The Breakfast Club - Best Of Full Interview: Tezlyn Figaro Talks Kamala’s Missteps, Celebrity Roles In Campaigns, ‘Push The Line’ Movement + More

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

Best of 2024 - Recorded November 2024 - Tezlyn Figaro Talks Kamala’s Missteps, Celebrity Roles In Campaigns, ‘Push The Line’ Movement. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for... privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:03:13 That's right. Ladies and gentlemen, she's back, Miss Teslin Figaro. Welcome back. Hello, hello, hello. How you feeling? What's happening, Tess? What's happening, Charlamagne the Guy? Good morning, good morning, good morning, Lauren.
Starting point is 00:03:23 How you feeling this morning? I'm feeling good. I am, I'm really feeling good. It's good to be back, back with family, chop it up with y'all, drop some dimes, name some names. Okay. Yeah, here to get real good.
Starting point is 00:03:32 We're dropping dimes on, Taz. We're dropping dimes on everybody from top to bottom. Yeah. Well, let's start right off with the presidential election. Why did VP Harris lose? Oh man, I should have brought my white board. That many, that many reasons.
Starting point is 00:03:44 Yeah, it's that many. Yeah, and the reason why this is important, I literally have my stuff in order, because a lot of people, Envy said, she lost because of this reason, she lost because of that, and it's really, in the Midwest, a tornado requires water, humidity, wind, multiple things. It's not one reason.
Starting point is 00:04:02 It's not one reason. And when I hear people saying, you know, oh, if he just did better with the messaging, or if they did better with the media, I've really kind of put together a list, a flow chart, on how basically a colossal fuck up from top to bottom. So you're doing the autopsy. Yeah, we're doing the autopsy.
Starting point is 00:04:18 We're doing the full autopsy. So if we just really take it from the top, as we all said, Joe Biden should have never ran. We have to first start there. Should have never ran. He said he was a one-time, was gonna be a one-term president. We talked about it multiple times.
Starting point is 00:04:32 He actually volunteered that lie to say, hey, I'm only gonna run one term. I'm coming in just to stop Trump. Immediately then, they should have started building a base. Immediately, right out the gate. Trump was still campaigning this entire time. We talked about it. We talked about how it was constant rallies,
Starting point is 00:04:47 constant organizing. You and I talked about it on the Van Jones Show. We're saying, you guys really have to continue the organizing year round. And that's why I blame a lot of the people at the top who have the ear of the candidates and campaign consultants because they've been told this multiple, multiple times. So we should have found a white man right then and there. Who was gonna be next in line to build a bitch?
Starting point is 00:05:07 A white man. A white man. A young white man. Absolutely, young white man right then and there. And it's not Governor Newsom, by the way. A lot of people keep saying that Governor Newsom will get swamped. So from the door you didn't think Kamala was gonna win?
Starting point is 00:05:16 No, right at the gate, no, no, no. Because she's a black woman or? Yeah, absolutely. So that's number three. So let's first get that. So they should have established a bitch that didn't do that. Governor Newsom, I just wanna put that out there. A lot of people like him, great debater. So let's first get that. So they should have established a business that didn't do that. Governor Newsom, I just wanna put that out there.
Starting point is 00:05:26 A lot of people like him, great debater. He would have got swamped. You have to remember, he literally passed the bill K through 12 to have shared bathrooms with gender. So imagine what conservatives would have did with that all over the nation, the homelessness and all of that. So then yes, number three,
Starting point is 00:05:42 America was not going to vote for a woman of color, period. In the history of black women and white women, allyship, alleged allyship, I have never known a white woman to give a job to a woman of color before they got it. That includes even McDonald's on fries. Just not gonna happen. Have you ever, have a white woman ever said,
Starting point is 00:06:01 you know what, I think you're more qualified. Go ahead and take it. They didn't give it to Hillary Clinton, they were not gonna give it to her. I, you know what, I think you're more qualified. Go ahead and take it. They didn't give it to Hillary Clinton. They were not gonna give it to her. I know there was hope. I know you talked about believing in us, but it was never about us believing in us. It was about us knowing them.
