Pod Save America - “Arizona Gets Double Teamed.” (Live from Portland!)

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

Fake the Nation host Negin Farsad joins Jon, Tommy and Dan live in Portland! Frenemies Donald Trump and Mike Pence campaigned in Arizona on Friday for two different Republicans running for governor �� the same day that their former campaign manager Steve Bannon was found guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before the January 6th Committee. Then, Democratic candidate for Oregon’s 5th District Jamie McLeod-Skinner joins to talk about how she won her primary against a Biden-backed incumbent and why her win against a MAGA Republican in the midterms is so consequential. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail] and include the name of the podcast.

🎵 What's up, Portland? What's up, Portland? All right. Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Nagin Farsad. I'm Tommy Vitor. I'm Dan Pfeiffer.

Jon Lovett still has COVID, but he's working through it. He's okay. Yeah, he was on some Zooms today. He was on some Zooms. He's fine. He was happy but also upset that Thursday's show went well. Yeah. He wanted it to go well. He didn't want it to go too well.

We are very lucky to have the hilarious Nagin Farsad with us. Please subscribe to her podcast, Fake fake the nation if you haven't already it is hilarious uh we are also lucky to have with us tonight your next member of congress from oregon's fifth district jamie mcleod skinner all right let's get to some news. Donald Trump and Mike Pence, who, there they are right there, who went from 2020 GOP running mates to president and vice president to leader of a violent mob and guy that the violent mob wanted to hang to potential 2024 rivals.

These two frenemies campaigned in Arizona on Friday for two different Republicans running for governor, the same day that their former campaign manager, podcast legend Stephen K. Bannon, was found guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress and now faces up to two years in prison. All in all, a banner day for the party of law and order. It's very good. So, Nagin, let's start with Trump and Pence. One of Mike Pence's advisors told the Washington Post that if he runs, the former vice president will make the point that, quote, Trump is the only person who lost to Biden.

Though the closest he came to criticizing his former boss in Friday's speech was when he said, quote, there are those who want to make this election about the past. What do you think? Very, very pointed. What do you think about Pence's strategy here? And would you be losing sleep over it if you were Donald Trump? Wait, hold on. Did you say that he said there are those that want to make this election about the past? Oh, shit. I can't believe he said that. What? Oh, my God. He really went there. He went there. That is just, but for the people of Arizona to have one night where you can either go to a Pence rally or a Trump rally is sort of like when you open the refrigerator and you find out that all you have left is milk that just went sour or cheese that just went moldy. And to me, you could take the cheese and then like cut off the moldy parts and then you have this little nub of cheese what i'm saying is that mike pence is a little nub of

cheese i was wondering who the cheese was and you know he's like slightly just more edible um but but what i love about mike pence's speech is he also, he spent a lot of time sort of like praising the candidate he was there supporting for being there for the Pence-Trump ticket, through the Trump-Pence ticket in 2016 and 2020. And he, so like every time he speaks, he kind of does this thing where he's like bringing a gift bag to his executioner. You know what I mean? Where he's just like,

oh my God, thank you inviting me to this beheading of me. I hope you enjoy Pino. And he's just like so embarrassing for himself. I mean, like,

what if Pence won and made Trump his VP? Just to, like, get his ass back? No one's talked about it. I'm just glad we could all be here the first time anyone ever said the words what I loved about the Mike Pence speech was. I was just gonna say,

so, like, our wonderful production team at Crooked Media helps us prep for these shows. And yesterday when we found out that we were so lucky, blessed by the news gods, to have a Trump rally and a Pence rally on Friday so we could talk about it tonight. We were like, could everyone please look at the Mike Pence rally? And we got an email last night that said like all the things about the Donald Trump rally. And then it just said, we did not pull any clips from the Mike Pence rally. It was boring.

I was like, you know, I can't argue with that. It was like NA. I can't argue with that. What do you think, though, about the strategy, the Pence strategy, saying that, Dan, that Donald Trump is the only one who lost to Joe Biden? We have argued on this stage many times that the best message against Donald Trump is that he is a loser. And in a Republican primary, I love people cheering for that, in a Republican primary, the message that Donald Trump lost to Sleepy Joe is probably a very powerful message. Because I would like to see one day some Republican, or see someone try to expose the contradiction between Donald Trump and the right-wing portraying Joe Biden as like the lead character weekend at Bernie's and is the mastermind of a global conspiracy to steal an election.

But so I think that is a good message for every single person walking the planet other than Mike Pence. He was on the ticket. It's an awkward one for him. He lost two. He didn't win anything. I guess he lost to Kamala Harris. It's so crazy that they would float that. He's literally the only Republican on the planet

that can't use that message. If I'm Ron DeSantis, I'd be like, yeah, motherfucker, you lost to Kamala. I mean, that's 100%. It's worse that they didn't just float it. They floated it in the Washington Post, and then he didn't do it. He didn't do it. He didn't do it.

He's a coward. Well, he had that really intense line about the past. I love that line. Which we're all still reeling from. Because you know they spent dozens of hours poll testing, talking through this line about the future and the past. And go ahead and deliver that, Mike Pence, because Donald Trump will be like, Mike took bribes from the Chinese, General Flynn's got the receipts on it.

He'll just make up shit. It doesn't matter. I know. Now, we were going to pull a clip from the Trump speech, but that was also a lot of rehash. But that was also like a lot of rehash. There was a Trump speech tonight at a conservative conference where there was just a fantastic clip from Donald Trump that I think we should play. In fact, as president, I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor, but they wouldn't let me do it. They wouldn't let me do it. I said, I'm going to give myself the, I've always wanted that.

But they wouldn't let me do that. They said that would be inappropriate. I said, I'm going to give myself the king. I've always wanted that. But they wouldn't let me do that. They said that would be inappropriate. I said, okay. I mean... We debated whether he was kidding but decided we don't care. He doesn't kid about that. That's dead serious.

Dead serious. All right. Dan, Friday's event took place in one of the closest swing states with two of the most competitive midterm races for both governor and Senate, where Trump has endorsed former TV newscaster Carrie Lake. And in the Arizona Senate race, he's endorsed Peter Thiel protege Blake Masters. What do we know about these two candidates and how hard will it be for the Democratic nominees to beat them in a general election?

