No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen - Republicans hit with fatal problem in Texas

Episode Date: May 31, 2026

Republicans contend with a fatal problem in the Texas Senate race. Brian interviews Democratic nominee for the US Senate in Texas James Talarico; Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor; and Democratic nominee for the US Senate in Illinois, Juliana StrattonPre-order THE DAY AFTER: https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/thedayafter Support James Talarico: https://jamestalarico.com/Support Juliana Stratton: https://www.julianastratton.com/Written by Brian Tyler CohenProduced by Sam GraberRecorded in Los Angeles, CASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Republicans contend with a fatal problem in the Texas Senate race, and I've got three interviews, Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, James Telerico, Potta of America co-host Tommy Vitor, and Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, Giuliana Stratton. I'm Brian Taylor Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie. Republicans have been contending with one problem after another in Texas. So first, James Tullerico, who'd been consistently polling highest against either John Cornyn or Ken Paxton, won the Democratic primary. then Trump endorsed the worst polling Ken Paxton,

who went on to win the Republican primary, but it was this latest update that poses a legitimately fatal issue for Republicans' hopes of keeping the Senate seat. According to a new poll from Texas public opinion research, which took place after the Republican runoff, not only is James Tala Rico leading Ken Paxton 47 to 44, but 30% of Cornyn and runoff voters say they would vote for Tala Rico in the election.

That is untenable if you are Ken Paxon, And lest you think that this was just some poll of, like, crunchy liberals, the same poll has Republican Governor Greg Abbott leading his Democratic challenger Gina Inhoza 46 to 41 in the governor's race, which means that many of the same people who are voting for Greg Abbott are also avowed voters for James Tallerico now. And that all might be owed to the fact that Tala Rico has a net positive favorability of seven points, while Paxton's favorability is at negative 19 points. Also worth noting that Beto O'Rourke, who came within two and a half points of beating Ted Cruz in 2018,

was actually trailing Cruz at this point in the cycle by about 10 points. The fact that Telerico is up by three points is obviously good news if you're looking to flip Texas from red to blue, especially given the fact that this is going to be a very blue election cycle. And by the way, you know that Republicans are getting nervous when the two attacks that they've tried launching against Tilarico is that he's a vegan, which is not true, and that he's not straight, also not true. They are losing 30% of Cornyn voters, and they're out here trying to convince Texans, who, like the rest of America, are paying more for everything right now, that this election should actually be a referendum on what kind of meat Tala Rico eats

and who he's sleeping with. And it's worth noting that as the result of these lies, the Telerico campaign actually released a photo, or a bunch of photos, of Telerico's girlfriend, who is an attractive Latina. probably not a bad thing in Texas and probably not a bad thing with Texas' huge Latino population. And it also

inadvertently highlights the fact that Ken Paxton is in the midst of a divorce right now because he cheated on his wife. So I don't know. If I was a Republican, I would consider maybe not making this election a referendum on the personal lives of the two candidates. But that's just me.

Now comes the Buzzkill part. I presume some of that 30% of Cornyn to Tala Rico voters will eventually come home to Republicans and they'll vote for Paxton. That doesn't mean that Republicans don't have a lot of work to do to persuade, which will cost them a lot of time and money and resources. But the question becomes how many of them will stay with Tala Rico? I imagine that even if it's 10%, that's a huge coup for the left,

considering right now independents are breaking for Tala Rico 64 to 21, and moderates are breaking for Tala RICO 72 to 15. Even a small chunk of Republicans would likely be enough to seal the deal for James Telerico in November. But that doesn't happen in a vacuum. That comes as the result of working relentlessly to persuade folks every single day. To that end, James is one of my interview guests coming up, so help him and the rest of our candidates spread the word as much as you all can as we head closer to midterms. Next up are my interviews with James Telerico, Tommy Vitor, and Juliana Stratton.

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James Hellerico, James, thanks for joining me. It's good to see you. So James, first and foremost, as we head toward today's primary election in your state of Texas, can I have your reaction to Donald Trump's decision to endorse Ken Paxton over John Cornyn? Well, you know, I don't think it really matters what's going to happen in this Republican runoff because we already know who we're running against. We are running against the billionaire mega donors and their puppet politicians. and that is embodied by Paxton or John Cornyn because both of them are deeply corrupt.

Both of them are far more interested in serving their billionaire megadonors than serving the people of Texas. And so our campaign is bringing people together across the state, across the political spectrum to confront this broken, corrupt political system that both Paxton and Cornyn epitomize. And can you give a little bit of an indication of like some conversations you've had with Republicans or independence or non-voting Democrats, whatever it may be in your state. Because I think, you know, obviously to win statewide in Texas, you're going to need support from across the political spectrum. But I'm just wondering what people have been saying to you, anecdotal though it may be, that would give an indication of what the general feeling among Texans is.

Yeah, you know, I've been traveling to every corner of the state, red areas, blue areas, purple areas alike. I've gone from Beaumont in far east Texas to El Paso and far west Texas. I've traveled from Amarillo in the Panhandle all the way down to Brownsville in the Rio Grand Valley and everywhere in between. And we've had tens of thousands of Texans showing up to rally with us at these events. We keep having to move venues because there are so many people interested in this movement that we're building. And I can't tell you the number of people who come up to me at the end of these events and whisper, I'm not a Democrat,

like they're in the witness protection program or something. And they all think they're the only one, but after you have dozens of those conversations at every event, you start to realize that this is a bipartisan backlash against the extremism and the corruption in our government and our politics. And so I think we're building something really special here on the ground.

