No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen - The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

Episode Date: June 26, 2022

Brian talks about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe and what we can do about it. Brian interviews the host of Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It, Jon Lovett, about the impacts of the Roe decision, what Biden can do to bolster support among young people and progressives, and what he thinks about those pro-democracy Republicans running in deep red areas. And Annette Taddeo, the Democrat running in the biggest toss-up race in Florida, joins to discuss what she’s doing to flip that seat and how Democrats can win back the support of Latinos.Register to vote: votesaveamerica.comDonate to the "Don't Be A Mitch" fund: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dontbeamitchShop 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 the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe and what we can do about it. I interviewed the host of Potsave America and Love It or Leave It, John Lovett, about the impacts of the Roe decision, what Biden can do to bolster support among young people and progressives, and what he thinks about those pro-democracy Republicans running in deep red areas. And I'm joined by the Democrat running in the biggest toss-up race in Florida, Annette Todayo, about what she's doing to flip the seat and how Democrats can win back the support of Latinos. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie. So on Friday, June 24th, the Supreme Court did what we expected it to do and finally overturned Roe, ending the constitutional right to a legal abortion in the United States.

And let's be clear, it won't end abortion for people who live in those states that ban it. It'll end abortion for those who can't afford it. So not only is this an attack on reproductive rights, it's an attack on the poor. You know, what we're living through right now is the consequence of a Republican Party that is, A, flying off the cliff to the far, right? And B, isn't afraid to do it because it's not actually accountable to anyone. And when I say the Republican Party, that includes those six conservative justices because they are political operatives. Like, I know people love to pretend that they're nonpartisan actors, like umpires that just call balls and strikes. Give me a break. These people aren't a shred less political than any other

hack member of Congress. Put Marjorie Taylor Green next to Clarence Thomas and try to tell me that one is any less partisan than the other. And yet, whether it's the court or the GOP more broadly, they act with impunity because, you know, first off, they've gerrymandered themselves into a pretty good spot. Democrats need around like a five-point edge just to break even in congressional races. That's how gerrymandered the House is. And second, on why they can act with impunity, Republicans will break the rules and they know that Democrats won't reciprocate.

Like Mitch McConnell held Merrick Garland's seat for an entire year, changing the makeup of the court from nine seats to eight seats and ultimately put Neil Gorsuch in that seat. All because of a brand new made-up rule that you can't see to judge in an election year. And yet, you know, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died with five minutes to go until the election, Amy Coney Barrett was rammed through her confirmation process. And that broke McConnell's own supposed steadfast rule. Did Democrats do stuff like this? No. Because Democrats couldn't possibly allow themselves to seem like their breaking tradition

or even worse coming across as partisan because then Fox News would complain. So we play by one set of rules and then act surprise when Republicans don't. And I'll tell you what, I am really fucking tired of being the only party out of two that plays by the rules. Only one party is acting like it's part of a democracy and so long as that's the case, we will lose. So my message to Democrats would be pretty simple. It's to either start fighting back and fighting back hard or we will continue to lose. So with that said, I want to be as practical as possible here. Lay out what I think needs to be done to save Roe and codify the right to an abortion in this country.

Starting with this upcoming election, we need to hold the House and expand our Senate majority by two seats. Then with that Senate majority, we eliminate the filibuster so that legislation only needs a simple majority to pass. Then we pass the Women's Health Protection Act. That's the law codifying Roe. And lastly, we expand the court because this court will not allow the Women's Health Protection Act to stand. All of those things need to happen, and all of those things can happen. And just one point on that last part, on this idea of expanding the court. You know, there's this prevailing notion that the Supreme Court can't be expanded because that's a radical position and the court is supposed to be apolitical.

This court is not apolitical. There is no sanctity in this court. The six conservative justices are political operatives who not only lied in their confirmation hearings, but they undermined what they themselves said were principles of good governance, which is respecting settled law. Here they are saying exactly that during their own respective confirmation hearings. I believe the Constitution protects the right to privacy. And I have no reason or agenda to prejudge the issue or to predisposed to rule one way or the other on the issue of abortion, which is a difficult issue.

Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court. It was decided in 1973. So it's been on the books for a long time. It has been challenged on a number of occasions. And I think that when a decision is challenged and it is reaffirmed, that strengthens its value as stare decisis for at least two reasons. First of all, the more often a decision is reaffirmed, the more people tend to rely on it. And secondly, I think stare decisis reflects the view that there is wisdom embedded in decisions

that have been made by prior justices. Again, I would tell you that Roe versus Wade decided in 1973 is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court. It has been reaffirmed. The reliance interest considerations are important there. And all of the other factors that go into analyzing precedent have to be considered. It is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court.

It was reaffirmed in Casey in 1992 and in several other cases. So a good judge will consider it as precedent of the United States Supreme Court worthy as treatment of precedent like any other. Once a case is settled, that adds to the determinacy of the law. What was once a hotly contested issue is no longer a hotly contested issue. We move forward. Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court. It's been reaffirmed many times. It was reaffirmed in planning Parenthood versus Casey in 1992, when the court specifically considered whether to reaffirm it or whether to overturn it. In that case, in great detail, the three justice opinion of Justice Kennedy, Justice Souter, and Justice O'Connor went through all the factors, the stare decisis factors, analyze those and decided to reaffirm Roe.

