No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen - Republicans screw themselves with voters ahead of November

Episode Date: April 7, 2024

Republicans squandering their House majority over the last two years is informing what they'll do if they win out in November. Brian interviews Pod Save America co-host Jon Lovett about how to approach the issue of young people and progressives who are upset with Biden about what’s at stake in November’s election. And Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who’s running for the US Senate in Florida against Rick Scott, joins to discuss the bombshell state Supreme Court ruling both allowing a 6-week abortion ban to take effect AND allowing the question of codifying abortion rights to appear on the ballot in November.Pre-order "Democracy Or Else" at https://crooked.com/booksSupport Debbie Mucarsel-Powell: https://www.debbieforflorida.com/Shop merch: https://briantylercohen.com/shopYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/briantylercohenTwitter: https://twitter.com/briantylercohenFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/briantylercohenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/briantylercohenPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/briantylercohenNewsletter: https://www.briantylercohen.com/sign-upWritten 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.

Today we're going to talk about how Republicans have squandered their House majority over the last two years and how that'll inform what they do if they win out in November. And I interview Potta of America co-host John Lovett about how to approach the issue of young people and progressives who are upset with Biden about what's at stake in November's election. And I'm joined by Debbie Mukersel Powell, who's running for U.S. Senate in Florida against Rick Scott to discuss the bombshell state Supreme Court ruling, both allowing a six-week abortion ban to take effect and allowing the question of codifying abortion rights to appear on the ballot in November. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie.

As we head toward November, this will be the first election where we don't have to listen to politicians make empty, nebulous promises about what they would do in office because we have the fortune, or misfortune, of simply being able to look at what they did in office. And so I thought that a comparison would be helpful because we've obviously got Joe Biden in the White House and Republicans controlling the House, as well as Donald Trump having controlled the White House prior to this. So remember, last cycle, before Republicans took control of the House, House, where they promised that they would spend all their time on? Inflation and gas prices.

Since they've taken control, they've not spent a single solitary minute on inflation or gas prices. But they have opted to squander 15 months on an impeachment effort against Joe Biden that was so disastrous they had no choice but to abandon it mid-probe. There's also the fact that it was never actually intended to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing by Biden, but rather existed solely to give the optics that he had done something wrong. In fact, it was so clear that Republicans never actually intended to impeach him because there was such a void of evidence that Jared Moskowitz literally offered to be the first vote for impeachment, and still, not a single Republican would second his motion. Like, think about that for a second. A Democrat,

Jared Moskowitz, was like, you want to impeach him? Fine. I'll start the vote. Let's put this thing to an end. I vote to move forward with an impeachment. And zero Republicans would dare second the motion because the whole stunt was always based on nothing and had no legitimate support even in the Republican Party and that moving forward with an actual vote would expose that. But still, they spent 15 months on it. And what else did they do during that time? They did what they always do and railed against the border. And so Democrats, thinking naively that Republicans actually wanted to fix something that

they were saying they wanted to fix, got Chris Murphy and Kirsten Cinema and conservative Republican James Langford into a room together and negotiated the most conservative border bill that they could so it would be palatable for Republicans. It was a border bill with no comprehensive immigration. reform, just border security. And what did Republicans do with their own bill about a problem that they themselves claim was the root of all problems in America? They killed it because they knew that it was more potent as an issue to complain about than actually something worth fixing. And so that bill died. James Lankford admitted on the House floor that he was

threatened by a prominent conservative mouthpiece that if his bill passed and Republicans lost the issue of the border ahead of the election, that Lankford's life would become a living hell. That is how committed they actually are to solving the border crisis. all the while we've got Trump out here promising a retribution tour if he's in the White House he vowed to enact a nationwide abortion ban

his party is all over the place promising to cut earn benefits like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid he's taken over the RNC so that he can redirect funds to his legal defenses and any of his four prosecutions in 91 criminal charges

and he cannot stop claiming that Barack Obama is still the president if you can point me to which part of that is at all beneficial to Americans or popular or even coherent I'm all ears. Meanwhile, because the contrast is important, look at what Democrats have done with their short time in the majority. Fifteen million jobs, 26 straight months of sub-4% unemployment,

a record high stock market. Inflation is completely flat. Wages are rising. They passed the American Rescue Plan, the infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Chips Act, the Pact Act, the gun safety law. They caught a fared marriage equality at the federal level. They canceled almost $150 billion in student loan debt for 4 million Americans. They brought insulin down to $35 bucks a month. Just this week, they capped Asman-Hellers at $35 a month, too. These things are what impact regular people,

not freeing the fucking January 6 prisoners. Like, what are we even talking about here? So look, those records speak for themselves. One party had the opportunity to work for you, and instead it is working to pass an agenda that appeals solely, solely, to far-right, Christofascist zealots. They want to strip Americans of the reproductive rights.