And you see it, you know, in the part, polling results. So it's not just anecdotal. We are seeing, you know, in every public poll that's come out in recent weeks that we're leading both Ken Paxton and John Cornyn. And so we are, you know, for the first time in Texas, in a position to actually win statewide, transform this broken, corrupt political system, and change American politics in the process. And what does that look like changing the American political system? Like, like, if Democrats are able to bring about a in the House of Senate ultimately get control of the White House. What does a new iteration of not just the party, but our system of government look like?

What would you want to see done that we haven't been able to accomplish thus far? There are so many issues that we have to tackle once we have a Senate majority. But I would say the number one issue should be comprehensive political reform. It should be getting big money out of our politics, banning corporate PACs, banning super PACs, overturning citizens united and banning members of Congress from trading stocks and enriching themselves while they're in public office. But it also should include going after the forms of corruption that don't involve money. I think we need a national ban to end gerrymandering once and for all so that we can have free and fair elections in every community, red communities

and blue communities alike. So I think those kinds of political reforms are necessary to fix the system itself. Because until we do that, we're not going to make. make progress on education and on health care. We're not going to bring down the cost of housing, the cost of groceries, the cost of gas. We're not going to create good paying jobs for the people of Texas, the people of this country. So political reform, I think, has to be our top priority. And by the way, that's self-evident because we have so much corruption that the Trump administration and these politicians are swimming in right now. And the results, or lack thereof, are a testament to exactly what you just said.

We don't have better infrastructure. We don't have better health care spending. We don't have any of the things that Trump himself ran on because the corruption kind of prevents you from being able to even do that because there's no legitimate outcomes coming out of this government. To that end, can you speak a little bit about, and I'm just going to kind of make an assumption here, obviously we'll have a better idea tonight. But can you speak about while we're talking about corruption, a little bit of what

Ken Paxton has been engaged in over the last few years. Yeah, Ken Paxton embodies this broken, corrupt political system that we were just talking about. He was impeached three years ago by his own party for using his public office, his position of public trust to enrich himself and his donors at our expense. And that kind of corruption is the rot at the core of our broil. political system. It's why we can't afford anything. It's why we can't get ahead no matter how hard we work, because billionaires buy politicians like Kemp Axton, and then those puppets rig the economy in favor of those billionaires at our expense. And so if we're going to start to unrig this economy so that it actually works for regular people again, where we can actually

afford our gas, our groceries, our insurance, our housing, our child care, If we're going to be able to do that, it has to start by transforming this broken, corrupt political system. It's getting that money out of our politics. That is the key to making progress on all these other issues that we care about. James, I've probably spoken to you more than a dozen times of the last few years now. And I'm always so interested in the issue of religion, especially as it relates to somebody on the left, because it feels like the right has kind of co-opted that space for at least my entire life. Can you speak a little bit about how your reaction to what we have seen thus far,

not just with Trump and the right more broadly, their attacks on the Pope, for example, but even just living, how they choose to live their quote-unquote Christianity in the sense that these people ran on protecting health care and making sure that people were fed and that the little guy was taken care of, that there was housing and rent. And when they get into office, I mean, we have seen them spend time and money on a reflecting pool, on repaving the Rose Garden,

on building a ballroom for the wealthiest, most well-connected Americans. Right now, they're constructing a UFC stage on the White House lawn because apparently that's where their priority is. We have, we've seen a, you know, no money. for food assistance or health care, but almost $2 billion to pay out insurrectionists from January 6th. And so just this kind of chasm between what these people say as self-proclaimed Christians, but how they're actually living it.

Well, you know, we're living in an era of corruption. We've talked about our political corruption. We've talked about the economic corruption, where the top 1% owns more wealth than the entire middle class. On this campaign, we've talked about the social corruption, the fact that these algorithms are tearing communities apart, pitting neighbor against neighbor and sowing division in the very fabric of our communities. But we're also seeing corruption in our religious institutions. We've seen scandals here in the state of Texas of faith leaders praying on kids, on vulnerable people. And so this corruption really infects every facet of American life. And people can feel that.

It's why I think you're seeing such a backlash to this corruption because it's everywhere across our country. And I hear from Christians all the time who come up to me and thank me for speaking about my faith. Brian, you know that my granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas. You know that I'm a Presbyterian seminarian. And my faith is guided by those two commandments that Jesus gave us to love God and love neighbor. and there should be no limits on that second commandment. We're called to love all of our neighbors, regardless of their zip code, regardless of their skin color, regardless of their religion. We're called to love everybody in our community.

And I think that kind of love is it's missing from our politics, it's missing from our economy, it's missing from our social life together, and it's also missing from organized religion. And so I think what you're going to see in this election and in the coming years is, is people coming together to try to take on this corruption and renew, restore, resurrect, to use a term from my tradition, to build something new. Something can come out of the ashes of these broken systems. And I do see the beginnings of that movement all over the state of Texas. You know, we have seen the beginnings of Republicans try to figure out how they can attack you in this race.

One of those talking points they landed on was that was that you're a vegan. Can I just have your reaction to that? Because I have seen a non-zero number of photos of you eating barbecue down in Texas. That's right. Yeah, our campaign basically runs on barbecue these days. And if all they have is lying about me being a vegan, I feel pretty good about our chances in November. I think it also just shows the extent to which they will go to distract from this disastrous economy. I mean, with the way the price of beef is going up, we all may be forced to be vegans at some point.

