respect the american people It's not enough but the worst moment by far of this exchange was when he misconstrued Kamala Harris's argument deliberately and he said, you know, when you say that the american people What they've done hasn't worked. That's just insulting and I'm paraphrasing but Anyone who's watching Sees that it was obvious kamala Harris was not saying all the american people are terrible at handling this pandemic She was referring specifically to this administration When she says you've bungled code the 19. Why would you extrapolate and think that she Is talking about the american people the american people don't have power in this situation You have power. You're in control. You're in the white house. You've got the oval office Why are you the ones that are fucking up? It's not the american people. You're fucking up And there's no way that he believes that that's what she meant He was trying to get some rubes who vote republican and are loyal to think oh well Yeah, she's she's saying that I'm the one who messed up fuck her. No, no Nobody's gonna buy that. Um, so this was a horrible look for mike pence And you know, I know I just said that the uh, that part was the worst part But I want to talk about the most embarrassing part and trump did this as well And I don't know why they do this but mike pence brought up swine flu He brought up swine flu in a conversation about covet 19 where more than 200 000 americans have died take a look If the swine flu had been as lethal as the corona virus in 2009 when joe biden was vice president We would have lost 2 million american lives It is astonishing to me that they think this is persuasive because every time you invoke swine flu All you do is remind people That obama and biden handled that more competently because does anyone remember A relative dying from swine flu the numbers are much much smaller Does anyone remember the economy collapsing because of swine flu and their entire lives being changed Losing their jobs because of swine flu. No So for you to say well hypothetically If you know swine flu was as deadly as covet then, you know, if you crunched the numbers and you uh Divide by two then it would have been no We're not dealing with hypotheticals. We're dealing with reality And the fact of the matter is that obama and biden handled swine flu Adequately because guess what it was gone pretty quickly That's not the case with covet 19 And hundreds of thousands of people are dying So the fact that he would bring up swine flu like that's the last thing that you want to do like if i Am advising donald trump and mike pens I tell them to stay far away from swine flu because you're just going to remind people That you know these types of things can actually be Mitigated we can contain the spread of viruses If we have someone who's competent So this was a disaster for mike pens And this is why I think you know largely Coming away from this debate even if mike pens wasn't as bad as a debater Is donald trump not like even bad in terms of debating people like I think that trump probably just turned off more people Mike pens is a better debater than donald trump But people right now they want answers and covet 19 is the number one issue This is the number one thing that's affecting people's lives So for you to not take responsibility For your fuck up and to try to divert attention away To play tourism and then invoke swine flu to try to you know do this gotcha It just it makes you look so bad and you know you think that He would have expected this to come up and had prepared a better response for it And everything he said I think was rehearsed and pre-written But the fact that this is all that you came up with It's just honestly laughable So within donald trump's administration mike pens is widely viewed as the more Serious individual the grown-up in the room if you will the more normal and traditional republican So donald trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and at the vice presidential debate Mike pens was asked very clearly if trump doesn't commit to a peaceful transfer of power What do you do in that situation as his vice president? um Listen to mike pens's response and see if you think he really is a more normal republican President trump has several times refused to commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power after the election If vice president biden has declared the winner and president trump refuses to accept a peaceful transfer of power What would be your role and responsibility as vice president? What would you personally do you have two minutes? Well, Susan first and foremost, I think we're going to win this election because while uh, joe biden and kamala harris rattled off a long litany of The establishment in washington dc and establishment that joe biden's been a part of for 47 years president donald trump has has launched a movement of everyday americans from every walk of life And I have every confidence that those those same americans that delivered that historic victory in 2016 They see this president's record where we rebuild our military. We revived our economy through Tax cuts and rolling back regulation fighting for fair trade Unleashing american energy. We appointed conservatives to our federal courts at every level And and we stood with the men and women of law enforcement every single day And I think I think that movement of americans has only grown stronger in the last four years When you talk about accepting the outcome of the election I must tell you senator Your party has spent the last three and a half years trying to overturn the results of the last election It's amazing When joe biden was vice president of the united states The fbi actually spied on president trump in my campaign I mean there were documents released this week that the cia actually made a referral To the fbi documenting that those allegations were coming from the hillary clinton campaign and of course We've all seen the avalanche with the what what you put the country through for for the better part of three years Until it was found that there was no obstruction no collusion So we're going to stop it right there because he just drones on and on and the point is He doesn't answer the question He does not answer the question and as a result He is also like donald trump not committing to a peaceful transfer Of power and then he goes on to bring up hillary clinton again Oh, well, she told joe biden that under no circumstances should he Accept the results of the election Now I think that he may be Taking her out of context. I think that she said something to the effect of don't accept the results until all of the results Come in or something like that But the point is nobody cares what hillary clinton thinks like I understand that strategically it makes sense for him To try to tie someone who's unpopular like hillary clinton to joe biden, but nobody cares what she thinks We're asking you what an incumbent president an incumbent administration would do in the event You reject the results donald trump your boss rejects the results And his excuses here Are just mind-numbingly stupid. First of all, he cites the establishment You're part of the establishment, buddy. You are an establishment republican And you don't get to play that card any longer. You're no longer the populist in this race You showed your cards trump hasn't been running as a populist. He's been attacking the far left You're not a populist. You don't get to talk about the establishment anymore You know as if you don't like them when you are part of that establishment But he says for the last three years your party has been trying to overturn the results of the election again Hillary clinton being bitter about why she lost and blaming james comie and russia and this and that That's different than the situation hillary clinton Did not have power In this instance if you refuse to accept the results of the election you have power You are in control of institutions that you can manipulate to your advantage To effectively steal this election away from joe biden even if he wins Now there is an article from the atlantic that i would encourage all of you To read it from barton gelman and basically he explains how What trump can do is he can cry fraud if he doesn't like the results of the election if he loses And in the swing states where it's close Where republicans are in control of those states legislatures Trump can basically say you know what the results are fraudulent. I don't accept them We are going to recommend that these republican and controlled legislators Appoint their own electors that they send to the electoral college and even if joe biden won in those states We're gonna have our republican electors vote against the will of the people in that state Basically tipping it in his favor like hillary clinton when she lost even if she straight up refused to concede Which she did concede even if she was insufferable after she lost But i mean even if she refused to concede It didn't matter as much because she didn't have power It's different if you have power and you don't want to give upset power and the fact that they don't understand this Is why they're losing because americans By and large believe in democracy they want to see a peaceful transfer all of power and whenever you and donald trump say that Well, maybe we will maybe we won't accept the results of the election That's not helping you that's hurting you And to bring up hillary clinton It just makes it seem as if you're trying To dodge the question and at this debate if you watched in mike pens I don't know if he answered a single question like he would not answer any questions He constantly had you know a rehearsed set of lines All republican fox news talking points like i honestly knew what he was going to say in some instances before he even opened his mouth That's how predictable it was but You are not saying that you're going to accept the results of the election You won't commit to a peaceful transfer all of power Which is an absolute necessity It's the hallmark of democracies if you don't accept a peaceful transfer all of power and commit to it Regardless of the outcome of the election Then you're saying you don't agree with democracy and you know he Tries to brush it aside by saying well, I believe we're gonna win Okay, but what if you don't What if you don't the poll show right now that you're not performing too hot now that can change you could still win but If you don't win what's gonna happen. Are we going to see a shit show? That's basically like what we're trying to figure out and they're not reassuring us right they're not making The situation seemed like it's gonna be any less chaotic and what they don't realize is that they're galvanizing the other side To want to really get out and vote Support joe biden because people want to make sure that he wins decisively so that way there's no scenario where donald trump can You know try to appoint his own electors or steal it and cry fraud like they want it to be decisive So by basically inadvertently threatening chaos by refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer all of power You're hurting your own case like he may not believe that or recognize it, but it is hurting his own cause Um, so overall I had to point this out You know, it's funny to me that Mike Pence is largely viewed as someone who is a responsible grown-up within trumps administration And sure even though we might disagree with him here and there He's a more traditional republican No, he is a trumpian republican and the party is far right And I think that if you listen to him for five seconds in this debate, you'd see how extreme he really is in all of his views He's so far to the right that he is getting into authoritarian territory to where you won't even commit to a peaceful transfer all of power The bare minimum of what we'd expect from an elected leader In a democratic republic. So I mean that was disgusting. It was egregious But it uh was what I expected from ghouls because uh, you know, they they don't want to give a power and He basically Told us that it's going to be a shit show You know if trump wins it's going to be four years worth of a shit show And if trump loses then we better, you know, hold on to our seats because they're going to put us through hell until trump leaves office So the issue of climate change came up at the vice presidential debate and let me just say first of all I'm thankful that this topic was even discussed It's nice to see it come up because it's uh, it's kind of important