So I think the best way to describe Blake Masters is a combination of J.D. Vance and the lead character from American Psycho. And the best way to describe Kerry Lake is Ron Burgundy meets Marjorie Taylor Greene I feel like you're describing dudes I dated in my 20s

just for the record, keep going so Blake Masters is a when you say he's a protege of Peter Thiel he is a person who as a undergrad at Stanford became famous by live blogging Peter Thiel's lectures in class, which then became picked up by the press. Just pause on how lame that is.

Imagine live blogging shit your professor was saying in class. Come on. And then got hired by Peter Thiel, helped him write his book. He is a, started out as a libertarian who wrote lots of crazy, dangerous things in college and has returned himself into an America first MAGA candidate. He has an ad with an AR-15

where he talks about how it's a weapon for killing people. He wants to impeach Joe Biden over the racism i don't know kerry lake is a long time arizona newscaster who voted for john kerry re-registered i like the random clap there was like yeah she was so moved by barack obama's victory in in the Iowa caucuses in 2008, she registered as a Democrat the next day. Wow. Gave to his campaign. About a year ago, she decided to run for office as a complete election lie-pushing, she's on Gab,

she hangs out with white supremacists. She's full of shit. She's 100% full of shit. But the thing that does it that we have to always remember is whether these MAGA people are true believers, like I think Blake Masters might be, or completely full of shit like Carrie Lake and JD Vansar, they're just as dangerous. Yeah. And so Arizona is a, this is a, we have great candidates there.

You know, obviously Mark Kelly's great candidate. We're still waiting to see who wins the democratic primary, but it seems like Katie Hobbs, who's the secretary of state is the leader is, is the most, it's a favorite. Carrie Lake does think Katie Hobbs should go to jail because Joe Biden won

the state. Yeah. In 2020. That's a platform. But those are gonna be really, really tough races. And even in a great year, Arizona's tough. And I don't know if you've looked out the window recently, but this is not a great year.

No. But I mean, if you ever meet someone in your life who's making a transition like Carrie Lake from an Obama person to like a crazy MAGA person, suggest to them to like get a haircut. Like that might be enough. You know what I mean? I don't know.

It's like. Yeah, go on vacation. I watched the Blake Masters speech. I wrote this down. It's like Friday night for Tommy. Thank you, John. He attacked Mark Kelly for being an astronaut, which was, I don't know. That's not cool now?

Go at your opponent's strength. That's what you should do. Yeah. He said he wanted to prosecute Dr. Fauci, I guess for being a doctor and then said, if you don't want your kid to be transgender, Democrats will call you a domestic terrorist,

which is something I've never heard. I did not know we did that. We did that. That was part of the thing. Yeah. All right. Well, everyone's got to help Mark Kelly.

Senator, great Senator from Arizona. And then Katie Hobbs wins. Got to help her because Arizona's going to be very close. And we could have some very crazy people representing Arizona if Carrie Lake and Blake Masters went. Tommy, let's talk about your boy, Steve Bannon, who may have to take a 24-month hiatus from the War Room podcast. a 24-month hiatus from the War Room podcast. So he celebrated his guilty verdict on Friday by bragging about an Axios story

that claims Trump plans to replace all nonpartisan civil servants with MAGA loyalists if he becomes president again. Can you talk about this? This is like, it's called Schedule F. Sure. And why this might be a cause for alarm.

So, yes. I just want to start by saying that we stand by steve as a podcast and that we will not speak into a microphone until he is free dan and i have been planning some weather underground style prison break schemes and whatnot so this this schedule left thing it's very nerdy it's very in the weeds but think back to 2016 take your brain back to a simpler time. No one thought Donald Trump was going to win. Nobody, not even Donald Trump.

So they were like, sir, you have to do a plan, a presidential transition. And they were like, fuck it, let Chris Christie do it. So let Chris Christie do it. And Chris Christie, being a dupe, was like, let's think of lists of professional Republicans who are qualified for the job. And they put together a big binder and they did this whole process. And then Trump won. And the next day, I believe, Steve Bannon fired Chris Christie and performatively threw the binder into the trash can, literally in the office. And they started from scratch. That will not happen this time around. And so, you know, the obvious thing that will happen is the first round of cabinet secretary types will be Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan. You clapping for that? The overstock guy. The overstock guy, right. But what Trump figured out during his four years in the White House is

that the lower levels of bureaucracy can really slow you down. And so what they're planning on doing is normally when a president takes office, you get 4,000 so-called political hires across the government. They have figured out through this sort of creative evil way that they think they can purge basically 50,000 people from the government, career civil servants, like good people, professionals, serve under Republicans and Democrats, and do a great job. And so that might sound sort of like in the weeds and wonky, but just imagine you have 50,000 Stephen Millers at the EPA, the FBI, Department of Justice, CIA, like DOD, all these places. And so, you know, we were not saved in 2017, but it helped us in 2017 that these guys didn't know what they were doing. And it took them a while to get up and running.

That will not be the case if Trump wins again. And unfortunately, like your only avenue to contest it is in the courts. And now we have a bunch of MAGA judges running around. So look, it's maybe not that high on the list of things we should worry about about Trump winning again, but it's up there. It's up there. We got to save the deep state.

Anyway, stand with Steve. Save the deep state. That's the, is that not, should we not? The deepest state of all. Save the deep state. Can I just say about Steve Bannon, it's like, it's weird for me, but I feel, I sort of miss the simpler days when he was just like an Islamophobe. And I say that as a Muslim, right?

Like, where are my Muslims at? Like, that was easier, right? It was just better when he was just like a Breitbart Islamophobe. This sounds so much scarier. Now he's ripping up the government and installing a bunch of wackos. He's an arsonist. It's not good. But anyway, he'll be in jail for two years. Maybe. We'll see.