So I'm going to keep focusing on lowering costs. I'm going to keep focusing on putting working people first, taking on this corruption so that we can unrig this economy. I think that's what Texans want. They're kind of tired of these games in our politics, the mudslinging and the nicknames and the trolling and the owning. But none of this is going to lower our costs. None of this is going to increase our pay. None of this is going to cut our taxes. And so I think what we're doing in this campaign is bringing people together across all these divisions,

standing up to the silliness in our politics, standing up to the corruption in our political system so that we can actually start delivering for Texas. I think that that's exactly right. Like this is this is kind of in a way the perfect microcosm for not just this race, but but our kind of our politics more broadly. I mean, we, we saw an entire 2024 campaign where it was just basically culture war. I mean, that that was what they had to lean on. We saw the, you know, Trump is for you, Kamala is for they, them was like the preeminent ad of that campaign and it was focused on trans athletes and like these issues that don't impact

regular people. And that's what Republicans kind of exploited. in the 2024 election, I think people are recognizing now that by seeing them try to wield that same playbook against you and focus on this idea of like making this race a referendum

on like some bullshit lie about veganism. It's them, like fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Right? Like, we've been through this before where it was just cultural or nonsense and that might have worked in 2024. But now in an era where healthcare is being cut,

food assistance is being cut, costs are higher gases nearly at its highest point that it's ever been. I think I think that's going to fall a lot more flat now that people know that this is just a tool they wheel to distract people from the real issues. That's right. And people are waking up to the fact that we're all being played, that we're all being pitted against each other by the people at the very top who have rigged the system against us. I mean, this is, you know, I started off this campaign by saying that the real fight in this country is not left versus right. It's top versus bottom. It's all of us, whether we're a little more progressive, a little more conservative, whether we're black, white,

brown, whether we're urban, rural, suburban, gay or straight, all of us are getting screwed by this system, by the people at the very top. And so what we're doing in this campaign is bringing people together across these divisions to stand up to this culture war nonsense that they keep pushing to divide us and distract us. And I think we're seeing the fruits of this movement already. You know, we've recruited more than 45,000 volunteers who are doing the work, organizing communities all over the state. We have shattered grassroots fundraising records,

all without taking a dime from corporate packs. And it's going to take a lot more work to pull this off. So I hope that the people watching your show or listening to your show will go to jamestelorigo.com and sign up to help. Whether they live in Texas or not, we're going to need as many people giving their time and their treasure to this movement that we're building. And I think if we do that, if we do the work in the months ahead, I think we're going to shock the world by flipping this seat in Texas and electing a senator who's going to serve all of us in the state of Texas, not billionaire mega donors. You know, James, there has been talk on the left about, you know, we just spoke a little bit about what the talking point is on the right. they're desperate, you know, grasping at straws to paint you as vegan, even as your campaign is fueled by, fueled by Texas barbecue.

On the left, though, we've heard a number of people float your name, even as people start discussing the prospect of a president, maybe in 2028, maybe beyond. And I'm not going to ask you about, you know, the prospect of you running for president, because I've heard that question be posed to you before, and you rightfully have said that your focus is on this race. But what does it say more broadly about what your campaign and you have been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time that your name is included in that conversation? Well, I think that people really get the sense that there's something broken in this country. Our political system is broken. Our economic system is broken. But even our relationships with each other feel broken. And that's because the most powerful people in the world want it that way. The people who own the algorithms, the people who own the cable news networks, the people who own the politicians fighting on our screens, they want us at each other's throats. They want us focused on how we're different instead of on how we're the same.

And so they divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion. So we don't notice that they are picking our pockets, that they're closing our public schools, they're gutting our health care. they're raising taxes on all of us while they cut taxes for themselves. It's the oldest strategy in the world, divide and conquer. And everywhere I go across the state of Texas, I just, I feel that people are hungry for a different kind of politics, not one that's based on fear or hate or division, but one that's focused on love, on a love for this country, a love for our neighbors, a love for what we can achieve together. And that's what we're I think our campaign is offering people. It's been a long time since politics has made us feel hopeful.

It's made us feel angry. It's made us feel terrified. But it hasn't moved us towards something good and hopeful in a long time. And I think our campaign is starting to turn the page on this politics everybody's sick of. Last question here. I'm sure that you've encountered folks in Texas for whom their political affiliation is really completely intertwined with their identity. In fact, I think that the political parties have a vested interest in making people, in making sure that people can say, you know, I'm, I'm a white man, Christian, and a Republican, like that being as big a part of their identity as their religion or their sex, whatever it may be. How have you found it's been the most effective to persuade folks for whom their political affiliation is?

their identity because it's probably not just as, you know, it's not as easy as just being able to say, like, hey, I'm an undecided voter, whoever's going to, whoever has the better ideas, you know, my votes up for grabs. These are people maybe who's, whose grandparents voted for Republicans and whose parents voted for Republicans and they voted for Republicans their entire lives. I'm sure you've, you've encountered something like that. And so what has been effective in those instances? Yeah, you know, I think a lot of people are feeling disillusioned about politics. a lot of the people in my family, in my community, the people I grew up with that voted for Donald Trump in 2024, they voted for him because they thought he would lower costs.

