Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov - Mullin Tries to "Moderate" Trump-Era Mass Deportations Politics

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

Jessica Tarlov is joined by Congressman Maxwell Frost to break down Markwayne Mullin’s DHS confirmation hearing and what it could mean for immigration policy, dig into the Illinois primaries and what they reveal about the Democratic Party’s direction, and explore how the war in Iran could reshape the midterms. Plus, Frost shares how Democrats can better connect with Gen Z — and why that strategy goes beyond memes. Follow Jessica Tarlov, @JessicaTarlov Follow Prof G, @profgalloway Follow Raging Moderates, @RagingModeratesPod Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RagingModerates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm Jessica Tarlov, and today I'm very lucky to be joined by Congressman Maxwell Frost, Florida's 10th district, representative. Congressman, thank you so much for your time. Yeah, thanks for having me. Today in our episode of Raging Moderates, we're going to be talking about Mark Wayne Mullen's confirmation hearing and the future of DHS, what we learned from yesterday's primaries and how the war is shaping the midterms, and how the youngest member of Congress, that's you,

thinks Democrats can win over Gen Z. Before we start, if you haven't already, please make sure to subscribe to our YouTube page to get up-to-date coverage on everything happening. That's the Raging Moderates YouTube page. All right, let's get into it. So the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration is front and center in Washington today. Mark Wayne Mullen has his confirmation hearing where he's facing questions already. It's in progress as we're talking about how he would execute Trump's mass deportation plans.

It started out very tense between him and Rand Paul. But I want to watch this clip of an exchange with Senator Maggie Hassan. I'm going to start with a question I have asked every one of the president's nominees. If directed by the president to take an action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the president's direction? Senator, thank you for the questions and thank you for the concerns. First of all, I've enjoyed working with you on several different issues. We've had very blunt conversations. To answer your question, the president would never ask me to do that.

Well, certainly, everyday Americans who have served on juries would disagree with you about that. And the example he has set calls into question. answer. Let's move. I have limited time as you will know. So that question is always a bit of like the money shot for our side and they all answer it the same way. And we know that it's BS. But what do you think about Mark Wade-Mullen? You know, I don't know a ton about him besides. I always think about that video of him wanting to square up with the teamsters president. So that's the thing that always comes to mind. But him accepting, right, this nomination. and sitting there and wanting to be in the cabinet already shows us who he is, right? Donald Trump, in this second term especially, accepts nothing short of 100% loyalty. The answer to the question would be, yes. He would break the law if Donald Trump asked him to. That's why he didn't answer the question.

He knows if he says anything short of yes or if he doesn't deflect, then Donald Trump will just drop him because Donald Trump doesn't have a loyalty towards his people, but he expects his people to have loyalty towards him, even if it means breaking the law. So, you know, him just, him accepting this position shows us exactly who he is. He also, there was an interesting exchange with Senator Welch, who asked him about right after Alex Prattie was killed in Minneapolis. Mark Wayne Mullen said that he was a deranged individual that came in to cause Maxman damage.

And I was kind of surprised that Senator Mullen said that he probably should have retracted those comments. Then he kind of waffled a bit and said, You know, we'll see what the investigation bears out. But we know, A, there aren't any real investigations into any of this. And no one is going to be talking about it. They just want to move on. But there is this narrative now that DHS is getting a bit of a refurb and that they know

that they can't be implementing immigration law the same way that they were in the past. Do you give that any credence or you think that they're just going to lay low for a couple of months and then we're going to see what we saw in Minneapolis again? I definitely think in the immediate, they're obviously pivoting and changing tactics because, and it's not because it's the right thing to do. It's because Donald Trump is seeing how it's going to impact him in the midterms and how it's impacting his personal polling, which is the main thing he cares about. So I think we'll have to see as we move along if it tends, if it's going to rev up again. But, you know, I think that with a lot of these cabinet officials with Trump, I like to think they have like two, two, two, devil's on their shoulders, you know, talking to their ear, right? One is them and trying to keep true

