Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar - 11/15/24: Andrew Yang GOES OFF On Democrats After Landslide Loss

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Krystal and Saagar are joined by Andrew Yang to discuss his reaction to the 2024 election.   To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: www.breakingpoints.com   Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. There are so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The murderer is still out there. Each week, I investigate a new case. If there is a case we should hear about, call 678-744-6145. Listen to Hell and Gone Murder Line on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game.

We gotta make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council.

Hey, guys. Ready or not, 2024 is here, and we here at Breaking Points are already thinking of ways we can up our game for this critical election. We rely on our premium subs to expand coverage, upgrade the studio, add staff, give you guys the best independent coverage that is possible. If you like what we're all about, it just means the absolute world to have your support. But enough with that. Let's get to the show. Very lucky this morning to be joined by the one and only Andrew Yang,

a man who scarcely needs an introduction, but for those who are not, you know. Especially to our audience. Of course, yeah. Former presidential candidate, and of course, co-chair of the Forward Party. It's always great to see you, Andrew. Good to see you, man.

It's great to be here. Wish it was under different circumstances. I take it we're going to be debriefing the Trump landslide. Yeah, well, I mean, you're one of those people who's in a position to say, hey, I told you so, because you got behind Dean Phillips, who was out there saying, listen, guys, Biden is too

old. Like, it doesn't have to be me. Just do something other than Joe Biden. How critical do you think it was that Biden stayed in the race for as long as he did? Joe Biden essentially delivered the White House back to Donald Trump by not getting out of the way in January. And full credit to Dean for risking his career. The Dems in true Demi fashion decided to malign him, primary him, get him out of the picture because they were more offended that someone was actually cutting the line than making the right case for the country. He was correct. Then Joe Biden ends up dropping out less than six months later. And it was a train wreck. If they'd had

a primary in January, you could have seen a very, very competitive ticket emerge. Let's call it Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer. You then have two of the three crucial swing states, probably in your column, you win Wisconsin and you win the whole thing, but we'll never know because instead it was Joe, Joe, Joe all the way. And if you can send some emotion in my voice, we should all be ticked off, particularly Dean Phillips, because Dean Phillips was right all along. Can I ask you just a little bit more about that, Andrew? Because, you know, there's been reporting that came out after Biden had that disastrous debate that was like donors had seen this was really not good. He had some meeting with congressional leaders like a long time ago where he couldn't finish his sentences. Nancy Pelosi had to jump in and then they just

stopped having those meetings altogether. So this had all happened before Dean jumped in and was saying, guys, come on, I'm pulling the alarm bell. Like you have to do something. So I just want to know behind the scenes, like what was going on? Were they in denial? They just thought that they could cover it up? What was the thought process behind the scenes, to the best of your knowledge? Oh, yeah, it was common knowledge. And there were people saying to Dean, I agree with you, I'm glad you're doing this,

but then they would be mum in public. And the truth is that the rank-and-file Dem officeholder cared more about their place in the totem pole than whether the party was on track to win in November. That's the disease of this current system is that, look, you know, I've got my career progression. I've got my entire jam. What happens to the country? What happens to the people, families, communities? A distant, distant secondary or tertiary consideration.

That is absolutely devastating. That is really. Andrew, I wanted to talk to you more about this loss and kind of where things go from here. What is your like, what is your theory of some of the different ways that the Democrats got it wrong? You know, I was joking that instead of calling themselves the Democrats, they should start calling themselves the selectors, because if you'd actually had a real competitive primary, you're not in this mess.

They still even had a chance to have a hurried primary when Joe dropped out in July. And instead, it was just the elevation of Kamala. I made a list of recommendations for the Democratic Party in Politico a few days ago that I say in the piece, they will totally ignore these. One of them is to make Dean Phillips the chair of the DNC as the only person who had the integrity to stake his career on what was right for the country. Another is apologize to Bernie Sanders for sandbagging him in 2016. In my opinion, if Bernie is the nominee, then Trump never becomes president in 2016. So there are a bunch of things that you'd hope that they would take from this, but you don't

actually have any optimism that they will. Because the dynamic I described before is that there are now various people jockeying to be the party's nominee in 28. And again, it's about them and their place in the party and not necessarily preventing this loss. You know, I mean, it was a landslide loss that, as my friend Dean Phillips said, was both predictable and preventable. Yeah, well, I think there's a few things I want to pick up on there from your comments. I want to come back to your assessment that Bernie would have won in 2016, because you and Bernie don't have exactly the same ideologies.

