I've Had It - Death of Centrism with Gov. JB Pritzker

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker takes a break from fighting Trump's American Gestapo to tell us what he's had it with.Get tickets to see I've Had It LIVE in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 1st: https://linktr.ee/ivehaditpodcast.Thank you to our sponsors:CashApp: Download Cash App Today:  https://click.cash.app/ui6m/qww6k9m2 #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Direct deposit and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.This episode is brought to you by Booking.com: Find exactly what you’re booking for. Booking.com, Booking.YEAH! Book today on the site, https://booking.com, or in the app.Follow Us:I've Had It Podcast: @IvehaditpodcastJennifer Welch: @mizzwelchAngie "Pumps" Sullivan: @pumpspumpspumpsSpecial Guest: Gov. JB Pritzker: @govpritzkerSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

So are we supposed to start the podcast? Ready, one, two, three. Patriots, gay triots, they triots, black triots, brown triots, and anybody who still supports MAGA can do web pumps. Fuck! Just a little toss up there. Okay, what I've had it with is customer service that isn't really not customer service. When I'm trying to figure out something and I can't figure it out on the internet, which I know I'm not the best on the internet, but I'm slightly competent, slightly above competent. So I call the customer service line.

I explain what the problem is after waiting for, you know, hours on end, but whatever. And then they tell me, oh, I can't help you with that. You have to do that online or you have to do that through. the app. I'm like, bitch, if I could do it through the app, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And I just think, part of it I understand as me, but why not just have customer service that says, hello, this is customer service. We really can't help you. We only have AI to offer. So go to the app. And if you can't do it, shove it up your ass. That would at least be honest. I can at least say, okay, well, then I'm just fucked. I have to call Kylie.

But no, I go through all the rigmarole for them, the person to tell me the computer has to do it. I've had it. I completely agree. And sadly, Pumps, this is going to become more and more and more and more the norm to where I think the AI robot, based on the people who are funding them, like all of these assholes, like Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, their bots are probably going to say, work with me or go fuck yourself. And again, you know, we're pretty tough broads. There's a little bit of that direct nature that we can appreciate. But the disconnectedness that we, that's happening because of all of these modern technological advancements, it's just trickling into every facet of our lives. And y'all know I recently moved from Oklahoma City to New York. Living in Oklahoma City, you live a very

isolated life. You're in your house, you're at work, or in your car. When you live in a big city, you're out among people a lot. So you feel kind of a connectedness to humanity. So I especially worry about these non-walkable cities in the onslaught of AI, how isolated they're going to feel and detached from if you can't even get somebody on the phone. Well, here's the deal. I've to my kids try to talk on the phone before when they were younger like in high school. And I was just like, you can't even talk on the phone. Like my youngest was trying to order a pizza. And I was just like, you can't even talk to order a pizza.

I want a pepperoni pizza, thin crust, that's it. It was painful. So the isolation, the lack of being able to talk to somebody is really really. like until I heard him in action trying to talk on the phone I didn't realize how bad it had gotten no it's true it I think we've we've done this before Kylie's put this up before the stats about the anxiety that Gen Z has about like calling to make a dental appointment like that there's just anxiety regarding that because they they're a complete online generation and I'm not knocking Gen Z you are a

product of the world that you were raised in and you were raised with these devices in your hand and you can go online and just book something. And I can always tell I'm dealing with a boomer or a Gen Xer because if I send somebody a text and I need a response and the response is somewhat complicated, the Gen Xer or the boomer will immediately call and go, hey, got your text. Right. It's too much. My response is too long to text back.

Here's the gist of it. And you go through a formal conversation about the aforementioned question. If it's a millennial and especially a a Gen Z, they've got all day. I mean, their thumbs are going to burn a thousand calories, sorting through that problem. You know, so that generation might be more primed to communicate with the robots, but the underlying loss of connectedness, it's a real problem. And when you think about people that live in rural towns or suburban cities, because, you know,

you live in suburbia, you go from wherever your office is, through your driveway, through your garage, and then back through your garage. There's hardly any interaction with human beings. And so I think it's something we have to, I don't know, we'll just add to the list. Right. I mean, these would be problems if we weren't fighting fascism. This would be something that we could really spend time on. They're connected. But they're connected. But the oligarchs that are supporting Trump that want to do away with democracy or the same AI guys who are, it's not the immigrants that are coming to take your jobs, America. It's the robots.

That's who's coming. Elon Musk, Sam Altman, neutered, Scott Zuckerberg, et cetera. Okay. I have something I've got to share with you and Kylie that I've waited so that I could share it with you all so the listener could hear your reactions for the first time. Okay. Kylie, you can go ahead and come in early. There she is.

We'll get to that introducing her in the America's Top DEI podcast momentarily. So in lieu of giving a grievance, I'm going to share with you all a story that happened to me about five days ago. So I was at Madison Square Park in New York City. I was assaulted and robbed. What? Yeah. So I'm standing in the dog park of Madison Square Park. and I took my dogs leashes off so they could freely run and we go on the big dog side

because you have to be 30 pounds plus to go to the big dog side. Tubby's 31 pounds. Chah Chah is a little heavy right now, heavier now than I think she would like. She's 33 pounds. So I'm standing in there and somebody comes and just pushes me on my back. And I keep trying to turn to see who it is. but I'm kind of like stuck. Finally, I get a glimpse,

and I'm being assaulted by a black Labrador retriever who has his eyes locked on my hood. I have a long-down furry coat. Not for a long-down coat. The hood of the coat is the nylon puff, but it has a faux fur hood around it. This black lab has his jaws on the hood. And the reason I can't turn around is because his paws are mounted up on my hips.

Like he's about to RAP, right, E. So he's kind of mounted up like that. But he's got his jaws on the head. And he's going like this, like right left, right left, right left. And I'm like, oh my God. Oh my God. My dogs are barking. My dogs are going crazy.

And the dog finally, he's so tenacious. He rips the hood off my jacket. You guys, it is freezing. I'm talking like teen. like maybe 12 degrees or something insane. So I'm all bundled up in this coat. Then this dog that just assaulted me and stole my hood goes on a 30 minute victory lap with my hood in his mouth. So proud of himself parading around his thieving ways to everybody in the dog park.

Everybody now, I've got 10 people involved with trying to get the hood back. Right. from the criminal black lab and the dog owner is like he's kind of like casual about it he's like i am sorry about that and i'm like he just screwed up my whole coat like yeah like doesn't even so finally we all hunt this dog down to get the head back and here's the cherry on the top his dog took a shit in the dog park and he did not even clean up his dog's shit what he should be He is a bad pet owner and I put the majority of this, not on the black lab, but on the pet owner, because you need to be aware when you were going to the dog park.

Is your dog a klepto? Is your dog a kleptomaniac? If he is, then maybe he needs training so he doesn't go crime in the dog park. Maybe we shouldn't have dogs that like to steal the hoods off of a woman's coat. Now granted, listen. I've got a really strong core. So I was able to take the assault and kind of lock in, you know, without getting knocked over because I bet the dog was probably 120 pounds.

But with my tennis and pickleball athleticism, I was able to kind of take the assault and hold it. And then he ripped the hood off. And I was even chasing him down with the others. But it was, is that not utterly insane? I think I was just kind of lackluster apology. That is a whole conversation, but I just want to say one thing. I really hate to give it to you.

I mean, this, this is painful for me. Like my insides are rotting. But the first thing I thought was, thank God she works out all the time that she could withstand the assault. Where the brain goes. Yeah. I mean, fuck that. So anyway, I hate saying that.

That was just like vinegar coming out of my head. I know. Thanks, Captain Obvious. Those of you listening, I just gave her the bird. Okay. So did it rip your, is that a snap on hood or did it ruin your whole food? Zip. Zip hood.