to what they believe. And I think that moment where he said, well, maybe I, you know, where he was kind of retracting what he said, I think that was a moment of him allowing himself to speak a little bit. But then the other one is Donald Trump, right, which is knowing that Trump is watching these confirmation hearings or Trump's people, and that if he does anything short of show full allegiance to Trump. If he criticizes Trump, anything like that, immediately he can be dropped. And obviously, he doesn't want to be dropped because he cares more about his position and power in his proximity to Trump than he does his own values or his own beliefs. So I think, you know, that's what you see play out in all these confirmation hearings. And this is the same exact thing. He knows it was wrong

to call him a domestic terrorist. He knows what's going on is wrong. But he's not there to talk about what he thinks. He's there to provide cover for Donald. Trump. That's his entire utility right then and there, right? Firing Christy Knoem and bringing Mark Wayne Mullen is a thing that Donald Trump did to try to move along the conversation. And I'm glad we're seeing, you know, some of the senators not allow that to happen just because they're a Senate colleague. The fact of the matter is every Democrat should vote no on this, especially with what we've seen from him thus far. Yeah, I think John Fetterman has already said that he is a yes on Mullen, but my expectation is that you won't be seeing any crossover votes for the duration of

the Trump term. I do like, there are two devils on a shoulder. I was like, oh, where's your little angel? But there is no angel. There's no angel on the shoulder. I wish there was an angel on the shoulder, but no. We're also, just to say on immigration for another minute. So we are still in the midst of a partial government shutdown with aspects of DHS shutdown, TSA, FEMA, etc. The White House House is now offering concessions to try and end that shutdown, including expanded use of body cameras for federal agents and limits on enforcement at places like schools and churches. A no-go still, though, on the judicial warrants for sure and unmasking ICE agents. Do you think there's going to be any progress in reopening the government? We'll have to see how the discussions go. I think it's good

news that the White House is at least conceding some things because their entire posture up until now was we're not going to change anything. We're not going to negotiate with you. So it's showing that what we're doing is working. Is it enough? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I mean, when you look at what they sent to us,

number one, they're not committing to everyone having body cameras, right? They're saying we're going to increase them. What does that mean? No one knows what that means, and we're not going to trust you to do that. And also, it's not just body cameras because, let's be honest, Renee, Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, we have video of what happened, right? which is good. Body cameras are important. However, this isn't just about us being able to document atrocities as they happen so we can see and hold people accountable after. It's making sure the

atrocities don't happen in the first place, which means that list needs to expand greatly. I think the judicial warrants is one of the most important things. And my hope is, you know, well, Democrats will stay strong on this because that list that they sent, although it shows that what we're doing is working and trying to hold ICE accountable, it is not enough for. for what we need to make sure that we can go back to our districts and tell our constituents that their taxpayer money isn't going to be used to terrorize our communities or kill American citizens in the middle of the street. Is that something that you're hearing a lot about in your district? I hear a ton about it in my district. I mean, it's interesting. Number one, I'm one of

the few members of Congress actually does year-round organizing. So all year, like literally since I was elected, we don't stop door knocking. And it's really important because it helps us understand and what people care about. And when we're knocking doors, the top two issues I hear about, number one, I hear a lot about housing and the housing crisis. And then number two, I'll hear about people's fear of what's going on with ice and the chaos and that it's too much and that they're seeing it in their community. They have a neighbor that was taken that's been a law-biting person for, you know, decades. So I hear about really both of those things in my district. And I would imagine also hot topic of conversation is prices. And I'm curious as to

the correlation between what people are experiencing on the ground here and then this feeling that we have now entered another, I don't want to call it a forever war yet, but certainly they're still going with four to six weeks, but I have asked authorization up, you know, to infinity. And I wanted to play this clip of a Trump voter from Pennsylvania reacting to her current situation. If you could say something to President Trump and he was going to hear you right now, what would it be? You're a worthless pile of shit. And you voted for him how many times?

Three times. That was my bad. Apparently, I'm an idiot. So are you getting some of that sentiment on the ground? 100%. And actually, I just did a video at one of our gas stations talking about this. And I took some time to walk around and speak with people as they're pumping gas. What do you think about this?