I'm curious about your analysis there, which, of course, I agree with, but I want to hear your perspective on that. But the one thing I wanted to ask you about first is, you know, it's also a real indictment of Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, these people who, you know, could have jumped into a Democratic primary and really forced the issue. And, yeah, they would have been—it would have been tough and people would have been mad at them and whatever. But if you've got the governor of California, the governor of Michigan, some actual heavy hitters in the Democratic primary, it makes it much more difficult to just effectively cancel the primary, which is what they truly did. Obviously, they had no debates. And on certain states, they just literally canceled the primary and blocked Marianne and Dean and Cenk and anyone else from getting on the ballot. So how much of an indictment do you see this as, you know, the people who are supposed to be the big star players coming up in the Democratic Party and their own career ambition and cowardice when it came down to it?

Yeah, it's not very presidential to just be like, oh, maybe I'll just wait until I have the blessing of the powers that be. And certainly Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker are well known to have had campaigns in waiting. But as someone who ran for president, guys, if you wait for the right time, there may never be a right time. You know what the right time is? The right time for the freaking country, not necessarily your professional prospects. Again, it's one reason why Dean Phillips has my eternal admiration, because he clearly did not have his professional, his political future in mind. And his career has been ended as a result politically, though you guys think that he could know, he could easily rise like a phoenix,

which he could because everyone now knows that. Over the past six years of making my true crime podcast, Hell and Gone, I've learned one thing. No town is too small for murder. I'm Katherine Townsend. I've received hundreds of messages from people across the country

begging for help with unsolved murders. I was calling about the murder of my husband at the cold case. I've never found her. And it haunts me to this day. The murderer is still out there. Every week on Hell and Gone Murder Line, I dig into a new case, bringing the skills I've learned as a journalist and private investigator to ask the questions no one else is asking.

Police really didn't care to even try. She was still somebody's mother. She was still somebody's daughter. She was still somebody's daughter. She was still somebody's sister. There's so many questions that we've never got any kind of answers for. If you have a case you'd like me to look into, call the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. Listen to Hell and Gone Murder Line on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero. She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people. Everyone thought they knew her, until they didn't.

I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was, you know, dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh. I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying. Listen to Deep Cover, The Truth About Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and six on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. He did the right thing, but that's unusual in American politics. We have a system that rewards cowardice and conformity and careerism and will punish courage. And that's one reason we're in this mess. Yeah. And Andrew, one of the things that you were originally, one of the ways a lot of people heard about you was from the Joe Rogan podcast. There's been a lot of Rogan discourse around this.

I know you've said that Kamala should have gone on Joe Rogan. But what do you think that the shunning of Rogan, not even just necessarily by the party, but even by Kamala Harris herself, what does that say about the Democratic loss that led to Donald Trump? No, when she didn't go on Rogan, I thought to myself, either they have a really big lead in their private polling, or this is a massive mistake. And one of the reasons why, in my view, the Democrats lost this race is that there has been this attack on people that are outside of their orthodoxy. And certainly, Joe Rogan has been mercilessly attacked. I've taken, you know, a couple of slings and arrows, like, who knows, they might even have hit you guys just for fun. Pretty much anyone who is like outside of the machine. And it turns out that most of us

are outside of the machine. But that doesn't mean that, you know, like to me, Joe Rogan would have been completely fair and inquisitive and open-minded if Kamala and Tim Walz had come on, it would have been a massive boost for their campaign. And the fact that they didn't come on to me again, speaks to the careerism and the risk aversion. You know, it's like you look at it and you think objectively, okay, if we're trying to win, you should do this. But let's not make any mistakes. Don't want anyone to look bad. That's a great way to lose.

Yeah, although, you know, I mean, to be honest with you, the more devastating point is that they may have actually made the right decision because I'm not sure that she does hold up well over the course of a two, three hour conversation. And when she had her weakest moments was actually when she was being asked just to talk about herself like, hey, who are you? What are your values? You know, it was like, oh, I didn't study for this one. So I'm not sure they actually made the wrong. You have a primary. Bingo. That's that's the real that's the real core of the problem. So true. But just to get back, you know, lastly, to your your analysis

that you think Bernie would have defeated Trump in 2016, the DNC should have moved Havana to block him from ascending to the Democratic nomination. You know, I have my analysis of why that could be the case. And of course, we'll never know for sure. But I am curious your thought process that leads you to that analysis. You know, one of the interesting things about having been a candidate in this context, Crystal, is, you know, there are times when a person and a campaign meets the moment. And Bernie was the person of the moment in 2016. He just had a ton of popular energy. I donated to him. I heard him speak, and I was like, oh, my gosh, this guy's spot on. I can't not donate. So I donated to Bernie's campaign in 2016. He just had the will of the people behind him.