They want to criminalize doctors for performing abortions. They want to ban interstate travel for pregnant women. want to make sure that rape victims carry their pregnancy to term. That is not freedom. That is the plot of the hammaid's tale. And look, none of this is to frame Joe Biden or the Democrats as being perfect. That's not what I'm saying. But this election will be an opportunity for you to convey what you want this country to look like moving forward. One party is promising freedom. The other is looking to take it away. What they've done in the past can help inform that. Sure, as it should,

but neither side is being shy about what they're offering for the future. Next up are my interviews with John Lovett and Debbie McCracell Powell. I'm now joined by the co-host of Potsay of America, the host of Loved or Leave It, and Content Queen. John Lovett. Thanks for taking the time. Hi. And we're here in your studio. We're here, yes, we're here in the Crooked HQ. That's right.

So I want to start with an issue that I think is more and more worrisome as we head toward November. And that is that there are young people, there are progressives who disapprove of Joe Biden for whatever reason, whether it's inflation, housing, Gaza, how do you approach the issue of framing this as a binary choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Trump who would be objectively worse on all of these issues, and especially the issue of Gaza, with people who right now very adamantly want to punish Joe Biden at the ballot box? I actually put the concerns and anger on Israel in a separate category, and I'd actually point you to Bernie Sanders' answer to John on POTS of America this week, which I thought, but really captured the way I feel about it anyway, which is Bernie Sanders is unabashed

in his criticism of the Biden administration. He is, I think, rightly confused by just how much unwavering support Joe Biden has shown, not to Israel, but to Benjamin Netanyahu, and the moral and human toll, not to mention political toll, that that has taken. But the point that Bernie Sanders makes is, this is awful, and he is trying to move the Biden administration. There are now senators, even longtime, very staunch defenders of Israel who have come out in favor of conditioning aid, who have said that there has to be, we have to use America's leverage to push Israel into allowing humanitarian aid and push Israel into a ceasefire. but the point that Sanders makes is this is an awful situation, but electing Donald Trump only makes it worse, only makes it much worse.

There is no issue in which Donald Trump isn't worse than Joe Biden, and that is very much true. He's listened to Donald Trump's rhetoric on Israel in just the past couple of weeks. It is very much true. So I, far be it from me to be claiming that I have the words or sense, to convince people who are disgusted by what's happening, to convince them that they need to turn out for Joe Biden. I do hope that the Biden administration listens to people like Bernie Sanders and others who

are calling for them to use the administration's leverage to change Israel's policies. But I do think the point that Bernie makes there is right. More broadly, especially on domestic policy, Joe Biden has been an extraordinary president. he really has there are many reasons why he has not achieved a great deal of what he had hoped to achieve on student loans for example although they're taking another shot at it but given the hand that he was dealt the divisions in the congress the economic consequences of a pandemic a right-wing propaganda apparatus aimed at him he did as much with the cards he was dealt as any president could.

You look at the Inflation Reduction Act as the biggest investment in climate change policy in history. You look at the infrastructure bill and some of the bipartisan things he was able to get through even with a whole majority of Republicans just radicalized against governing, against democracy. You look at the way he's wielded administrative power, the way he's tried to empower people who take such a strong line on antitrust.

You look at how he has managed to go around a Supreme Court ruling to try to cancel as much student debt as seemingly possible. You look at the record, and it is a record that deserves re-election. And whatever concerns people have, whatever disappointments people have, Joe Biden has been a better president than any Republican could have. He has been a better Democratic president than anyone hoped he has been. He has outperformed what a lot of people's expectations were, he can see. consistently exceeds people's expectations. And he's done it. His great superpower has been to listen and embrace and try to build consensus from the center

left all the way to the left. And in doing so, making more progressive positions sound moderate. That is his great superpower. That is an amazing achievement. That means that he's been able to get some things done that I even think a more left-wing president might not have been able to get done. Just by virtue of it being Joe Biden. Just by virtue of it being Joe Biden, if he were 10 years younger, this wouldn't even be a question.