Alright, we'll be back with more news in a bit. Now, it's time once again to scream at the news with a game that we call OK Stop. We're going to narrow that universal plea down to one hand selected clip which we will all get to watch right now i'll call the first okay stop and then after that ladies and gentlemen it's saturday night go nuts uh just to set this up uh we are about to watch an actual trump blooper reel aired by the january 6th committee and expertly curated by Crooked Media's video team. You guys know this one. And it'll give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the former

president's attempt to formulate a response to the insurrection. This is, of course, different from the constant Trump blooper reel that we've been watching every day of our fucking lives since 2015. You guys ready? Mm-hmm. Let's roll. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. To those who broke the law, you will pay. You do not represent our movement. You do not represent our country. And if you broke the law, you can't say that. Okay, stop. You don't want to get too tough on those lawbreakers.

This is Donald Trump that we're talking about. You can't say that. You can't say they broke the law. Especially not if you're planning on pardoning them. Beating the shit out of cops on TV. You can't say that. You can't say that. You already said you will pay.

The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defied the seat of justice. It's defiled, right? See, I can't see it very well. Okay, so... He's like, I can't see it very well. There's ketchup smeared on the screen

for some reason. I don't know why. Yeah. Hey, Donald, we saw it. The QAnon shaman took a shit in its... We saw the defiling that you somehow missed. This election is now over. Congress has certified the results. I don't want to say the election's over. Okay, so...

Yeah, no, we know. We are well aware. Donald Trump, don't worry. At the end of every election, there's a new election. Don't cry because it's over. Laugh because it happens. To begin by addressing the heinous attack yesterday. Yesterday is a hard word for me. Just take that. The heinous attack.

Ah, good. Take the word yesterday because it take that. The hand is the attack. Ah, good. Take the word yesterday because it doesn't work with... The hand is the attack. Okay, stop. Do you think Mike Pence's attack on the past was a reference to the yesterday gate? He's like acting like yesterday.

It's like yesterday. It's not a difficult word. He's acting like we're asking him to say like loquacious or impeachment for the incitement of insurrection it's objectively not a hard word to say he also said it fine that's the thing also i didn't know until i watched this version of it that ivanka like has this idea in the back. She's like, take it out. Take the word yes away. That is by far the most Ivanka thing possible. Dad, just say the day before today.

Also, I love that her job is running teleprompter. That was her job those four years. Can we give her something to do? No one to be found during the insurrection. But she was right there at the teleprompter.

You know what's a hard word? Bureaucracy. Spell that fucking thing. Anyway. On our country. Say on our country. Want to say that? No.

My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. So it turns out that he was actually slapping the podium there because the ketchup attracted a lot of ants. So that's the backstory. But also the word that was tripping him up here was the. The vote, the vote. The vote. Their vote.

Take out the word the. I've literally never said the word integrity before in my life. Ivanka, what does this mean? Integrity. Integrity. This doesn't work well on a podcast, but the snapping wrist motion is so strange.

It was very like Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Why was he doing that? Very... Why? Very out of character. I guess not. Actually surprised by how much wrist dexterity he had. This is actually one of the positive moments of his presidency.

Maybe he could have reached for the Secret Service. That's exactly right. Collarbone. That made me, now I'm thinking he could have done it. That's how he hit that Diet Coke button. I think that's it. Is that it? That's it.

That's okay, stop. All right. All right, let's talk some more news. Now that Justice Clarence Thomas and other radical conservatives have made clear that they believe the Supreme Court should reconsider its decisions on the right to marry and the right to use birth control, House Democrats have held votes on legislation that would guarantee the federal recognition of same-sex marriages and the right to purchase and use contraception without government restriction here in the year of our Lord, 2022. So, Tommy, 47 House Republicans voted in favor of the same-sex marriage bill, but so far... Yeah, clap for them. That's great.

But so far, only five republicans have said they're likely to support it uh many others have said it's quote unnecessary um meanwhile some democrats are reluctant to schedule a vote until they know they have at least 10 republicans on board why is this bill necessary and do you think that chuck schumer should schedule the vote no matter what so the the vote would help pass a law that would require states and the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages. The reason we need to do this is because, as you mentioned at the top, Clarence Thomas said in his dissent on the Dobbs ruling that stripped away abortion rights from half the country, that he thinks that Obergefell was wrongly decided and

wants to overturn it, which would overturn same-sex marriage. So I think the debate for Chuck Schumer is basically, if I put this vote on the floor, will we have enough votes? And if we don't have enough votes, will the Democrats get blamed because we then can't have a plan B and get rid of the filibuster to do this because Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema drive us all crazy. Then we're back in the mansion. My argument would be schedule the vote. Maybe we can get something really good done. And if we can't,

70% of the country supports same-sex marriage. So let's make a bunch of Republicans take a really hard vote. And the reason we know it's a really hard vote is because Republicans are saying hilariously stupid things in an effort to not respond to the question of whether or not they'll support this vote. Yeah. And I think you got to call their bluff because one of the five Republicans who said that they're likely to support this is Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. And like, yeah.

Now, why is Ron Johnson saying he's likely to support it? Because he's in a very competitive Senate race in Wisconsin and he knows that this is a very popular thing to do. So like I actually think if he puts it on the floor, like Republicans don't. Well, some Republicans want to get away with not giving their position right now. Schumer puts this on the floor. I don't know. I think it's, what do you think, Dan? Do you think he gets 10?

I don't know if it'll pass or not. I mean, the Republican, but it puts people like Ron Johnson, every Republican in the country, to choose between the opinions of the overwhelming majority of Americans and the radical right-wing extremists that control their party.

And so this is why McConnell does not want this to happen, because he does not want this vote to happen, because he does not want to have it fail and have 80% of his Republicans vote against it, or have it pass and have the radical right-wing think he's sold out. And so when you are in that position, when you have your opponent in that position you have to exploit that tension right not walk away from it yeah so uh mcgean the uh the contraception bill has not fared quite as well uh only eight house republicans voted for it including our new queen liz cheney um and uh and the new york times reports that uh contraception bill, they don't think it

will get 10 votes in the Senate. Considering that 90% of the public supports birth control, which is even more than the 70% who support same-sex marriage, why do you think Republicans are so opposed to this bill to just guarantee the right to contraception? That's a really good question. Is it because reckless raw-dogging is part of the Republican platform? I don't... Is it? I mean, it's like a legitimate question.