So, you know, if you live in New York, you have to have degrees of coats. Like you could, so this was the, it has a hood, a faux fur little thing around it, black quilted down all the way down to my ankles. Like this is the coldest of the cold, but. But being the pet owner that I am, you know, much like the United States Postal Service, through rain, snow, sleet, or shine, those dogs were going to go at the dog park. You're a math. Put off my hip.

So it's a zip on coat, which I'd never unzipped it because it's so cute. It has this little faux fur hood. It kind of makes the whole jacket because those jackets are not that cute because they're like big giant trash bags, right? But the hood really gives it a little, obviously this black lab noticed how attractive the hood was notice the athleticism underneath the jacket that I could withstand such an assault and but now I was completely assaulted and robbed by a black lap okay then there's the he was a big boy don't they have the bags at the dog yes okay okay so that like the other day

i took my dogs in separate instead of all together and i forgot a bag with blaze and of course he's ginormous so it was this ginormous so i had to get walk home and then walk back to pick it up so it's just inexcusable that they left the the guy left the dog shit i mean that's do want to hear the worst part what so the dog is assaulting me and i'm like hey hey my little my dogs are like right right right you know they're not protective i'm like hey hey and i'm looking around and then finally i see the owner and he's on his phone And I'm like, dude, your dog just stole my hood. Did you have to tell him?

I'll call it. Yes. And then the dog, so this dog park has these like hills with like astroturf, right? And in the, there's a small dog side and a big dog side. On the big dog side, the hill is really big. So this dog was so proud of his acquisition, his kleptomania, that he runs to the top of the hill and he just runs, keeps running back and forth. And a human, like, it's pretty steep to get us.

like the line yes it's like it's like a really steep hill that there's like a plateau at the top and it's probably about 20 feet long or maybe 15 feet long and he's just going like back and forth and all of these people so in the throes of all this he runs down at one point drops the poop and then runs right back up like it was such a i was so impressed at the poop it was like down drop right back up on the hill right but i know who did it Yeah. Are we giving the owner credit that maybe didn't see it? No, absolutely not.

That owner is getting zero credit. Number one. And then the motherfucker, I would have, first of all, we all know I have problems with Ollie that he has had to go to several trainers and he just got back from trainer boarding school. It's doing so well, by the way. But I cannot imagine that I would have not been like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Is your jacket okay? Offered to Venmo to pay for the jacket. I cannot believe

the guy was sitting on his phone. I would be so pissed. That would have pissed me off worse than the dog. Finally, this other guy that's at the dog park whose dog was very well behaved, was not a kleptomaniac. Retrieves the hood. And so he gives it to me and I can tell that the zipper is completely blown. And he goes here, I go, oh, dang. it the zipper's completely blown i guess i can take it to a tailor or something get it fixed it's not something you want to go it's not a fun purchase you know the arctic all over down puffer right it's not something's like oh great i get to go get a new trash bag puffer um that hides you know any cute outfit you have on or anything and so he goes it broke and i go did you not see your dog

rip it off like i mean the dog was like like the dog thought it was some sort of rat or squirrel or, you know, like toy. That's neglect. That's neglect on the parents part, I think. I mean, not noticing. I have a confession to make to you and the listener. I do not clean up Judy's poop ever. In New York City?

Yeah. You can't do that. You can't. Why should you get a ticket? A ticket. Well, there's like these two park, like small squares with a tree, right? Where it's like grass.

Right. And if someone's walking by, I kind of just hide her behind the tree and let her do it right there. That's what I've been doing. And you leave the poop? Yeah. My girlfriend's looking at me so mad that I'm admitting this right now. Why?

Why do you do that? I'm not used to having to clean it up. I never have a bag. Bad, I mean, is that just bad citizenry? Yeah. Yeah. Everything. It's indefensible. Yeah.

It's indefensible. I think that you and the owner of the Black Lab could start a group. Negligent parent. Negligent head owner group. Yeah. You don't want Judy to get a reputation as the dog in the neighborhood that shits everywhere because people will blame Judy when it's your fault. And not having a bag is not an excuse. I know.

Then just carry Kleenex. if it's so tiny. Kylie, it's inexcusable. You need to go buy a dog bag thing. You can put it on your leash. You need to clean up. It doesn't matter if anybody sees it. It doesn't matter where it.

You have to do that because you care about your dog, yourself, public spaces, and other people. It's just an inexcusable situation. Do not edit this out. I will watch this episode to make sure this isn't. Welcome to I've had it. I'm Jennifer. I'm Angie. And that's Kylie, the person who allows her dog to just shit all over New York City and doesn't clean it up.

Yeah. I mean, it's worse that it's New York City, I think. All right. Welcome to America's Top DEI podcast. Kylie quit going out of the room. Right. Why are you hiding? Are you embarrassed?

She's embarrassed about the poop situation. Kylie, what's going on on the World Wide Web? Okay. I've got a news story that some listeners have been sharing with me that I think you guys are really going to like. It says, this man is going viral for teaching crows how to attack MAGA hats. And if you dig into the article, it says, a man's unusual form of political protests has taken the internet by storm. After months of patience, peanuts, and persistence, one crow enthusiast claims he successfully

trained local crows to target MAGA hats. The project was documented online. It sparked praise, outrage, and ethical debate in equal measure. And then this is a quote from him. His name is Dave. And the headline says, why did Dave say centrism was no longer a moral option? And it says,

Dave was candid about the motivation behind his actions. I tried to be a centrist for a long time, but I no longer believe that it is a moral option. He admitted. That shift in mindset, he said, pushed him toward what he described as this form of absurd resistance. Five stars for Dave. That's fucking brilliant.

The turn, the training the crows is fantastic, but the turn to have the political depth to identify centrism as such a cancer of incrementality in this country is wow. Like, because that's really the great awakening that's happening right now in this country is people are realizing these are not political differences. These are moral differences. When somebody says they're a MAGA supporter, I don't see anything, any of our disagreements is political. For me, they are moral. We're morally different people. They're morally bankrupt. And I'm trying to fight for the marginalized to try to use my white socioeconomic positioning for good to fight for a better country, to fight for my children to have a better place.

But most importantly, to fight for the kids that nobody fights. for. Right. And MAGA wants to bully those, those people. And they like it. They like recreational cruelty. Yeah, I, I completely agree with that. And I do think that when you've got a guy that is so persistent in teaching a crow to attack a red MAGA hat, I mean, obviously just red hats, but I think maybe Trump's craziness is awakening people in ways that we haven't even seen. I mean, people are starting to really be frustrated with both sides for the both side isms. And this is just kind of a brilliant move, I think. Yeah, and I would argue there aren't both sides.

I would, yeah, that there is the side that is anti-democracy pro-death. Right. Pro the erosion of civil liberties. And then there's the side that is for democracy, for the Constitution, for civil liberties. But the fact that he pinpoint centrism as being such a culprit, such a dark passenger with fascism is so spot on because that's the message that I've been trying to beat on here as I've had my own political awakening. That centrism is complacency. Centrism is appeasement. You either believe in supporting LGBTQ plus people and you believe in it wholeheartedly or you believe in it wholeheartedly or you believe.

in supporting anti-racism and are black Americans and you believe it wholeheartedly and you're not, I just feel like both sides are so extreme. Fuck off. One side wants pronouns. The other side wants to shoot lesbians. Right. Murder them. There's that's a false equivalency to try to claim that somebody puts a pro pronouns in their

Instagram led you to feel like it's okay for lesbians to get shot and then called a fucking bitch in Minnesota. Yeah, no, it's inexcusable. The both sides, I feel like it's part of the decline that nobody would call out bullshit from the beginning. Like we should have never gotten here. I mean, there's a million factors. I'm not pinpointing on that, but it's like there's not both sides to banning books, you know,

separation of church and state. These are, these are black and white issues. All right. Kylie, do we have time for one more before a guest? I've got one more. Okay. This says cruise line offers... No.