Of course, of course, of course he will have deserved re-election on his domestic policy achievements. The age concern is there. It is real. But we all collectively have a choice about whether or not we want someone who is going to fight to make the country better or someone who's going to make it much worse, someone who's going to try to enshrine row into law or someone who's going to try to pass a national abortion ban. Someone who is going to go after trans people and gender affirming care or someone who's going to try to protect it at the federal level. Someone who believes in democracy or someone who doesn't. Voting is not some grand statement of human identity.

It is not the defining character trait that proves who you are or what you believe. It is an opportunity to use a lever of power to make the country better or to make the country worse. We will have a choice in November. On climate, for example, I don't think that. that there is a bigger choice facing a democracy on Earth, probably in the next decade, than whether or not we elect a Democrat for the climate on planet Earth. I don't think that there's a bigger choice. I think every climate activist in the country, whatever their legitimate gripes are,

with Joe Biden's embrace of kind of an all-of-the-above strategy of his failure to do a host of different things, whatever the valid criticisms may be, every person who believes that we have to tackle climate change ought to be doing everything they can to elect Joe Biden in November. And you can do that across virtually every single issue. And I think what's important to point out, too, is that he can be persuaded on a lot of these issues. Donald Trump can't. And so knowing that this is the choice, however flawed that choice may be, if you have, you know, on issues that you don't even agree with Joe Biden on at all.

Like whether it's, whether it's, you know, Gaza, whether it's whatever it is, Joe Biden is much more likely to be persuaded to be more moderate, to have a moderated position on those issues than Donald Trump, who has already signaled that. that what he'll do with Gaza, for example, is just go and raise it, raise it to the ground. Not only do we know that Joe Biden can be persuaded, we have seen Joe Biden be persuaded. The Joe Biden, that is president, is governing more to the left than you would expect from his decades-long career in politics, more than what a lot of people expected when he became the nominee. He was persuaded. He has shifted. There is a beautiful story in that this mostly centrist figure spent decades trying to become president, And in deciding that the country's soul was in jeopardy, that he truly believed democracy was on the line, not running on a lefty platform, not running on an ideological, that was not the guiding principle of his campaign.

That was not what motivated to him run. He believed democracy was in jeopardy. He believed that there was a decency and goodness in America and that he had an obligation to run to call upon that decency to prevent Donald Trump from being reelected. and in his belief in democracy he brought the left wing to the table he brought Bernie in he brought a bunch of different people in

he he kind of reshaped the consensus of the Democratic Party and that belief in democracy shaped not only his reason for running but for the way he governed and there's something like remarkable and important and beautiful in that story and that's how I feel about that perfectly put I want to switch gears a little bit here to the question of abortion specifically.

So we're expecting the question of codifying abortion rights to be on the ballot in Florida, in Montana, in Arizona, among other states this November, including New York, by the way, which has major implications for down-ballot races in that state. Does this actually put a place like Florida, for example, in play? Like, if someone asked you whether they should donate to candidates in Florida, given the fact that we have limited resources, what would you tell them? It's a really good question. Look, this America? Do I believe it's possible? Sure. Anything's possible.

I don't know about, I don't know what that answer says. No, I, look, if we're winning in Florida, we're having a good election day. Do I believe that abortion being on the ballot turns people out? Absolutely. We have seen abortion win, not just in states like California, but in states like Kentucky, in, in, in, in red states, Ohio, Kansas. Kansas. So when the, when voters. are told that their basic human rights are going to be on the ballot. They show up and they