What do you think about this? I even spoke to one guy who's a Republican voted for Donald Trump who mentioned that he's just upset, right? that it's not that the president isn't focused on lowering prices. He's actively making it worse. Decision he's making, the decisions he's making, is making us, making it so we're paying more at the pump, at the grocery store, and rent in many different places as well. I think something that's important to know, though, is what she said is important, which she said, I guess I'm a fool or I guess I'm an idiot. Because it's Donald Trump himself who posted that if you disagree with him, that it's okay and we should be fine with paying more for gas for his reckless illegal war in Iran, you're a fool. And so he is pushing away his own base. He's pushing away the entire country. But I think it's a really important point because there's some people saying, well,

Trump isn't focused enough on lowering costs. That's not the problem. In fact, if he was doing nothing, we'd be in a better situation now. It's that he's actively making it worse. Yeah. I'm definitely seeing that, at least in the coverage that we're doing, and you see that like these bits breaking through where people who are really big fans of the president are getting like jobs reports, GDP reports, inflation reports, and trying to find new language for like what in the hell is going on here. And it feels like they're making policy choices almost intentionally to spike prices or to make lifelong Trump fans, or at least from 2015 onwards Trump fans say once and for all, this guy just isn't for me.

Well, and you know the interesting thing is, too, if you look at the numbers, the people at the very top are doing great, right? The richest, richest, richest people in our country, the billionaires, the people that he had lined up at his inauguration in the front row, they're doing better than they've ever done. That every decision Donald Trump makes is based on those people doing well. Everyone else, he doesn't give a damn about his voters. He doesn't care about his voters. He doesn't care about working people. He doesn't care about poor people. He doesn't care about any of that. He cares about making sure that billionaires or mega corporations make more money. And so whether or not it's reckless wars in Iran, whether or not it's the big,

beautiful bill that's the largest transfer of wealth from the working class to the billionaires and mega corporations in the history of our country, that is his focus. And to be fair, that's always been his focus, his entire life. And so I just think that's the important thing for us to recognize. The other thing I'll say is I saw bits of this last year. You know, I went on the road with Senator Chris Murphy, and we went to exclusively Red Diff's, districts to host these town halls. We thought we'd get a couple hundred people at each one, and we ended up getting thousands at each one. And people would come up to us afterwards and say, you know, I voted for the other guy, voted for Trump. I was curious. That's why I showed up.

And I am seeing that my local VA, my small VA that was 10 people is now three people. And that's really had a big impact on my life. And the reason I bring that up is when we, when the impact stays in D.C. Donald Trump's always going to have the biggest megaphone in Washington, D.C. He's the president of the United States. He's always going to kind of overshadow what other people say.

But when the impact has felt at home, at your VA, at the gas pump, in your bills, and what you're paying, it is hard for him to gaslight people as to, you know, what they're feeling and seeing right in front of them. And I think that's the big reason why you're seeing parts of

his coalition being torn apart. Now, you know, there's always going to be that percentage that's just going to, you know, be with him no matter what. But I see that there's a lot of folks who voted for him this last election that are saying, okay, I made a mistake. Or maybe they don't admit they made a mistake and are just saying this is not what I expected. And that's where as Democrats, it's not just about being against something. We have to be for something. Because just because these people are saying they're upset with Trump doesn't mean they're going to vote for Democrats unless we give them something to vote for. Yeah, I totally agree with you. Having an affirmative policy vision, I've been pushing your leadership on this too. Just saying, like, what are our three nifty policies, right, that we're going to go into the general election with like a no tax on tips that fits on a bumper sticker that people can say, oh, you're thinking about me.