Go ahead. Cruise line offers four-year trip for Americans that want to skip Trump's term. And it goes on to say, some people are choosing the ocean over four years of politics. A Florida-based cruise company called Villa Vue Residences is offering a four-year global voyage aimed at Americans who want to live abroad. during a potential second Trump presidency, which we are in now. The program allows passengers to reside on the cruise ship while traveling to hundreds of ports around the world, and they get to skip the four years that we're currently living in right now.

I thought when I first saw that picture up that it was a mega-fuss. That's why I spoiled so badly. I just thought, could you imagine, like, as a non-religious person, if somebody were to say, describe, like, hell on earth. I think it would be a cruise. Right. Where everybody on it is MAGA with like really horrible cover bands, all you can eat buffets, lots of group activities, lots of MAGA hats, lots of MAGA coated merch with the Eagles

and grenades. And I'm a big boy and I wear big boy grenade T-shirts and Charlie Kirk type stuff. And then at night, they were dressed like Erica Kirk, aka Tammy Faye Baker, for those of you that remember what she was like, that would be hell. I don't think I could. And you're out at sea with these people. I think I would just go right to the front of the boat. And I would do the most gorgeous swan dive.

I mean, gorgeous. And I would just end it right there. That would be the end for me. That would be a hostage situation. If you found out I was on a cruise ship, it would be hostage. it's situation, Magger or not. I just, I don't like that many people that I can't get away from. Like, I'd have to jump off to get away from people. No, thanks. Okay. We have a great guest today. Pumson and I met him at the DNC. This man is every bit as lovely off camera and personable and

conversational as he is on camera. He is the real deal. We are proud to have on, I've had it again, the got the 43rd governor of Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker. A Christmas miracle has taken place. So we decided to go do a live show in Atlanta on January 31st. And we were for sure like the ticket sales are going to be lacklester. Nobody's going to become, I'll be damned if it didn't sell out in like a couple of days. So the organizer was like, you should do another date. And I'm like, it's a pretty big, pretty big ass.

Pretty big a half for two old broads like us. Right. So we added an additional day. Ticket sales, we're getting about close to halfway February 1st, center stage in Atlanta. And it is also a matinee because we are going to normalize matinees. We're going to normalize a reasonable start time. We're not going to start a show at 8 or 9 p.m. No. And you're going to pass bedtime. Wake up the next day feeling hungover, strung out. Why did I hang out with all of these radical leftist, anti-fascists? We're not going to do that. because we're pro matinee, we're pro-democracy, we're anti-Maga, and we're anti-fascists. Come see us, it's going to be so fun. I love getting together at a live show with all of the people. It's such a community. This episode of I've had it is brought to you by booking.com.

Listener, booking.com offers a wide variety and array of hotels and vacation rentals across the U.S. So you can find exactly what you're booking for. There's something for everyone, even those who are impossible to please. Let me give you a prime example of this. My family, my husband, my two sons, I do not want to share a bathroom with them when I travel with them. We recently went to Los Angeles and I was looking for two hotel rooms where the boys have two beds and their own bathroom. My husband and I have our own bedroom, one bed with a bathroom and then an additional powder bath because I just don't want to share space with messy boys. Because booking.com is so easy to navigate and so easy to use, I found exactly what I was booking for.

Whether you're booking for yourself, your partner, your picky teens, your sleeplight, rise early mom, or your high-maintenance group chat, you can find exactly what you're booking for. Find exactly what you're booking for. Booking.com. Booking. Yeah. Book today on the site or in the app. Gosh, it's America's favorite governor, J.B. Pritzker. You guys are America's favorite. I'm just lucky to be here. No, we're so excited to have you. We've been dying to have you back. We had so much fun with you at the DNC. I mean, this is a fun, fun dude. Everybody needs to know. Well, you guys, how are you today? Very kind. You know what? I really, I'm, how am I? You know, people have asked me that it's like every day is a blessing is all I can think of to say.

It's, you know, it's been challenging. I've been asked, is this like COVID, you know, the moment that we're in? Is it like every day, you know, the challenges that we face? And the answer is I think it's maybe slightly worse than COVID, even though obviously people were dying in the United States and droves because of what Donald Trump was doing with regard to COVID. But it's a really challenging moment. But anyway, that's a longer answer you were looking for. I'm personally fine. My family seems healthy.

And, you know, but the question is, what more can we do to protect people? All right, Governor. What have you had it with? Oh, well, so many things, Jennifer. Let's start with. I don't know about you, but I, you know, I do like a Google search. for something. I just, you know, don't know I'm looking for something. Recently, it was the Packers Bears game and I was looking for a cheese grater hat. So I did a search on Google and now I'm being

delivered all kinds of ads selling me cheese graters. And like I'm so sick of that happening. And I guess the other thing that's been bothering me is I don't know how many streaming services you're paying for, but it feels like I'm paying for about 47 of them and I still can't find content. Right. So that's annoying the heck out of me. So that I've had it with that. Those are both excellent grievances. Yeah, the streaming deal, I don't know if it's just we've become so spoiled,

but I'll watch a show for one or two episodes that I, you know, 10 years ago I would have pushed through till the end, but I'm like, I don't really like it. So I think we, we have oversaturation and I have all these channels. And so I never can really commit to anything. All I can say is I'm now going back and looking at stuff. that came out 10 and 15 years ago to find content that I just missed back then. And I'm finding it, I have to say, occasionally.

But I must say, I feel like every time I'm paying my bills and I've got, you know, another $6.99 or $14 a month, you know. And it's, it feels like cable was a lot cheaper. Yeah. So I want to go back. Yeah. Your story about targeted ads reminds me of one of my favorite MAGA influencer stories. And we're going to just gossip politically with you a little bit because it's Trump's second term.

Who cares, right? So Benny Johnson, a big MAGA warrior, right? And he is a big podcaster. I mean, whatever Trump says, you know, he's a part of that MAGA hive mind. Well, he screenshots one day that he was being targeted. targeted by gay cruises, a targeted ad. And he screenshots it like, the gays are after me everywhere. And then people were like, hey, bro, that's a targeted ad based off of your Google searches.

So he self-owned, which is such the perfect story that encapsulates the faux masculinity of this MAGA movement. Absolutely. And, you know, I remember many years ago and I worked in Congress. I was a kid in my 20s. And I remember there was a congressman who was railing against the LGBTQ community on the floor of the house. And it was day in and day out and, you know, calling it evil and, you know, just really going after people. And then a few months later it turned out, oh, no, he's gay. Right.

Right. You know, so that that reminds me that whenever you hear anybody really loudly condemning something, this is very true of Donald Trump, I might add. It is often the case that when he is attacking somebody on some basis, it's usually because what he's saying is really about him. Right. Totally. Okay. Governor, let's just, I'm going to ask you, do you think you might run for president?