That makes Casey precedent on precedent. It's been relied on. Casey itself has been cited as authority and subcommittee. cases such as Glocksburg and other cases. So that precedent on precedent is quite important as you think about stare decisis in this context. Senator, what I will commit is that I will obey all the rules of stare decisis, that if a question comes up before me about whether Casey or any other case should be overruled, that I will follow the law of stare decisis. They told these lies because they knew they needed to say whatever they had,

had to get confirmed. And then the moment they were given the opportunity to overturn it, they did, without hesitation. Not a single word about precedent, not a single word about settled law. Every single one of them signed their name onto this decision. The suggestion that these people are just calling balls and strikes, that they're simply interpreting the Constitution is a thing of make-believe that conservatives use as a thin veil to hide the fact that these people are just on the court doing their bidding. Republicans have railed against a quote-unquote activist judges on the left for my entire lifetime. Now when you've got judges who are legislating away 50 years of settled law, stripping Americans of reproductive rights, unprecedented in U.S.

history, and it's just crickets from those Republicans who were so worried about activist judges. So I know that we're supposed to be afraid to say expand the court, but expanding the court is not extreme. What is extreme is doing nothing in the face of an unprecedented rollback of rights. What's extreme is allowing this to stand. What's extreme is pretending that there's no recourse here when there is. That's the extreme position here. We have agency and we don't have to sit idly by and make the conscious decision to respect tradition

while Republicans run roughshot over it. So we should not only expand the court the moment that we have the opportunity to, but we should normalize this idea that the court expansion is our only weapon to fight back against Republican extremism. And I have one last point here. I know it's kind of a counterintuitive moment

to promote the importance of voting because we have Democratic majorities and yet we're still seeing the biggest rollback of rights in U.S. history. But a few things here. First, for democracy to work, you don't just win one election and sit back forever. Every election matters, and it will always be an important election because nothing is guaranteed, and we have to keep fighting. Second, giving up is exactly what Republicans want you to do.

They want you to feel overwhelmed and helpless and defeated. Do not reward them for stripping you of your rights. We have to keep fighting. And three, and this is what I think the most important point is, we are close. 20 years ago, no majority in either party was pro-choice. Clinton, Bill Clinton, signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law. Cut to today, there is one Democrat in office, Henry Quayar, who's anti-choice. That's it.

All we need is two more senators who will eliminate the filibuster. We have come so far. So I know it's easy to point to our majorities and just despise the fact that we haven't passed a law, codifying row, and trust. me. There are no words to describe how fucking live it I am over the fact that Mansion and cinema, you know, insist on protecting the filibuster. But we are close. This isn't the time to give up. It is the time for a full court press. So with that said, please, please, please do your part and help the people around you register to vote. My interview coming up is with John Lovett.

They've got Votesaveamerica.com over there at Crooked. It is an amazing tool to help make sure that you're registered. Look, we all have someone, a newly turned 18 or 19 year old, a politically apathetic friend or family member, someone who considers themselves more in the middle, explain the stakes and do your part. And if you don't think that you helping register just one or two people is going to make a difference, remember, in Wisconsin, Biden won by a margin of three votes per precinct. That's all. So please, no matter where you live, if you have even one person in your life who you can

persuade to register to vote, do it. I promise it can make a difference. Next up is my interview with John Lovett. Okay, today we have the host of Pod Save America and Love It or Leave It, John Lovett. Thanks so much for coming on. Thanks for having me. Good to see you. You too.

So let's start off with the Supreme Court, of course. The 6-3 majority has overturned Roe and 50 years of precedent. Now, if you, John Lovett, are in charge of the entire Democratic Party, what do you do right now today? That is a good question. I would say that I am still, I think my first response to this is a... I think also a good response for politicians, which is let's all be people first. Let's all be human beings first. And remember that this is a very bad day for everybody who cares about this issue.

It's even harder for a lot of people who are worried about their own access to care or who are on the front lines of providing abortion, care, and reproductive health. And so I think the first place to start is by just being honest about how difficult this news is for a lot of people. You know, we have some, you know, members of the crooked team that are in D.C. And they were out in front of the Supreme Court after the ruling came in. And there are a lot of people out there. They're protesting and they're angry and they're trying to figure out how to organize. But they also feel pretty scared and pretty lost.