Yeah, got to be specific. And it has to be big ideas that a lot of people can see themselves represented in. I actually, a few months ago, I had a meeting with Speaker Pelosi. about 6406 because I think that is the kind of energy and the kind of ideas that we need, right? That in 2006, when Democrats took back the House, they ran on, one on, and then passed within 100 hours six specific pieces of legislation. I'm not saying it has to be six. It can be three. It can be four, can be five. But I think that's really important. It can be, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's one big one. If it's one, it has to be like one big one. But I just think, you know, our rebuttal to what's going on now can't be, elect us so we can get it back to where it was. Because when you talk with especially swing voters that voted Obama, Trump, Biden, Trump,

these are voters that just want change and they want this economy to be transformed. And so I think it's important that we have some very specific things that can transform a person's economy and a person's pocketbook and help them in a big way. And that's something that we're working on. Let's take a quick break. Stay with us. When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to WestJetting since 96. Travel back in time

with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. Welcome back. I'm curious as to what you thought of the election results from Illinois last night. Big primaries. Juliana Stratton got the Senate nomination. Big win for her, Lieutenant Governor. Also big win for J.B. Pritzker, who was her biggest booster financially and, you know, cheerleading as well. What were the lessons you took from Illinois?

A couple different lessons. I think, obviously, you know, the lieutenant governor ran on a platform of you know, fiercely opposing and fighting back against the Trump administration, which I think is the reason that she won, and especially why she ran up numbers. And she really overperformed a lot of folks didn't think she would perform as well in a lot of the suburbs in a lot of those different areas all around Illinois. And she outperformed people's expectations. And I think it's because she, you know, was unafraid to say what was on her mind. I think people saw her as a very authentic candidate who is meeting the moment. And that's what people are looking for, especially

in a Democratic primary right now. Part of the reason why the Democratic Party poll numbers aren't great is, of course, you always have, you know, half the country or however many people in the country that are just going to disagree with you or not like the party. But then we also have our own base that are upset because they want to see people fighting back. And I think she embodied that. And I think that's part of the reason why she won. The other thing, though, that I have to bring up is speaking with a lot of my friends that are organizers in Chicago, you know, they felt like it was less candidates on the ballot and it was more like there was huge special interest on the ballot. I mean, it's, I think. Crypto, AI, APEC. I want to talk about APEC, huge factors in these

elections. And we're talking about, I think between those, just those three, I think it was over 21 or 22 million dollars and just a few house races, I think four or five house races. We have to get big money out of politics. I mean, it is just disgusting that that kind of money can be put into these races. Because what that does is, number one, it really pushes down turnout. Because when you're waking up every morning and you're seeing negatives ads about this person and that person and this and that, you just give up. A lot of people just give up and say, I'm just not going to vote. And it's not good for our democracy. And so we have to end Citizens United. We have to get big money out of politics. I just, I think that's really important. But, you know, glad to be serving.

with a lot of new colleagues coming in. But I was looking at this race that the Progressive Caucus endorsed in, which was Jan Shikowsky's seat. And I love Jan Shikowsky, and we're going to miss her in Congress. And I think the interesting thing there is the top two vote getters were two people running on a platform of demanding more of our government

and transforming our economy. And I think that says something about that district and the fact that the top two people were people saying we have to transform this economy. And obviously Mayor Daniel Biss one. We're really excited to welcome him into the Progressive Caucus. Kat Abu Ghazali, I think ran a really good campaign. She came really close in a district like that.

But taking a step back, just looking at what these candidates ran on, big, bold transformational change won, right, in that election. And I think that's just something people should pay attention to, despite all the money that was thrown into it. Yeah, there was, I mean, that race definitely captured national attention. I think a lot of that was due to Kat's profile and her online presence for sure. But something that stuck out to me about it was it was like 29% versus 26%. And I understand it's a crowded field. And I'm thinking also at the California governor's race, which is coming up, which is a jungle primary and a very different thing. But there has even been some polling where the two Republicans were the top. vote getters, which would be an abject disaster for the Democratic Party. And I'm curious as to what you think about people getting out of the way or consolidating so that we can make smarter choices. You know, Daniel Biss and Kat Abugazala, they're both progressives, right? And there was an APEC element in there, you know, like they used to like Biss. Then they turned against him. And I think APEC went

to a four in the night in Illinois. But I have a very. big time fear of lack of coordination and personal ego being a reason that we don't get the strongest candidate or, God forbid, lose races. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely something, and I'm on the Progressive Caucus pack, and it's something that we're constantly looking at. You know, we want to help get in early to help support progressives across the country. We want to help consolidate people around, you know, folks that the community, you know, wants to see elected. I'm worried about what we're seeing in California. And this is, but, you know, this is a tale kind of as old as time, right? It's like, politicians have big egos. Whoa. And, and what we need to do. You're shocking me.