They thought he would end the forever wars. They thought he would release the Epstein files and drain the swamp. And they've seen in just the first year of this administration that the president has done the exact opposite, that he has raised prices through his crazy tariffs. He has started new Forever Wars, including the one in Iran. He has redacted and protected the Epstein files and kept them from public view. And he has made the swamp even bigger, bigger than it's ever been before. And so they're starting to question some of what they believed about politics and politicians.

And what I'm trying to do is reach out to those people, extend an open hand rather than a closed fist. I'm not interested in relitigating the 2024 election. If you're sick and tired of this extremism and this corruption, then you have a place in this movement that we're building. And we're speaking to some deeper identities. The identity we all share as Texans. The word Texas comes from that Caddo Native American word for friend. And what's interesting is that they didn't use that word to describe a friend in their own tribe. They used it to describe a friend in a different tribe.

friendship across these lines of difference through these differences. And that's exactly what makes Texas so special. We're this big mashup of all these different people and cultures and food and music. And it's why our state is so innovative. Our technology, our industries, our art, it defines the world because of that spirit of friendship. And we're always welcoming new friends and new ideas into our state. And I think we need a senator who's going to honor that legacy, who's going to embody those old school Texas values. And I think the values are going to make a comeback in this race, in this year, in this state.

Well, James, it is a pleasure and an honor watching your campaign. I'm so excited to watch you shock the world just a few months from now. Highly recommend for anybody who's watching. If you're able to contribute to this campaign, I'm going to put the link to his website right here on the screen and also in the post description. If you're listening on the podcast, I'm going to throw it in the show notes. And let's get this thing over the finish line.

James, thanks so much for taking the time. Thanks, Brian. No Lie is brought to you by Hymns. So if you want to know what's really worth your time when it comes to losing weight, skip the guesswork and get weight loss by Hymns. HIMS offers access to an affordable range of FDA-approved GLP-1 medications

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for America celebration. I'm joined now by co-host of Potsy of America, Tommy Vitor. Tommy, there were a whole list of performers that Donald Trump had promoted. The best of the best. We're talking some big names like Martina McBride, CNC Music Factory. Don't talk about them in that tone. The Commodores, Brett Michaels, Morris Day and the Time, Vanilla Ice, the list goes on and on. Flo Rida.

Floraida. But those people can really stand on to themselves. The news now is that a number of these people have opted to drop out once they found out they were actually a part of this event, some not even knowing that they were signing up for Trump's political event in the first place. And that includes Young MC and Morris Day in the time. Both are the first ones to immediately announce that they have withdrawn their participation from this event. But it actually gets even worse because we now have a situation where there is some counter-programming. Granted, it's not at the exact same time, but counter-programming that's popped up.

Bruce Springsteen, the foo fighters, and Dave Matthew Band are all going to headline their own festival happening just a few weeks after that, and that's going to be in Maryland where all proceeds from ticket sales go to the organization's vote riders and the headcount, both voting rights organizations. So what do you think Trump's reaction is going to be when he finds out that his not quite so star-studded event and even less star-studded now is going to have some, you know, not immediate counter-programming, but some counter-programming nonetheless from some actual big names. Imagine if Young-M-C just busted a move over to the new one.

Went to the Bruce Springsteen event. I'm out of here. Young-M-C also wrote, co-wrote Funky Cold Medina for Tone Loke, so there's some talent there. That's a big, it's a big drop. I mean, this list of performers would have been cool in like, what, 1989, 1999? Vanilla Ice. What are we talking about here? I was literally born in 1989. That's cool. Vanilla Ice is always at Marlago these days.

Millie Vanilli, like I think one of them tragically passed away. Also, they were lip syncing the whole time. Brett Michaels, like, what are we doing here? This is just, it's such a lame look for the nation. Well, you know, what was surprising about this is we have kind of entered this era where, at least in 2024, where it wasn't so disqualifying for these. for these entertainers and musicians to align themselves with Trump. I mean, we saw all these podcasters.

We saw all of these people who would, you know, look, you were working in the Obama. Yeah, you worked in the Obama administration. I grew up. I remember being in college when Obama was president, it would be social suicide to have, like, sided with like Mitt Romney. Like John McCain. Like Obama was cool.

And regardless of where you were on the, you know, socioeconomic spectrum, like everybody who was, Young was overwhelmingly in support of Obama. That wasn't the case, you know, if you fast forward to 2024. And yet to be in a position now where once again, the best he could do is Vanilla Ice really goes to show that, like, he has just completely decimated every ounce of political capital that he built up. Yeah, it is a really sad list of like also rans and has-bens and one-hit wonders.

I mean, the Commodores, I don't know if Lionel Richie is going to perform with them or not. I mean, I guess they had some talent. But, yeah, it's tough, man. Also, like, you would hope that an event like this would transcend partisanship. I mean, it's the 250th birthday of our nation. Presumably, if you weren't just the worst president ever and a huge asshole about everything all the time, you could have booked some really great acts who would like to showcase their talents in front of, I don't know, the entire country. But here we are, millie-vinilly and vinyl ice.

Well, you know, that's not the only way that Donald Trump is going to celebrate our 250th birthday because he's also dismal. Well, you know what? I'll let Scott Besson explain because I think he can do much better than I could. He's an expert in this field. You said that it's up to Congress. The president's face is on a $250 bill, but it is actually the Washington Post that's reporting two political appointees from the Treasury Department who have asked agencies to be ready to do that. Do you think politically it's a good idea to put his face on a $250 bill when people are struggling to afford gas. You know, I don't really understand this Washington Post article that who hears from the Post?