Oh, you went right at it, Jennifer. Yeah, let's just go. Let's get right to the not coming. Look, I'm flattered. I am that people have talked about it. And I honestly have not been able to answer that question because I, I don't know. I'm running for reelection as governor, and it's an unusual thing because in Illinois, anyway, even though we have no limits on the number of terms that you can serve, it's very

unusual for anybody to run for a third term as governor. I think I would be the second person ever to do that. So I'm focused on winning reelection for that, but I don't want to give too many words around it except to say that I am deeply concerned about what's happening to the country, and I'm doing everything I can with the platform that I have to speak out about it. Indeed, I would say that a lot of, maybe you heard about a year ago. I think it got a lot of national play when I talked about defending Illinois and the fact that we're living in a world that looks a whole lot like the early 30s in Germany. And, you know, people on the right, you know, attacked me and said, how dare you? How dare you? People on the left were quiet and didn't back it up. Now, what do you know, you know, 12 months later, well, a lot more people anyway among Democrats are saying, yeah, this feels like Germany in the 1930s. And of course, Republicans just won't own it. But look, I'm about defending my state and defending the country and doing everything that I can in my power. I grew up.

up believing that that's an obligation that we all have defending democracy, defending this country, and especially defending it against attacks on civil rights and human rights. Let me ask you a question. You were one of the first people that I saw in a prominent position to go after Trump's cognitive decline and his cognitive health. And as we sit here and we see that he's still blubbering about the Nobel Peace Prize and is willing to sacrifice alliances, you know, NATO alliances. Do you think that speaks to his cognitive decline? Or is it just his rabid narcissism, in your opinion?

Well, it is hard to separate all those things. I mean, you know, dementia, Don was on all on Twitter all last night. attacking on the subject of Greenland, everybody that he could think of. And of course, he's, what is his obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize? He's never going to win it because, honestly, although he says he's stopped all these wars, he started more wars and made tensions in the world much worse than they were. So, but I guess he's just desperate to be recognized for something. And, but I do think there is something wrong with him. I mean, I, I think it's clear when he attacks people, it's like eighth grade.

You know, the bully is attacking others for, you know, what they themselves are weak about. And that's who Donald Trump is. So I don't know. It's hard to separate narcissism from his dementia. And then I, you know, he has all these people around him who won't stop him from saying these things or acting upon them. And, you know, I remember thinking, I won't. I wonder back in 2020 if Michael Flynn is unusual, you know, in having somebody around him who's encouraging to do all these terrible anti-democratic things.

But now it seems like he's just filled his entire White House and cabinet with totally. Yeah. I think we can say that he is a malignant narcissist with dementia surrounded by sycophants. And that would just be the best thesis sentence for what we're experiencing. But I say this a lot on our podcast that what they're doing, what MAG is doing, I expect it. I do not expect them to stand up for the rule of law. They are the party of crime and disorder, as shown by the pardons from the January 6th insurrection. It's not a meritocracy like they claim.

It is a shakedown to end all shakedowns. They are eroding every pillar of democracy that we have. So that's going to happen all day, every day until either he drops dead or, you know, the Democrats win the midterms or 2028. So that's, we could talk about that ad nauseum. But what we can change and what we can talk about is our party and the resistance. And I think it's more productive to talk about that right now. And I feel like governors have really led the resistance.

You have really been in an executive position where. you have really gone after him with the with the things that I think are required. You know, rule of law type talk, but also some personal insults, which is what I kind of called dark woke, not this snowflake woke anymore, but dark woke. And you really have encapsulated that. But moving forward, and I know you don't know if you're going to run for 28 or not, I think that's fair. Because who knows what they're going to do tomorrow, much less 2028 with this, you know,

with this guy. We could be at war with Greenland tomorrow. But I think there's a conversation about our party that we need to have. And this is a long question, but bear with me. I've noticed that the base of the party is undergoing an awakening, where they are very upset with corporate Dems that are beholden by the same corporations that these MAGA politicians are beholden to. And I feel like the establishment governing class hasn't clued into that or is in denial about it.

And so I want to ask you what your thoughts are on that. And then I want to ask you about three questions that I think are going to be central to whoever the nominees or any primaries or any campaigns going on in the future. So what are your thoughts about the base of the party with the governing class? Not you. You're an exception. And you're doing a great job. I want to start by saying that although we have things to say, sort out within our party for sure that I also want us all to recognize that we've always had a

spectrum of folks within the Democratic coalition and as part of the party. So I just want to forgive a little people who have slightly different views on one thing or another. I don't think there's going to be one doctrine that everybody's grabbing onto. Having said that, I really believe that, you know, we live in a world right now where people have to make a decision about who they are. I worked with Holocaust survivors to build a Holocaust museum. And they would remind me over and over again about, you know, they're really like four types of people in the world. They're collaborators.

There are bystanders. There are rescuers and they're upstanders. And the difference between a rescuer and upstanders, upstander is willing to stand up, speak out, and put themselves right up front in taking the blows that come from fighting against authoritarianism, fighting against what Donald Trump is about, fighting against the tide that could be dangerous to the person speaking out. I believe that we have to be a party of upstanders. Like there is no room anymore for being anything less bystanders, no. And I've seen too much of it.

I'm sick and tired, honestly, of the people in our party who've been quiet hoping that if they just keep their heads down, that maybe they won't get affected by they can survive the next three years and not be, you know, negatively affected. Same thing, by the way, for law firms and universities and corporations. You know, what happened in the early 30s in Germany, just to be clear, is the elites backed the leader of the Nazi party, and they backed the Nazis. And they backed the Nazis. And, you know, many of them ended up either not surviving or being tossed aside. And that's precise. You know, so people ought to remember that for anybody who's being quiet right now,

every day that goes by that you let this guy continue to amass power and we don't push back is a day when we are weaker and he is stronger. So eventually we won't be able to push back. If we are not right now in 2026 fighting back against the his election interference, which is going on every day, every day that we are losing and could lose in 2026. That's why I've been calling this out consistently. Everybody's got to recognize stand up, speak out. The, you know, the upstanders in the world.

And, you know, back to who we are as a party, we have to be about telling the truth. And I mean, really bluntly, it's one of the things, by the way, both of you, Jennifer and Angie, can I call you pumps? Yes. I mean, really, you guys are so good at it, so good at it. And we just, we need more of it. This is the type of platform for it. Maybe they're not doing it on CNN. They're not doing it on MSNBC enough.

This is where I think people should be speaking. And so just back to your point, our party has to recognize that. the system is rigged. Donald Trump kept saying it, you know, when he was running. And he wasn't wrong. The system is rigged. He was just saying it for effect. He wants to rig the system. Right. Totally. We need to be the ones who are standing up against, well, corporate elite who are trying to take advantage of people who are poor and working class and middle class. We need to be the party that's saying that the wealthiest people in the country should step up and pay more than your average nurse

or someone who's working at McDonald's. I mean, we need to be the party that's forcing a discussion about universal health care. Why are we not? You know, this is upsetting. I'm sorry to go on and on. No, I love it. Getting on here is, you know, I was upset in 2024. Two things really upset me.

A lot of things, actually. But I remember particular moments for this. In January, you may recall, I think it was in January of 2024. Joe Biden did a speech at Valley Forge about democracy. And I remember I got invited as a Democrat, as a governor, to go to Valley Forge for him to give that speech because he was trying to make it the theme of his campaign. Now, you know that I believe in fighting for democracy, but that is not what wins you an election. You need democracy so we can have the election. Right.

You know, what wins the election, though, is fighting for people to be able to. to pay their bills for God's sakes to make enough money so that, you know, they can afford their electricity. They can afford their housing. And we Democrats don't talk enough about why it is that we became Democrats in the first place, what the Democratic Party is. We're the party, I hate to say, maybe you want to pick somebody else, but I would say we're the party of Franklin Roosevelt. That this is fundamentally, even though I was born in 1965, fundamentally we are the party of Franklin Roosevelt, you know, adding with that, you know, very strong focus on civil rights and human rights. And we aren't, we didn't live up to that. So the second thing,

so fighting for democracy was kind of a moment when I was like, okay, I'm for fighting for democracy, but that's not the theme. Also, to your point, in 2024, where was everybody talking about, we have a $7.25 minimum wage in this country. No shit. I mean, Jesus, you can't. You can't survive on two jobs at $7.25. If you're holding down two jobs, you can't survive on that. That's $28,000 a year. You can't feed your family on that, let alone one job. Why are we as a party not out there fighting for, you know, the things that we really believe in that, you know, so I, you know, I've had it for people forgetting about, you know, people forgetting about, you know, people forgetting about what our party is really all about. why we exist as a party. Civil rights, human rights, fighting for people to be able to pay their bills, the working class and the most vulnerable people. These are the fundamentals of what we are as a, you know, we're the ones who created Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Why are people quiet when Donald Trump is ripping those things apart?