to say the least Having said that though This was not a great portion. Um, I think that kamala harris walked into some right-wing traps that mike penns set So, you know, uh, he was trying to press her On her support for the green new deal being a co-sponsor of the green new deal And she kind of tried to you know, brush that aside And then he tried to claim that joe biden supports a ban on fracking And then she you know looked into the camera and said joe biden does not support a ban on fracking and listen Politics one-on-one is you do not run away from what's popular And I think a of c made a really great point about this on twitter She said, you know, even though the green new deal has been lied about repeatedly with people saying that it's going to amount To a ban on air travel and cows literally conservatives have said this it's still incredibly popular So you don't run away from the popular policy You don't Now when it comes to you know fracking You should just be realistic and say listen our our position on this Is that we you know, we're going to reduce fracking We won't issue out as many permits for fracking But the goal ultimately is to get off of our dependence on fossil fuels like she kind of instinctively ran away From the good policy, which is never a good look But I don't want harp boy and commonly Harris's response because even though I was disappointed ultimately with her Not entirely but in in some portions Mike Pence shit the bed on this he shit the bed because he couldn't even admit That climate change is real He would not admit that climate change is real And it's man-made and in 2020 if you cannot admit to man-made climate change Which is a fact You are not A serious person. So this came up watch this exchange This was uh infuriating and I wanted to slam my head against the desk watching this Do you believe as the scientific community has concluded That man-made climate change has made wildfires bigger Hotter and more deadly and have made hurricanes wetter slower and more damaging. You have two minutes uninterrupted. Thank you, Susan Well, first I'm very proud of our record on the environment and on conservation According to all of the best estimates are Our air and land are cleaner than any time ever recorded and our water is among the cleanest in the world And just a little while ago the president signed the outdoors act It's the largest investment in our public lands and public parks In a hundred years So president trump has made a commitment to conservation into the environment now with regard to climate change The climate is changing The issue is What's the cause and what do we do about it? President trump has made it clear that we're going to continue to listen to the science What exactly would be the stance of a biden harris administration? Toward the green new deal you have two minutes uninterrupted north. So first of all I will repeat and the american people know That joe biden will not ban fracking. That is a fact That is a fact I will repeat That joe biden has been very clear That he thinks about growing jobs, which is why he will not increase taxes for anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year joe biden's economic plan Moody's which is a reputable wall street firm has said will create seven million more jobs than donald trump's And part of those jobs that will be created by joe biden are going to be about clean energy and renewable energy Because you see joe understands That the west coast of our country is burning including my home state of california joe sees what is happening on the gulf states which are being battered by storms joe has seen and talked with the farmers in iowa Whose entire crops have been destroyed because of floods And so joe believes again in science I'll tell you something susan i served when i first got to the senate on the committee That's responsible for the environment. Do you know this administration? Took the word science off the website And then took the phrase climate change off the website This we have seen a pattern with this administration, which is they don't believe in science And joe's plan is about saying we're going to deal with it, but we're also going to create jobs donald trump when asked about the wildfires in california And and the question was you know the science is telling us this you know what donald trump said Science doesn't know So let's talk about who is prepared to lead our country Over the course of the next four years on what is an existential threat to us as human beings joe is about saying We're going to invest that in renewable energy. We're it's going to be about the creation of millions of jobs We will achieve net zero emissions by 2050 carbon neutral by 2035 joe has a plan This has been a lot of talk from the trump administration and really it has been to go backward instead of forward We will also re-enter the climate agreement with pride Senator harris just said that climate change is an existential threat Vice president penns. Do you believe that climate change poses an existential threat? As i said susan the climate is changing we'll follow the science, but once again, senator harris Is denying the fact that they're going to raise taxes He was asked whether or not he believes in climate change. He says the climate is changing Now if you aren't savvy, I could see how you might interpret that as oh, okay So he does believe in climate change now that's double speak What he's admitting here is or not admitting here is that the climate is changing because of human beings So usually when conservatives you've used this talking point which comes from the fossil fuel industry mind you What they're saying is look climate change is a naturally occurring phenomenon The climate is always in a state of flux. It's constantly changing and that's technically true But what we're talking about with regard to climate change specifically anthropogenic climate change Is the rate at which the climate is changing? It is not natural for our climate to change this fast That's the issue here and i've never seen a moderator on a debate stage. Call this out Yes, the climate is changing sure you admit that but do you admit that it's changing at a faster rate because of human activity And you know he gets off scot-free essentially because he says well the climate is changing That doesn't mean that he believes in climate change because if you don't believe that climate change is man-made Functionally you are a climate denier. That's a fact because the whole issue Is whether or not it's man-made to them because if they can argue that it's not man-made Then the implication is well if it's not man-made then there's nothing man can do about it It's just natural. So we just keep polluting we keep fracking, you know We keep destroying the environment in order to boost the economy And you know, it's it's dirty. It's it's a deceptive trick, but that's what conservatives do Now Kamala Harris brought up how she believes it is an existential threat and she's correct on this Um, Mike Pence was asked do you believe climate change is an existential threat? What is his answer? The climate's always changing So he wouldn't say that it's an existential threat So on a national debate stage He just tacitly admitted that he is a climate change denier in the year 2020 This is not a debatable topic anymore. We are past the days Where you know, uh, it's acceptable and appropriate for the media to try to be neutral here and say well, you know Some republicans say climate change isn't real Democrats say it is real No It's real because the scientists say it's real. I don't give a shit What fossil fuel funded republican politicians say Climate change is real and it is an existential threat and because there's so much evidence That's why republicans have had to constantly move the goalpost. They would just outright deny Climate change altogether by saying the climate isn't even changing. In fact, it's not getting warmer. It's getting cooler Trump in fact still says that sometimes But they keep saying okay. Well climate change is real, but it's not man-made. So they keep moving closer and closer to kind of accepting that maybe there's something going on But they'll never admit that it's anthropogenic and generated by humankind because they don't want to take action So this was egregious. I think that you know, this Doesn't really need much commentary. I don't have to say anything because the clip speaks for itself the vice president Is a climate change denier and I get that we're accustomed to this And it's something that you know, it's not surprising because the republican party is a far-right death cult But we should never normalize this. We should never accept it because it's not acceptable It's indefensible. If you deny climate change, you are not qualified to be anywhere in government So after Donald Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power a couple of weeks ago at the vice presidential debate Mike Pence was asked Will you commit to a peaceful transfer of power in the event you lose this election? And if you watched it, you'd know that he dodged that question We did not get an answer from him And if you don't get an answer to that very simple question, that means the answer is no Now this is alarming considering the fact that just a couple of weeks ago in an article for the atlantic Barton Gilman explains how Trump's legal team has a strategy For Donald Trump to potentially remain in power even if Joe Biden wins by basically appointing his own electors Where states are controlled by republicans to the electoral college to overturn the results of certain states if it is in fact Close now since that article was published the situation has worsened And when I say the situation has worsened, I mean that in donald trump's political orientation He is becoming more and more authoritarian. It's no longer just the way that he acts It's what he is doing using the powers that he has as president of the united states To undermine democracy and what he's doing now is calling on his attorney general To indict his political opponent just weeks before an election And as jenny fink of newsweek explains on thursday trump told fox businesses Maria Bartiramo that biden and obama spited his campaign and urged attorney general will bar To indict them because we got plenty you don't need anymore without an indictment trump said We'll get little satisfaction and he won't forget it now. First of all understand that I think that when People at his crowd chanted locker up in 2016 That was problematic sure But I think that the media made a bigger deal out of it than it was in actuality But now this is a different scenario because donald trump isn't just some political outsider trying to obtain power Now he has power So when he actually does directly call for one of his political opponents To be investigated or indicted for bogus reasons That should scare everyone because this is what we see in authoritarian regimes. This is what dictators do Now what he's basically arguing is that well, you know what there's evidence that in 2016 the fbi Spied on my campaign now it is true that when obama was in power Intelligence communities investigated his campaign to determine whether or not there was any russian interference We all know the story But what trump is basically arguing here is that well because Under obama's watch even if obama didn't explicitly direct the fbi to investigate my campaign the fact that as president it happened That's good enough indict them indict my political opponent because intelligence Agency spied on me. That's what he's arguing now. It's interesting to me that trump's argument effectively is Spying is unacceptable if it happens to me But if we're spying on the american people Doesn't matter because as ken clifenstein of the nation reports federal agencies wiretapped the phones of protesters in portland On top of that at the local level in san francisco police illegally spied on protesters now donald trump's administration as well As obama's administration wanted to prosecute edward snowden who was a whistleblower who unveiled a massive Unconstitutional and unlawful surveillance state being carried out by the nsa Does donald trump want obama and biden to be indicted because of what the nsa did? Under their watch No, because he's doing the same thing He only is against spying if It happens to him And really he knows that there's not a lot here to work with because all of the things that he's accusing obama for if he believes that obama and biden can be indicted because