Yeah, terribly written, terribly edited. Because basically what it says is that Treasury is following the law and that we've created the bill and that it's up to Congress, but that we follow the bill and it's up to Congress. I didn't really understand what the story was. He's such a goober. Looks like a bitchy chipmunk. Who wrote this?

Also, like, grammar, editing is your red line? You're in Donald Trump's administration. The guy doesn't know how to spell anything. He capitalizes random words in the middle of, every sentence that he writes and... He tweets like he's having a stroke at all times. Yes, exactly. And so that's the part that he takes issue with.

Oh, horrible editing on this story. I'm sorry, yeah, you wanted the lead up top. What are we talking about here? It's like I could barely jump into the merits of the story because I was so caught off guard by non-use of the Oxford comma. It's amazing that, you know, the 250th anniversary of our country will include currency featuring our worst president for the most useless piece of piece of currency I could ever imagine. When would you ever need a $250 bill? What are you buying? It's also a really great microcosm for what this president in particular represents. Like a bill that is only accessible to the wealthiest.

The richest people in the country. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. He also apparently put his personal signature on like a series of $100 bill. So I'm sure there's a lot of club promoters in Miami who are psyched to do blow off a Donald Trump signed. $100 bill. Great work. Brian, the thing about this is amazing. So the artist who is designing the look for this $250 bill said he spoke to Trump directly about it. And worse, the guy is British. This guy told the Washington Post, quote, he likes to call me his favorite British artist, said Alexander, a former competitive swimmer and DJ who describes himself as a royal portrait artist of Queen Elizabeth II and others. This is like when Trump promised that his new cell phone would be manufactured in America, and slowly that devolved into, it would be manufactured with American ideals in mind. It was like a Huawei phone. It's like last year's model of some phone that costs, you know, nothing. Body bulk on Timo or whatever.

Yeah. And now they're just, you know, like six-xing the price so that they can, I mean, granted, they haven't delivered a single phone. I think it was they did 590,000 pre-orders, so they made 50,000. million dollars, not a single phone has been delivered yet. Well done, everybody. Those are the American values in mind. That is the value of grifting. By the way, when I was reading about this, I saw that the official who has direct oversight

over the U.S. Mint is a former Georgia state senator who, of course, back to the 2020 election lies. So that's how you get a job, kind of pushing forward the $250 bill with Trump's face on it. And, you know, the interesting part is Scott Besson is claiming that the ball is now in Congress's court to follow the law and deny this because it's not even not even legal to have a living president's portrait on any on any currency but I wonder if Congress is even going to have the backbone to do that I mean look what happened to Thomas Massey and and Bill Cassidy and John Corny. These are people you know look these aren't even like crunchy liberals like Thomas Massey

voted with Republicans on everything other than pedophilia like so so he's pretty damn conservative the guy sends out Christmas cards. every year with his family holding AR-15s. John Cornyn has pictures posted online of him reading the art of the deal. These guys are up Trump's ass farther than most people. And yet even that wasn't good enough for this president. And so you have to imagine if anybody's going to step out of line in this slate of existing lawmakers or senators, then they kind of know what's coming for him because they just saw

it happen to Massey, Cassidy, and Corny. If I'm John Thune and I get this embarrassing request to make a $250 bill with Trump's on it, I stick that sucker right in a drawer and I just let it die. Like, fuck him. Why are you going to go out on a limb for him if you're John Cornyn or Bill Cassidy or Tom Tillis? Oh, totally for them. But what about the other people? What about John Thune recognizing the shit about the vote? Like the voters? Totally. Maybe. I mean, yeah. I mean, look, the Trump has shown that what he cares about are his vanity projects. I mean, he has, the ballroom. The ballroom, you have the walkway through the Rose Garden. You have the Rose Garden itself, which was repaved. You

have the, the, uh, the, uh, Katari jet that was retrofitted to the tune of a billion dollars that we paid for, the reflecting pool, uh, the Trump arch. He has his name on the Kennedy Center. He has his, his, his picture on these banners across the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice. So it's, it's these vanity projects that Trump cares about more than anything. And so, you know, now you're a Republican elected official and you have to decide what's going to be more important. Is it signing on to this thing and sending yet another message, the umpteenth fucking message to your voters that you are going to, you know, focus all of your attention on on heaping more praise and attention onto dear leader while Americans are hurting.

Or are you going to side with your voters and risk, you know, being on the receiving end of a mean tweet or being on the receiving end of Trump's ire or a primary challenge for a guy who has primary people for less. It's so dumb. I would just let it die if I were soon. Yeah. Well, there is yet another instance of Trump's vanity. projects and that is this new this new UFC match that they're setting up for on the

White House lawn I think we have a clip here that shows a little bit of the progress as to where we're at June 14th we're having a big fight state banquets Easter egg hunts and now cage fighting President Trump's latest bid for a massive spectacle at the White House is a UFC event in front of thousands of fans on the South lawn you can see they're building the arena behind me ahead of the events on June the 14th Thousands of fans expected. Critics say it's nothing better than human cockfighting, making the most of all the beautiful historic landmarks here in Washington, D.C.,

not least right here at the Lincoln Memorial, where they'll hold pre-fight press conferences and the weigh-ins ahead of the fights on June the 14th. No, no, no. Calm down, Tommy. That's not what they meant by talking. Different cockfight? Different cockfight. Why is G.B. News sending teenagers to come around our White House?