I think we got an episode title. Trump is standard bear. Live from Portland. Live from Portland. What I love about this bill is that I know that Republican senators were literally standing in line at the pharmacy to get their birth control while they were reading this bill. You know, they're like, sorry, I can't make it to the Senate chambers right now. I'm getting my IUD implanted. And like, it's like, you guys, come on.

Like, at this point, I want us to put everything up for a vote. I want contraception. I want same-sex marriage. I want intermissional marriage. I want contraception. I want same-sex marriage. I want intermaterial marriage. I want capri pants. I want cupcakes. I want us to go on record about everything. It is. This is confusing to me. I don't get why

Republicans are calling the bill a Trojan horse. No pun intended. See what he did there, John. Get out of here. You're fired. Get out of here. I did not think about that.

I think they'll call it Schumer's magnum opus. It is so funny imagining them voting on this. Chuck Raskin's like, erections? This went out of style in the 70s. No, I guess they're actual, they are upset that some of the money in this bill would provide funding or guarantee funding to Planned Parenthood.

And so they think, even though it would be for Planned Parenthood providing contraception and not abortion, they think it's, they don't want anything close. That's why they're, that's what Republicans are against. I mean, it is wild that you can't get 10 Republicans to support contraception.

I mean, it's wild. I was just like, okay, Dan, like, what do you think of the overall political strategy of putting these bills up for vote, including maybe capri pants? You wrote a message box last week about Democrats advancing a freedom agenda. Can you talk about that? Are there other issues that you think Democrats should be holding votes like this on between now and November? Yeah, I think ultimately where you want to be in politics always is having the election focus on issues that unite your base and divide theirs. Generally, that is populist economics for Democrats, but we have,

the Republicans have gone so far out of the mainstream on these issues that they've created this tremendous opportunity, right? They've sort of been opened up by the Dobbs decision. And so my argument is we want to have, as Nagin said, all of these votes. You want to have them all because we want to do everything we possibly can to focus the electorate's attention on this radical, extreme, right-wing minority that is trying to dictate individual people's personal choices. And so I argued in this message box, this newsletter I write, that we should brand it as a freedom agenda, like our version of the Contract for America, just as a way to get

people to pay attention because it's like, you know, this is all happening so fast, right? The House is voting on bills to codify Roe and to allow people to travel within states and they're doing contraception and same-sex marriage and it's all happening so fast. And only like one of the rules of politics is sort of an old adage, which is tell people what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. Right. And so like framing this under an agenda that would allow people to understand what this was. And I argued that

we have an opportunity to reclaim freedom as a value in our party because of what the Republicans are doing. And you could do it. And it helps solve what I think is one of the challenges for Democrats is we have, it's like a very target rich environment for Democrats. There are a lot of things we can run on, but they sort of feel disconnected from each other. It's like, how do we run against the Republicans for wanting to get rid of Social Security and Medicare and just being sort of corporatists? How do we run against them for trying to, you know, banning abortion,

banning books, banning gay marriage? And then we also on the other side here, we have them just planning future insurrections. Don't point at me when you say that kind of shit. It was in the general direction of you and Steve Bannon and your... Leaf in that list. The war room people over here.

And so I thought the one way to do that is you could do a freedom agenda, which would have economic freedom, which you could get to protect social security and Medicare, $15 minimum wage, personal freedom, which could be abortion, gay marriage, contraception, and then democratic freedom,

which could be voting rights, stopping insurrections, ethics reform in Congress, like stopping members of Congress trading. It's funny that like stopping insurrections just slid right there between voting rights and ethics reform. Well, yeah. We used to talk about it for a while.

It's like now we have to stop insurrections. Well, I didn't want to say electoral count reform because that was really boring. So stopping insurrections gets more attention. This is a tough morning after pill to swallow for Republicans in swing districts, don't you think? You guys can leave. No,

I know. We've done the terrible job. I don't like me either. It's fine. Before you leave, though, you too can be messengers in this election. It's very important. Everyone, if you haven't already already please go to votesaveamerica.com sign up for midterm madness we need all the help we can get it's gonna be a very competitive election and we got these republicans out there wanting to take away birth control and uh overturn same-sex marriage so uh we need all the help go to votesaveamerica.com and uh speaking of activism, during this tour, we have been inviting local activists on stage

to tell us about the fantastic work that they're doing. Tonight, we are so glad to have Grayson Dempsey from Lilith Clinic here in Portland, which provides abortion procedures, is the only independent clinic in the state. Grayson, come on out. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for coming. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you. My name is Grayson Dempsey, and I am so proud to represent Oregon's only independent abortion clinic, the Lilith Clinic, which is here in downtown Portland. abortion clinic, the Lilith Clinic, which is here in downtown Portland. It has been a bleak, bleak few weeks. And it's just an honor to be able to be here talking about the work that we do.

First of all, I'm going to assume that everybody knows this, but abortion is still legal in Oregon. And we are going to keep fighting to make sure that it stays that way. We didn't come by these rights by accident. We've been working for years here in Oregon to make sure that we have elected leaders at every level of government who are proactive and passionate about making sure that we advance abortion rights. Five years ago here in Oregon, we passed the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which not only codified the right to legal abortion, but made sure that that right wasn't dependent on your income, on your zip code, on your citizenship

status, or on your gender marker. And it's because of efforts like these and people like you that we are now a haven for over half the country who is needing to access abortion care. And I couldn't be, frankly, prouder to be an Oregonian. At the same time, my heart is broken for the state of our country. And I really recognize that the Dobbs decision shows us that no one is safe from the kind of harm that is inflicted by abortion bans. I know you know this, but the political road ahead of us is really long. There's a big fight ahead of us. We don't know when we're going to win that fight. But the thing in the meantime that we need to make sure that we do is make sure that

everybody who needs abortion care can get it. And so as long as people need abortion care, we're going to be here. We're going to be here providing abortion care because abortion is health care and no one should have to leave their communities or travel hundreds or thousands of miles to get what is basic health care. Clinics like ours across the country are working collectively to ease the burden, but the reality is that many people are going to have to travel. And for those who have to travel, the financial burden can feel insurmountable. At Lilith Clinic, we work closely with local and national abortion funds to try to ease this burden. But no one should have to choose between paying for an abortion or choosing between things like rent and groceries.