The fbi surveils a campaign or anyone you can be indicted for that too But what trump is trying to do here is use this story for purposes of political gain He doesn't believe that biden did anything that warrants an indictment But if biden were to be indicted just weeks before an election that would definitely have an impact on the election It could tip the scales in donald trump's favor So this is a problem because he's using his institutional power as president as an incumbent president Who's seeking reelection to direct federal agencies explicitly to criminally investigate His main political opponent right before an election and you know, it's not just his main political opponent He retweeted a tweet from judicial watch that calls for ilhan omar to be investigated for some reason or the other Now, I will say it's not inherently an abuse of power for you know, a sitting president or administration to investigate anyone who has power or even who may be a political opponent if There's evidence that they are culpable of some wrongdoing. So for example when it was the case that kelly lofler diane feinstein and jim inhofer busted for insider trading when they dumped their stocks after they were briefed on the severity of Covid-19 and they knew that the market would crash That investigation was not controversial The only controversial thing about that investigation is that it didn't result in any of them being indicted But the point is the investigation itself was legitimate But when you just throw around, you know, let's investigate this person or that person under adubia's proposition When you weaponize the legal system for your own political gain That's where we start getting into some really murky territory dictatorial territory Republicans aren't even trying to hide the fact that they no longer favor democracy But it's not just donald trump because republican senator mike lee tweeted. We're not a democracy Now my response to that is all right, you know, I kind of agree to an extent, but let's change that Let's make our system More democratic. Let's enhance our democracy But that's not what he's saying. He is vocalizing his disdain for democracy because in another tweet he adds Democracy isn't the objective liberty peace and prosperity are we want the human condition to flourish rank democracy Can thwart that I'm going to repeat the last two sentences. We want the human condition to flourish rank democracy can thwart that in other words I'm not in favor of democracy unequivocally. I don't believe that democracy and further democratizing the united states of america Is a good thing that we should do You have a sitting united states senator openly expressing his reservations about democracy and honestly It's shocking but it's not too surprising because the republican party for years now Has been shifting further and further to the right and you can only shift so far to the right until you arrive at authoritarianism And we are now seeing them enter explicitly authoritarian territory Where they're not even pretending to care about democracy the facade is gone They're just out right now Attacking democracy now. It was always the case that republicans Did not like democracy because they've literally tried to suppress democracy in order to gain power For years. I mean in iowa the trump campaign just successfully got a hundred thousand ballots invalidated and in texas the republican governor Greg abbott invalidated a decision that would have expanded the locations where voters can drop off absentee ballots So now because of what he did there's just one drop off location in each county Which means that if you don't have access to reliable transportation You may not be able to drop off your ballot altogether. This is voter suppression Now we're not even talking about the 2018 election where brian kemp as georgia secretary of state used his power His institutional power to purge hundreds of thousands of voters from the rolls Mostly people of color which ended up leading to him winning that election which was effectively a stolen election So the point is republicans have always had to or tried to suppress the vote Because that's the only way that they can win elections But what's changing now is that the facade is disappearing. It's going away now. You could make the case. Well, look maybe It's better that they just be upfront with us and tell us that they hate democracy I would argue no the facade Is better than no facade even though it's disingenuous because when you start explicitly saying Maybe democracy isn't the best thing that actually has a cultural impact Their base picks up on that and the republican party's base is indeed following them As they move closer and closer towards openly embracing authoritarianism because as david agart and edwight of ap reports Agents foiled a stunning plot to kidnap michigan democratic governor gretchen whitmer Authority said thursday in announcing charges in an alleged scheme that involved months of planning and even rehearsals To snatch her from her vacation home Six men were charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap the governor in reaction To what they viewed as her uncontrolled power according to a federal complaint Separately seven others were charged in state court under michigan's anti-terrorism laws for allegedly targeting police and seeking a civil war A few hours later whitmer pinned some blame on president donald trump noting that he did not condemn white supremacists In last week's debate with joe biden and instead told a far-right group to stand back and stand by Hate groups heard the president's words Not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry as a call to action whitmer said when our leaders speak their words matter They carry weight the six men charged in federal court plighted for months Consulting and training with members of a group that federal authorities described as a militia And undertaking rehearsals in august and september according to an fbi affidavit They were arrested wednesday night and face up to life in prison if convicted Now i should remind you that back in april when far-right extremists protested governor whitmer's lockdown because of covet 19 donald trump tweeted in all caps Liberate michigan and months later we learn that domestic terrorists literally tried to do What trump wanted them to do quote unquote liberate michigan By overthrowing their state's democratically elected governor now these terrorists are not representative of the average conservative right But what we are seeing is that over time Gradually conservatives republicans mostly donald trump supporters Are losing faith in democracy and they're not losing faith in democracy because You know they've lost a lot of elections and they feel like they can never win They're losing faith in democracy while their guy is in power meaning that they think he doesn't have enough power Therefore, maybe if he had more power if he was a dictator Things would be better. We can actually do what he wanted to do Just a couple of years ago one of donald trump supporters said You know, I never thought that I would want a dictator But if there is going to be a dictatorship in america, I would want trump to be that dictator Never in my life did I think I would like to see a dictator, but if there's going to be one I want it to be trump Now I get what you're gonna say. That's just one lady. That's a single anecdote. So it doesn't amount to much Yes, but I would counter by saying Go to youtube um go to the comment section of any article where you know someone a commentator or a journalist is talking about How problematic it is that donald trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer all of power And you see conservatives openly celebrating that fact not thinking that what he's doing is undemocratic But thinking that what he's doing actually is necessary to save democracy. So either They don't believe in democracy at all and they've lost faith in it and they openly want a dictatorship or They still at least buy into the idea that democracy is a good thing, but they think that trump Taking you know action to undermine democracy is actually better for the long-term health of democracy either way they've embraced Undemocratic tactics And I've got to tell you this should worry you if you're not worried this should worry you because Democracy doesn't work if there's no buy-in If people who exist in society no longer believe that Democracy is a legitimate form of government that democracy cannot survive This is why in you know newly democratized regimes around the world Democracies are so fragile and they end up slipping back into authoritarian regimes or illiberal democracies because you know, it takes time to Get a democracy to the point where all of society believes in it like it has to be ingrained Culturally in a country in order for it to really have a lasting effect But what we are seeing right now Is the delegitimization of democracy and I would argue that sure there are reasons to be dissatisfied with democracy because You know, we are seeing It be eroded over time with citizens united in certain things, you know our institutions being eroded But if people in this country are just outright saying democracy may not cut it any longer That's a problem and what we are witnessing openly now is democracy becoming a partisan issue When democracy itself becomes a partisan issue Only bad things can come afterwards and it's not unusual for democracy to be a partisan issue In some authoritarian regimes where they actually allow, you know opposition parties to run Some of them do put democracy on the platform Now they know that that will never happen because they don't have the power, but It's a partisan issue In developing countries, you know democracy may be on the platform of an emerging political party and I mean look I shouldn't have to explain why this is troublesome We're seeing a party shift so far to the right That they don't even pretend to care about democracy They're openly trying to undermine democracy and it's not just Donald Trump and Mike Pence anymore It's the republican party and their base Who is doing this Who's embracing authoritarianism And this is only the beginning All right, folks I have to talk about something that has been eating away at me since I watched the vice presidential debate And even though I don't necessarily think that Kamala did a bad job I think her performance was fine. She did what she needed to and this debate overall isn't going to move the needle in either direction But something that happened at that debate. I think that it Demonstrates a bigger issue with democrats and it is that they always walk into the right-wing traps that republicans set for them every single time They are easily duped by a republican who speaks confidently And uses a specific tone to imply that something they support or don't support is inherently wrong So for example at the debate fracking came up and Mike Pence somehow put Kamala Harris on the defensive Because he claims she wants to ban fracking now wanting to ban fracking isn't just the popular position It's the right position to have Given that we are facing climate catastrophe in 10 years according to the IBCC if we don't take action So banning fracking is right, but what did Kamala Harris do when Mike Pence said you guys want to ban fracking She immediately bought into that right-wing frame and went on the defensive when Mike Pence should be the one on the defensive She argued we don't want to ban fracking He then says you support the Green New Deal Now Joe Biden doesn't support the Green New Deal This is not how you play politics And this is why republicans in spite of having a platform that is deeply unpopular according to public opinion polls They still get so many political and electoral victories. It's because of things like this Now his AOC pointed out on twitter Fracking is bad actually. Yeah instead of saying I don't want to ban fracking and getting defensive It's okay to say fracking is bad actually. In fact, why does Kamala Harris automatically have to be the one to defend herself Even if they don't want to ban fracking, I wish that they did But why is she playing defense when it should be Mike Pence who's playing defense, but instead he was playing offense The issue of climate change came up and I'm thankful that it was debated on a national platform But Mike Pence doesn't even believe in anthropogenic climate change. There shouldn't be a single moment On that subject where he's playing offense. He should be the