and pretty worried. And it is especially hard when a decision like this is handed down by what is ultimately an anti-democratic institution, the 6-3 court that was basically kind of stolen as part of a multi-decade plan to make this outcome happen. So I just start there and just remember that I am in a very privileged position. And I'm obviously upset about this, but I feel for a lot of of people that are really scared and really worried. And I think that's where you start. And then after that, I think where the appropriate place to go is what we can do right now to support

organizations and groups and activists that are on the ground helping. I think that has to be, that has to be the priority. That's just protecting access to care, protecting access wherever we can supporting organizations that have, you know, in the case of Texas and a few other places that have already been dealing what it's like with what it's like to live under a ban and letting those organizations take the lead in the best way to help right now. And then finally, you can turn to politics and where I start is there is a vast pro-choice majority in this country. And our job is to wake them up and make sure that they understand the stakes in the upcoming elections. That's at the local level. That's at the state level. That's at

the national level. And making Republicans pay for what is ultimately not just morally reprehensible, not just they're imposing their own rigid ideology on people with whom they disagree, not just demanding that everybody live like them, but also making a great political error. We must make this a great political era. That is about the Senate and the House and making sure people understand that we will either have a majority that will enshrine bodily autonomy, the right to reproductive health care, the right to an abortion, or that will try to ban it nationwide. That is about making sure at the state and local level that we were electing not just governors, but also attorneys general, district attorneys

that recognize our fundamental human rights, that recommend the fundamental human rights and bodily autonomy of citizens, and elevating this issue, and then making it part of a larger story that ties together the anti-democratic trend on the right, the turn against democracy on the right,

with the embracing of extreme and unpopular and radical positions that demand, demand everyone look and live and act like they do, whether that is forcing people to carry a rapist baby to term, forcing a child to carry a father's baby to term, whether that's what Justice Thomas basically explicitly said in his concurring opinion, which is that he wants to revisit laws that would allow gay people to be thrown in jail for being gay. That is about their desire to terrify teachers who are gay or terrified teachers to even talk about the existence of gay people. That is about making supportive parents of trans people afraid to live

in states that are governed by Republicans. We have to tell that story about this radicalism and extremism and make that choice very, very clear to people because that is not only because the best message is a true message and that is the truth. That's perfectly put. And to that point, You know, I think that Democrats should use this opportunity. I mean, so many people constantly, and look, I'm part of that group, too, where it's like Democrats have a messaging problem. Change that today. Every Democrat should be out there today on TV at rallies, in town halls, on podcasts, doing whatever they can to get this message out to people because this is a virtuous message. And if not this, if not this, as a reason to go on all of these, you know, on a tour, basically, to reach every single not only voter, but low information voter.

just person out there who doesn't think that politics impacts them, then what, you know? Yeah, and we're recording this soon after the ruling came out, and I'm still feeling pretty raw, and I want to think about it. I want to think about what this means and figure out how people are feeling. You know, there's like, we have to let people have time with what is ultimately an incredibly dangerous and damaging and, and frightening decision that I think people will need time to process too and figure out how they want to fight back and how they feel about it. And that takes time to. So, you know, going into the political implications of this as we head into midterms over these next few months, you know, I know Biden and Democrats are

operating in an almost comically brutal environment. You know, there's worldwide inflation, there's high gas prices, a war in Europe, an impending food shortage. We obviously have a six-three court that's rolling back civil rights at a rate never before seen in the U.S. And on top of all of that, we have a couple of Democrats who are protecting the filibuster and block any legislation, the entire Democratic agenda for moving forward. Do you think that the Republican Party, their work over these last few decades, but concentrated into right now to overturn Roe, is the message that Democrats should seize upon as we move forward.

Like in 2018, we focused on health care. That was a wildly popular issue that Democrats were on the right side of. It was a virtuous message, and Democrats won 40 seats in the House. Is this what we should focus on in 2022? is a, you know, this midterm cycle's ACA fight? I think that's like an empirical question. I think at root, we want to find a way to create a choice between Republican extremism and Republican deference to rich people and corporations and the steps Democrats want to

take right now to protect access to health care, to protect access to abortion, to help people with high costs, and tell a story about that choice. that on the one hand, you have Democrats who have been fighting to take on high gas prices and Republicans who have been trying to stymie what they are doing. On the one hand, you have Democrats who have been desperately trying to expand things like the child tax credit but have zero Republicans willing, well, who have often had zero Republicans willing to go along with any part of their agenda to make life more affordable for most families, middle class families, poor families. And then on the other hand, you have the leader of the Republican senatorial campaign

basically saying he wants to sunset, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. I think that's the story we have to tell. I think what this decision on Roe has to be a big part of it. And it has to be a signal, if not the most important, probably the most important example of the difference between what Republicans want to do and what Democrats want to do. Yeah, I think that's perfectly put. Just like one puzzle piece and like their broader attack on democracy and the will of Americans more broadly. And I think, by the way, their ability to do this and their confidence in doing this is just born out of the fact that, you know, they've been able to undermine democracy for so long that they don't feel accountable to people anymore. And so when you're able to gerrymander districts to within an inch of their lives, when you're able to suppress votes and close down polling places and when you can use laws like, SB 202 in Georgia to replace those Democratic majorities with Republican majorities as part of

their elections officials. You know, when you have that much confidence because you've been able to subvert democracy for so long, I think that these are the consequences of that that we're seeing right now. And also, I also think it's important not to miss. Believe they won't face accountability in the public square, that they believe that the world has gotten so noisy that the mainstream press is so feckless and that the right-wing press is so loud and useful to them that they do not believe they have to worry about hypocrisy,