So tonight, I want to talk to you about something that you can do to directly impact abortion care. At the Lilith Clinic, we wouldn't be able to do what we do without the really brave and amazing physicians at Oregon Health and Science University or OHSU. We're so grateful who staff our clinic and provide a really important backstop for us to refer the most complex cases to their care. OHSU has set up the Abortion Care and Training, or the ACT Fund, which is specifically there to not only cover the cost of care for abortion patients, and especially those who need, you know, more complex care, who may need overnight care, follow-up treatment, and may not be covered by typical abortion funds, but also does something really unique in that it trains, the fund is there to train the next generation of abortion providers.

We know, which is incredible, that deserves applause for sure. We know that eventually we are going to flip state houses and we are going to win back the Supreme Court. But if there's nobody there to provide abortions, then that's going to be meaningless. Right now we have a generation of doctors and clinicians who have been training, and we need to keep that going. So the ACT Fund is set up to train providers from states where abortion has been banned, to give them the essential gynecological skills that they need to not only provide abortion care,

but things like miscarriage management and other life-saving skills that are so essential. The last thing I'll say is just that time doesn't wait for political change. There were people needing abortions every single day before the Dobbs decision, and there have been people needing abortions every single day since the Dobbs decision. Everybody here knows and loves somebody who has had an abortion. Everybody here's life has been affected by abortion. Whether or not you've had an abortion or just lived a life with the freedom of knowing that you're not going to be forced into pregnancy or parenting, abortion has touched your life. And our children and our grandchildren are going to need the right to safe abortion. So we need to not only stay committed to the kind of work that we're doing, which is electing people who are committed to advancing abortion rights,

but also making sure that reproductive freedom, reproductive justice is at the center of our political values. We really need to make sure we are building an infrastructure for every single person to get the care that they need. I was really nervous tonight. You guys are making this really easy. Thank you. Thank you.

I want to say if you're here at the merchandise table, there are cards with a QR code that'll give you a link directly to donate. If you are listening, the link will be online. And I just really want to thank you so much for your commitment. Thank you to Pod Save America for having me. It's really a pleasure and we're in this fight together. Thank you. Give it up for Grayson. When we come back, your next Democratic member of Congress from Oregon, Jamie McLeod Skinner. Please welcome to the stage the next Congresswoman from the 5th District of Oregon, Jamie McLeod-Skinner.

It appears you have some fans here tonight. It's not about me, it's about them. All I do is hold up a mirror. We've got some amazing folks in the 5th and throughout Oregon, and folks just want to get it done, so thank you all for being here. So you made the decision to take on a longtime incumbent, backed by the National Party, well-funded. Tell us about how you made that decision and then how you won that race. Well, it all comes down to the why. And for me, you know, when I was eight years old,

my mom told me to always leave a place better than I found it. And back then, she was a single mom with two kids. She'd get up early to drive a school bus. She'd teach all day. She drove a school bus home. And the summers, she was a farm worker. She'd pick fruit to put food on her table. You know, I so admire her, and we see Oregonians like that across the district. People are hurting. These are tough times where our homes are literally burning down. And then also, our democracy's at risk. You've been talking about that a lot, and I'm up against an election denier. So that's the work that needs to get done. I began my public service over in Bosnia and Kosovo. I did not serve in uniform. It was back in the day. I had come out as a young adult. As I say in rural areas, that's how God made me. God doesn't make mistakes. But it was back in the day. And so I worked for a humanitarian organization

repairing schools and hospitals in Bosnia and Kosovo. And so January 6th, which you were talking about, I've seen what happens if that would have succeeded. And so there's so much at stake. And there's that. Also, a lot of people reached out and asked me to run. And in the course of that race, it's never easy to be taking on

incumbent. Most people who take on incumbents lose. What did you, you know, what was key to your strategy to winning? What was the political environment, the issues, you know, how did you approach it? Grassroots right there. Well, it's, it's simply show up, you listen with respect, you hear what people are talking about, what people are concerned about, and then you do that. I mean, that's what public service is. And so I can say, and that was true in the primary, we were talking to Democrats, it's true now as well in the general. Regardless of party affiliation, we all want to be able to have a roof over our head and food on our table. We want opportunities for our kids. We want healthcare for our families when they're sick. We don't want our homes to burn down. We don't

want our family farms going under. And those are the basic issues. So whether it was lowering prescription drug prices. Also, a shout out to our teachers, because my mom's a retired teacher. Mine too. But it's shown up and addressing the challenges that working families, working people are facing. And in terms of resources, we're heavily outspent. I don't take corporate PAC money because I believe in accountability to voters. But even in this first quarter, I actually, and I'm running against a MAGA Republican, I outraised her and she's heavily self-funded.

And 96% of our contributions were low-dollar donations. So it's about working with folks. I always, when people, you know, take on and defeat incumbents, it's always a little bit uncomfortable because you've just beaten the colleague of the people who you're now trying to join. How has the National Party been, the DCCC, the congressional leadership, to you and your campaign since your victory? They've totally embraced us, and that's because there is so much at stake. I mean, there's some folks in the Democratic Party that I'm more aligned to. Some folks we have. It's really a different approach to the same fundamental things. And it's about showing up and taking care of people.