one playing defense the entire time Kamala Harris needed to replicate the strategy that he was using and he laid his tone and say Vice president, you don't even believe that climate change is real Vice president, you don't even want to ban fracking when it's incredibly popular Vice president, you don't even support a green new deal when the overwhelming majority of americans Support it in spite of the misinformation that your party has been spreading about it We have 10 years left to act explain to the american people Why you don't want to do anything about climate change why you don't want there to be a future for The viewer's grandchildren and their children explain yourself, but instead she explained herself And it's because democrats are horrible at politics now again. I don't believe that Kamala Harris Lost this debate. I don't believe her performance was poor But this was one of the lowlights with regard to her performance aside from Her kind of fumbling when she wouldn't answer the question about supreme court backing But It's not just Good policy to support a ban on fracking. It's good politics now democratic party strategists would probably disagree with That statement and say look if you want to win this election if you want to make sure we defeat Donald Trump Kamala Harris and joe biden cannot support an outright ban on fracking take what you get They want to reduce the number of herrits issued to frackers except In pennsylvania, it's not political suicide For example to want to ban fracking because polls show that a ban on fracking is actually popular contrary to popular belief Now as david sarota of jackabin explains Kamala Harris has previously said she supports a ban on hydraulic fracking But last night she used the vice presidential debate to reiterate joe biden's promise that a biden harris administration would not move to halt the fossil fuel extraction technique Even as scientists warn that it is a driver of climate change This pledge made while harris's own state is experiencing a climate intensified gigafire has been depicted by national reporters as savvy and smart politics For a democratic ticket that supposedly must embrace fracking in order to win the crucial swing state of pennsylvania There's just one problem with that storyline It isn't substantiated by empirical data Indeed the idea that a fracking ban is political poison in pennsylvania is a fantastical tale fabricated by a national press corps that refuses to let public opinion data get in the way of fossil fuel propaganda and a manufactured narrative a january poll of pennsylvania voters from franklin and marshall university found that More believe the environmental risks 49 percent of natural gas drilling outweigh the economic benefits Then believe the economic benefits outweigh the environmental risks at 38 percent the same poll found that more registered voters 48 percent favor a ban on hydraulic fracking than oppose it at 39 percent an august cbs ugov poll found that 52 percent of pennsylvania voters Support a fracking ban that includes not only a big majority of democratic voters But also strong majorities among traditional swing voters 62 of self-identified moderate voters and 55 of registered independent voters support a ban A separate august survey by the global strategy group and climate power 2020 found that 50 of pennsylvania voters Have an unfavorable view of the fracking industry while 32 Have a favorable view with a large majority supporting a phase out of fracking The numbers were even worse for fracking industry CEOs who were viewed favorably by 21 of pennsylvania voters And unfavorably by 53 of voters the same survey found large majority supporting tough restrictions on fracking and phasing all of it out in the future so Fracking is unpopular even in states like pennsylvania So that was a very very Huge missed opportunity and i'm sitting here like scratching my head trying to figure out how komala thinks this is a good idea But like i don't want to just harp away on komala here It's because it's not just her who does this at the first presidential debate. We saw joe biden run away From socialized health care that big boogie man that donald trump invoked And joe biden was so afraid to even sound Remotely progressive on the issue of health care reform He wouldn't even Commit to a public option now. He claims that that's part of his platform, but at that debate he says look I want to expand the affordable care act and i think he referenced the public option, but what he explained Did not sound like a public option. So he was so afraid To say i support a public option when a public option is incredibly popular now This is not the right policy the correct policy Is socialized insurance contrary to popular belief and it's not a bad thing to say that because medicare for all is very popular So rather than saying oh, of course, I don't support socialized medicine. Why aren't democrats challenging donald trump? Why don't you support socialized insurance? What do you say to the 60 000 americans who die every single year because they don't have health insurance? And that was before covid 19. So the number is probably larger now What do you say to them? What's your answer? Why don't you have a health care plan? Why is it that democrats always play? Defense but never play offense now. We know the answer to that It's because you know the health industry was betting on joe biden to save the country quote unquote save the country from bernie sanders Giving us medicare for all so we know that his donors want to allow him to support medicare for all But even if you support your Half-measure in a public option. You won't even like embrace that on stage you run away from that It's just poor strategy and look i'll be fair and even criticize Bernie sanders because it's not just popular policies that you shouldn't run away from you shouldn't run away From good policy altogether So on the issue of reparations at the beginning of the democratic party primaries, you know, bernie sanders got caught up on this He wouldn't necessarily give us a clear answer when it comes to reparations because He didn't support it because you know, I don't know if that was something that he just genuinely was against Or he viewed it as deeply unpopular because back in 2015 or 2016. He said it was divisive But here's the thing If you make the case to the american people often times they will be receptive to that in the same way that Bernie sanders made medicare for all popular. He could have popularized reparations because I think that if americans understand what's at stake and why the wealth gap between Black americans and white americans has to be closed and it's owed to them legally and morally I think that people would be inclined to listen But because we're so afraid about what the republicans are going to say because we never know how to play offense We always have to try to anticipate what republicans are going to say When that's not good politics republicans policies Are deeply deeply unpopular. I mean back in 2017 and 2018 When they were trying to repeal the affordable care act republicans proposed their own I don't even know what to call it. It was like a pseudo healthcare reform bill That was garbage and it had like a 10 to 15 approval rating if i'm remembering correctly Did they run away from that? No, even though they lost that battle ultimately they were firmly committed to that plan They never once ran away from it. All republicans were disciplined and you know, they tried to get democrats To explain why they didn't support their shitty plan And this is what you have to do even if your plan is a bad plan Uh, like it's not popular You never run away from what you propose because it makes you look weak And that's why republicans are so effective because You know at that debate with mike pence the way he talked about certain policies. He made it seem as if everyone Is republican everyone agrees with the conservative position now americans may self identify as conservatives But that doesn't necessarily mean that they are conservative in practice because by and large when you look at the issues individually Progressive policies are incredibly popular But the way that mike pence spoke at that vice presidential debate. He made it seem as if it's a no-brainer To support the conservative position When I mean abortion for example, even if americans wouldn't get an abortion themselves They admit that it is a necessity To have abortion be legal and safe Because I think that americans are smart enough to realize that just banning abortion outright. That's not going to stop abortions. You're just going to Uh lead to a situation where we're seeing more Unsafe illegal abortions. So I mean don't be afraid to explain your position and educate people But never run away from your position and that's what democrats have to get through their heads Never ever run away from your position And that's what I want to say about this because it's so frustrating that we Live in a situation where there's so much potential americans are yearning for progressive policies And even the half measures Democrats won't stick by them. They'll run away from them. And it's just it's so frustrating to me Stop playing defense put republicans on offense Replicate the tactics that they use at debates You know, maybe it's just me But has anyone else noticed that all of a sudden the mainstream media They really love bernie sanders now that he doesn't pose a threat to the ruling class Now that he's no longer running for president msnbc can't get enough of him. They love him He's great for ratings. So let's bring him on every single week I mean compare this to their treatment of him during the primaries and you think he was The worst person in america perhaps worse than donald trump, but now all of a sudden he's great Because he doesn't pose a threat to the status quo anymore The threat has been neutralized and it's so frustrating And I want you to take note of this and remember this because it shows you how the media tries to manufacture consent and they try to push certain candidates and get a particular outcome This isn't objective non-biased coverage They had an agenda. They just didn't admit it Um, but you know, I don't want a hard boy on that angle I want to talk about bernie sanders because he had an interview In msnbc and he really is incredibly useful in attacking donald trump because it's not the same tired talking points that we see From the democratic party establishment. I mean, sure bernie sanders is known to repeat himself But he has a way of criticizing donald trump Where I think it's gonna land and joe biden is doing well against donald trump not because I think he's running a good campaign Contrary to um, what most people believe I don't think joe biden is running a particularly good campaign But this is an anti trump election clearly, which is why joe biden is doing really well People are turned off by donald trump Now I will say that you know, I had to take a little bit of a break from bernie sanders I had bernie burnout if you will because my frustration and even my anger with bernie sanders After he dropped out it it felt like a surrender. It felt like he was giving up and that Took a long time for me to get over and i'm starting to get away From those feelings. They're starting to dissipate and now i'm just feeling like There's this hole inside of me and whenever I see bernie talk I imagine what could have been like it wouldn't have been a utopia if He was elected but the situation in this country would have been just Completely different and again, I know this sounds like you know, I'm crying over spilled milk But just like listen to bernie sanders responding to a simple thing That he was asked about donald trump dodging this debate and look at how Charismatic he is at making fun of donald trump senator. We've a lot. We want to cover We've got to get to that breaking news your reaction to president trump now refusing to participate in a virtual debate saying it's a waste of his time But stephanie that was 12 seconds ago, right? He may have changed his mind by then. I I mean I have I empathize with biden You know, you don't know what trump is going to do. He lies all of the time He changes his mind all of the time He's going to sit down and negotiate a stimulus bill. He's not going to negotiate He'll be in the debate. He won't be in the bait. But you know, the truth is this is somebody who has covid 19 We have no idea what's going on in the white house How he is feeling they lie about that as well You