Starting point is 00:06:14 It's not about being qualified. This was when it came down to saying, they didn't give it to Hillary Clinton, why would they give it to Harris? So that was to me, an error right out the gate. But we had no choice because Biden. I think Kamala as a black woman is the only reason. First of all, two things.
Starting point is 00:06:32 The last two elections, the Democratic Party need to be thanking black women. Because if it wasn't for Jim Clyburn telling Joe Biden, hey, I'm not endorsing you unless you promise that you're going to put a black woman on the Supreme Court, I'm not endorsing you. So that's what made him endorse Joe Biden. He went to South Carolina,
Starting point is 00:06:47 changed the complexion of his campaign. If it wasn't for Kamala Harris in 2020, I think a lot of us wouldn't have went out there and voted for President Biden. I didn't vote for President Biden. I voted for Vice President Kamala Harris. I also think in 2024, when you look at the fact that Joe Biden's presidency was dead,
Starting point is 00:07:00 like completely dead in the water, and Kamala Harris came to the top of the ticket, raised all of this money, ended up having the second most votes of any Democratic nominee ever with 74 million votes. I think that only happens because she's a black woman. Well, two things can be true at the same time. There can be some positives that came with that,
Starting point is 00:07:17 but there also can be some negatives where we look at the data, we don't have to guess. We looked at where white women aligned. We looked at where the Latino community aligned. We looked at the bottom line data that shows. Latino men, that was a surprise. Yeah, why was it a surprise? You don't think so?
Starting point is 00:07:31 No, no, absolutely not. With Democrats? Latinos have always split their vote. They did that before, right? 50-50, they've always. When you look at, you know I organized for the Bernie Sanders campaign in Michigan. I was the only black woman on the ground in 2015
Starting point is 00:07:40 to help lift that state. Latino community has always been divided. When you look at Florida, and you look at the Cuban community, they've always been divided. When you look at Florida, and you look at the Cuban community, they've always went conservative. When you look at the Bernie Sanders, the left side, the California, they always go left. They have always, and I ain't mad about it,
Starting point is 00:07:53 they've always strategically been able to have leverage because they go 50-50. You remember when Joe Biden told black leaders when he won, and right after he said, yeah, right after he said, I owe you black people. Remember when they had the meeting, and they leaked the tapes in front of Al Sharpton and all them and said, y'all need to go follow
Starting point is 00:08:08 the Latino community, because they're the ones that have the leverage. So I'm not mad at it, but we need to talk about it for what it is. There might be a black and brown coalition in New York. You know, I've talked about that all the time. But when you talk about the, that changed too. They're moving over.
Starting point is 00:08:20 When you talk about the South, when you talk about the Midwest, and particularly when you talk about the West, when you talk about the Midwest, and particularly when you talk about the West, there is no black-brown coalition, and it's okay for people to vote their interests. Also got news for you, black men are conservative, doing my Joe Biden whisper. Black people are conservative.
Starting point is 00:08:36 I don't know why people wanna keep making that not an issue. So when you're talking about black men, and you're talking about other black people with majority of the country in the South, majority are moderate. I know progressives wanna sell a different story, but black people for the most part are moderate and a lot of them lean conservative. We're going to get into that when we get into the messaging.
Starting point is 00:08:51 But let's just kind of go back a little bit. I agree that there was some positives to it, but when it came down to it, when we looked at race, white women to me, just like they did in the midterm, just like they did when they were with Obama, then they went with Trump, and then they went back to Democrats in the midterms and then they flipped back. When you're talking about white supremacy and talking about positioning, like what they did with the women's suffrage movement, I just didn't see them doing it for a black woman over them. They didn't do it with Hillary Clinton.