That's why I'm a Democrat. I think that's what the Democratic Party is doing. And that's why we need to elect Democrats, especially this cycle. So your race has received a lot of national coverage. It's been a lot of punditry about it. And it's framed in this way of progressive versus centrist and you know and it's treated in the same category as alexandria ocasio-cortez's victories or ayanna presley's or cory bush's but i i feel like these national labels from people who

write about the race and talk about the race, you probably never stepped foot in Oregon during the race. Doesn't really represent how things really went. You know, do you define yourself as a progressive? What kind of progressive are you? How do you want people to think of you and your approach to this district? So I've traveled thousands of miles across Oregon. I've met with thousands of folks. And I, with all due respect to polling, I, the things I'm talking about are things. No one has respect for polling. Okay. So that's the, that's the, the, the diplomat in me saying that you've always got to, like someone once said, you can say anything you want about someone as long as you start with, bless their pee pick in the heart. So that's kind of that piece. But, you know, I, my platform is based what I've

heard from Oregonians. That's what folks need. And, you know, I've met some rural conservative Republicans who would make progressives blush with what they're suggesting. And we've seen that a lot, right? That, you know, you meet folks who hated Obamacare but love the ACA. So a lot of it comes down to language when we're talking about, hey, we've all got those buttons, I'll say. So, you know, it's true. So it comes down to the basic things. Again, roof over your head, food on your table, opportunities for our kids, and, you know, health care for our families, addressing, so we're talking about wildfire and our farms going under, that's climate change. So in urban areas, we'll talk about addressing the climate

crisis. In rural areas, we'll just use different language. We're talking about the same thing. But it's doing those things. And so whatever that is, sign me up. Call me whatever you want. That's working on. So not to be like the national pundits that I just decried seconds ago, but I am actually in Oregon, so I guess that's slightly better. But I read that the primary was shaped by many hyperlocal issues, including the correct manner for bucking hay. Tell me more about that and what is the correct way to buck hay and why was that an issue in this race? That was really, that came up about being, this question about being genuine and being authentic. And as a kid, I bucked hay. You wear gloves when you buck hay, otherwise you rip up your hands. I also shoveled a lot of horse manure. And I've been told that that's a great experience for being in politics. But actually, it was my mom and my father-in-law,

who both live in Central Oregon, who saw those flyers that came out and were saying, wait a minute, this is not legit. My wife's family comes from a ranching family in Eastern Oregon. We had about 18 acres that we would hay, and so I bucked hay as a kid, and we also had about 50 head of sheep. My wife and I live in Central Oregon. We've got a couple, My wife and I live in Central Oregon. We've got a couple... Central Oregon, shout out. There we go. And this district actually extends from southern Portland, so the Selwood Bridge to Central Oregon to Sun River,

for those who know. So, you know, and there's other issues that are national issues, so congressional people stock trading, and, you know, that's a bipartisan issue. You're against it? I'm against it, but I will say, when we're talking about stock,

when I get up in the morning and checking my stocks, I'm going out and checking on my goats. Yes, fair enough. People may be surprised to know that you're in what is rated as a toss-up district, that this is going to be a very competitive race. And obviously, it's not a super optimal political environment right now. Are there things that you would like to see the White House, congressional Democrats do

that could maybe improve the political environment, executive actions, bills they could pass, etc., as you think about your race? Well, this is a great district because it's very purple. It's got blue and red and purple sections of it. And it's really a microcosm of Oregon and I think a microcosm of our country. And if we can figure out how to do it here and show up, listen with respect, and work together to bridge the divides, the political divide, the urban-rural divide, focus on talking about the challenges that we're facing, and then work on solving those problems.

That's really what I think so many Oregonians are hungry for. That's what I think a lot of Americans are hungry for as well. It's getting the job done. And one of the big threats we're facing right now is this extremism that there has been discussion about earlier tonight. Seems like we talk about that every week so well it's it's true i mean this is a a huge crisis that we're facing we have to take it seriously because like i said i've i've worked in former war zones and um we were facing that on january 6th and so those who are elections deniers, like the person I'm running against,

the MAGA Republican who's an election denier, they cannot be put in positions of power because it would put our country at risk. And so, yeah. And actually, I'll ask you all, the folks who literally stood in line for us, the Capitol Police, I'll ask you to give them all a

shout out, because they protect our democracy. So to just answer your question, you know, simple things like lowering prescription drug prices, that was a huge issue in the primary. It's really simple, but I tell you, I remember talking to a grandfather just a couple months ago who was literally in tears because their family, his grandson, had very dangerous, life-threatening allergies, and they needed an EpiPen. And those things cost about $5 to make, and they cost about $600 to buy. That's price gouging. So lowering prescription drug prices, that's one of those tangible things that we can do.

Also, we need to heavily invest in renewable energy and renewable energy grid. There's a lot of steps we can take to help, you know, cover those basic things that we've been talking about. In addition to your opponent being a MAGA election denier, all the people in this audience here are going to go out, they're going to talk to their friends, they're going to talk to the people that they're connected to online about your race and about the upcoming election. What else should they know about your opponent in the stakes in this election? Well, a couple of things. I mentioned before she's trying to buy this race.

She has used taxpayer money before to go on junkets and golf carts and stuff like that. She also, when the tax, the Trump, she was a big supporter of the Trump tax cuts that essentially took money that put the middle class at risk and working families at risk by lowering the resource that we had and created tax breaks for corporations. That's something she celebrated. And she literally said, well, it'd be good for some of us. Well, it's not good for most of us. I mean, so there's no solutions there. So we're facing, you know, rebounding from the COVID economy, challenging times, the climate crisis, challenge,

and also protecting our democracy. So we are in a time of crisis, but we're also in a time of hope. And it's not passive hope. It's let's get out there, roll up our sleeves and get the job done hope. And I'm really proud, the folks who are working as part there, roll up our sleeves, and get the job done hope. And I'm really proud. The folks who are working as part of my campaign are working really hard to get the job done,

to make sure we protect this seat, and then we protect the House. And that's going to be really critical. If you're elected, you would become Oregon's first member of Congress from the LGBTQ plus community. plus community obviously we are seeing in the supreme court and across the country an assault on lgbtq plus rights around this country how worried about the supreme court and what do you want to see congress do to try to protect them well there's so many attacks right now on our very fundamental personal freedoms and that's about our abortion rights and rights to make decisions about our own bodies, and Grayson was talking about that earlier. There's also about protecting families like mine. A shout out to my wife who's here.

But we used to be able to depend on the Supreme Court to protect our rights. That is no more. And so now it's going to take Congress codifying these rights and then also making sure we have a Supreme Court that gets back to protecting our rights. And I can say that, yeah, I would be the first out member of the LGBTQ community representing the great state of Oregon. Really proud of that. But so typically, other people bring that up

because I just want to get the job done. I just want to get the job done. But it is important. I've literally had conservative Republicans in Eastern Orient come up to me and want to shake my hand and thank me for running this out because they say, it's time. One guy said, my son's gay and it's time.