know, if I were in biden's position, and I think the commission the election commission is right I don't know that I would want to be in the room with him. So I think a virtual debate is appropriate Trump did not do well in the last debate. So, you know, he may not want to debate again. Who knows that was fantastic Trump will change his mind most likely. So, you know, when I learned that trump decided to not go to the next debate because it's virtual Part of that is me thinking that he doesn't want to do any more damage because that first debate was such a train wreck I mean a boston herald poll Put joe biden 21 points over trump nationally I mean, you don't want to repeat that. So if you realize that you're turning off voters by speaking You don't attend that debate But maybe trump isn't thinking strategically like that because he still won't shut the fuck up But either way, like the way that bernie sanders responded to that. Well, I mean that was 12 seconds ago. Don't worry. He'll change his mind it's just It's personable like that's what the average american thinks and that's not to say that joe biden hasn't had his moments because at that First debate when he clowned on donald trump for wanting to inject bleach I thought that that landed that was great But bernie sanders just has a way of speaking to people that is so genuine and authentic And I think it lands and he really is able to build this case against donald trump That is common sense. Like I was talking about in a different segment how You know mike pence the way that he spoke at that vice presidential debate like the way that he said things He made it seem as if you know, the conservative position is inherently the best position And if you don't agree with the conservative position, then you better defend yourself and explain why you don't agree with the conservative position And even though bernie sanders is imperfect here He he makes it seem as if you know what he supports is common sense And whoever doesn't support it needs to explain themselves now. He doesn't always do this But I mean just look at what he said about healthcare. He's not even running for president But here he is explaining how trumps COVID-19 diagnosis and the subsequent treatment that he received at walter read medical center Demonstrates why we need Medicare for all the president's message to the american people earlier this week is Don't let kovid dominate your life The president also received top medical treatment at a 100 percent government funded facility That same care would cost the average american Anywhere between 60 and a hundred thousand dollars What do you have to say to that? Well, what I have to say about that. I don't begrudge the president of the united states getting the health care that he needs when he is seriously ill But I do very much resent the fact that we are the only major country on earth Not to guarantee health care to all people as a human right All right, the kind of care that trump got is good That is the kind of care that every american should get and that is why I am a strong advocate For a medicare for all single-payer system, which means you go into any doctor's office You go into any hospital. You do not take out your wallet. You do not take out your credit card It is 100 publicly funded available to all whether you're rich or whether you're poor But I think Stephanie this whole COVID-19 crisis above and beyond Trump's illness tells us how dysfunctional the current system is Millions and millions of people have lost their health care because they have lost their job And what I think the american people understand is that health care is a human right not a job Benefit not a privilege all of us rich poor old young are entitled to health care Whether we're working or whether we are not and the momentum We're in medicare for all single-payer system is growing stronger every single day We should not be paying twice as much per capita as our neighbors Are uninsured or underinsured and we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs the american people know that Now that to me was brilliant now I think about at that first presidential debate, which was a clusterfuck but when you know, uh, donald trump Said you support socialized medicine your party does joe biden joe biden ran away from that and he wouldn't even You know explicitly endorse the public option, which he supposedly supports And I think you know, what would bernie sanders have done Bernie sanders would have been a lot more successful in that situation because bernie sanders would not have run away from medicare for all In fact, he would have gotten donald trump to explain Why he doesn't support medicare for all like you always want to make sure that you're not playing offense You want to make your opponent play defense and when it comes to something like medicare for all That's overwhelmingly popular where a plurality of republicans support that policy I mean if you are the one playing defense, you've lost you've already lost It doesn't matter how popular the position that you're taking is so like I think about the differences And bernie sanders would have not only been able to defeat donald trump Thoroughly, but he would have been able to effectively build A large consensus around his agenda because he makes it seem as if these things are just common sense Now one more clip I want to play before I give you the takeaway about the stimulus Let's shift gears to the latest on coronavirus relief stimulus The president has closed the door on a large comprehensive stimulus package But he did ask congress to pass a standalone airline relief bill speaker polosi scenes open to that While the 50 000 jobs in the airline industry are hugely important What do you think about the fact that we could see a separate carve out for the airline industry that has Huge lobbying efforts huge influence in washington And nothing for mom and pops shops that are closing every single day. We've lost over a hundred thousand small businesses already It's unbelievable. And I think you know every day we get overwhelmed by some crazy thing that trump says and we all focus on that But your point is well taken In my state of vermont and all over this country Small businesses have shut and many of them are not going to reopen Again millions of people have lost their jobs in the wealthiest country on earth You got folks today who have lost their health care They are worried about being evicted. They are worried about putting food on the table for their kids So I you know the truth is that the house of representatives I think four months ago now did the right thing they passed a comprehensive bill Including protecting workers in the airline industry, which we have got to do but we have to protect small businesses We have to protect those workers who have lost their jobs by extending that 600 a week supplement to unemployment That was previously the case This matters because bernie sanders is always able to tap in To what the average american is thinking he's not out of touch. Now I will give joe biden and kamala Harris credit because They have a lot more populist rhetoric that they used than hillary clinton did in 2016 So I think they're running a better campaign than hillary clinton But nobody has perfected the art of populism and speaking to the specific needs of americans average americans Working-class americans americans who own small businesses than bernie sanders He's just it's an art to him and he's just so much more effective At promoting a working-class agenda than joe biden and kamala Harris Now the point of bringing this up is not to say man think of how amazing it would have been because of course I I think about that all the time Imagine what could have been if bernie was the nominee. He would have certainly won And if he was president, we get accomplished so much but The point of this is bernie sanders is no longer going to be president But I want to make this video because bernie sanders isn't going to be the last progressive to ever run and If you ever want to win Copy bernie sanders Copy the rhetoric that he uses speak to specific policies that bernie sanders Advocates for him. I mean going back to the vice presidential debate There's no reason for kamala harris to get defensive When mike penn says you support the green new deal. There's no reason for her to get defensive When mike penn says you support a ban on fracking They don't support a ban on fracking But if people think that you support a ban on fracking that helps you. I mean, there's a reason why Donald trump's attack that you know, biden is far left and being controlled by the far left Hasn't worked. It's because the quote unquote far left Has very very popular ideas So if that were bernie or nina turner at that debate against mike penn's What would they have done? Well, I can only imagine that they wouldn't have run away from a ban on fracking But let's say, you know hypothetically they took biden's approach where he doesn't support an outright ban on fracking But he claims he's not going to issue as many permits to frackers Will you explain listen? Fracking in and of itself is not something that i'm going to ban But i'm going to reduce the number of fracking and I would like to ideally gradually phase it out Because this is contributing To climate change and if we want a future we have to stop polluting the planet For personal gain and profit we we have to stop Why aren't you advocating for phasing out fracking? Do you want us to frack in your backyard? Would you drink the water in a fracked neighborhood where it's poisoned? Do you understand that fracking causes earthquakes? Never be afraid to take the time to explain yourself You know single payer medicare for all has always been something that democrats have supported But the reason why we're talking about it so much now is because bernie sanders popularized it and he popularized it By explaining what this means for people in a real concrete way It means That you're going to be able to go to any doctor you want to And that care is going to be free at the point of service You'll get the same quality care that members of congress get that rich people get Because he explained that so well now the american people They support medicare for all so democrats have got to acknowledge that it's not bad to explain yourself Copy what bernie sanders is doing learn from him even though he lost and he's not the democratic party's nominee People agree with him exit polls during the democratic primary show that people want medicare for all So the way that he has sold us on these policies is what democrats have to do If they ever want to win elections, but I don't just want them to copy the rhetoric because joe biden Has copied some of the rhetoric at least when it comes to health care He says that health cares are right when that's not true because you don't support medicare for all But don't just copy the rhetoric copy the fucking policy And adopt the policy because if you truly want power and you want to win being Open to new ideas and populist policies is the way to do that So you know if bernie sanders isn't going to be the leader of the democratic party Then I think that they can learn from him use the influence that he has to grow so the party can defeat republicans Hi folks, I'm here with liam omerra who is running in california's 42nd congressional district He has advanced to the general election after Making it into the top two back in march and he is here to talk about his campaign liam. Welcome Thank you. Happy to be here. Yeah, so you have such an interesting background So you are a professor of middle east history and you were running against a republican named ken calvert I've never heard of him and there's a reason for that before coming on you described him as a ghost So I want to get to all of that but first let us know who you are and why you decided to run for congress Oh, let's see. So kind of a big one. Um, the short answer to that um is I um, I have a diverse background. Um, I had come from a solidly working class family I'm actually the first person in my family with a college degree And I didn't go to college right away. I did not expect to in fact. I didn't even take the SATs in high school Um, I had no saw no possibility of going to college And at age 30, I found a way to jump into it So after that, I mean, I had experience already working as a fourth generation longshoreman in the port of la Um, I worked as a fry cook. Um, I drove trucks I carried a class A driver's license for 20 years, but I uh I