Starting point is 00:09:17 The only person that ever beat Donald Trump is Joe Biden. And I agree it was dead. But 52% of white women voted for Clinton, 55% voted for Biden. So then white women been showing out. White women, white women haven't shown up the last three elections. Well but they were also comfortable with Joe Biden. Listen, remember Joe Biden is one of them. Let's go back to why- No, 55% of white women voted for Trump over Biden. Right, to align with white supremacy. To align- because this is about white supremacy.
Starting point is 00:09:42 This is about would they rather have their household ahead of you as a black man? Or they bold their husbands. That's exactly it, and nothing's wrong. And people need to stop these pundits getting in there. They went against their own interest. No, their interest is their household. Your interest is your interest, my interest is my interest.
Starting point is 00:09:57 When I keep hearing people say that, they went against their own interest. No, they actually aligned with their interest, which is white man, white woman, black man, black woman. That's the order. That's how it is. Black people are the side chick. Bottom line, we need to just accept that. I know we want to say black girl magic. I know we want to say, oh, because black this and that. Black women can't save this country. We need to stop selling that dream. Let's get in position and understand what we can do, which is why I always talk about the
Starting point is 00:10:19 local and state level, and stop trying to sell this timeshare scam. Because to me, it was a timeshare scam. I agree with you that there was really no other choice because Joe Biden was trash. We get that he was trash. So once they said, okay, let's rally around Harris. Now she's a Democrat nominee. Okay, so cool. We with that. Black women raised $30 million after gate.
Starting point is 00:10:37 Black men raised $30 million after gate. So now we're having to deal with who dropped this bag, who dropped this billion dollar bag. And that's the issue when we get into how they spent the money. I didn't think she had a chance in hell, but once you decided to move forward, okay, so what do we do with the money? Black voters, they lost black voters across the board. That one, two percent across the board makes a difference when you talk about Michigan, makes a difference in North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:11:00 So that's where we get into your concern when you talk about messaging, where the messaging was all wrong. Now, I wanna ask you about the money. Is it normal for candidates to give so much money to quote unquote entertainment when you're seeing that they paid this person to speak and this person to have that back? Is that normal when it comes to politics?
Starting point is 00:11:18 Who did they pay to speak though? Well, allegedly, we'll say allegedly. Yeah, they didn't pay people to speak. They didn't pay to speak, but the money that it took to get the setup, the advanced team, the entertainment. So let's go back a little bit. 100 days was impossible even for a white man, in my opinion. I just want to go back to 100 days running a campaign
Starting point is 00:11:35 was damn near impossible for anybody, and particularly a woman of color. So now we're in this 100-day thing. In order to get people to come out, we do use entertainers. And I push back on people who say don't use entertainers. It's important, Killer Mike talks about it all the time. We need entertainers to mobilize. When you're trying to get that stand field
Starting point is 00:11:51 of 20, 30,000 people, you got three days to do it. We actually need our entertainers. The problem though, Envy, is the entertainers not necessarily being aligned with organizers on how to use their voice throughout the year. I would love to see pliers like work with an organizer throughout the year, not just election season, so that we can continue to have this conversation.
Starting point is 00:12:10 So I don't want to shit on entertainers, we need them. But when you have 100 days and you're spending more on entertainment setups and not on the ground, and you have organizations like Until Freedom, Tameka Mallard, they got, and again, we can look at the numbers. The numbers are available online, guys, so this ain't making it up.
Starting point is 00:12:25 When you're giving organizations like that $150,000 and telling them we'll make it do what it do, that's a problem. No war is won by just the Air Force. I'm an Air Force veteran. You need the Air Force, yes. You need the big entertainers. You need the media.