Feels disrespectful, no? You can't send us an adult. someone like of drinking age to cover the Trump administration? Well, in fairness, he's of drinking age in the UK. Oh, right, right, right. So, I mean, just like another, look, if you were, if you were, like, in a writer's room for an after-school special, writing about, like, a situation where the president just didn't give a shit about regular people but was focused on these... They're after-school specials about that now? It's like, this is what it would look like.

I mean, this is so... It's, like, offensively, in your face, not caring about regular people, out of touch. Yeah, it's a fight. Look, I think Trump was very smart to, like, be buddies with Dana White, to build that relationship over decades, to go to a bunch of UFC events. I'm just think it helped him politically in 2024, like reach an audience. But hosting the UFC on the White House grounds, making this a big thing, when voters

are ripshit pissed about gas prices, grocery prices, the prices of everything, it very much risks seeming just like weird and out of touch and like a spectacle that is for elites and donors and VIPs and nobody else. Because you know this thing is going to be chocked full of celebrities and, you know, administration officials and people that cut big checks. Yeah, I mean, we might see such names as Brett Michaels or the Commodores or a C plus C music factory there. Or Chris C plus C. Or Energy Secretary Chris Wright. You know, like, Matt. Tulsi Gabbard, although she just Probably not her. Can't, yeah.

Yeah. I mean, no, but you're right. I think this is like, this is, look, it would be bad enough if this stuff was happening at the hands of an administration that didn't care about what regular people were contending with. But it's so much worse, given the fact that Trump got elected on the back of this idea that Americans couldn't afford daily life in this country. I mean, he spoke about housing and rent and groceries that old-fashioned word. It's an old-fashioned word.

You probably don't recognize it groceries. It's very old-timey. Old-timey. That was the thing that you put in your wagon, you were chucking on the wheels to float it. Exactly. I mean, he talked about the price of an egg. And yet now, as soon as he gets what he needs from these people, you know, now he just

moves forward. It's party time, maybe. Now it's, let's launch a trade war that sends the price of everything surging. Let's cut health care, cut food assistance, make sure that we start a war that we promised would never happen, which sends the cost of gas to almost as high as point ever. And as for us, let's paint this fountain. We got to paint some fountains. But first, Daddy needs a plane.

Yeah, let's bust the move over to that fountain and pin it blue. And finally, you know, I was going to end here. Millie Vanilli's out. Millie, oh, well, this is bringing news. Millie Vanilly singer, Jordy Rocco told the Associated Press that neither she, her sister, Linda Rocco, or any of the other group members had been asked to come. How do you announce someone you haven't even asked, invited to this thing? So that makes Millie Vanilli, Young MC, Morris Day, and the time all dropping out within 24 hours of this thing even being announced. They didn't have the time to do this.

Yeah. Well, alas. I was going to end it here, Tommy, but I actually thought, you know, just a few days ago, I was minding my own business, sitting at home, and watching my favorite show, Pod Save America on YouTube. Y'all should subscribe if you're not yet subscribed. And I came across this clip right here. YouTube is a tough business. Politics is a tough business, right?

One day you ride that algorithm up the next day, it rides you down. Don't we know it? Right? And it can lead to some tough times. Uh-oh. like this. Link in my bio. I just want to keep as my ringtone.

Brian's doing some thirst traps too. Posting a shirtless thirst trap. What is going on? The comment section was popping off. So, Tommy, I watched that and I figured it would be so unfair for me to gatekeep that

wonderful moment for charity and it is for women's heart health. So I figured why not give you the opportunity? as well to make sure that you could crush your own watermelon in between your thighs. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, I absolutely won't be doing this at the office with pants on, but I appreciate the opportunity.

We also brought you shorts. So, and we have a tarp set up right over here, so everything's going to be clean, your pants will be spared, and you'll crush a water mountain for women's heart health, unless Tommy, you don't care about women's heart health. I hate to break it to you. I'm a big fan of heart attacks for women. for women. And so I won't be doing this. And I'm not going to play your cynical

little watermelon fucking game. Are you not going to crush the watermelon? No. What do we do in this instance? Can't the producers step in here? I want me to take my pants off and crush a watermelon? Yeah. That's exactly what we're trying to get you to do. I don't think so.

Do you think that you can't do it? Not even for a second. Do I think I can't do this? I think this thing will crush me before I crush it. I don't know how you did that. Well, let the record show. I'm joined now by the lieutenant governor of Illinois and Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, Julianna Stratton, thanks so much for joining me. Thanks for having me.