protect them. That is absolutely true. Does that turn a state that has been sliding away from us into a state we can win? Maybe. Maybe. But I also say, you know, we've got tough races to win in Ohio. We've got a close race to win in Wisconsin. We've got races to win in Nevada. We've got races to win in Arizona. There are a lot of places where your money can go very far. Do I think that abortion being on the ballot means that we can do well in Florida and better than we had hoped? Absolutely. Does it make Florida a swing state again? I'd like to see more information. I'd like to me, I'd like to see some data on that first. Well, to that point, Biden right now has a huge cash advantage. I think he has over $150 million cash on hand. Trump doesn't, Biden is spending in a raft of states right now while Trump is laying low likely to save what cash he has left and that he's not paying to Alina Haba to represent him in losing cases in court. How much of an impact do you think that that makes right now? Because on one hand, it is important to define the opposition early, but then on the other hand, most people aren't even paying attention to politics right now. Yeah, and I do think there is this increasing problem,

which is the people that you can reach with traditional advertising are older, are maybe more likely to vote already, and the younger, less engaged people who have already cut the court or never had the court to begin with aren't going to see as many television ads, but they will see digital ads. I think you would always rather have a cash advantage. I would rather have better polls. I think that if you could ask Donald Trump,

what would you rather have right now? More money or the polls that you have? I think you'd pick the polls, honestly. Well, then, you know, right now we are seeing the strongest economy in our lifetimes. Jobs report came out this week that showed that Biden broke 15 million jobs. Democrats are out there campaigning for abortion rights, which is popular with three quarters of the country. And yet the polling is right now stubbornly stuck.

With Trump, how much are you taking seriously the polls versus ignoring them and also adding in the fact that, you know, for so often we see that there is a fundamental issue with the validity of polls? I think we should assume they're true. The people that are like, oh, the polls are probably wrong and actually it's, there's a bias towards Trump in these polls. Like, okay, I hope you're right. Let's pretend you're not right. Let's live as though these polls are an accurate snapshot of where voters are right now. the Biden campaign has said for a long time there's been a lot of look obviously people have been we've gone through kind of periodic uh moments of just panic there's like panic news cycles

I don't know what stirs them right like they're sort of low level and then all of sudden there's some some event or some issue kind of leads to a round of oh he's too old and we need a brokered convention or uh he like misplaces a modifier one day and but put aside that kind of like ebb and flow of concern. The Biden campaign has consistently said, especially like in the last few months before the campaign had really heated up, when people are actually presented with the choice, these polls will go from registering a kind of dissatisfaction and anger,

a sourness, a desire for something better, a wish that the choices were better, a dissatisfaction with by having to have this face off again, a kind of general unhappiness in the country, which is what they, you know, let's say that's what these polls register. Over time, as the campaign heats up, as people are actually confronted with the, not just a real Joe Biden who is actually president versus a prospective or gauzy version of Trump, a real Biden versus a real Trump, that fundamental responsibility that voters have put

on display ever since 2016, what they did in 2017 and 2018 and 2020 and 2020 and 22 at 2023 will bear out. Now, I think there are people who overstate the significance of these special elections, which I do think speak to a kind of like hyper-engaged subset of the Democratic electorate just showing up. Yeah. They're listening to this right now. Otherwise known as our audience? Right. But I do think that there is something to, there is something to the idea that a poll is one thing, a poll a year out or six months out or eight months out is one thing, but that when people are actually confronted with a choice, they turn out to protect abortion, they turn out to vote against election deniers, they turn out to vote

against people that want to pardon insurrectionists, and that that responsibility gene is still in there. And even in the past couple weeks, I don't think you can call it a, don't call it a comeback. But I do think you start to see, like you blew your eyes and like, okay, the campaigns ramping up. A lot of news cycles, Trump first Biden, Trump first Biden, Biden first Biden, and what do you see? You start to see a few places where Biden's ticking up, where Trump is ticking down. And you start to say, okay, this is the Biden theory that over time as the campaign really begins in earnest, as the choice becomes clear, we will see a change. We have to see that change. Yeah. I think right now, I think that's a great point. I think right now what we're seeing is

like people registering dissatisfaction with how it is right now, but not necessarily an acknowledgement of what these polls will eventually show, which is that this is a binary choice between two people. So I think that will start to bear it out. And also, by the way, as the election tilts towards what are you going to do in the next four years? I think there are a lot of people, like, I've seen some kind of discourse. Like, why are some of these low numbers so stubborn, right? Like, you just pointed this great economic data that came out. Inflation is not where it was a year ago or two years ago. But I do think that, you know, inflation is a rate of change, but where things have landed is people just feel like things are more expensive and things are