jumped into college and then went straight through to a phd So for the last dozen years, um, I've been teaching uh at uh at colleges and um I genuinely love that as a job Because I feel like I'm giving something back and engaging with people but I I have to look my students in the eyes and tell them Things are screwed for you that that things are going downhill after 40 years of decline in the real economy under neo liberalism Despite all the media lying about the economy and we can talk about that if you want but The the real economy's been shrinking steadily for 40 years My generation is the first one in american history not to do better than the one before the millennials are worse off than me Gen Z is worse off than the millennials. We are in steady decline as a society And frankly, I'm pissed and I'm pissed not only as a worker. Um, I'm pissed as someone who understands why this is happening And wants to shake things up and get people talking about the real issues again so we can push back against it Yeah, I like that you said that um because If you're not pissed right now, then I feel like you're not paying attention and I get that that's kind of a cliche But it really is true. There's so much going on There's so much at stake and I think that everyone in their own way is kind of stepping up And for you to be like the first member of your family to go to college, that's that's incredible And now you know for me, I was also the same person same in my family the first to go to college And you know for you now to want to run for congress um It's awesome to see that you know You're willing to step up and fight because that really is difficult like to run for congress is It's a self-sacrifice. I feel like and so anyone who's running. I think is really They're doing a lot, especially if you're running for the right reasons and you really are so you have a really robust platform You were endorsed by andrew yang ted lu You kind of check all of the boxes So if you like or a regular viewer of the humanist report, then I think that you are like the ideal candidate you explain medicare for all So well, and I love that like to find a candidate That goes beyond just the generic endorsement of medicare for all is very valuable because this is such a complex topic and really winning hearts and minds Is crucial to me So, you know when it comes to medicare for all How would you you know deter people from being afraid of this socialist boogeyman? Like how do you explain this to constituents? Yes, so first off there's um, there are two things um about my immediate background that really helped with dealing with issues like this For one thing I'm a policy wonk by nature if I want to talk about an issue. I dive into it. I read stacks of books I mean I mean the joke about me is I mean my house is nothing but cats and books I have 34 bookcases and three cats wandering around so um I'm pretty much a nerd about that stuff But I also for a living explain complex ideas to people in a way that's that's useful So I'm accustomed to like breaking things down and and putting them across and I've tried to bring that into the campaign and I think again Myself having working roots and not being a particularly Potentious ivory tower type I can just sit there over beers and chat about these issues and try to break them down for people I actually have a number of people that have joined the campaign as major supporters Who had been republicans their whole lives and just sat down with me and like dude I'm a democrat like this makes makes sense right and For medicare it's it's tricky because Our incumbent actually is running ads Calling it a government takeover of health care, which is Frankly bullshit. It's not at all um medicare actually gives you more consumer choice and more freedom far more so than we have now The key issue that you can have to explain to people. I mean there's a few things you can come at it with Shifts in the framing because people especially coming from like the the left or the liberal perspective on things like medicare They'll approach it from a moral standpoint. We need to ensure everyone That's just a crime that people are going about insurance and Republicans just don't give a damn it doesn't matter to them But what could matter are the issues of freedom and cost If you tell somebody say for example, um, a lot of people get their employer insurance from their employer, right? Now when they get the job They get told this is your salary and these are your benefits together That's a compensation package if we write this legislation correctly Then what happens when the employer is no longer paying 17 000 a year for your insurance? And instead paying uh 1500 or two grand or something like that in to an overall kitty And then you're paying a little bit in here if you're paying like 1500 to 2000 dollars a year there There's an extra 12 or 13 grand just sitting around. That's your money. It's part of your compensation package Medicare for all would be the largest raise In pay for the middle class and more than a generation You tell somebody that you're going to get to keep an extra 12 grand of your own money And you perk uh, you you pick a conservative's interest And then from there you go on to explain that well, this what this would leave all the doctors still private All the healthcare providers are still private. They're all still doing their own thing But you can now go to any of them So, uh, I'd be like uh, Mike's like, hey Liam, uh, you got to check out this this this doctor I've got he's fantastic and I'm like, well, he's out of network. I can't go And I don't have that ability now because they're all these Limited networks, right and if you take that away and it's a single insurance provider Not only do I have the freedom to go anywhere and seek any care at all You write it again such that it just it's just rubber stamping things So the person making the decisions about your healthcare are you And your physician period It infuriated me. Sorry. I'm rambling a bit here, but it infuriated me in 2008 to hear like, um People like Sarah Palin in the right like freaking out about the aca like uh death panels They'll decide to kill grandma and I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? We already have death panels They're called for profit insurance companies and they're gonna look as well. This test is gonna cost me $10,000. There's no way I'm giving them that MRI This guy can just die of brain cancer. I don't care. They make those decisions already If you take the profit motive out Then the only choice there really is the physician's choice You don't have to make money off of somebody. So it's not a government takeover of healthcare It's replacing the corrupt insurance industry, which is a a parasitic middleman that does nothing for anybody No one loves their insurance. They love their provider and the ability to go to their provider You give them a gold plated insurance plan uh from The state and it does the same thing And just in the last point I'd make on this that I bring up in the area too Is the question of cost and from there you can make a simple actuarial argument You've got a whole bunch different insurance companies each with x number of people in them And you have to balance out the sicker with the healthier So you have to raise the the rates higher on the healthier people in order to make up for the cost for the sicker people Right put everyone in the same risk pool Everyone's in the same risk pool That lowers the cost massively for the entire country So we when people are throwing out this crap about like how do we afford Medicare for all? I'm just like it's a simple arithmetic issue. We're already paying twice as much as it would cost Like we're already paying for it. We're just not getting it Yeah, and I feel like if you explain this to someone who doesn't know about all of this There's like this light bulb moment that goes off because I've convinced many people just in my personal life To support Medicare for all my mom has done that and she's not necessarily someone who follows politics as closely as I do But it's just such a common sense position And we shouldn't even have to really further make our case because I feel like we've already won the argument and most Americans agree with us But just to like further educate people about this I think it really is important and people have to understand that we're missing out like in in comparison with other developed countries We are getting a really raw deal and that's so unfair. It should make everyone angry every single time They paid their insurance bill to a private insurance company. They should be mad I am and I think that we've gotten people to wake up. It's just a matter of really Driving, you know public opinion even further towards, you know, where we are So I feel like, you know, you're a great candidate at doing something like this like explaining to people Why the republican party? They don't even have a plan. I mean, you know democrats They don't support medicare for all for the most part I think that's starting to change in the house, but not necessarily with senators But in your district, you are running against a republican. His name is ken calvert So I want to know about because I'm sure that you are convincing people who you talk to constituents as much as you can during a pandemic, but How close is this district to flipping and what's been the success rate of converting people who have been supporting this individual because I've never heard of him and You've described him as a ghost and I find that interesting. He just seems like a seat warmer in congress He's not doing anything. So can you talk about him? Yeah, honestly the it's infuriating how difficult it is to get national attention on this district and one of the things that I've Worked hardest to do during this run is to raise the national profile the district because this is difficult And it really complicates the fundraising and a lot of districts that are similarly purple Demographically you can easily raise a million dollars for an uh for an opponent to go against and take out one of these republicans Here everyone just assumes it's going to stay safely republican It has a republican voting history for calvert at least but also relatively low turnout and it's absolutely purple Demographically the key issue is getting somebody who can appeal to those voters to bring in the people who don't normally vote And then to pick up those swing voters The fact that a lot of people voted for trump because he was running as a populist Helps in this area. I mean the answer to a right populist is a left populist I'm talking about kitchen table economics working class issues and that picks up a lot of support uh calvert on the other hand Doesn't really run on his record doesn't offer solutions to anything He's like a no man his uh his ad and actually he's taken our campaign um a lot more seriously than really any challenger He's had in in ages Um, he ran he did mailers attacking me in the primary mailers attacking me in the general here with some of the most hyperbolic claims but like He in the primary was funny like it was like a columns of like yes and no and like red and green and like they No one told him like red like green light because he put me in the yes and him in the no for red But it was like yeah medicare for all a green new deal impeachment of trump lemons, um and uh But he offers no solutions of his own. It's always just no no no the only thing he's running on right now is the police He's running on manipulating fear that somehow Votes for democrats or a vote for like anarchy and chaos and he's calling me like he's literally calling me a terrorist You know that I want like to burn riverside to the ground and he's just the most crazy hyperbolic stuff But he doesn't actually do anything In 28 years in the house. He has never chaired a committee Uh, he only chaired he's uh often chairs like um subcommittees and appropriations and largely because His single biggest donors are all in the military industrial complex. His biggest donors Lockheed martin He takes in just scads of cash from defense contractors So of course he's voted for every single use of force and for a whole range of deeply authoritarian stuff like um warrantless wiretapping of american citizens I mean just crazy stuff But he doesn't actually do anything to help the economy out here In fact quite the opposite his background before he got into congress Was real estate and he has continued to make millions in congress by Knowing something