Let's just get this done. That's great. That's really great. All right. Before we go, please tell our audience here in the venue and listening at home how they can help your campaign. That's been my favorite question so far. Great question. I would not let you off this stage without asking that question. Well, you know, when we're talking to voters, there's two things that we hear. One is that when people know my background and my experience, wildfire recovery and engineering and all the different things I've done for folks, people trust me to lead and trust me in the seat.

The second thing we've heard is there are a lot more folks who need to hear about me so that we can make sure we win this race in November. So there's three things you can do. The first is follow us on social media, and we're on several different platforms. So it's at jamie4oregon.com. The second thing you can do is donate. As I mentioned, I don't take corporate PAC money,

and we rely heavily on individual contributions and also membership organizations. So it's jamie4oregon.com. If you can go online and contribute, you know, 10 bucks, 20 bucks, 50 bucks, it'll be huge. And that's what, that's what will help us. And we actually outraised our opponent in this last cycle. The third thing you can do is help with voter outreach. So whether you're here in Oregon, whether you're anywhere across the country, you can help with voter outreach. So whether you're here in Oregon, whether you're anywhere across the country,

you can help with voter engagement. You can help on the phones. You can help with postcards. If you're here in the district, in the area, you can go knock on doors because that voter contact, that talking about this hope we have for the future is the way we're going to win this race.

There is no math where the Democrats lose this race and keep the majority. So if we want to keep the majority and keep the gavel out of Kevin McCarthy's hand, we have to elect Jamie. So, Jamie, thank you so much for being here. Please give it up for us. Thank you all. Please give it up for her. Thank you all. When we come back, we're going to play a game.

So, this week, Democrats in Congress tried something that political experts are calling a strategy. They decided to hold a vote on legislation that would protect the federal right to same-sex marriage, and as intended, it's causing Republican politicians to really squirm. After all, most Americans have come to love seeing two sweet PR executives in matching beards and tuxes exchange vows while their lesbian friend sings a Brandi Carlile song she kind of learned the day before. But most Republican politicians are still stuck with their lame old position.

The marriage is meant to be between one man and one woman he talks at over dinner. marriage is meant to be between one man and one woman he talks at over dinner. This has led to some truly pathetic attempts to avoid answering questions on the topic, like when Marco Rubio tried to escape reporters by running into an elevator, only to be trapped in there with the bill's co-sponsor, Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin. Yeah, that's tough. Tough for Marco. I would love to know what they think about it. Senator Tammy Baldwin. Yeah, that's tough. Tough for Marco. I would love to know what they think about it. Tough for Marco.

So, how's it going? Other Republicans have decided to really let their anti-gay freak flags fly for old time's sake. Let's see if you can tell which way they went in a game that we're calling for better or for potentially much worse. All right, we'd love to have some volunteers in the audience, but please only raise your hand if you've signed up for Vote Save America's Midterm Madness. Why? Because as of next weekend, we only have 100 days left until the 2022 midterms, and we

need to make every day count. So if you haven't signed up yet yet go to votesaveamerica.com to take our count me in pledge to volunteer next weekend the weekend of july 31st okay now who wants to play who signed up olivia is out there all right we will know if you're lying if you lie we'll check but if you want to tell a little white lie tonight and then sign up tomorrow yeah like if we don't have enough volunteers for questions. Look at all the hands that went off. So many fucking hands. Unbelievable. That is embarrassing.

It's a permission structure to lie. All right, Olivia, you got someone? Hello, my name is Tamela. Hi. Hi. Thank you. All right, you signed up. You're good?

Yes. Wait, sorry? What region have you signed up for? What are you talking about? What did I sign up for? Northeast. Okay, good. That sounded honest. Would have preferred the Midwest as an answer, but that works for me. I'm from Pennsylvania.

Okay, that makes sense. That's fine. Yeah. All right, so here's a question. Before Tammy Baldwin cornered him in that elevator, Marco Rubio deflected questions about the survival of gay marriage in America by insisting he knows, quote, plenty of gay people in Florida that are pissed off about what? COVID restrictions? Not COVID restrictions. Anyone else? Anyone else want to try again?

Thank you. Gas. The answer is gas prices. But if you think at least some of those gay people weren't filling their tanks to drive to a gay wedding, you're out of your mind. I get seven invitations on my fridge right now. The whole world is playing wedding catch up. All right.

Let's do a, let's get another, another audience member. What's your name? Megan. Hi, nice to meet you. Okay, so here's your question. Which Alabama senator, whose name sounds like a spunky cartoon potato that plays the trombone,

replied the following when asked if he supported gay marriage? Yeah, if that's what you want to do, fine. Oh, God, who follows Alabama? Yeah, which Alabama senator? Some asshole in Alabama? What did you say? I said some asshole in Alabama.

That's technically correct. We'll take it. We'll take it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some asshole in Alabama. Yeah. Subtitle Tommy Tuberville, by the way.

Who is? An asshole from Alabama. A specific asshole from Alabama. So technically, 100%. Yeah, you nailed that. Absolutely nailed that. Who we got? Ryan. This is a fill in the blank question

in a statement to CNN this week Rand Paul claimed boom Rand Paul claimed that he has not had time to look at the gay marriage bill as it heads to the Senate he's been too busy wrestling with his neighbor

you know it goes for Rand so in 2013 Rand Paul said this about the slippery slope of gay marriage. Quote, I think it's a conundrum. If we have no laws on this, people take it to one extension further. Does gay marriage even have to be between blank? What is the blank? People?

Humans! Yes! You nailed it. But he said it in sort of like a sad wistful way, adding, can't a man fall in love with a body pillow shaped like an 18th century Scottish philosopher Adam Smith? If our relationship isn't real,

then why do I cry when we make love? That was just additional information that I thought you should take home. That was vivid. 100% accurate quote from Rand Paul. Definitely, we didn't make it up. Scottish philosopher Adam Smith. I'm Molly.