Yeah, my God. But I think it's really important that we do everything we can, the people who are in institutions, people who are in organizations, to work at that coalescing because people will take advantage of it, whether it's within our party and a primary and, you know, duking it out to figure out what the values of our own party, you know, is. Or, you know, you know, is. Or, you know, you know, if it's running against Republicans in like what we're seeing in California. And so my hope is candidates take a really, you know, take a hard look at those numbers. And sometimes you have to make hard decisions. And if there's a certain kind of candidate you don't want to see elected and you see that the vote is being split, what are you going to do about it?

And it's not always the same story across the board. I'm not going to be the person here to say if you're polling at X percent, you should drop out by this state. It's different. It's case by case. and there's very personal reasons for running for office, and so I don't want to sit here and kind of cast that upon everybody, but there are times where you do have to look at the numbers and make a decision.

Now, a lot of the discourse I saw online on a lot of these races where people were asking people to drop out and this and that, people were having that discourse a few days before election day. Too late, brother. I mean, like, when you're talking about these discussions, and you have to be thinking about when people start voting, early vote, vote by mail. you also have to think about the fact that in many states, you can't even take your name off the ballot

if you were to do it a week before, two weeks before, even three weeks before. So these are just the things people need to have in mind. This is part of the problem when, I mean, it's internet discourse is welcome and important in any race, but I always try to really just pick up the phone and call my friends who live in the community, who understand the rules of the, you know, election law in that area and everything like that. So I can understand, all right, what is my opinion here? based on facts on, you know, on the ground. And I think that's really important, too. Definitely.

The number of times the online mafia has been proven wrong by actual election results are probably too high to count. I want to talk to you about Florida. I'm in New York. And so I think I look at a lot of these states with rose color glasses or a possibility that I wish could be, but might not actually be practical. We have seen some Democratic flips that are very big deals. The new mayor of Boca is going to be a Democrat one-by-one vote.

How much of it is a pipe dream that Florida could elect a David Jolly as governor, for instance? And what's the kind of temperature on the ground there? I mean, none of it's a pipe dream. I mean, if you look at every statewide election since the one where we lost pretty big, right, about six years ago, we have been closing that margin, little by little, every single election at the statewide level. That's how you get to a place where you win. And we need candidates at the statewide level that will help us close that gap even further

and further and further and hopefully winning, right? And I think part of what we're seeing is a lot of Florida Democrats, hopefully everyone has learned the lesson that when the Republicans in Florida call you communist, socialist, this and that, like, you could be the most moderate person in the world. if you're a Democrat on a statewide ballot in Florida, you're going to get called every single name under the book, whether you're progressive or moderate. The problem is Florida Democrats for so long,

we would spend all of our ad buy money and all of our time on ads that said, no, I'm not. And I don't know about you, but no, I'm not, is not a compelling message, especially in a state where every time there is a democratic value or progressive policy on the ballot, direct to the voters through ballot initiative, guess what?

More than 50% of the people in the state say, yes to it. And in most cases, we actually outright win it, which you have to get 60% to win a ballot initiative in Florida. Fifteen dollar minimum wage, yes. Voting rights for people with previous felonies. Yes. Medical marijuana. Yes. Adult use of marijuana. Didn't hit the 60% threshold, but far more than 50% of voters said yes. Abortion rights, far more than 50% of voters said yes, too. So I say this to say that the more we have candidates who connect the policy and our values to the people on the ground through mass organizing throughout the state and not wasting our time, just being on the defense 100% of the time, I think we're going to win. I really think we're going to win.

