 In an interview with Fox News Senator Tom Cotton decided to talk about the further people act and Barney Sanders and He lied through his teeth I mean, he was blatant and shameless and it's so bad that you'd think he'd be a little bit afraid of how disingenuous He would come across Nonetheless, he didn't care and the claims he made were so outrageous that I feel like even a Fox News viewer should be able to identify them as Untruthful, but I mean regardless we'll watch what he had to say and then when we come back There's a lot that I want to say in regards to the segment and the Congress must address that in any and every way I mean, that's the that's the the really idiotic argument that he's making H01 nationalizes elections, but Joe Manchin is offering a memo of a halfway point make election day a holiday requires Require all states to give absentee ballots and partisanship gerrymandering require voter ID You saw the memo you saw the HR one. Where do you stand? Yeah Yeah, the Republicans don't have a plan to nationalize our elections Brian because we don't think we should nationalize their elections We trust our states and their counties and cities to run our elections And they've done a pretty good job of it for over 200 years, but that Bernie Sanders line I mean, I just got to say it's rich for a guy who honeymoon in the Soviet Union to be criticizing Republican governors and legislatures for undermining democracy I mean, he said he said an op-ed over the weekend that Republicans like me are trying to start a new Cold War With China, I guess he's still smarting from his loss in the first Cold War with Russia But this bill just to give you one example of how bad it is Would actually take your tax dollars and send them to Bernie Sanders and any other politician running for office To run their campaign. So think about that. Our Kansans would be subsidizing Bernie Sanders campaigns Yeah, I don't think many Americans want to see their tax dollars to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars Going to support political politicians who they oppose attacking politicians They support you also mentioned gerrymandering the process of rigging electoral districts This bill would allow Democratic operatives in all 50 states to draw district lines just like they have in places like Maryland and Illinois And it's all it's all built guys It's all built on a fabrication that Republican governors and legislators are somehow Suppressing the vote when in reality states like Georgia are actually passing laws that expand voting access compared to Democratic states like New York and Delaware All these states are doing is making it easy to vote but hard to cheat So I don't even know where to begin. There's a lot to unpack there, but I'll start with their use of the word nationalize When I think about the word nationalize You know it conjures up images of a government Taking control of a privately owned and operated business or entity of some sort But the way that they use the nationalize was was very unique will say they were saying well You know this for the people act is an attempt to nationalize elections now by The traditional definition of nationalize. I think that having the government own elections Is a good thing. Do you really want to outsource elections to private corporations? But it's because they were deliberately using nationalize in a really weird way And what they were saying was basically this is going to nationalize Elections to the extent that it lays out standards at the national level that applied all 50 states That's a little bit weird Just say these national standards are gonna apply to all 50 states and states are better at running elections than the federal government They could say something like that, but they did it and There's a really specific reason for that They deliberately used the word nationalize because they want to prime individuals who are watching Fox News to think about Socialism so if they use the word nationalize Then people will think oh for the people act This is nationalization and nationalization is oftentimes linked to socialism and socialism bad So therefore for the people act must be bad as well That's exactly what they're trying to do. It is incredibly disingenuous, but this tactic is effective Now when it comes to federal standards for elections, this is not anything that's new, right? States have control over elections and usually these are run at the local level, but there are federal standards that exist States and local governments can't just do whatever they want. So federal standards already exist. It's just that there will be more federal standards To make democracy stronger, but they don't like that and they can't really say What the for the people act is an actuality because if they just explained What it was to Fox News viewers in a good faith and accurate way then they'd probably support it So what do they do? They lie and they fear longer But the claims about the for the people acts perhaps weren't as outrageous as the claims that Tom Cotton made about Bernie Sanders Which to me we're just downright bizarre and stupid. So Tom Cotton said that Bernie Sanders line. I just got to say It's rich for a guy who honeymooned in the Soviet Union to be criticizing Republican governors and legislatures for undermining democracy wait so because Bernie Sanders Honeymooned in the Soviet Union automatically that assumes that he endorsed every single element of the Soviet government and the Soviet regime and especially He supported the authoritarianism. So since Bernie Sanders honeymooned in Soviet Union he is forever tainted. Is that really the logic that you want to use? So, I mean Tom Cotton. I'm sure he's been to Israel Here's a photograph of him shaking hands with the former prime minister of Israel So it's also true that even though Israel is an apartheid regime And I'm sure that he definitely endorses that being the fascist that he is but this regime also offers Guaranteed basic health care to every single citizen. They have a universal health care system. So since Tom Cotton Has been seen with the former prime minister of Israel He is automatically endorsing every single element of Israel's regime Including universal health care and since universal health care is linked to socialism According to Republicans then that must mean that Tom Cotton is also a socialist and since socialism is associated with the Soviet Union That also means that Tom Cotton must also embrace the authoritarianism that Bernie Sanders embraces I mean I'm being intentionally hyperbolic here, but this is the logic that he's using, right? It's like saying hey I saw you eating, you know a chocolate ice cream cone and since chocolate is the same color as shit You must like to eat feces like this is the level of logic that we're operating with here And he knows that it's disingenuous But I don't think that the average Fox News viewer who sees him say that is gonna put much thought into it He adds Bernie Sanders said in an op-ed over the weekend that Republicans like me are trying to start a new Cold War with China I guess he's