I think that the answer is to that. Like, I think we're all kind of going through this great awakening right now. And for me personally, I was always a good MSNBC liberal and I watched Morning Joe and I went through the opinion channels. And then when we lost this last time to an absolute effing moron, a convicted felon at this point who had a Nazi rally at MSG and you're spot on for calling it what it is. We all heard the language that they were using and the propaganda that they use. And then it's like I started looking for the the resistance. Like in 2016, there was a really succinct resistance, right? Well, everybody's been in the knee, all the industry. Titans, you were standing up. A few other governors were standing

at. Then I was looking at some people in our party in Congress that weren't. And then I started really researching, like, why are they not standing up about this? And there's this whole argument that, oh, the base wants everybody to be pure and we have these purity tests. And I think that's a defense mechanism for somebody that's trying to provide cover for something that they're compromised on in the party. And so there is a huge thought that Kamala ignored the, a lot of people in the base, particularly younger people, very upset about the war between Israel and Palestine. And at the DNC, she did not have any Palestinian voices, just kind of like went right over. You were there. We were there. You couldn't walk in it was in your state you did such a great job organizing those protesters too we walked in

every day there was peaceful uh pro-palistine protesters on your way in and on your way out you never felt unsafe around them you allowed them to assemble all of those things what is your position as the facts start coming in on this on the situation because i lived in oklahoma i'm an ethnocentric american i was like okay whatever's going on the middle east whatevs now finding out that hundreds of thousands of kids under the age of five have been killed really pisses me off that we're a part of that and funding that. What is your take on that and to the base of the party and people that care about humanity and human rights? Well, let me start by saying these are particularly challenging hard questions when you're asking somebody who's Jewish like me.

because I you know remember that Israel in many ways was created as a safe haven for people who were escaping anti-Semitism and indeed the Holocaust. And so just just so it's I'm just expressing to you. And as somebody who grew up in a home where being Jewish meant fighting for social justice and economic justice, you know, and believing in the fundamental. values of, you know, I guess I'll say Neumuller's first they came poem, you know, that, that, uh, when you have somebody like Benjamin Netanyahu who gets elected in Israel and leads that country to commit atrocities, um, starving children, starving innocent people as a matter of warfare as an example. These are all things that are, I mean, you know, you, I have to step back and wonder what has happened. What has happened fundamentally? Do you feel betrayed?

Benjamin Netanyahu, honestly, you know, he, he, it's like he moved for, I'm not suggesting I was ever a big fan, but I mean, way, way back, Benjamin Natanya who was just sort of like a regular, I guess I'd say He was like a never-trumper type of, you know, conservative. And then he just slowly, but surely because he thought it would get him elected, and it did over and over again, he became this right-wing zealot about what to do with Gaza and the West Bank. And so the betrayal, I think, is that the leadership of the country, because there are a lot of really great people who live in Israel. And you cannot hold against the people of Israel what the leadership decided. to do. Let's also recognize, I don't want to overlook the fact. And again, you know, I remember

when Hamas attacked and killed and raped innocent people on October 7th, I mean, that's also an atrocity. Right. And so I don't want to forget that or forgive that. But to your point, we as a party and, you know, I know you, you know, I, I want to say, we have. to recognize when atrocities have occurred and then we as an important carrier of values in the world need to do what we need to do in order to squash the atrocities and stand up for those who are innocent and being killed as they were in Gaza. Now the question is with Donald Trump as leader of the United States inviting somebody like Vladimir Putin as he did, as I understand last night, to serve on a kind of peace board to decide what's going to happen

in Gaza, right? He's putting together where he's going to have Benjamin Netanyahu and, you know, an enemy of ours, Putin, making decisions about what's good for the innocent people who live in the Gaza territory. You know, what kind of a country live in? So we have to make sure that we're speaking truth to power. And also, just as a Jew, I have to, you know, in my commitment to my faith, understand that these values of mine, right, I'm fighting for social justice and people's freedom, that I have to apply that equally to the state of Israel as I do to other countries that have committed atrocities. I appreciate your answer and I certainly understand the sensitivity surrounding your being Jewish and having to answer, you know, questions like this.

But I feel like there is an atonement, a national atonement that we need to have for funding this. And Benjamin Netanyahu in the blank check that he has and the Democratic duplicity from a lot of our politicians that take money from APAC and APAC donated like the same amount that Elon Musk did to Donald Trump. And so then I think there's a condescension with Democratic leaders if they say, oh, it wasn't that much. There's a condescension to the electorate when you're not saying, okay, look. And I understand the thing. I can tell you want to jump in. I'll let you jump in. Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. No, no, no, I want you to go. You made me think of something really important. I mentioned Niemuller's poem. I think it's really

important for us to remind everybody, you know, first they came. First they came for the trade unionists. It wasn't a trade unionist. And so I did nothing. And, you know, when they goes through that list, I mean, innocent Palestinians are are just the same, you know, just the same as innocent Jews, innocent Israelis. And we, that's why so much of what I've been fighting for anyway is, is, founded on that idea, you know, that they're coming for me. They're coming for you. I think I heard you say, Jennifer, that, you know, you're a white woman who's, you know, mostly immune from the, you know, and don't have to do anything. But they're coming for you and they're coming for me. So if they're coming for, you know, they're also coming for the Palestinians. And so that's why I think that the

support that we should be talking about right now is support for rebuilding Gaza, for creating a zone that is literally lifting up human rights and protecting the innocent people of the Gaza Strip. I'm shocked that we have a government in the United States, which always, you know, has tried to play a bit of a broker role, right, is now gone completely anti-Palestinian. That's what our government is currently doing. And it's like you can't hold the... the innocent people of a country or a territory, you can't hold them responsible for what

leaders, whether we're talking about Benjamin Netanyahu or Hamas, have done. We have to now stand up for the people who are most innocent and most put upon. So I think that's what is to be a Democrat, too, FYI. And so it's a challenging, this is a really challenging moment. It's tough stuff. You're right. I think we have to have the conversation. because we, we, we, during the 2024 election, the, and I like Kamala, I voted for Kamala, but she stuck her head in the sand about it or did double speak, which here's a big issue that I think we need to talk about right now that really links with this. You say you cannot hold innocent people for what their government does. So put us in that situation right now,

Americans, look what our government's doing, shooting people in the face, ice. There's been conversations about maybe they need more training, maybe they need body camps. And the guy that shot Renee Good is a veteran of ICE and an instructor, a trainer, a 10-year veteran. And he was filming it to make sure because Christy Noem wants to make sure they get the propaganda. Do you think that ICE's Fubar fucked up beyond all repair and that we need to abolish ICE? Yeah, we've got to abolish what Donald Trump has done to ICE. has made it so that we have to abolish it. Now, you can't go without some kind of, you know, immigration control.

You just can't. We have to have that. And so the question is- But not ICE, not this. Well, that's to your point about Fubar. I really think you may have said it exactly right. I haven't used that term to describe. But that's what Donald Trump is.

It's become his personal police force. It's, these are like secret police running around. You know, Donald Trump's secret police running around, you know, with no badges on, with no identification, wearing masks and attacking people. And as you said, shooting mothers in the face. How do you reform an organization like that? I just don't know. I don't know how we, you know, we, I don't know what the, you know, the replacement is, but it can't be what they're doing today is okay with us. and we'll just figure out if we can reform what they're doing.