they do not have to worry about honesty, they do not have to worry about taking these unpopular positions. And our job, collectively, is to prove them wrong and to show them that, yeah, we have headwinds against us. We have a broken system. We have a democracy that is being undermined at every turn. We have a political system. that rewards dishonesty, that rewards politicians for evading tough questions,

that they pick their audience instead of being forced to put themselves up in front of people and face the consequence of their decisions. But even despite all of that, we have an opportunity in this election to prove that, like, this engine may be throwing off sparks and it may be rumbling and it may be making noise and there may be nuts and bolts falling onto the road as we drive. But the engine turns and the wheels. move forward and we can win elections and we can make this case and it will be a slog and there's no guarantee here. It is a very hard road ahead of us. But like for your listeners, so like for your

listeners who are paying attention, you know, it's our job as people kind of understand the stakes here to be ambassadors and leaders and making this argument and to not give up and to not be cynical and not to give into the kind of social media mindset of cynicism. We have to answer this very hard moment by remembering that things can get better or things can get worse. No, we have agency. We have agency. And that can be hard, especially at a moment like this. But we have to remember that, like, this is one moment.

Things can get better or things can get worse. And we have to choose. Now, one obstacle that we're going to contend with, obviously, that we have to figure out how to overcome is Biden's poll numbers are low, especially with young people and progressives in particular. What do you think he can do to salvage support among those people? Because I think that we're teetering dangerously here between these people, rightly recognizing how dangerous the GOP is,

but also that Democrats are often too feckless to be able to beat them in the face of that danger. I would say the most, well, one thing he should do is cancel some student debt. You should probably do that today. As many have said online, today would be a good day. But I do think that that's an example of what we kind of, of need. I think there's two things we need to see from, to me, what we need to see from Joe Biden. One is we need to see him using every lever of power at his disposal, every

executive order possible, every action, every part of his administration, needs to feel like a full court press to use all the power he has while he has it to make a difference for people. And I think that that is ultimately what they're trying to do. And I think as we get closer to the election, I hope we can see more of that, these steps that say, I see what's going on in country and i'm using all the power available to me not just because it will help not just because it will make a difference but also because i think how look this administration has been hit been buffeted by so many external forces that it is doing its best to manage that we're ultimately out of its control uh the joe biden is not responsible for variance he's not responsible

anthony fouchy is right yeah that's anthony fouchy's the one who's given us us the variance but you know He has been dealing with a set of international challenges with global supply chain issues, with a recalcitrant Joe Manchin and Kirsten Cinema that despite everyone's desire for him to be a king or to be an emperor to have an incredible persuasive argument to them. He has tried, and it is ultimately up to them, not Joe Biden, to decide whether or not we either get rid of the fellbuster or use reconciliation to help the country. However, one consequence of that is often Joe Biden is at risk of seeming like an observer, like a pundit, describing what's happening in the country, upset about what the court is doing, upset about what Joe Manchin is doing, upset about what Putin is doing, upset about a host of other issues. And I think taking immediate actions wherever possible and focusing on the things he can do rather than commenting on what's happening in the world is a way you look less like an observer.

And then the other piece of it is just helping make this argument, being out there every day. making this argument about the choice we have in November between an extreme right-wing, revanchus, Republican, authoritarian MAGA movement and a Democratic Party that actually wants to make some positive changes and all you have to do is give us two more votes in the Senate and we can help make that happen. Keep the House, two more votes in the Senate and we can protect Roe, right? There's a host of things we can do if we can convince people to come long. I want to go in a different direction here. I have kind of a weird question. Sure. Liz Cheney's website is encouraging Democrats to switch party registration to vote in the

Republican primary. At the same time, you've got someone like Evan McMullen, who is otherwise what we would consider a conservative running as an independent in Utah. He's courting Democrats as well. In fact, the Utah Democratic Party isn't running a candidate in hopes of, you know, having someone like McMullen beat Mike Lee. I'm curious what your thoughts are in these deep areas in terms of siding with, like, pro-democracy conservatives who are very, very conservative. That's funny. That's a good question. I would say that these are exceptions that prove the rule, right? Like, I think that we have been, you know, for example, Rusty Bowers, the Republican Speaker of the Arizona House, he gives this incredibly moving testimony about the divinely inspired constitution that Trump and Rudy,

were trying to tear asunder, that a person with a gun, came to his house and terrorized his family, including his dying daughter, and that this was abhorrent to him. And he had a moral obligation to stand up for the basic tenets of the United States of America. And oh, by the way, I would vote for Trump if he ran again. Yeah. Liz Cheney, I do not think we need to be defensive in saying that what she is doing takes genuine courage, that she is doing a remarkable service for her for her country that that she has shown honor where a lot of other people haven't she also made a name for herself by vilifying Muslims and campaigning against this is for people who remember this making an issue of things like having a a mosque in

Manhattan yeah right this was a this is a right winger and it is important that There were barely a few, but a few Republicans who were willing to tell the truth about Donald Trump. That is really important and valuable. I would rather have Liz Cheney in Congress than a Trumpist 100% of the time. However, I do not, beyond that, I leave it to others to decide what they want to do with their time. Does that make sense? I'm going to need you to look right here at the camera and say, I'm John Lovett and I endorse Liz Cheney for Congress. You know what's embarrassing?