still snorting I think that was the word that he used from his first loss in the Cold War with China So not only is he suggesting here that Bernie Sanders Embraces the authoritarianism of the Soviet regime, but Bernie Sanders also is a traitor That's correct during the Soviet years when Bernie Sanders was a public servant He was a mayor of Burlington, Vermont. He actually was more Of a supporter of the Soviet Union than the United States of America. He was a traitor That's the actual allegation that Tom Cotton is making here. It's I mean look, it's almost like I Give him credit for being so bold and confident, but yet wrong at the same time This is done in group in action, but This is a very very stupid sick burn It's it's idiotic Tom Cotton and I'm sorry But it is the case that it seems like Republicans and a lot of Democrats to be fair want a Cold War with Russia You keep ramping up the hawkish behavior. You're saber-rattling against China in some instances So I mean Bernie Sanders isn't wrong to point that out now Let's look at what he says about HR one what HR one would do and I'm gonna read the full quote because I think it's worthwhile It would take your tax dollars and send them to Bernie Sanders and any other politician running for office to run Their campaigns so think about it. Arkansas would be subsidizing Bernie Sanders campaign I don't think many Americans want to see their tax dollars to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars going to support politicians Who they oppose attacking politicians they support This is basically a really long and roundabout way of saying I support our current system of legalized bribes Because what he's trying to do is demonize public financing of elections Now I think that if he actually presented this to Fox News's audience in a straightforward and factual way They wouldn't agree with him. So what does he do? He tries to sell it in this really bad way We'll actually think about this Do you want your tax dollars to go to Bernie Sanders? When all you have to do is think about this longer than a few seconds and you realize how this is Objectively good if you care about democracy Taxes aren't just going to subsidize the campaigns of people who Republicans don't like It's also going to subsidize the campaigns of folks like Marjorie Green and even fascists like Tom Kahn You see the way that elections work in America where you've basically commodified our democracy is You have a higher chance of getting elected if you have more money So politicians have this incentive to go to billionaires, right? Go to these giant Funders who could give them millions of dollars donate all that at once to their super PAC And then they have a greater likelihood of of winning their election But what the for the people act would do is offer matching funds So that way if you are an average citizen and you donate $25 to a politician Well, that's gonna be matched. So it would be a $50 donation So this further incentivizes politicians to actually get grassroots funding for their campaigns And if you do this corrupt fools like Tom Cotton wouldn't have to beg the Koch brothers for money I mean, there's a reason why a 2014 Princeton University study found that policy outcomes don't reflect the will of normal Americans They reflect at the will of business elites and special interests and that's because of the fundraising model It's legalized bribery effectively and what the for the people act does is even the playing field make normal Americans more Competitive with the oligarchs in America now. It's not perfect because this matching funds Claws in the for the people act does exclude third-party Candidates, but passing the for the people act wouldn't make third-party candidates any less likely to get elected than they are now We need electoral reform, but that's a different story for a different day long story short What it would do is it would incentivize grassroots donations by offering publicly matching funds Tom Cotton knows that if he just said this is what it would do Republicans would probably even support that because most Americans know that money is an issue in American politics But again, he doesn't want them to support it So he's trying to poison the well and then he tells them what it is. It's just it's such if I were a Republican and I Found out the way that they lied to me. I would be so furious, right? Just present them with the details present Fox News's audience with the details as they are objectively So give them the facts and let them make the decision But Tom Cotton knows that if he actually told folks what the for the people act was they'd likely support it So this is why he has to lie. He's insulting your intelligence. If you're a Republican, do you stand for this now? He also says here That gerrymandering is the process of rigging electoral politics This bill would allow Democratic Operatives in all 50 states to draw district lines just like they have in places like Maryland now this right here is a Blame lie. He's just straight-up lying So gerrymandering is a thing that happens Mostly Republicans engage in it Democrats also do but Republicans are far more egregious I mean just Google what Dan Crenshaw's district looks like and that is the perfect example of gerrymandering But it would outsource the redrawing of district lines to Independent commissions so they redraw district lines in a non-partisan way This actually would even the playing field but what he's saying is actually this is gonna give Democrats more power No, that's a lie But Tom Cotton doesn't want independent commissions to redraw district lines because he wants Republicans to actually be able to do What he said? Rig the process right redraw district lines to turn Republican seats into safe seats across the country and give them a Better chance of getting elected in the house. It's just he keeps lying and It's so frustrating to watch this because his lies are so transparent like even if you don't know about the details of before the people act With how purposefully hyperbolic he's being like the average viewer should be able to see through him Should be able to notice that this guy like the things that he's saying they seem a little bit out there, right? There's got to be more to the story He's got to be lying to me But Fox News viewers are global and they likely eat that shit up and it's frustrating This is why people in America are so stupid because they get misinformed and lied to by politicians and news networks We're supposed to actually be giving them the details the facts But I mean we saw the way that he misrepresented Bernie Sanders and the for the people act Bernie being in Russia means He is a traitor to America. He supports authoritarianism and wanting to have independent commissions redraw district lines That is tantamount to Democrats wanting to rig elections It's just he's a liar and he should be ashamed of himself But he has no shame because this individual is deeply authoritarian himself So he doesn't care about how uninformed he's making people he just cares about the outcome right the ends justify the means