I mean, they're spending a whole lot of money, shooting people in the face, attacking U.S. citizens, people who are illegally, and just human beings. That money, by the way, could be like about providing health care for people. It could be about providing housing for people. It could be, but instead, it's Donald Trump's personal secret police. All right, listeners, for all of the parents out there with teenagers, We know you're already trying to keep a million different things under control. Cash app is here to help make sure your teen's money and their spending isn't adding to the craziness.

I use this with my sons and it is such a game changer. Cash app is designed to meet teens age 13 to 17 where they are with intuitive educational tools available through sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian. teens gain access to a personalized cash app card that comes in different colors and patterns to fit their style and the ability to instantly access money from family and friends cash app makes managing money feel easier and honestly it's just way cooler than other options out there skip the stress and give your teen a way to learn financial responsibility with no hidden fees download cash app and get started today for a limited time new Cash app customers can earn $10 if they use code Family 10 in their profile at sign up and send $5 to a friend within 14 days. Terms apply. Cash app is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partners, prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, member FDIC, direct deposit and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block Inc brand.

visit Cash App slash legal slash podcast for full disclosures. You know, these things are difficult for Democrats to say because we've always governed incrementally and kind of hug the center a little bit. We're liberal about, oh, yeah, gays can marry and all this. But I feel like there's this, again, this great awakening going on where it's kind of like, well, Donald Trump has proven you don't have to govern incrementally. You can just go guns blazing. Well, that's why we have to stop.

We have to honestly, I. believe you are right. Incrementalism. That's why I think, you know, whatever we want to call it, Project 2029, I'll use that turns because everybody knows what 2025 was. I mean, that we have to have our own and that it is no longer acceptable for us to just do it in increments. Does that include taxing billionaires?

It does. It means, listen, I, in my state. And you're a billionaire. I am. And I said all along, you know, when I was running in 2017, 2018, and I've said, it ever since, that I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to lower taxes on the working class, on the middle class, and raise taxes on people like me. And I spent, just so you know, not only did I campaign on that and win in 2018, but I spent, you know, it's very hard. We have to

have a constitutional amendment in Illinois because we have a flat tax in our constitution. I spent $55 million of my own money fighting for a referendum to, on the ballot, to, to, to, to, to, to get a graduated income tax. Oh, by the way, on the other side of that, writing a similarly large check, 50 plus million dollars, was Ken Griffin. You know, and people on the far right, these are like hedge fund, you know, right wingers and who, by the way, defeated it. And so we cannot be apologetic anymore. I mean, we cannot, I mean, I've gone great guns, you know, to make sure that the wealthiest people in the country are paying more than, like I said, you know, than a secretary or than a firefighter. But we got to stop pussyfooting around. I agree. All right, Pops,

jump in. Okay. So I love your mayor of Chicago, Mayor Johnson. I just think he's a fighter. And I saw that you two on behalf of the state of Illinois have filed a lawsuit against ICE saying that Trump is way outside the Constitution. What I get so sick of and what I've had it with is all these MAGA are like, we're so patriotic. And it's like you don't believe in the Constitution. So what would be your message to people in MAGA that say, oh, we're part of the Constitution, how we communicate that with them, because I think you're pretty eloquent on this issue. Well, maybe I'll go back to what I've had it with. I've had it with people who say they love America, but seem to hate Americans.

Yes. And that is what we're talking about. That's what Donald Trump is doing. It's like they talk on the right and in Maga land as if they are the patriots. We're the ones upholding democracy and constitutional law, not them. It's like 1984. It's just that they have, you know, louder loudspeakers seemingly and people get drowned out about this.

But do they really think it's okay to shoot people? people in the face who are U.S. citizens? Do they think that's okay? I don't think they do. Now, again, I do want to separate. Like, I think there are a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump who are not MAGA Republicans, but they voted for him because they thought he was better than Kamala Harris or better than Hillary Clinton or whatever. But they, but, but I'm not forgiving them exactly except to say it wasn't as if they're in the cult. It's, as if they've convinced themselves that this is just a bunch of issues that they're deciding between, you know, decision on these sets of issues versus deciding on the other side of those

issues. And I do, I want to recognize that we have to be the ones who stand up and tell the truth about, you know, what we stand for and what it is we're fighting for and people's human rights and civil rights. I keep saying those words, but recognize that they, it is a lot of BS when they say they are the Patriots, when they go when Donald Trump hugs the flag. It's such bullshit. It is. It is. These are grifters that run on all this faux Christianity and this pumped up patriotism.

And they prove their hypocrites when they run and provide cover to protect a pedophile ring. It shows how complicit they are. They don't believe in anything, not anything. And the hypocrisy that you talked about earlier, remember, you know, they call themselves the party of law and order. The head of their party, the president of the United States is a convicted felon. Right. Total. It's a party of crime and disorder.

And corruption. And trust me, when I tell you that we should be talking about that issue much more because you know what pisses off working class people as much as anything? It's corruption in government. And that is precisely. Donald Trump is getting richer and richer. His family is getting richer and richer because he's. He's removing regulations on crypto, on AI, and his family is in those businesses. He's accepting large gifts.

He's demanding gifts to his organizations in order for people to get some political power. I mean, this is the kind of thing that leads to a revolution, for God's sakes. We need to be standing up and pushing back on the corruption that he has brought to the U.S. government. I'm not suggesting, by the way, that it's like everything was sweetness and light before he got there. But this is now just happening on a daily basis. People see it, but nobody is really lifting it up and highlighting it so that people, because people should be aware of it. And I believe when they hear about it, they're angry about it. Yeah, like, where's the Venezuelan oil money going, Qatar? And in this one billion dollar shakedown for his peace thing, he's going to monitor the

money. This guy is a crook. He's always been a crook. He's jealous of everybody. He is in his Marie Antoinette, dementia, narcissistic era. And nobody's coming to save us but us. And we're going to have to keep organizing, going on podcasts, you know, lifting up voices because this turnout and I know that you're the one who keeps calling that they're going to be up to a lot of fuckery on the midterm election day. And our turnout has to be too big to rig. And we have to be too big to rig. And we have to make sure people are not scared and make sure that Democratic governors in bluish, purplish states hold the line and don't let these, you know, it's like a mafia, an incompetent, horrible, dorky mafia is what this regime is like. Because at the end of the day, they're dorks,

they're not even cool. All right, Governor, do you remember when we met you in Illinois at the DNC and we played Had It or Hit It? Do you remember that game? Okay, we're going to play it again. Oh, my God. Welcome to had it or hit it. I would hit it. I'd hit it every day, sometimes twice a day. All right. Had it or hit it? Christy Nome. Oh, God, I've had it. What about her costume changes? On top of just what a psychopath she has, that shot her dog and has a goon squad, the costume changes. Yeah, yeah. Can I tell you? I beat my opponent in 2018 was the governor, Republican. governor and he used to put on a costume everywhere he went this guy's a wealthy uh private equity guy and he used to put on a car heart jacket everywhere and sort of pretend to be a down home farmer

when he's actually from winetka i love winetka by the way but it's a wealthy suburb of chicago um and you know and so the costumes and also he wrote a motorcycle and he would put on a vest with lot of you know stickers or pins on it uh you know and something that said governor like he's got to remind you he's governor. And so yeah, Chrissy Nome is precisely like that. By the way, I mean, I think her brain and head are shrinking because the hats are getting bigger.

Yeah. Yeah. And she's just so unprepared for the job that she's got. It's all about being a sycophant for Donald Trump. Yeah. Talk about corruption. You just hear more stories about how she's funneling all this money to her betties and all that.

Right. Corey Lewandowski. Yeah. Connelling more than many. Christian family values. Moving along, had it or hit it, maha. Oh, okay. Well, obviously had it.