I wrote, when Liz Cheney was first kind of like trying to get her name out there when she was first running against Mike Enzi. And basically, her campaign message was just like, I want to be a senator and I don't think Mike Enzi is enough of an asshole. Like that was like basically her whole message. She's like made some bullshit argument against him. I remember writing that like I felt like there was a chance Liz Cheney was the rock bottom for the Republican Party. That was incorrect. Correct. There was a low, but there was a hole at the bottom of the pool. You could go lower. There was a lot lower to go than Lynn Cheney, which is a lesson. There's always lower. Yeah. There's always lower. We're going to cut to 2025 and we're going to be sitting here saying, should we vote for Marjorie Taylor Green though? To stop the lesser of two evils, Marjorie Taylor Green? Yeah. So look, I don't know. It's a tough one. I would, I would rather have Liz Cheney than Jim Jordan in Congress for sure. Yeah. You know? So these are obviously dark times, and this is an especially dark week, and I think that

you, above all other people, you know, recognize the significance of being able to laugh. So I want to switch gears here. A few weeks ago, you told the story of the most embarrassing thing that you've ever said to Obama. So I created a segment that I'd like to call. John Levitt's assistant didn't give me a discernible heart out for this interview, so now I'll ask him to identify the most embarrassing moments in a variety of different situations, because in this era of crushing darkness,

maybe we can find some momentary respite and love its humiliations. There it is. Okay, great. Perfect. Sure, whatever you want. Whatever you all, see what I can come up with. I don't have a hard out,

but I will turn this zoom off on a moment's notice. I don't really care. There's no consequences for me. What are you going to do? Yeah. Take me to podcast. Take me to podcast jail. I can end this at any time.

All right, what do you got? What is the, what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever edited out of an episode of either Pod Save America or Love It or Leave It? Oh, wow. What is the most embarrassing thing I ever to edit it out? I don't love it or leave it. I've called some pretty despicable men hot.

You've also done that in episodes that you've not edited. I know, but there have been a few moments where after an episode, someone's like, you know, you can't call him. You can't say that you still would. He's a monster. And I'm like, all right, cut it out. I agree. I really wouldn't. It's a joke.

You know? Yeah. I mean, it took until Madison Cawthor and did, wait, what did it finally? take Madison Cofferns. That video, that fucking video. It was so gross. It was so, the video was so, like, when people, like, the video that were, it was just this, actually, I think I think I was sent that video to you. You did. Thank you for that. Appreciate that. Breaking new. It meant a lot. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Well, I feel like I did it. I feel like I did a service to everybody, because if that's the video that finally, that finally did it for you, then, uh, then I'll take some,

I'll take some modicum of credit. Plus he lost and like, that's not hot, you know. Yeah. What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened in front of an interview guest? Without, I'm not going to name names, but I will say that there was an interview for Ponsave America. I'm going to make this vague enough that you can't pin it down. You won't be able to figure it out. There was an interview for Potsave America. and it was just it was kind of boring you know it was a boring one it didn't get anywhere and like whatever host was doing the interview tried to make something happen and it just

kind of was like a politician on talking points and you won't be able to find the person because we've had a few politicians on talking points over the years you know it happens yeah and then the interview ended and the producer and the host were like oh man that was so boring that person didn't say anything why do that why would that person want to come on this show and then just be so anodyne this is a place to kind of be a little bit looser and like get to know people it's a it's a better environment for that and then all of a sudden we heard a uh uh I'm still I'm still here oh my God I have note taken I hear yeah maybe you're right and that was mortifying oh goodness were you were you doing that interview

Is that you? I don't know. Maybe it was. Maybe it was. I'm not going to make it. You're not going to be able to figure it out. Yeah. All right.

What was the most inappropriate thing you've ever said? Well, I guess this kind of falls into that category. But what was the most inappropriate thing that you've ever said to a guest and did they take it well? Um, it remains to be seen. I made some kind of a gay joke with with Secretary Pete. And I don't remember the exact wording, but I got some flag for. on Twitter. People did not think it was respectful. And I hear that. I hear that. But it was pride. And if I can't do innuendo with a, with a gay secretary of transportation during

pride, the Republic, Thomas has already won. Thomas and Alito already won't. So no thank you. Yeah. Well, Thomas and Lido have already won, regardless. But yeah, I could be a point. Yes. They've won't even more. But so, and then one other one I would say is, um, this wasn't a guest but I was going to NASA for a speech by President Obama and I was riding in a van with Buzz Aldrin and Buzz Aldrin said he showed me an article about himself and then he was like, you know, I share a publicist with Barbara Streisand and I believe I said something like, well in many ways I think of you as the Barbara Streisand of space and when I say he turned red and looked like he was about to. to punch me in the face, and I got so close to being yet another person punched by Buzz Aldrin. Oh, I wish he had done it now. Now in hindsight. I'm so close to, I'm so close to having an all-time story, but I didn't get the punch. We talked them down. We talked them down. Yeah. I feel like, and the thing is, he would have been able to because those are the rules.