more expensive. And so it is true that things aren't getting worse at the rate that they were, but people still feel like things have gotten more expensive and stayed there. Maybe it's, maybe it's not as much of a worsening situation as it once was, but there was just a poll from, I think it was Gallup did another round of surveys, and despite their best efforts, you know, crime, crime, illegal immigration, those things are rising, but inflation is still right there at the top. Jobs has fallen, the economy is fallen, health care is fallen, but inflation is still right up there. Love it. Do you think Biden and Trump should debate? Yeah, I do. I think that they have to debate. I do not think Joe Biden wants to spend. I think they're going to have to find, I mean, Joe Biden has to come out and saying he wants to debate. Trump is already trying to. get ahead of it. Do I think Trump actually wants to or does he just like the idea of saying Joe Biden won't debate him? Of being like the alpha. Right. It's it has to be to one of their advantage. Right. There are people like, oh,

neither one of them wants to debate. Well, that can't be true. What right wing media will do is do what they always do, which is to lower the bar all the way down to the floor. And then when Joe Biden can stand up there and like, stay awake, like say his name, he will have already exceeded the basement expectations that they've set for him. Yeah. I mean, look, what was the, what was the end result of the debates? in 2020, the first debate, the one where Trump had COVID and tried to kill Biden, was probably the worst presidential debate in history. It was a despicable display from Trump dragged the whole thing down. Did Biden benefit from that? Maybe. Do you even remember the debates that

followed? No. I do think you're right. Like, I haven't really thought about it, but I do think you're right. They will lower the Joe Biden, if the Joe Biden that showed up at the state of the union shows up at that debate. He will demonstrate the American people that he is still up for this job. I do think that simple, that simple affirmation, just basically on some level, we're going to spend the next eight months talking about this election. There's a lot of people out there that are just going to do a gut check. Be like, can he still do it? Okay. Yeah. And that would be the route to do it. Love it. Before we finish. Okay. I thought we would put a little wager out there.

All right. So the bet will be that if I win, what's about to happen, I'll donate to Votes of America. If you win, you'll vote to my Don't Be a Mitch Fund, which loki are pretty much the same. Right. Seems to be the same thing. Okay. Same thing. All right.

So here's the bet here. Should you take it? I need you to name 10 items on the cheesecake factory menu. Oh, that's, I could do that. But they have to be, they have to be the correct items. You can't just say hamburger. Like they have to be. Okay.

Just let me do it. So we have Crooked producer Ben here, who's going to be fact-checking, and let's see how it goes. Thai lettuce wraps, roadside sliders, crusted chicken Romano. They have buffalo chicken wings and buffalo chicken tenders. Let's just count that as one. Tex-Mex egg rolls. They also have a combination platter where you can get the Tex-Mex egg rolls, the hamburger egg rolls, the tequitos, and they have a chicken Caesar salad.

They have a Southwestern ranch chicken salad. I mean, can I do dessert items? Adams Ripple cheesecake. It has like the word delicious in the word, but it's a Snickers cheesecake called Oh, caramel-licious cheesecake. By the way, I'm like really kind of disappointed in myself. I really should be able to just like kind of,

I'm disappointed that I can see it, I can see the Matrix. There was a moment where I was speaking to producer Ben and saying, do you think five items is unfair to make love it now? They have a carrot cake slash cheesecake. Now we've got Debbie Mukersel Powell, who's running against Rick Scott for the U.S. Senate in Florida. So first off, we, have two pieces of bombshell news out of that state. The first is that a 15-week abortion ban was

upheld in the court, meaning that the six-week ban will now go into effect in about 30 days. And the second is that abortion rights will officially be on the ballot in Florida in November. So let's go bad news first. What kind of an impact will this draconian six-week abortion ban have on the women of that state? Yeah, I'm extremely concerned. This is one of the most extreme bans on abortion, a six-week abortion ban at a time where women, most women, don't know that they're pregnant without hardly any exceptions to rape and incest. This is affecting tens of thousands of women, not only here in our state, Brian, but also in the Southeast region that have been using Florida as their last state of resort to make sure that they have access