So I know that you have been particularly outspoken about the Voting Rights Act and especially the Supreme Court decision gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Calais decision. And right now as we look towards states across the country, with this redistricting war, having really here, it up. We've seen that on the Democratic side, we have had California that redrew its maps successfully. And yet, on the Republican side, we've seen Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio, Florida. So a pretty vast asymmetry here. Now, I know that right now you're serving as lieutenant governor and you're running for U.S. Senate. And so I very much presume that you'll be in that seat. So this wouldn't be exactly your jurisdiction. but as we look at states that have some ability to serve as weapons for Democrats in this

redistricting war, what do you think that Illinois should do as we continue to go down this path where Republicans are trying to engineer themselves a permanent majority in the House by redrawing every map to eliminate not just all-black opportunity districts, but any Democratic districts? Yeah, well, first and foremost, I think that everything should be on the table to fight back in so many ways because we can't, as you just sort of alluded to, we can't just sort of sit here with our hands tied behind our back. So we're keeping a close look on everything that's happening. We're looking at what's happening in places like Indiana, for example. And what I will say,

as someone running for the United States Senate and being the Democratic nominee, that I am also keeping a close eye on what I can do when I get to Washington, D.C., because in so many ways, the Supreme Court has just really gutted the Voting Rights Act, and the whole goal is to dilute Black and Brown voting power and political power, and in so many ways, that's what Republicans want. And so one of the things that I want to do, of course, is to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act when I get there. I want to do as much as I can to work to strengthen our civil rights protections all across the board. I'm proud of what we've done in Illinois to make sure that we could strengthen voting rights and make it easier for people to vote. I think that's what we should

be focused on when we have a federal administration that's trying to roll back those protections. And like I said, everything should be on the table. And that includes for me looking at what we can do to reform the Supreme Court. And I would look at everything from expanding the court, looking at term limits, and whatever we can do. And I will not be somebody that will confirm any of this president's nominees to the Supreme Court if that should. come up. I should just say this has been very personal to me because my father marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 to protect voting rights and to protest voting rights discrimination. And I feel like in so many ways he's passed the baton to me. I lost my father in November and while I was

campaigning for Senate. And I feel like he has passed the baton to me and to all of us really to make sure that we stand up so that people's voices can be heard. Well, I'm sorry to hear about your father, but insofar as I can say that I'm sure he's proud that you are, that you're able to speak to this issue with such clarity. And in fact, that's probably the most refreshing part of all of this is that normally, you know, somebody would say, okay, we have to pass a new voting rights act. And then my next question would be, okay, but we have an existing voting rights act. And we also have a Supreme Court that isn't going to allow it to stand. And so how do you reconcile those two things? Would you be in favor of expanding the Supreme Court?

And then it's a lot of hemming and hawing because Democrats are generally not. not that comfortable with major changes to institutions that we're often way too deferential to. And so to hear you be able to say, no, we actually have to look at the root of the problem because we can pass all the voting rights acts that we want. But at the end of the day, if we have a 6-3 conservative court that isn't going to allow anything to stand, then all of it's going to be moot. It's going to be a symbolic exercise. Absolutely. And we do. And I think that this is a moment that really requires courage and it requires speech. out and it requires saying that business as usual does not work when you're dealing with a

wannabe dictator whose authoritarian agenda continues to advance. Now, on some other issues that I think a lot of people feel like its time has come, can you speak a little bit about what you would like to see as far as health care is concerned? Because there has been, look, on the Republican side, obviously, it's a disaster. The closest thing we got to any health care reforms is Donald Trump promising a decade ago. that we would have a new health care plan in two weeks. So obviously they just want to entrench a system that either currently exists or go back to what we had before where health care insurers could kick people off of their

coverage if they have pre-existing conditions. But even on the Democratic side, there has been no meaningful steps forward. And a lot of what we have is just the results of some incrementalism. And so what would you like to see as far as health care is concerned moving forward? Well, first and foremost, I want to see us reverse the cuts that have been made by this administration. But then we have to really work towards something better because as I travel the state, I think when we talk about this affordability crisis and the umbrella of the affordability crisis, health care is almost number one on one of the issues that I hear from people all across the state. And I always bring up two things that are from my own personal story. Number one, that I ran for office in the first place back in 2016 when I was the caregiver for my mother who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

And I start by talking about how the state of Illinois and our previous governor was trying to strip away health care. And my state representative at the time was helping him to do that. And I knew how hard it was to care for my mother. And I believe that vulnerable seniors like her deserved access to care. and that's what led me to run for office in the first place. But fast forward to 2025 and 2025, when my daughter, one of my four daughters, who gets her health care under the ACA exchange, also is living with the fact that she called me and said, Mom, let me tell you how my health care premiums are going up and how much more it's going to be under the ACA in 2026. So I'm going to get the plan with the fewest amount of benefits.

That is not how anyone should approach getting their health care. not my daughter, no one should not have access to the care they need. I want to see us pass Medicare for all. I'm going to fight for that. I don't believe that we should have people choosing between going to the doctor or paying their rent. I believe that everyone should have access to quality, affordable health care. And I also, you know, it ties to the reason why I'm not accepting any corporate PAC money because too many people in Washington, D.C. are unwilling to fight. for Medicare for all because they've been bought by the health care industry, and that is really hindering our progress. So I'm going to be a strong voice to make sure that we fight for everyone

to have access to health care. I am in complete agreement with you. I've been advocating for Medicare for all for years now, but there are going to be critics on both the left and the right who are going to say that it's too expensive. And so what would your reaction or your response to those critics on both sides of the ILB, as... as this debate takes place in the upcoming congressional terms. Well, we all know, and we're seeing it play out right before our eyes, when people want to find money for something, they can find it. And we've heard this president say, well, we don't have money for health care.