When you go to, when you, when you walk on the moon, that that's actually one of the, the rights conferred to you. Let me say something. If Buzz Alder punches me in the face, he gets a thank you, sir. Yeah. That's what he gets. He can punch me in the face. I do actually have one. I have one story. This is going back to the previous thing. The most embarrassing thing that's ever happened in front of a guest, I was interviewing Jeff Daniels because he had just done, I think, the Comey Rule.

And I was using a monitor behind my laptop. And I think I've told this story, so I apologize if anybody's heard it before. But I was using a monitor behind my laptop. And I don't usually do that. I wanted to take a selfie with Jeff Daniels over Zoom. And so I wanted to get it on the big monitor. So to get it on the big monitor, I had to close my laptop screen, and that's the screen that the Zoom was on. And so by closing the screen, it pointed the camera right down into my lap.

And not only was I wearing, not only was I, I pulled the tube in, not only was I, no, I didn't pull the tube in. No, I didn't, I didn't pull a tube, but not only was I not wearing pants, I was wearing shorts. And not only was I not, yeah, I was, I was wearing shorts, but they were jacked all the way up because I had, I had scooted forward in my chair. So all you just saw was a thigh action. A lot of thigh. A lot of thigh. A lot of thigh. A lot of thigh.

It's really dangerous the pulling, closing the laptop while the zoom's open. It really does, it takes you on a tour, you know? It takes you on a tour. A lot of, and the white balance, you know, kind of, you don't see anything, so you don't even know what you saw. Jeff Daniel saw it and said, I quote, I didn't need to see that. Yeah, that's right. That's a smart thing to say, actually, when you, when a host has shown you some inner thigh out of nowhere, apropos of nothing.

nothing. Here's the last one. How many people, because I know you've kept count, have gone to your show that assuming that it was for Lyle Lovett. So that's interesting. It's a fair number. I would say that a sizable portion of the Lovett or Leave it audience are looking for either Lyle Lovett or John Lovitz. It's a big part of my success. And we welcome them. We welcome John Lovitz and Lyle Lovett fans into the community. I will say this, which is a theater put love it or leave it with lia love it on their marquee and we had to get it taken down and that show hasn't happened yet and i don't know what's going to happen but there may be a lot of lia love it people at that one and that's not their fault because it said why i love it outside so there's

going to be some refunds and that's a shame uh we've had a few at each show on the road la not not so much but it's more like when we're in like um you know like there was somebody in in portland may a couple people in portland maine yeah a couple people in texas that'll happen in Texas, Dallas, Houston. So it happens from time to time. And then actually it's interesting. Audience members think they're seeing Lyle Lovett. Guests are looking for John Lovitz.

We've had a couple of guests be like, oh, I don't know what this is. Yeah. I don't know what this show is. That happened just like last week with Bob the Drag Queen. Like Bob the Drag Queen was like, and I was like, you don't know what this is. You don't know what this show is. You're at a theater filled with people. You were sitting across from someone that is a pure strength.

stranger because you thought you were going to see the critic, S&L alum, my stepmother is an alien, John Lovett. Yeah. Well, you know, the good news for these people who, you know, meander into the theater thinking that they're watching Lyle Lovett is their prime targets for, to get them registered to vote. I don't know if there's a, yeah, get them registered to vote. They're probably not like inherently political.

Some of the wild people are Republicans. We've had some, and I've checked in with them during the show. Like, is this okay? Are you okay with this? Yeah. I'm in a skirt. It's a lot. It's a lot for me. So it's not exactly the short jump that they might need to cross over. Right, right. It's a big. It's a leap. It's a leap for sure. Well, in the words of John Lovett, you've won the game. So thank you.

All right. Let's finish off with this. Can you talk a little bit about Vote Save America and what you're doing, what you guys are doing in Vote Save America for Roe? Yeah. So if you go to Vote Save America, there's a bunch of, so just, just, just, for people who aren't familiar, Votes of America is a resource, and our goal is to make it a one-stop shop for everything you need to know to make the biggest impact, both in terms of what you can do to help right now, and then also how to organize and volunteer and donate leading up to the midterm election. So if you go to Votesave America, you can support our fuck band's action plan, which is putting, which kind of divides the money, goes directly to reorganizations on the ground that are trying to help, as we talked about at the beginning of this interview. Should have plugged it then, to be honest. you go to, you can do that at Votesaveamerica.com slash row and find ways to get involved in that fight right away. Also at Votesave America, you can sign up to be part of midterm madness. We have divided the country into four regions. You can pick the region you're in. You can pick the region you love that you have an ancestral connection to.

West, southeast, Midwest. I am representing the northeast because of Long Island is my ancestral home. and because I picked a fight with Pennsylvania in 2018. But basically, if you sign up for a region, you will get ways to get involved in the big and most important races in that region. We're trying to get 40,000 people to sign up so that we have an army of volunteers ready to go to help and make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep the House, keep the Senate, ideally expand our majority in the Senate.