was going to be done by the government buying a chunk of land and then flipping it while doing nothing to it Which is just crazy. I mean it's deeply corrupt But he makes all kinds of cash off of of real estate So of course he's very cozy with with housing developments out here My community is filled with my districts fill with bedroom communities You know commuters that come out of like l.a. and orange county because we're right across the mountains from l.a. and orange county So the land is a bit cheaper out here and people move out here and then commute, right? So the traffic goes to the roof. We have the worst air quality in the state Because of the amount of traffic that the poor is in there with more than a third of the population have been commuted out for work And his big solution is to every now and then Secure a little bit of cash as a rider for like a new off ramp Look, I'm helping with traffic. I built a new off ramp. Meanwhile. He's benefiting from all the housing developments that come in it's just It's just inertia that keeps him in it's just the amount of money he can take in He's 98 funded by corporations That's insane and really, you know to sit there and not do anything to just Effectively occupy that seat and still get elected to be in congress for 28 years. I mean, this is why Congress has such a high disapproval rate. It's because of people like him. I mean, I'm sure he's not the only ghost There's a lot of people like that who are just basically warming that seat But it's time for people to wake up and stop just voting out of complacency I mean voting in and of itself is important because we have such a low turnout in this country But you know, if you're voting like make that count And that's what I think is really important about all of these types of grassroots funded campaigns like yours because you all Really focus on getting out new voters who haven't voted you mobilize people who stay home because they've never been never been talked to Like I speak with candidates and I'm sure this is true for you as well who People have told them you're the first candidate who's ever contacted me in my entire life Because nobody reaches out to me. The incumbent doesn't reach out to me. They don't hold town halls I don't know what I need. I mean a lot of the issues that we saw was with the cares act A lot of small businesses didn't know how to get access to the loans That were passed with that law and lawmakers theoretically should be helping them with that to boast about what they just did Delivered to their constituents and you see nothing So it's it's a combination of corruption But also laziness mostly corruption. I think but laziness as well and people like calvert They just they're part of the problem and it's nice to see him actually a little bit afraid. But to call you a terrorist I mean You know, if we thought that trump was being hyperbolic in calling, you know, joe biden basically a conservative A socialist to call you a terrorist is like That's so beyond the pale that I don't know how they make these types of arguments with a straight face And I don't know who this appeals to like the people in this district. There's no way that that's resonating with them Like have you seen anything? Yeah, I mean there is There is a It's not it's a majority for sure, but there is a pretty nativist And relatively extreme subset of the population that he's appealing to with some pretty bold dog whistles Yeah, I mean when the one where he called me well, he's not more than once but One of the ones where he called me a terrorist. He actually tied me to a local professor here works at uc riverside Riza aslan who's a a well-known scholar of religion and literally like me a scholar who studies these ideas and But because he has a muslim name We're both violent extremists who want to destroy the country and um, you know I you should be terrified that I know people like this. Are you kidding me? I mean it just But there are people who are genuinely afraid of that we have we have um, you know, there were um There was a when we had the black lives matter stuff was really starting to show up And there was a number of rallies in the area one of them And this is relatively small But there was a small rally in um in the northern part of the district in norco And people were just out marching with peaceful signs and a bunch of guys showed up in uh in in ss t-shirts You know like literally like the Yeah, that's like white supremacists type stuff and sort of like pushing people and you know trying to intimidate them That's a part of his base. It's not all of it It's it's not even a big part of it But it is a part of his base and he throws them red meat every now and then in order to keep them Excited and willing to vote in the same way that trump does Trump depends upon the votes of white supremacists, which is why he's so looked to call them out Um because you know, even though it's not clearly not majority of the country. They are voting for him So it is a it is a fact Yeah, and I'm sure that they're using the the fact that you're a college professor as part of their narrative because like Over the past like half decade. They've been trying to demonize college students for being sjw's and all these liberal professors And there's prager you to try to like Deconvert all of these people who are going to college and getting radicalized apparently So, I mean it's like they create this narrative But it's not founded in reality and it sucks that it still works on some people not everyone as you said But the fact that it has any legs whatsoever At least legs to convince people that is a little bit soul-crushing I'm not gonna lie But the fact that we are starting to you know make a little bit of progress in terms of like Getting people to think in a more common-sense way That is That is a good sign although I feel like progress isn't happening Fast enough the internet is the greatest like democratization of information ever You know it puts so much at our fingertips to like correct our ideas and instead We end up drifting off to the most inane websites, you know, like any monkey you can put up a website Again, people have just passed around the the craziest stuff. So it's basically given a lot of Really terrible conspiracies new life. Yeah, so yeah, it's just I'm apparently part of like this I don't know Jewish Bolshevik conspiracy to destroy America or whatever like they've got any It's crazy. It is it is Yeah, you know, I'm glad you brought up that point about the internet because I've made this point before too that like We as human beings for the first time ever have access to seemingly You know an infinite amount of information at our fingertips with our phones But what do we do? We go find our little like niche conspiratorial communities and we just like find other people who think About crazy things like us. It's frustrating But in terms of like what you would do If you get elected to congress, I have a question that's super broad But I always like to ask this Of people running for congress because there's no real playbook that's been written First of all, how have you been able to adapt? campaigning, you know from a pre-covid world into a Mid-covid world and second of all, what do you think it would take to actually Stop the spread of COVID-19 because a lot of people I think rightfully Expect us to deal with this for at least another year if not multiple years So how do you adapt right now as you know, someone who's campaigning and then when you actually get to congress What do we actually do that would stop COVID-19 put this behind us because it took I believe three years For the world to get over the Spanish flu Give or take so you know, are we looking at that type of a situation? I know this is super difficult for you to gauge but like I'm just curious as a lawmaker what you think you can do to accelerate, you know The mitigation of the spread of this virus Honestly, that is by far the easier part of the question This is not rocket science. This is not difficult countries all around the world have dealt with this I mean Taiwan had what less than half a dozen people die South Korea a little over 300 I mean even places that spiked massively like like Italy shot way up and then plateaued and fell And we continue to get worse and worse without really ever reigning this in And a good part of the reason is that we did not act quickly enough from the beginning And decisions taken by the federal government Forced the states to respond often with blunt measures like full shutdowns We could have dealt with this without ever having to shut down at all But instead of acting for several months the trump administration was focused on denying that there was a problem Instead, they should have pointed up a bunch of cash Given it to businesses to adapt their processes to do things safely And then convince the public to wear their damn masks If we had done that from the beginning This would not have spread the way it was did masks contact tracing proper Social distancing measures that would have been all we needed to do Instead they let it spread wildly around the country continue to deny it huge numbers of people still refuse to practice social distancing or mask wearing including the president and his administration, which we've just seen has had some Well delayed consequences, but it finally did hit close to home for them But it's just it's been deeply destructive to the country as a whole I mean we have almost a quarter of the world's deaths in the us With what four percent of the population? It's just insane This is this was mismanaged and it was mismanaged at the federal level and people are instead Deflecting and blaming the state so they want to attack the new york's government and california's government for Again these blunt measures that were only forced on them by by incompetence. It's not just the trump administration I blame congress for this overwhelmingly if congress had gotten it together and passed some kind of like Okay, think of the way a lot of these other countries did it we gave more unemployment insurance And a one-time stimulus check Well, that assumes a lot of people lose their jobs if you lose your job. It's hard to get another one Tons of jobs will be automated away or replaced afterwards It creates all kinds of trickle down costs for the businesses for individuals Most countries hit hard by this used wage subsidies They they simply paid for people to stay home or to work fewer hours the government stepped up and provided that cash So the businesses weren't hurt. We let a bunch of businesses go out of business We let millions of people lose their jobs. Both of those were completely preventable And our incumbent is a good part of that he likes to claim that he did something about it He actually voted against the oversight and the spending that would have helped a bunch of small businesses So he allowed a bunch of massive corporations and even megachurches Just rob the kitty and take that money that could have gone to mom and pop businesses in our district Okay, so this gets me really angry because 200 000 deaths and like the worst economic situation since the great depression was completely preventable um our campaign adapted pretty quickly I I have to say I'm I'm grateful to have um such a young and nimble campaign staff that we we saw the situation We shifted over to a digital infrastructure immediately and stopped doing in-person events. We started doing weekly town halls Through through zoom and then live streaming them to every possible platform so that hundreds of people could watch them on Whatever they had We started a whole lot more aggressive phone banking and text banking Everyone in the district has heard from us and we're another by now people. We don't have um phone numbers for they get postcards or whatever but we calling text banking emailing Tons of advertising and social media, you know, reaching out on radio everything that we possibly can to get our message out to people Even because we can't be out there knocking doors anymore or holding rallies So you don't get to see that but They still they can't escape. We're we're here at least if we'd had even a fraction of the cash that The incumbent sucks in from the military industrial complex This would have been no contest this this district is absolutely flip-able But it's hard to raise the money to compete with his television ads and whatnot. Yeah, I mean people Oftentimes they vote based on name recognition and who they know Which is why in you know these types of