Starting point is 00:12:38 You need the podcasts. That's the air. But you also need the ground. You need Marines and you need the Army. And they bottom line took black voters for granted, like we've been talking about for years. They figure, well, you know, she's black, so that'll be fine. They literally shitted on organizations, 100 year organizations, got $75,000, $100,000,
Starting point is 00:12:54 100 black men. I believe they got like $75,000, $100,000. So what is that saying on how you're trying to organize, you know, with black men? So that's an issue when we talk about this billion dollar bag. And not just because of now, Envy, but also the infrastructure that we're trying to build. So midterms are in March. And I'm independent, so I'm just giving, you know,
Starting point is 00:13:13 what it looks like. To build this house, you need this money flowing year round. They're trying to build now. So your opponent is over there building a house, adding on swimming pools, adding on garages, adding on all this. And then they come give the money two, three weeks before the election is over.
Starting point is 00:13:28 Before the election, black organizations did not get money until three weeks before, literally. They told the churches. What are they gonna do with that? Yeah, nothing they can do with it. And then saying, we're here to go $200,000, make it do-to-do. And what I found this time is the gatekeepers got gate kept
Starting point is 00:13:42 because the streets was never getting the money. So when they were calling me, dropping down, so we only got this and I got that. Last time we got a lot of money. I said I'm here to take the streets never got any of it. But now as the gatekeepers got gate kept for the first time, Derek Johnson literally calling out the campaign in an article saying you guys are not spending money with black media, you're not spending money on the ground. We are literally starving. Most of these organizations had to use this money on their own. And that makes a difference when you're talking about getting out the ground. We are literally starving. Most of these organizations had to use this money on their own and that makes a difference when you're talking about getting out the vote. Trump didn't use his money as much for
Starting point is 00:14:10 entertainers. No he didn't at all. He got a lot of earned media. Also Trump has been organizing and he's never stopped. For 10 years. Non-stop. When you have a rally every month, when you're engaging people every month, when he's using social media, when he's using social media when he's using truth He's okay Twitter. You don't want to work with me cool. I just I'll just go start my own He has a non-stop organizing machine that Democrats just don't do they don't develop those relationships They come in okay, so we got six months. Let's make it do what to do So this is the result and so people can say well, that's just 10%
Starting point is 00:14:43 That's just 1% but when you add up those numbers across the board it makes a difference and I also want to say this Black conservatives, I miss I want us to have more leverage I also want us to have more positioning within the Republican Party if you're gonna move on to the public inside Where is our leadership? You know when it comes to that she run again. Can Kamala Harris run again? Let Taz get through her points, bro. I got it. I got it. Damn. Before you go, move on to the next thing.
Starting point is 00:15:06 I have a question because it's about what you're talking about. So you saw Candace Owens going back and forth with Miss Tina Knowles about Beyonce and Beyonce being involved in the rally in Houston. To the point that Candace was making, it's kind of what you're saying. Do you think that, how do you utilize a major celebrity like a Beyonce? Because she's not going to be on the ground. And what should Kamala Harris's campaign have done better utilizing a big celebrity of that nature?
Starting point is 00:15:28 Because she's getting dragged for it because they're saying it looks unauthentic and Candace Owens is saying it looks unauthentic and this is why you didn't win. But Beyonce is not going to be outside. Like you get what I'm saying? So how do you utilize this? You just said it's true, Ted.
Starting point is 00:15:41 Like they filled the stadium in Houston. Right. Because of Beyonce. You have to fill the stadium. And I'm an organizer first before I'm a pundit. So when we use people like that, a time who had never knocked on no doors, I kind of discredit what they're saying.