to this critical reproductive health care. This is going to affect our health. It's also going to affect mortality rates, particularly for black women who will not be able to have access to health care. But the good news is that, yes, the Supreme Court actually listened to over a million Floridians from all sides of the aisle, Republicans, Democrats, independents who signed on to make sure that the government doesn't interfere in the decisions that are private for a woman between herself, her family, her doctor, and her faith. And so I'm expecting millions of people to come out in November, to vote, to make sure that we enshrine abortion access into our state's constitution. But it will mean nothing if they send Rick Scott back to the Senate. Because let me just

say, this is a man that agrees that he said that he would have proudly supported a six-week abortion ban, is pushing for a national abortion ban, and he will do that if he goes back to the Senate. That is why my race now is more critical than ever. Well, in terms of the potency of this issue, the people of Florida will have the opportunity to vote on this now in November. Can you talk about what the polling suggests in terms of codifying abortion rights in the state? Yeah, time and time, I've seen several polls that suggest that close to 70% of Floridians

support a woman's access to reproductive health care. And so we believe that with the efforts of the coalition that has been working so hard to make sure that voters are informed, that they understand what's its sake in November to make sure that they come out and vote for this ballot amendment, that it will pass. And so I'm feeling very optimistic that we will show the country, Brian, that Florida is not

who these extremists want people to believe. They don't represent our values. We are in an independent state. We're a bright purple state, and we will show everyone in November. How do you persuade Floridians to both support this referendum and also the candidacy of the Democrats who espouse support for these policies? Because there is a world in which voters might view this as an out. Yeah, this is not a regular election cycle.

I think that most Floridians here understand, and I can tell you as a Latina immigrant who came here from Ecuador when I was 14, many of us understand what it looks like to have politicians or the government interfere in your everyday life and in decisions that are as private as having access to reproductive health care. And so I've been very clear from the very beginning that I am someone who's a mom who has two daughters, a son. I'm going to make it very clear that I am going to prioritize protecting a woman's right to choose. This is a matter of fundamental civil right for women. It's also a safety issue.

And it's an economic issue for many families across the state. So by November, people will know who will be on their side and who's not. And it's definitely not Rick Scott. What lessons can we take from Ohio, for example, when both abortion and marijuana legalization are on the ballot? that voters are smart, Brian, and it really doesn't matter that a lot of these issues are not partisan issues. People are paying attention and they know who is trying to roll us back more than 50 years. There was a woman who was talking just this morning to one of the news reporters saying, you know, why are we in 2024 talking about something that was enshrined

into law over 50 years ago? Why are they trying to roll back protections? We come here, to the United States to live in a country where democracy stands, where law and order stands, where democratic institutions protect freedoms here in America. And Floridians are very, very smart. They know that extremists in Tallahassee have been trying to take over our state. And because we are going to make sure that every voter across the state is informed, we will see the same results. Like we've seen in Ohio, like we saw in Kentucky, what we saw in Alabama just recently, voters are coming out. They're going to vote for their rights, their freedoms, and they're going to make sure that we win the Senate race. Can you talk about the difference in terms of what would

happen if, for example, Republicans took the Senate and Senator Rick Scott stayed in the Senate in terms of the likelihood of a nationwide ban on abortion passing? Well, Rick Scott is an opportunist. For him, it's always been about self-gain and self-enrichment. And so he's going to do everything in his power to make sure that he gets reelected. because he wants to be Senate leader, Senate majority leader. And so he will be the first to make sure that he puts on the Senate floor for a vote, a push for a national abortion ban. And so I say it won't matter if we vote to pass this amendment here in Florida

and protected in the state constitution if Rick Scott pushes a national abortion ban at the federal level. And let me just say this one last thing. They're not going to stop in just banning abortion. They want to prevent women from having access to contraception. They want to prevent families from having access to IVF. Rick Scott has been citing with extremists that have signed on to the life at conception bill. I saw it when I was in Congress.