house races and even you know state house races The person who wins oftentimes is the individual with the most cash Although a sign of hope for me at least is the fact that we are seeing a lot more success with these types of grassroots campaigns Especially in this election cycle with customer shit, you know jamal bowman Uh, and that is really encouraging because before it seemed as if like these behemoths in congress Like there was no way you could defeat them. But now we're actually seeing, you know, they're not invincible It just is a matter of Doing the right things uh campaigning in the right way reaching out to enough people To flip it. So here's the thing before we get to um your pitch to viewers as to why they should definitely Donate and help volunteer I want to ask you a really big picture question that i've been thinking a lot about lately And I don't necessarily believe that there's a right or wrong answer to it specifically But like we really are at a strange time a dark time in american politics where we're seeing You know polarization that hasn't been this bad since the civil war We're seeing climate catastrophe, you know money in politics is A huge issue we see one party that's I mean so fanatical and off the spectrum that I don't think they're redeemable republicans, of course And then we see democrats who are just kind of following them to the right and there's been some gains You know, we've shifted the overton window a little bit back to the left with aoc and bernie sanders But there's still a lot that needs to be done And I feel like as a new member of congress you're going to have your work cut out for you So I want to ask you just in general What is Something that you think would actually solve all these problems like is it a one-size-fits-all solution Is it just like getting rid of capitalism or is it like a series of reforms like the new deal like in your opinion? What do you think Would put us back on track because I don't know what the Like the single answer to this is like i'm inclined to say, you know, if we reigned in capitalism Preferably abolished it in my opinion That would help but not necessarily Immediately there's just there's a lot. So I just kind of want to pick your brain about this because I feel like you Have probably thought about this as well Yeah, and actually it's a It's a relatively complex um answer because it's a complex problem So i'm only going to like scratch the surface here, right, right, but the key thing is uh, okay so you mentioned the question of like capitalism at all and Um abolished capitalism honestly just isn't a thing that That we can really realistically do but it can in the sense that we evolve toward these systems And we have all the way from them people forget that it took centuries for the current capitalist system to evolve Yeah, a little bit at a time incrementally it built up into its current shape someone didn't just come on say I have invented capitalism The world economy changed it's a very long term process and we are moving away from it a little bit at a time and I think one of the things that might help is Maybe a bit of a paradigm shift If we start thinking a little bit differently here because a lot of the terminology that we use Uh, especially when people throw around terms like capitalism and socialism, of course, you know Calvert is calling me a radical socialist whatever I don't use these terms Really either of them to think about the way I want to look at the economy because It's basically getting stuck in a 19th century argument that doesn't really fit where we're going We are um on the cusp. We're we're actively engaged in another industrial revolution right now And it is going to be a much more dramatic one even than uh than the last ones and the industrial revolutions are what gave us the fight between capitalism and socialism I mean the massive abuses in the first industrialization period led directly to the creation of so many radical alternatives But we're approaching a point where technologically at least we could have a post scarcity society between um automation and artificial intelligence and the biotech revolution and everything that's kind of Coming along the way in this century We really should be working, you know 20 hour weeks at best already And what frustrates me is that right-wing economists for two centuries kept saying that automation would keep decreasing the number of Hours we worked and improve our lives and hasn't I mean john stewart mill in early 19th century, uh john manard king's middle of the 20th century everyone's like yeah Yeah, we're gonna the biggest problem is going to be the rise of a leisure economy of people just sitting around doing nothing And instead we're working 50 60 hour weeks You know just to get by with tons of pointless bs jobs And that's deliberate we have to break that paradigm and get thinking about where we could go instead Ultimately a star trek future is possible But we have to change the way that we're thinking about this and stop playing out the old battles and falling into these old rhetorical traps Yeah, I like that one thing that I'd like to point to I guess, you know in terms like one thing that I could really do So new member of congress. What would I do? I'm gonna shake people up I'm gonna be one of those I'm gonna be the exact opposite of our current ghost representative I'm gonna be on the floor of the house making speeches and trying to show up on c-span I'm gonna be doing interviews in the media. I'm gonna be pushing the conversation and getting us talking about the fundamental issues And what we need to do to address this stuff so that we can head into a future that's better for americans Instead of one where every generation does worse. I don't want to see us falling steadily into ban a republic I mean we're literally I mean And this is one of the reasons that like Especially on the left like accelerationism bothers me If we tune out from the system if we don't get involved If we're not voting and pushing back against these terrible candidates and getting better people in there We will become an outright fascist dictatorship Yeah, the right in this country has already been thoroughly captured by the ideology of neo fascism It is what they're talking about. They're not conservatives anymore. They use the term conservatism conservative, but they're not Almost no one in the republican caucus in congress is a conservative anymore You know the ones who were have been retiring steadily over the last 15 years uh It has fundamentally changed and because of that If we are not paying attention if we are not focused on the future if we are not putting good people in This will become a dictatorship. Yeah. Yeah, and I always say that, you know, not every single democracy Lives forever, you know, we may have always known democracy In the united states, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to always exist And I really like that you said, you know a paradigm shift is what's needed because I feel like we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift like the fact that we're talking about These types of left-wing ideas even medicare for all on national television in and of itself I think is a signal that times are starting to change maybe just a little bit And so, you know, it's not just a matter of we we passed the bill through congress saying Capitalism is abolished like it doesn't work that way But I think that the way that you described it as, you know Almost like a pendulum where we swing back in the opposite direction, you know, because we've really moved away from The thinking that got us the new deal and you know back then I'm sure that Americans Felt the same way we feel right now Before you know the damn burst and the floodgates opened up and we got the new deal So I do feel like we are kind of on the verge Of a paradigm shift and I think that you saying that actually gives me hope in the fact that you'd be in congress fighting for that Fighting for a better world. I mean, I'm sold. I'm sold. Anyone who's watching I know is sold So what can we do to get you elected to congress? The election is coming up super fast. It's honestly scary Um, so what can we do with less than a month away to make sure you beat him? I would say we have to Overall both right now and in general be supporting campaigns like this one all across the country You mentioned the new deal. I mean democrats populists leftist used to be extremely popular all across this country We used to dominate farm country. We walked away from it because we don't talk about those issues anymore It's not like they were any less socially conservative, you know back then than they are now Same people but they but our issues resonated if we talk about them I'm going to talk about issues that do matter to people if we can amplify those messages We could win all across this country. What could work in this district can work in kansas, Nebraska Um, so yeah, I would encourage anybody this this late in the game There's not a whole lot left to do in terms of volunteering. Um, I mean we already Tons of people have been making calls and texts forever here So anything that you can do to support us because every dollar that goes in goes into our advertising budget You know, it gives it's more time that we can be on radio It's more time that we can hit people with social media ads get that name recognition out there And just one thing I mean it affects my race but literally all of them We have to get past this learned helplessness where you face someone who's got Ah, yeah, he can write a hundred thousand dollar check. I can't so There's nothing I can do right if you've got five bucks You can help the price of a coffee a month given to progressive campaigns across this country Especially running in these swing districts. This is how we change the country You put 200 squad members in there and anything is possible We can we can reorient this entire country in this economy and catch up to the rest of the rich world It just drives me nuts that we're in so instead of decline here So, yeah, my website is liamomera.org. Um, the most generically irish name ever L i a m o m a r a dot org Um, and then I'm super active on social media and whatnot So it's pretty easy to find like donation links more information on the issues If you want to reach out and contact us you can absolutely do that All right. Well, yeah, I'm fired up I love that you use the word learned helplessness because that is something that I feel like I'm even guilty of at sometimes where You know, there's a big race that comes up and we lose it We being the left and then I feel so deflated and then you just kind of feel like oh well The next one's gonna be bad and then we end up getting a victory surprisingly Like I love that like you are kind of like calling for a shift in the mindset of people on the left And I think that's super important Like I I agree we should never ever accept accelerationism because as much as people are demoralized and they want to see like a revolution We're a lot closer towards a fascist dictatorship than a socialist revolution So we need to keep pushing for a better world and candidates like you Like you drive that point home, which is why like this is so important. So I'm rooting for you You've got me sold. Uh, we'll be watching closely. Hope to have you back on when you are a member of congress. That'd be awesome Thank you. Thank you very much Well, that's all that I've got for you Thank you so much for tuning in if you've made it this far in the program special. Thanks to my guest Liam O'Mara Um, as usual We're not going to end the show without thanking all of our patreon paypal and youtube members For helping the show not just to survive but thrive as well And if youtube would like to support the show and get access to some of our content a little bit earlier You can do so by going to hubanusreport.com slash support patreon.com slash hubanus report or by clicking join Underneath any one of our youtube videos It is easy and you can see our videos before they go live on the community tab of your youtube page It's really um, I think an easy way for me to just quickly throw up some extra content that you get to watch You know a day or two early and you know, it's a little bit of a thank you for helping to keep us afloat So I appreciate you. Uh, but yeah, that's that's everything. I uh, I'm gonna bounce. I'll see you all next week I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am Mike figurado. This has been the humanist report. Take care everyone