And the fact of the matter is we have to. I mean, if you look out at the map in the next reapportionment, we're probably going to lose some electoral votes in states that we're used to having them in, whether it's New York or California. And we're getting to a place where this typical, like, you know, the blue wall that we talk about, won't be enough for us to win the presidency. And so if you don't want to lose it for a generation, the question is, what are we opening up? What new battlefields are we looking at? And I really think it's going to be states like Florida, Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, the South and the Sun Belt, I think Democrats really, you know, you don't have to shift 100%.

You can focus everywhere, but we need to be putting resources there, but it's not enough to flood money into an election three months before the election or even the year of the election, it is day-to-day power building that will help us in the long run. And I think that's really important. And I ask that of any candidate running statewide, especially when I meet with them, what's your plan to win? Also, what's your plan to ensure that what your building doesn't disappear the day after you, you know, win or lose, right? How do we continue that so we can win the next 10 elections? I love that, and I'm throwing Iowa into, I'm optimistic about a shift for Iowa. Iowa, and honestly, I'll throw another one in Kansas.

I think we need to be investing more in Kansas, too. I have not heard that. Kansas, I believe in Kansas. I was talking with Cherise Davis about this, too. I think David's about this as well. I think Kansas is somewhere where we should be investing in as well and party building there and building up there. I'm not saying it'll happen tomorrow, but when you do that kind of work and you sustain it,

Who knows what happens in six years in a decade? And that's important, and that's how we can win longer term. And so I just think we need to open up the map a bit. We need to put more resources. Look, in these campaigns, it's good to have a lot of money. How much did we have last, like $2 billion, right? I know. But at least on the congressional side, there is an amount of money you hit on ads and everything

where you saturate so much that everything you spend on top of that is really just, It gives you diminishing returns, and you don't really have a huge ROI. I think a lot of times we over-invest in paid comms in races, where I feel like once you hit that saturation mark, which you should hit, how are we using some of that other money to build on the ground and make sure that we have an eye out towards the future? Because that's something Republicans did in the state of Florida. That is the reason why the state went from what we considered a purple state to what's now considered a red state. It wasn't a two-year plan or a four-year plan or a six-year plan. It was like a two-decade plan. It was, you know, 30 years that didn't always see returns in the immediate, but they knew

in the long run that it would work, and it did. And like, we have to think that way as well. And here's the good news. We can do it all. You can do it at the same time. We can party build, knowing we might not win every election right in front of us, but we're building towards something bigger. And we can work at winning elections at the short term, too.

But, you know, unfortunately, the incentive structure for the DNC and for party officials isn't to think long term. It's the wind short term. So that way you can, you know, get reelected, which I get. But we got to do both, I think, especially with the way the math is changing and where people are moving in the country right now. I totally agree with you. I always think about how getting Roe v. Wade overturned was a 50-year plan. And they were completely content with it. and they got there.

And we were like, oh, didn't think that could happen. Yeah, people were surprised. And it's like, I wasn't surprised one bit. No, they also always tell you their plan. Yeah, they always say exactly. I'm like, it's not a secret cabal. Like Project 2025 is published. The plan for women's health care access is published.

Like, get with it. I want to make sure that I talk to you about the youth. You are the youngest member of Congress and have always been, I think, a great example for how the Gen Z generation has, you know, so much vibe, so much interest in pushing back against the status quo, trailblazing, but also this great understanding that you are part of an institution with an enormously long history and there are rules and you have to also fit in. And I'm curious as to how you think Democrats are doing in the rebuild of the relationship with young voters post-20204 and kind of any of your insights as to how that cohort is feeling about politics today. You know, I think we have a lot of work to do. I think young people, and I always give the disclaimer, I don't claim to speak for all Gen Z, right? But, you know, in my experience, and not just in my work now, but, you know, working on March for Our Lives and working in youth food turnout for a while, young people are, don't feel very, don't feel super represented by either party. Young people are really upset with the fact that many of them have done, did everything they were told to do.