Hi, Molly. Hi. And what region have you signed up for? I'm going to sign up for the Midwest. I'm from Wisconsin. Okay, that's good. Hi. And what region have you signed up for? I'm going to sign up for the Midwest. I'm from Wisconsin. Okay, that's good. Yes. Okay, this is also a fill-in-the-blank question.

Of course we know exactly how Republicans feel about gay marriage because they told us when the Supreme Court decided Obergefell in 2015. In response, GOP congressman and avowed white supremacist Stephen King said, it only requires one human being in this relationship, that you could marry your blank with this decision. What piece of lawn equipment did King suggest you could soon ride down the aisle in front of your friends and family? God, there's my Wisconsin hammock. I don't know. The answer is lawnmower, which is just horrible. Do you know how expensive it would be to feed an entire extended family of lawnmowers plus an open bar?

Gas prices are insane right now. I feel like weed whacker is the obvious answer here. Oh, yeah. You know? No? Tommy. Jesus. Tough crowd.

Fucking, sorry, Portland. All right, Olivia, who we got? Austin. Austin, what's up? Not much, just here. Right on. What region are you signed up for? I will sign up for the Northwest.

Northwest? Oh, we just invented a new region. Made up a region. We love that, Austin. You know what? Love that for you. We're in Portland. That's fine.

Don't worry about it. Just say West. All right. This week, Mitch McConnell said, quote, I'm going to delay announcing anything on that issue until we see what the majority leader wants to put on the floor. However, he used to support an anti-gay federal marriage amendment. Said McConnell, quote, I believe that traditional marriage, the union between a man and a woman, is what? This is

multiple choice, don't worry. A, the cornerstone of our society. B, the way Jesus and his wife, Mrs. Jesus, intended things to be. C, what I like to watch. Or D, what I like to watch from a closet when no one knows that I'm there. As much as I wish it was B, it's A. You are correct. It is A. I think D might be correct, too. God help us.

Oh, gosh. Jenny. Hey, Jenny. Hi. Welcome. What region are you from? Oh, thanks. I'm going to sign up for the Midwest tomorrow.

I grew up in Michigan, so. All right. All right. Well, Nagin's got you covered. Well, this is a multiple choice question. Asked about the bill, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said she hadn't seen the

bill, but is keeping an open mind. You know her. She's such an open mind. When asked if she supports marriage equality, though, she actually said I have a good number of very close friends that are, what? Is it A, real snappy dressers? B, queer as a $3 bill?

C, bears and not the kind you see at Yellowstone, hey? Or D, same-sex married? Or D, same-sex married. Gosh, I really want to say A, but I think maybe it's C. Oh, you're nuts. It should be C. I know. I really wish she just said bears and then went.

It was like twinks and that. And she just like knew the entire, uh, no, the answer is D same sex married, but that was so cute. What you said. Cause same sex married is a total normal way to describe that.

Should have said otters. Um, who we got? Yeah. Hey, I'm Brian. Brian. Good to meet you. What region we got here? Uh, I'm Brian. Brian, good to meet you. What region we got here? I'm going to go south.

Sure. Yeah. You're a good man, my friend. Unbelievable. Is south Lovett? Just defiance. Is Lovett? I'm south.

Oh, you're south. Sorry. It's like me and Stacey Abrams. Yeah, right, right, right. It's luminaries. Love it's northeast. Okay. As recently as 2013,

what two groups did Ben Carson compare to gay people hoping to get marriage equality? There are multiple choices here. Al-Qaeda and ISIS, A. B, Nambla and people who engage in bestiality. C, drug cartels and human traffickers. D, Barack Obama and his second Muslim army. What's this first? I don't know.

We'll find out. I'm going to go B. B? Yeah. Nailed it. NAMBLA and people who engage in bestiality. And just a reminder for everyone listening Ben Carson was a neurosurgeon

and the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development I will say I once tweeted what I thought was a very innocuous thing that Ben Carson gave brain surgeons a bad name. You know who does not like that? Other brain surgeons Very mad at me

They disagreed? They were very mad they're very obsessed well i'd say you were right and they were wrong all right here we go last question last questioner hello hi i'm katie in what region have you signed up for what do you consider montana because i'm going to sign up in the morning but i don't know is that west or is that midwest since this i'm gonna ask your question. I represent the south. That would be one option. Okay, I can do the south. Or the midwest if you want to get with a winner, you know what I mean? Okay. Well, you can make your decision later, but we know you'll sign up in the morning. Yes. And if not, we'll find you. Okay. All right. You have my address. I've ordered from you a lot. Correct.

And finally, lest we forget the role Republican standard bearers like Rick Santorum played in shaping their party's policy, in 2004, Santorum compared Massachusetts' marriage equality decision to what way too recent national tragedy. Here's a hint. It's a horrible analogy now. It was an even worse one in 2004.

You're not multiple-choicing me. It's not a multiple choice. This is straight off the dome for you. Oh, 9-11. It's a national tragedy around... It's 9-11. That is correct. It is 9-11.

This is Santorum's quote. This is an issue just's 9-11. That is correct. It is 9-11. This is Santorum's quote. This is an issue just like 9-11. We didn't decide we wanted to fight the world on terrorism because we wanted to. It was brought to us. And if not now, when? It's sad to. Rick just needs one gay friend to tell him to stop

wearing those sweater vests. Wow. That's our game. You're all winners That is our game That is our show for tonight Thank you to Jamie McLeod Skinner Thank you to Grayson Dempsey Thank you to Nageen Farsad

Thank you Portland Go to votesaveamerica.com Sign up for the midterms Get your regions Hot Save America is a Crooked Media production the executive producer is Michael Martinez our senior producer

is Andy Gardner Bernstein our producer is Haley Muse and Olivia Martinez is our associate producer it's mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis sound engineer the show. Thanks to Tanya Sominator, Sandy Gerard, Hallie Kiefer, Ari Schwartz,

Andy Taft, and Justine Howe for production support. And to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Phoebe Bradford, Milo Kim, and Amelia Montooth. Our episodes are uploaded as videos at youtube.com slash crooked media. you