I mean, let's be clear. He's not making people healthier. He's making people sicker. Look what's happening on the measles front across the country. I mean, in South Carolina, I mean, they have a full-blown, I mean, it's like a pandemic almost that's happening. But, I mean, people are getting sick right and left. And it's because they're, you know, the Maha movement and people who are following it in state government are not pushing people to get vaccinated for measles.

In fact, they're saying, oh, no, it's bad for you. And now you're going to, we've already seen one death. And a lot of kids sick. And we've just, I mean, yeah, this Maha movement is insane. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is, well, he's literally making our children sick. And you just brought up South Carolina. And this is just something I want to say to you. You see Lindsey Graham, you know, he's over in Lady Graham is what I call him.

He's over in Israel. I mean, like it's Trump's America. We're way past all the pleasantries and politics right now. So he's over in Israel, you know, taking pictures with Mossad agents, Benjamin Netanyahu, blah, blah, because anti-Semitism is real and it is a bigotry that if you've studied it at all, will leave an imprint on your soul, especially you being just. Jewish, I'm sure it's like a cloud that follows you everywhere, the history of that. There are grifters in the political movement like Marjorie Taylor Green, like Tucker Carlson,

that are using this very simple language, America first. We shouldn't do anything with Israel at all. And there's an argument to be made for sure 100%. Our money should not fund what injure. Benjamin Nanyahu did. There's no question about it. But in the MAGA movement governor is where I believe real anti-Semitism is boiling. You have people far right, hardline Israel people that have gone to seek refuge in the heart of Christian nationalism. And they're going to F around and find out these people are not going to protect you and you're not the magic Jewish person. You're

not going to be safe. But this message, and you know from rural Illinois, If a Marjorie Taylor Green or Tucker Carlson says, MAGA wasn't America First anymore, we got away from that. Israel, they make these statements. Israel has free health care. Israel has free education. I support them having that for the record. I don't besmirch them for having that.

But to the rule or suburban person in Illinois or Oklahoma that hears that very simple language without any context to it, It feeds a type of tribalism and nativism that is a part of the inception of all of this. And I'm very fearful what MAGA is incubating right now and what's to come, which is why I think you're such a very important voice right now politically, because anti-Semitism is being weaponized right now by some very bad actors. And I think that we need moral clarity and credible messengers to guide us through this. And to very simply state like Marjorie Taylor Green and Tucker Carlson, don't give a shit about Palestinian babies, you know how we know that?

Because they don't give a shit about immigrant babies in the United States of America, so don't buy their bullshit. A very simple response to that, I think, is going to be required. So remember that the America First Movement, which was prominent in the 1930s in the United States, was the pro-Nazi. anti the United States getting involved in protecting the UK or Europe and letting the Nazis do what they were going to do in Europe. So I just want to remind you that history. They use that America first name because it has a history that fits with the philosophy. And Marjorie Taylor Green is, she's, I don't care how, you know, you saw that she started separating from the MAGA movement when or separating herself from everybody else. I think she thinks she's MAGA.

But she started separating herself when her kids were getting cut off of health care because of what MAGA was doing in the OBBBA, the big ugly bill. Literally, go back and listen to the interviews. She started, you know, she started separating herself, but she has the same Tucker Carlson and she, they're anti-Semite. I mean, it's total. You can separate. Let me be clear. You can separate your feelings about the foreign policy or actions of the state of Israel from your feelings about Jews in the United States or anywhere in the world. You should, in fact, separate those two.

But they don't. They, you know, the language they use intermixes, their views about, you know, what's happening with regard to Israel. Israel and the United States' relationship with Israel and Jews. And so it's very upsetting to me. To your point, oathkeepers, proud boys, look at the, I mean, the really, you know, the skinheads that are on the right. Nick Fuentes. That are racist and anti-Semitic, you know, and they're like a firmly part of the base

of MAGA. Totally. And I, again, I do want to say, and we all need to recognize that, you know, for us to win elections. We have to remember, we Democrats have to remember that there are a bunch of people who voted for Donald Trump who do not believe in those things. They have convinced themselves that they're not voting for that. And we need to make sure that we're addressing the things that really do matter to them. And like I said it before, you know, to them, you know, if I knocked, and I've knocked on a lot of doors in my life as a candidate or for other people. And if you, if knock on a

100 doors and tell people like, the most important issue is democracy, fighting for democracy. Five people will agree with you out of 100. You know, what people really want to hear is, how are you going to make my life easier? How are you going to make it easier for me to send my kid to college or retire or make more money or pay for health care or housing? And I know you're, you know, I've drifted from the, from anti-Semitism, but recognize that they win the right. I'm talking about the anti-Semitic racist right wins when the middle can't tell the difference.

They don't see those things on the right. And all they see is, well, they're talking about lowering prices. Donald Trump has not lowered any prices. Yeah. Trump has raised prices for people. He's made life more difficult, not less. And you're seeing it now in the polls. We are winning on every single issue.

It doesn't mean we're going to win in 2026. So anybody that say, well, I can just sit back and. it'll all just happen, it'll all be good. No, uh, we can't. We have to get out there and make sure we're registering people to vote and get them to the polls. But we have to recognize that we got a lot of work to do to make sure that we're winning in the, among those people who thought they were voting for Donald Trump because it would be good for their daily lives. And they've gotten the opposite of that and anti-Semitism and racism right there in the core of the right-wing movement.

I always say it's a big tent of racist. You have the Islamophobes, the anti-Semites, the homophobes, the, you know, just anti-immigrant bigotry, just the straight-up racist that inward heart are. It's just a big tent of bigotry, Maga, the matter of it. Let me remind you one other thing, because, again, I built a Holocaust museum. When you get to a certain point in the history of what was happening in Germany, there were, you know, economic challenges, people were reacting to when they voted for the Nazis and so on. There is a point at which the Nazis are talking about, yeah, you know what our real problem is?

The immigrants. That is actually what they said before they were going full on, let's, you know, let's round up the Jews. They were talking about people in Germany who weren't, you know, basically white and blonde, right, Aryan. But they called them immigrants. It's like Jews or Catholics or other people who maybe weren't originally from Germany, but have only been there for two generations or one generation. You know, that's what they were, they were kind of throwing everybody else in with this idea of we've got to push the immigrants out.

They're causing our problems. And that, frankly, is the trigger for me early on when Donald Trump was going after immigrants was I started to recognize that he's throwing in basically, black and brown people who are U.S. citizens, many of whom have been here for generations. And, by the way, taking away the human rights of people who are immigrants. My family is an immigrant family. We learned early on. My family, you know, my great-grandfather arrived here with nothing and literally, you know, fought for everything that they, we're the most patriotic family in the world because we recognize what a great country this is and the great opportunity

that got provided to us. But he wrote a book when he was 70 years old, my great-grandfather, about his life. We hand it down in my family when we turn 13 years old. It becomes something that you get a copy of. I've read it many times in my life, but it reminds me who we are. First of all, we're a nation of immigrants. Right. And the values that we brought here.

It's true. It's what makes us cool. You know, that's what that's our culture, is that we have multicultural. naturalism. That's the shtick. That's the part they're trying to dismantle. The coolest part about us is the part that they hate. And it's an economic advantage. It's an economic advantage that think about what's happening. Read all the stories about it. I don't know if you just saw in China, you know, their population is declining now. This is happening in a lot of developed nations. And what are, what is our advantage in a world where population is declining? We're, we're,

the nation of immigrants. We don't have to decline. We actually, people want to come here if we make them welcome. And we want people to, the most entrepreneurial people in the nation are immigrants. That 50%, remember this, and I hope you'll cite it, 50% of the Fortune 500 companies in this country, the biggest companies in this United States, were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Think about it. 50%. With the exception of Elon Musk being in that, I'm 100% for all. Right. Okay.