I mean, you know, go to college. You can rack up all this debt, but don't worry, you'll get a job right after you graduate where you can get a house or get a home or get an apartment. or at least rent apartment and this and that. And everyone's learning that it was BS. I mean, it was a complete lie, and it's not working for them. And so I think people are really lost, anxious, angry. And then on top of that, we have this authoritarian regime of Donald Trump that is actively suppressing people's rights, killing our neighbors,

and all of that compounds, and it puts people in a place where they choose one of two things. And this is what I would always tell my organizers when I work. in organizing is we stand at the crossroads of people either falling further into apathy or getting really, really involved. Because when you get beat down that much, you go into one of those two directions. And that's why I always tell candidates that when it comes down to the youth vote, this is a very, and I still believe this is true even with this last election. Maybe some people might disagree when they hear this. This is still a very progressive generation

that really wants to see the world to the eyes of the most vulnerable and really wants everyone to do well. I think this is also a generation that is very susceptible to adhering to and being a part of whatever the counterculture is at the time because they know that the status quo isn't working. And I think that has more to do

with why Donald Trump got 46% of the youth vote last election and less with young people saying, you know what, I think I'm like a very conservative, far right person. That's just, this is not what happened. I think a lot of it had to do with what you brought up. It's the politics of vibes and the politics of this isn't working.

Let me try the other thing because this person is the counterculture. Who was the counterculture before that? Bernie Sanders, right? And so I think, I just think these are things we have to keep in mind. The way Democrats, I think, can really help get the youth folk back and solidified is twofold. It's what we stand for. And this is why I'm pushing that in our effect. affirmative agenda, big, bold transformational change. We can't put forth policies that fix things

for some people in this income bracket in four to six years, maybe, right? It needs to be simple to understand policies that people see themselves in and they say, wow, if that happened, I would be doing better. And that's what we need. The second thing is the way we communicate it, how we communicate it, and where we communicate it. And I think that's really important as well. And people need to do what's authentic to them. I think a lot of young people are just over politicians trying to, like, cater to young folks and more just want to hear, like, what do you stand for? Who are you?

You know, and I think the more you can be authentic, the better you'll be. Like, for me, I do a lot of things relating to the arts. Why? Because I went to art school, and I'm a drummer. That's what I love, you know? And so that's the way I connect with a lot of young people in my district. I host concerts, and we talk about politics a little bit. there and 90% of the people who come to these events, they've never been to a political event

before. That's my thing, right? Everyone has their own thing. And I have a lot of folks who will come up to me and say, how can we be more like you or Alexandria or Jasmine or this and that? And I always tell them, that's the problem. You shouldn't want to be like them. Part of the reason why a lot of people like folks like that is because they're being themselves. Just be more like yourself. So I think those two things are really important. But at the end of the day, young people do care about policy. They know that the economy is broken. They know that wealth inequality is an all-time high. They can't afford a place to live. They can't afford the rent. Youth homelessness is exploding in this country. I think we really don't even have a full, clear picture of what it is.

And we have to do something to transform the economy for everyone, but especially for young people. I'm very worried that just young people as we grow older won't own a damn thing. You won't own a house. You won't own a car because leasing is trending up and up and up. I mean, if it continues the way we're seeing, young people won't own a house, you won't own a car, you won't actually even own the damn phone you own, and you won't own a thing, and you won't have any wealth, and you won't be able to pass anything along. And when our country decides to bail people out, when the economy doesn't do well, our government always bails out the people who own things. And honestly, I think that's like the biggest thing impacting young people right now. a satellite office I have on a college campus. I thought the main thing people would ask us about would be social issues or college debt cancellation. Now, top two, I don't have a place to live. Can you

help me find a place to live? Number two, I don't have money to afford food. Can you help me? Food insecurity. Those are the top two things college students come to my satellite office for help on. That's just heartbreaking to hear that. So also an optimistic element of what you're talking about. but, you know, I'm just an elder millennial, but even to see how things have changed and it's not like it's easy for the millennial generation writ large. But I hate to hear the college kids are hungry and concerned about where they're going to live. Congressman Maxwell Frost, thank you so much for your time. It was great to have you. Thanks for having me.