And that is why I want everyone listening, Ryan, to go to Debbie for Florida right now, support my race. Rick Scott sell funds because he oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in the history of this country. And he used that money to buy his Senate C. We cannot allow him to do that again in 2024. for. Yeah, I think that's a great point in terms of focusing not just on passing this amendment because it'll obviously, you know, have major impacts just in that state, but also making sure that Rick Scott doesn't go back to the U.S. Senate because that will have major impacts in terms of Republicans being able to push a nationwide ban on abortion. So this is basically a two-track

push that Florida is just kind of being able to spearhead right now. Yeah. And what I always say also is that it hasn't just been abortion that he's been extreme in Washington. I mean, he has been the poster child on trying to pass Trump's agenda, and he's been blocking aid to Israel. He's been blocking aid to Ukraine. He wants to sunset Medicare and Social Security. He wants to raise taxes on middle class families. And so it's extremely dangerous to send Rick Scott back to the Senate, especially with his

ambitions on trying to beat Senate majority leader, which won't happen because Democrats will keep the Senate. You know, there are folks watching who say, why invest in Florida? We've been consistently disappointed by the state. So how is your campaign going to be different? Look, Brian, everything about this race is different. Rick Scott is extremely vulnerable. We've seen poll after poll.

He cannot pass like a 36% favorability. And I have seen two polls now that have me ahead of Rick Scott after voters know who I am. My story is the story of Floridians across the state. I came here when I was 14, I started working at a minimum wage job. And because of the American dream, because of the opportunities that I was able to obtain here, I was associate dean at the medical school at FIU. And then I was elected to be the first South American immigrant to ever be elected to the U.S. House.

I've been communicating with our communities for so long in Spanish, in English, and so many people relate to the story of just trying to have economic opportunities to make it. And that's what makes my race completely different. And Rick Scott is extremely vulnerable. And you can't ignore Florida. We're 20 million Americans fighting for our rights and our freedoms. We need everyone with us. You've spoken about your Latino background.

Democrats are obviously going in the wrong direction in terms of garnering support from the Latino community. So what is your campaign doing moving forward in terms of kind of pulling that support back? Well, I've been present, like I said, for many years, not just now that I'm running for Senate. I've been speaking directly on Spanish radio, Spanish TV, on issues that are important to Latinos. It's not just reproductive health care, which, by the way, Latinos and Latino women understand what it's like to have government interfere in these decisions. In Mexico, in Colombia, in Argentina, very conservative countries, they passed abortion laws to protect women

to have abortions. Why? Because it had a direct link with violence against women. We saw high rates of maternal mortality. And after that, we started seeing that maternal mortality rates started going down. And that's why Latinos understand these issues very, very well. But we have to speak to them directly and be where they're at. And that's what I've been doing. And so still in Florida, two to one, Latinos vote for Democrats. They're going to do so again. And I'm feeling very, very optimistic because we're building a very strong grassroots movement all over the state. What about taking a 30,000-foot view and stepping out of Florida for a moment? What about Latinos around the country?

What's your best advice to campaigns looking to garner more support from Latinos who, again, are moving in the wrong direction? You have to be present. You have to show up. Why would anyone, not just Latinos, but black voters, white voters, why would anyone vote for someone that they don't know that they can't trust, that they haven't heard from? And I think that that's critical for anyone running a race here in Florida or across the country. Let me just say one more thing, Brian. Latinos have been targeted with very, very dangerous disinformation. And it started happening back in 2020.

And this comes from Russia. And what I've been seeing some of these Republicans, including Rick Scott, is pandering into this disinformation by continuing to spread lies. And so many Latinos have been very confused. But the reality is that right now they're starting to wake up. We're putting a lot of good information in front of them. and that's going to be key in the November 2024 election. And finally, how can we support your campaign? Go to Debbieforflora.com, make a contribution, tell your friends and family,

we are going to win in November. I want everyone paying attention because this is the race that will make sure that we keep the Senate majority for Democrats so that we can continue to do the work, which is protecting democracy, protecting voting rights, protecting a woman's right to choose, and so many other things that are critical. to our livelihoods in Florida and across the country. And just to echo what you just said, I mean, we've seen these results in what would otherwise be considered red states like Kansas, like Virginia, like Ohio, where when abortion

is on the ballot, Democrats win. So we do have a massive opportunity here. So again, I'll put that link right in the show notes of this episode, as well as the post description for the YouTube video. Thank you so much for taking the time. I appreciate it. Thank you, Brian. Thanks again to John and Debbie.

That's it for this episode. Talk to you next week. You've been listening to No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. Produced by Sam Graber, music by Wellesie, 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, or you can go to Brian Tyler Cohen.com to learn more.