And standing against him was the Clinton machine. And by the way, if you think about the 16 primary, it's like, why was it just Bernie and Hillary? It was because the word went out among the Dems. That's right. If you run against Hillary, we're going to shiv you. It's a career ender. You run against Joe, it's a career ender. We're going to shiv you. It's a career ender. You run against Joe. It's a career ender. We're going to shiv you. So Bernie was the only person, again, with the courage and patriotism

and principle and said, hang it. You guys can't intimidate me out of this. I'm going to run. And he had the will of the people. And then if you'd had him become the Democratic nominee, in my opinion, by the way, there are a lot of folks who migrated from Bernie to Trump over the last number of years. In large part because the energy is like, look, you're not an establishment tool. I'm into it. By the way, there were a bunch of Trumpers who supported me because everyone knows you would never send the magical Asian man from the future if you were of the machine. It's like pretty much if you're not of the machine, we'll take a look at you if you're a rank and file working class voter in this country, and Bernie had that.

Yeah, I remember doing monologues at the time about how much crossover support that you had amongst Trump supporters. I remember I had like 40% at one point. So as somebody who actually was able to get some Trump support, and clearly that didn't work out so well for the Democrats this time. At a structural level, not just with Dean, with the DNC, the consultants and all of that, what do you think should happen? They should be clean house and we should elect new leaders. Is it a primary process or is it even deeper? You've talked about third parties. Oh, I think it's deeper. And if you look at the numbers as the math guy, the Democrats will probably not have any chance to be competitive in the U.S. Senate in terms of holding the majority for the foreseeable future. Just there are more red states than blue states.

If you look at each map, it's tough. So if you are someone who wants any kind of real competition and dynamism and for our country to be able to solve some of these problems, you're going to need a different approach to politics. You had someone like Dan Osborne, who I hope you guys had on. Oh, we did. Dan Osborne put deep red Nebraska in play and ran 14 points ahead of Kamala in the state. You know, Evan McMullin did something similar in Utah. The fact is there are many, many races around the country

where people will not vote for either the Democrat or the Republican. And so you need a different approach. And that's what the Ford Party is making happen by backing independents and reform-minded people in each party. But this blue-red thing ends in acrimony, tears, problems not being solved, et cetera. And that's the math. Well, I love the idea of you getting behind future, like, Dan Osborne-style candidates because even though he came up a little short, I mean, to put Nebraska in play. Yeah, that's right.

He forced McConnell to spend millions there. That's right. And not to defend. He actually may have ended up saving Jackie Rosen, for example, because that forced Republicans to have to take that race seriously and come in with a bunch of cash, et cetera. So I think that's a really exciting and interesting model for the future. Andrew, just tell people where they can follow your work and your analysis. Sure. You can just go to Andrew Yang on most social media platforms, or you can go to

forwardparty.com and see what we're doing. We had 25 office holders win. We are the biggest third party in the country by resources, which I wish was saying more than it actually is. But hey, you know, we passed the Greens, the Libertarians. There you go. And we actually do have some really estimable people coming our way because everyone's fed up. Like, this system's not going to work. You need a viable third party and we're building it. Yeah. I mean, another big disappointment for me on election day was a bunch of the ranked choice voting ballot initiatives failed, which I think is really unfortunate

because I do think that's a key way to help to build strength outside of the two-party system. But we'll have you back to talk about all of that and the path forward there as well. Andrew, always great to see you. Good to see you, man. Thanks, guys. Great being here. Yeah, our pleasure. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on good company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi.

We dive into the competitive world of streaming. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. There are so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, The term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Over the years of making my true crime podcast, Hell and Gone, I've learned no town is too small for murder. I'm Katherine Townsend. I've heard from hundreds of people across the country with an unsolved murder in their community.

I was calling about the murder of my husband. The murderer is still out there. Each week, I investigate a new case. If there is a case we should hear about, call 678-744-6145. Listen to Hell and Gone Murder Line on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early.

Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them let's put ourselves in the right position pregame to greater things start building your retirement plan at thisispreetirement.org brought to you by AARP

and the Ad Council this is an iHeart Podcast