These are tough jobs. But also, by the way, making sure that we are, like, there are some incredibly important secretary of state races. They're incredibly important local races that will be in and like from everywhere from the school board to election jobs that are about making sure that we have that we're fighting back against Republicans trying to take over these local offices, especially when a lot of these local offices will determine whether or not we can have free and fair elections. So please, please, please, please sign up.

The first step, if you just sign up, you don't have to do a damn thing. Just sign up and then at least you'll have the option to see the best way to get involved. So please, please, please, please, I'm begging. you. Go to Votesaveamerica.com. It'll be a place where you'll get emails telling you an easy way for you to get involved. So just do it. Perfectly put. I'll put that link in the in the show notes as well. Thank you. And the post description on YouTube. So love it. Thank you so much for taking the time. I appreciate it. Thanks, Brian. Good to see you. Thanks again to John Lovett. Now we've got candidate for Florida's 27th congressional

district, Annette Tadio. Thanks so much for coming on. My pleasure. Thank you for having me. First of all, in light of this Roe decision being handed down by the court, how has that impacted your message and your campaign and what you want the people of Florida's 27th District to know? That, I mean, now more than ever, I mean, this is so essential. We have to have the numbers, retain Congress. We have to codify Roe v. Wade. And that is an absolute necessity now. So we have to elect people that are actually going to vote to make that happen. And unfortunately, right now that's not what we have in Florida 27. And the district agrees that we should codify it. It is actually a very popular thing in our district that women should have rights,

their own reproductive rights. And so it is unbelievable to me. And it just makes it that much more important that we win the C-PAC. Now, I do want to speak about your district in particular, but first, just on this issue for another moment, can you speak on why this issue is important to you personally? Lots of reasons, but frankly, I had, I grew up in Columbia. I was born and raised in Columbia, and there was a child or a childhood friend that went to school with me, and in our culture, we don't talk.

if it's taboo to talk about sexual relations or any of these things, our parents never talked to us and taught us to protect ourselves or any of these things. And so one of the girls that I went to school with actually got pregnant. And she, in her concern that her parents were going to find out, she went to go get an abortion, something that, was completely illegal and ended up that her parents found out that she had terminated her pregnancy because she died. And so at a young age, when you experience something like this with a fellow classmates, it really affects you for the rest of your life. And I just can't believe that, that here we are in the United States, dealing with a situation where it's now in so many states

is going to become completely illegal. I would just note that it's not going to be difficult for women who have the money to get abortions, to get their abortions. It's going to be, it makes it impossible for poor women to get abortions. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's the problem. That's exactly the problem.

that if you have the resources, and most of the women that don't have the resources are going to be black and brown. Right. Now, you know, we often hear Republicans use examples of places that people of Florida's 27 district fled to scare those people. So they'll use socialism, for example, to scare people who've left socialist countries. And of course, this is not a socialist country. That's just empty fearmongering.

But on the issue of rolling back rights, like we're seeing right now with Roe, this is actually something that we see in those countries. Can you speak on that? Absolutely. I mean, this is outrageous. The entire fight that we have constantly in campaigns is the fearmongering about socialism, communism, and these strong men kind of dictators that government tells you what to do. That's exactly what's happening here. I mean, government has no right. in such a difficult decision that should be between a woman, her doctor, her family. And that is in essence what's happening now, completely against everything that supposedly we argue

against. And in the countries where they do tell you what to do, those are the countries that so many of us had to flee from. Well, can you explain this like cognitive dissonance for me? because, you know, if one major element of, like, these socialist countries is that there are strong men who, who are, you know, leading the government and telling people what to do, how do you, how do you reconcile that with the fact that we have a right wing that is seeking only to tell you what to do? I mean, like, isn't it obvious? Isn't that, isn't that, isn't that hypocrisy in that blatantly obvious? it is to many of us but unfortunately it's not to everyone and it's really important to fight back it is really important to to highlight the hypocrisy to highlight the issue that this is exactly what happens in societies where you have no freedom this is this is taking away the most basic a most basic human right and that is the freedom for you to have rights over your own body, reproductive rights.

So tell me about your districts. Who represents it now and what's the partisan lean of this district? It is a district that Biden carried by one point. It is a seat that it was actually much more democratic than their effort of redrawing it. It became plus one. He actually carried the district by more. But unfortunately, we found, that in Florida last cycle, the Hispanic vote was hemorrhaging from Democrats. And that didn't just affect the presidential election. Biden did in Miami-Dade County alone, which is where this district is wholly in Miami-Dade County.