I didn't say they were all great. Right. Here's the really bad one. Two more and then we'll call it and you can go back to being the badass governor of Illinois. Okay. Had it or hit it, Zoran Mamdani. Hit it, but let me be clear about what it is. He's zoned in on precisely the thing that most people are suffering from, which is unaffordability.

And he hit it over and over and over again. And it didn't matter. You can call them whatever you wanted. And he calls himself a Democratic socialist. And if you don't like that, fine. But you know what he talked to people about? He talked about making their lives easier every day. And that was it. It was like almost nothing else got talked about in that election. We should take a note. You know, he won in a, in a, you know, in what I think was a kind of a tough election. I do too. And he took on the billionaire class. He took on a lot of Islam. We talk a lot about anti-Semitism, but Islamophobia is something that's just so normalized. And the Islamophobic attacks on him hurt me just as much when I hear somebody say anti-Semitic things. Because I think all of these human rights have to be connected always as to the poem that you referenced a couple of times. And I thought he very beautifully reminded us that all of these human rights are connected, but they're also connected to affordability. because if we're all equal, the economics of it need to be applied equally to everybody, whether you're Muslim, Jewish, gay, trans, whatever.

And he didn't throw anybody under the bus. And I just thought, God, I mean, what great timing to show the Democrats this can be done. And I agree with you. Do you call him a Democratic socialist? I think Americans don't understand what socialism means. Should we say we're for highly regulated capitalism? you know, more safety style capitalism. I don't know.

You know, when you run your 2028 campaign, I'll sit down with you and help you sort out all the language on that. Remember Mikey Cheryl and Abigail Spanberger. Mikey Cheryl and Abigail Spanberger ran at the same time that Donnie was running. And they all ran on the same message. And they all won big. And that's the message, frankly, you know,

back to a question you asked up front. You know, I think, you know, because let's be honest, like Mikey Cheryl and Abigail Spanberger are at a different place in the Democratic Party than Warren Mondani. But we all agree that we ought to be fighting for the working class and the most vulnerable in our society, in the middle class.

And that's what all of those three big candidates ran and won on. And that ought to be our message for 2026 and 28. All right. Last one. Had it or hit it, the United States of America. Oh, my gosh. hit it. I love our nation. I mean, I know we are led by a madman. I know there's a lot to say. It's depressing. But I love this country. And I do believe, even though the institutions of our country are under attack right now, look at how people have stood up. I mean, it's taken too many

elected officials too long to stand up. But average folks out there peacefully protesting, showing up at no Kings, but not just that, showing up every week or every day whenever they can. I'll tell you, quick story. There's a woman in Edwardsville, Illinois, 28,000 people in Edwardsville in southern Illinois. She right after Trump was elected and she realized what was happening, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to protest. So she made a sign and she went and stood at the crossroads of two state highways and held up a sign by herself. and somebody with a dog, you know, walked by and said, what are you doing?

And she explained she's fed up and can't believe that Donald Trump is our president. And that person stood there with her and with the dog that day. The people heard about it. And the next day, six of their friends showed up. And then over the course of the next month or two, 300 people started showing up every Friday to protest. I give that as an example. This is in Edwardsville, Illinois, right? And I give that as the example because this is happening everywhere when the suburban, you know, moms, you know, are coming out with their whistles to protect people in neighborhoods that they don't even, they've never lived in or protect their own neighbors because they see that they're being attacked by ice.

That, you know, this is the country that is, we're taking this country back. We're taking back this nation from, you know, from what Donald Trump is trying to do to it and preserving our institutions. And I guess, you know, I'm reminded because we just had Martin Luther King Day. Martin Luther King said, you know, that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. And I'll just say humbly, a small amendment to that that I think we're all learning. It doesn't just naturally bend toward justice. We have to bend it toward justice. And that is the moment that we're in.

And I think it takes, yes, it takes elected leaders, but it also takes all of us showing up and proving that we're just not going to put up with it. And we're going to take our country back. Governor Prisker, you're cool. I like you. You're a badass. I thank you so much. So many of us look to elected officials to know, are they fighting them? Oh, God. Thank God. They're fighting them. And it just means so much to like the ladies you

were talking about in Illinois, to our listener. So thank you for coming on. I really appreciate it. Keep fighting the good fight. Thanks, Jennifer. Thanks, pumps. Yeah. All right. Bye, Governor. He's cool. Yeah, I really, really like him. I do too. I feel like he answered a lot of these questions really well. Yeah. That are going to be in the first of place, likable and relatable. Very charismatic.

I just, I remember when we met him in Chicago, how I was just thought we just kind of started shooting the shit with him before the cameras when I was super easy to talk to. But his position on affordability is position on taxing billionaires. position on abolishing ice and his position on a blank check to some to Israel and somebody like Benjamin and Yahoo, I think this is a much better candidate than Gavin Newsom. I do. I just think this is a much better candidate right now, who we have right now, to start lifting up. Now, he's got a race to run for governor, who knows if he'll run for president. But to me, all the places that Newsom is fumbled.

And I like, again, I like Newsom's fight, but he's turned out to be just this corporate Democrat that's so off-putting to so much of the electorate. I feel like Pritzker does it do that. And I feel like Pritzker's less narcissistic than Newsom. And we already, we just had a narcissistic. We have a narcissist. We got to go the other way. But I also think like if people that are running for office, like Gavin Newsom with the billionaires and like. the youth just from my experience and the people around me, everybody's tired of the billionaires

getting richer and richer and richer. Like the wealth inequality, it's come to people's attention and they don't like it. And as a billionaire. And Gavin Newsom letting Ben Shapiro dog walk him about Israel and dog walk him about so many issues. It's just I'm tired of Democrats allowing the most flea-bag bottom feeders of MAGA dog walk them. I really am. I just, I just, there's, and listen, I'm not super choosy right now, but who's fighting the fight, but in order for us to win and have an impactful administration right now of the names that are out there, I'm going J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire that's willing to say tax me more, a credible messenger on Israel, which I think we need because that is just such a hot, hot topic right now.

And you're going to have really bad actors that come and use that in the brewing anti-Semitism on the right wing, but also somebody who links anti-Semitism to Islamophobia and to, you know, anti-Black racism and really says, hey, listen, none of us are free until all of us are free. We need to link all of these things together. So I don't know. I'm an evolving person, but right now I've always liked Pritzker in this interview. I think he answered those questions that I think are going to be very important to the electorate and the base. I think he answered those very well.

Yeah, I did too. I really appreciated how he was not scared to say this reminds me of 1930s Germany. Like he was not scared to say that and so many people are. Yep. All right. Listen, thank you for joining us. Leave us your thoughts in the comment section. Who is your frontrunner for 2028?

I know we have a lot of time to go three years, but we should start having these questions. We need to get these, we need to get these fuckers ready, you guys. We got it. I mean, seriously, it's going to take a village and we've got to get, we have got to groom and make a great candidate that can go and win and make massive, massive change and accountability in this country. All right, pumps tell them. We will see you next.

Tuesday and Thursday. Listen up, patriots, gaytriots, and natriots. We have a new podcast that has dropped. It's called IHIP News. It's Monday through Friday every day, 15 to 20 minute hot takes on the political landscape of the United States of America always served with a side of petty grievances. We are on all the available platforms, Apple, Spotify, Google, whatever you get your podcast and YouTube.

please go rate, subscribe, and reviews so that we will chart upwards with America's greatest legal mind, pumps. Pumps, what does an eagle say? Cicaw! A little bit more enthusiasm. Caca! That's it. That's, that's, that's, cacca! That's the patriotism that this country means right there.