We don't have money for child care. But here's how much money I want for a war that no one asked for. So this is really, to me, an issue of political will. And we have to have people, again, and I know that this word, used before, but this is the time to have the courage. The fact that this administration is going to strip so many people of their health care and their Medicaid coverage. And I look at a state like Illinois where there are potentially nine rural hospitals that can close. I look at the black women's maternal mortality crisis that I have led on in the state of Illinois and the

impact that that's going to have when 50% of our births in this state are to people who are covered by Medicare, I mean, by Medicaid, excuse me, what I just believe is that every single person is going to be impacted, whether it's longer wait times in the ER, whether it's inability to see a doctor where it's just, you know, what happens to our economy when we have so many people who don't have access to the care they need, this is an issue of political will. And if we believe that people should have the care, have access to quality, affordable health care, and that this is an important issue for everyone, then we just have to have the courage to fight for it. And that's what I'm going to do. You know, to that end, in terms of being able to find funds to pay for things

that are the political priority of this administration, I mean, right now, there is a UFC ring being constructed on the White House lawn at the same time that Americans' health care has been cut for tens of millions of people. Food assistance has been cut. Prices are rising across the country. We have gas that's nearly at its highest point ever. And yet we have this this like dystopian hunger games-esque ring being constructed at the capital. So can I have your reaction to the fact that whereas there is apparently no no amount of taxpayer funds that could cover the things that people need from the government, there is always, you know, money for stuff like, you know, these vanity projects that Trump wants to see.

Absolutely, and it is infuriating. And we need to speak out and we need to make sure that certainly I know I will do this as a leader in Washington speak out and use my voice to call it out and to remind taxpayers that this is their money that's being spent on things that no one has asked for. Whether we're talking about this match, whether we're talking about the golden ballroom, Donald Trump has said, point blank, I do. not care about the financial situations of Americans. He has made that clear. And we are seeing that every single day. And I can tell you that this administration is not focused on doing what's in the best interest of Americans. This is not a president who kept his word when he said, I'm going to lower inflation, lower the price of groceries. We have seen, as you said, gas prices where people are going to the pump and where they used to fill up their tank. They're now getting a half a tank for the

same amount. That's why people are so frustrated right now that they're watching Donald Trump and his wealthiest friends get wealthier by the day and they're getting left behind. And we need leaders who are going to call it out and say, I'm going to fight for you as the people of Illinois and Americans all across this country. Is the $1.776 billion dollar slush fund for insurrectionists, convicted insurrectionist. Is that a legal exercise? A legal exercise in that in which way? That that's what he wants to do. I mean, what it is is another example of him rewarding his cronies. This is another example of corruption. This, I mean, it's ludicrous. And this is one of the most infuriating things that I have seen in terms of Donald Trump's abuse of power. That's what it is to

me. I mean, look at this. I mean, and I, you know, I'm glad that it at least initially, we're seeing a little pause, but I'm telling you, there's no one that should agree. I'm calling out the congressional Republicans as well. No one should agree with this president trying to basically reward people who are insurrectionists where we have seen law enforcement officers and others literally get killed and this president wants to reward them. Yeah. And yet, I mean, you know, you were talking about courage.

the fact that we have so few Republicans who are willing to speak out because they have seen what happened to Thomas Massey and Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn goes to show that like these people are solely focused on protecting their jobs. That's it. They are not focused whatsoever on serving their constituents because it doesn't serve their constituents to spend two billion dollars turning each one of the 1500 convicted insurrectionists into millionaires by virtue of allowing this two billion. dollar slush fund to pass. 100%. And I think that that's where our voices and getting the message out around what we are actually doing and then delivering on it. I think it's a great example of what we've done in Illinois. I mean, I always talk about the Illinois blueprint, how we've been able to raise wages,

how we've expanded access to health care. We put Illinois in a path to a clean energy future. We have, you know, protected reproductive freedom and made Illinois. Island for reproductive freedom. We've protected workers' rights. I talk about those things about what we have delivered because Democrats have delivered on the things that matter for everyday Illinoisans and everyday Americans. And yet we have a president who made all of these promises and, you know, it took a primary for us to finally see Bill Cassidy take a stand about what's happening with the war in Iran. It shouldn't be that people are afraid.

to speak out against this president. And to me, honestly, it's too little too late. Like when I say courage is not waiting because, oh, now I'm on my way out. And so let me say something, although good that it's happening, I guess. Right. What may happen is that we need to speak out as Democrats. And we can't rely on the Republicans to do the right thing because, as you said, it's coming up at the last minute.

Where is the courage? Where is their backbone? and where are they going to put the people that they represent first? I believe that as Democrats, as I said, we have the message about what we have done, what we will do, what we will fight for, and we need to be stronger and bolder in getting that message out. Man, I could run through a brick wall right now. So, Lieutenant Governor Stratton, for those who are looking to help your campaign for U.S. Senate,

where can they go? Go to Juliana Stratton.com. I have a general election and I'm going to be fighting and working hard every single day to make sure that I can take your voices with me to Washington, D.C., and go to the mat fighting for you, the people, and go to Juliana Stratton.com and see how you can get involved. Great. I'm going to put that link right here on the screen and also in the post description. For those who are listening on the podcast, I'm going to put it in the show notes. Thank you so much for taking the time. Your campaign is a breath of fresh air and looking forward to speaking with you again. Thanks so much for having me. Thanks again to James Telerico, Tommy Vitor, and Juliana Stratton. That's it for this episode. Talk to you on Wednesday.

You've been listening to No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. Produced by Sam Graber, music by Wellsey, and interviews edited for YouTube by Nicholas Nicotera. If you want to support the show, please subscribe on your preferred podcast app and leave a five-star rating in a review. And as always, you can find me at Brian Tyler Cohen on all of my other channels,

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