It has the city of Miami and many other surrounding cities like Coral Gables, Pinecrest, and others. And what happened in Miami-Dade County is that Biden did 25 points less than Hillary Clinton. He did 15 points less than Andrew Gillum, who was the nominee just two years before for governor. So we had a major drop in Hispanic voter support in Miami-Dade County. And that also caused us to lose the seat. We had a non-Hispanic in a very Hispanic seat, and that was Congresswoman Donna Shalela, who lost the seat to Maria Elvita Salazar, who is the current holder of the seat. This highlights a major issue that we're contending with right now. Obviously, Democrats have been losing the support of Hispanic voters, not just in Florida, but in other

places as well, the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Florida's 27th is 7th. 70% Hispanic. What are you doing to reach those voters? And more broadly, how do you reverse this trend? Well, actually, I will tell you, in the redrawing, it is now 75% Hispanic. And they added more of the West Side, which is, in essence, they added my Senate district. So I already lived in in this congressional district, I already had a portion of it, but now they added further west more of my district. So this is a district that my Senate district. It's a Senate district that was red. It was flipped when I won in a special election the first time in Florida history that a Democrat had won a special election where we flipped it from red to blue. And that seat, I won re-election then right after, that seat is a seat that Trump carried by six points. So in their effort to try to make this seat more Republican, they put more of my seat, an area that I have...

Which are otherwise Republican voters, but who voted for you? Well, for me. You know, defied their party affiliation and voted for you as their state senator. Yes. And what a lot of people don't know is that my... special election was it might as well have been a congressional they spent 10 million dollars yeah or a state's on a feat but people hear this there's it boggles the mind and they spent 10 million dollars attacking me as a socialist a communist and a terrorist sympathizer so they went they they they gave me the trifecta of ists yes and we beat them and i'll tell you how we did it um we actually

were able to fight back with my personal story. And that's how you win. That's how you beat them. And my personal story is that I came here when I was 17. My dad, an ex-pad, and my dad fought in World War II. He fought the Nazis in World War II, an air fighter pilot in the Air Force. Back then, it was called the Army Air Corps. So he's from New Jersey.

He's sent to Columbia, falls in love with my mother. The rest is history. However, when I was 17 years old, the farm that I grew up in in Colombia, actually the FARC took over the farm and kidnapped my father. So I found myself at the age of 17 fleeing alone to Alabama and figuring out how to speak English, how to learn it, and how to survive on my own. That experience of mine is the experience of so many people in our community. It was with my personal story that we fought back and we said, how dare you? How dare you try to win an election of the pain and suffering that so many of us have had, having to flee?

And with such outrageous accusations, again, as a socialist or a communist or a terrorist sympathize, when terrorists are the ones that kid, not my father. So we fought back and we won because also I am a small business owner. I've met a payroll for over 30 years. I find the front of the paycheck, not just the back. And these are things that we fought back. And I went straight to camera and just said, you know, don't let them, you know, win this seat on the basis of scaring us on something that is so foreign to me. And so that's what we need to do at Democrats.

We need to do more of that, more of fighting back, more of telling our stories. and having candidates where they're not going to be able to attach those labels to. Now, more broadly, because you're not the only person vying to represent the district that's majority Hispanic, what advice do you have for other candidates who are trying to represent districts like the one that you're running in? Okay. It's really important. All politics is local. I really believe that. I am someone that, as I am getting ready, every single morning I listen to Spanish radio. Because that is how, you know, our people get their news every day. It's driving to work and listening to talk radio.

It is a very Hispanic thing, especially in Miami. And so if you want to keep your ear to the ground, you need to constantly be aware of what some people's minds. And I think one of the reasons that I've been so successful and so like to actually, cross the aisle with voters, no matter what party or MPAs who really decide these races, a lot of no party affiliation voters, is because I am just always aware of what's going on, what are the issues, and always they're representing. I don't care if you're red, blue, it doesn't matter. You're just a public servant and you serve your people, and that's not why we have right now. Extreme, extreme, really extremism is, is not something that Hispanics like very much.

And that is definitely a big no-no. Yeah. Well, they're getting plenty of that right now from the right between, you know, from everything from book bans to abortion bans to, you know, across the board. So, you know, your district, what we're seeing right now in your district, it's so important, not only in the sense that the Democratic Party has lost the support of so many Hispanic voters and you're running in a majority Hispanic district. But also, this is one of those districts that are right on the cuss. I mean, you're running in a Biden plus one district. So if we want any chance of holding the house so that, you know, in this next, in this next congressional term, we can pass the Women's Health Protection Act, for example, and hopefully expand our Senate majority by just two

seats so we can eliminate the filibuster and actually have a governing majority and pass some of this legislation. We desperately need to hold on to districts like the one that you're running in. So best of luck as you run your campaign and I'm sure we'll be watching it very closely. So Annette Todayo, thank you so much for taking the time. Thank you. Thank you so much for for having me and thank you for doing all that you do because that's how we're going to win, letting people know about these important races across the country and this one being the top race that is livable in the state of Florida. Thanks again to Annette Todayo.

Just a reminder, check out Votesaveamerica.com for more information on registering to vote. Okay, 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, interviews captured and edited for YouTube and Facebook

by Nicholas Nicotera, and recorded in Los Angeles, California. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe on your preferred podcast app. Feel free to leave a five-star rating and a review, check out bryantylercoen.com for links to all of my other channels.