Starting point is 00:15:54 She has to find talking points to talk about her opponent, period point blank when it comes to Candice Owens. I use Killer Mike as an example. You know, our brother Killer Mike, he's an organizer first. He's always been an organizer. Before he was a rapper, before he was in Hell's Lane, he's an organizer. So when you go to Atlanta, Georgia,
Starting point is 00:16:08 and you don't call Killer Mike to take you to the same spots that they took the same Chick-fil-A that they took Trump to, the same, the west side of Atlanta had zero signs on the ground. When you don't utilize a Killer Mike that got barbershops all throughout Atlanta, and he's literally made himself available you could have been sitting at Bankhead
Starting point is 00:16:26 seafood right by the way it took test point killer Mike did make himself available he made himself a fact this is a fact and you shit on that and you think that's not important when an organizer who literally has him and tip has literally put mayors in office that's telling me how you feel about your black outreach oh they'll just do it because she's black. Well, I got news for you. The black vote went the opposite direction. It went the opposite direction because people are getting tired of being taken advantage of. They're being tired of not having this conversation year around, Charlamagne. And so when you guys did, I'm just going to go ahead and say it. When you did the
Starting point is 00:17:01 thing in Michigan. Town Hall. Yeah. Zeke, New Era Detroit Detroit sit right there in the thing. That's right. I asked him Hey campaign ever reach out to you me laughing. I was annoying said none of me You can't organize in Detroit and not think you need to talk to a Zeke who had New Era Detroit That man not only is organizing Detroit all over the country so when you think that people are just going to do it just because 33% of Detroit is living below the poverty line So what is that telling you you have Rashida to leave who organized the Arab American community? That literally voted for Trump literally Dearborn voted for Trump and then you have the black vote that was depressed meaning just not even
Starting point is 00:17:38 Interested saying fuck it, you know the government is hurting my pocket. She'd have voted for Trump Dearborn. Oh, okay, okay, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Well, you know, they had the 100,000, they had 100,000 people go to the polls. This ain't being talked about enough. 100,000 people went to the polls to say, we are uncommitted. Remember Rashida's lead literally did a video
Starting point is 00:17:56 and said, Joe Biden, we ain't fucking with you until there's a ceasefire. We ain't fucking with you. That was during the primary. That was during the primary. Your number one opponent was a Democrat elected official in Michigan that was literally basically telling voters of sort to sit out and had them go to the polls to vote.
Starting point is 00:18:15 I am uncommitted. So that same Dearborn, which she represents, she represents Detroit as well. Dearborn voted for Trump. You look at that, you look at the 2-3% of the black vote they couldn't get out in Detroit. So now you're talking about how you can win Michigan. Those are the things, you know, that people are not looking at. And Michigan had a lot of leverage but he won all swing states, you know, so it wasn't just Michigan. But that's
Starting point is 00:18:37 a real problem. You got black people starving in Detroit. You got Dearborn asking for a ceasefire. You got the labor union. And this is how we won Michigan with Bernie Sanders. You got the labor union. They won't strike all last year, the year before that. So those people were pissed. You have the college students who are also pushing, you know, anti-war and remove college debt was an issue. So those four or five constituents in Michigan
Starting point is 00:18:59 made the difference on why you lost. So it was a number of things. You know, it's not just one thing over the other. It's a number of things. I know the podcast was important. It is important to have podcasts. It is important to be able to reach 30 million people at one time. But if you're doing that and you're telling organizations like Untill Freedom or organizations similar to that, here go 100,000 and you need to go to seven states and make it work. When you have the Church of God in Christ, I think they got 100,000, 200,000 and said, hey, go
Starting point is 00:19:24 make it do what it do. It was impossible. You know what I'd like to see? I agree, I think you gotta hit them both, right? You gotta have a ground game, man. You gotta have a mean digital game. I would like to see some of the grassroots activists on the ground.
Starting point is 00:19:35 I would like to see them start adapting to social media as well. Because I feel like those organizations need it. Yeah, for sure. The partnership, it's not just one thing. I think a report today said one in every three people get their news from social media. I think it's actually higher than that.
Starting point is 00:19:52 So we're not partnering in social media and having that ground game to double it up. It's dead in the water, but you still have to have people knocking on those doors. And bottom line, they should have just bought votes at this point. When you got 100 days, some of these nonprofits that are out here, somebody in Detroit,
Starting point is 00:20:08 you could have funded them. You could have done it the same way Trump had Kwame Capatrick, you know, the same way they had Harry O. People, oh, what Harry O. doing? That make a difference if people's looking for pardons and clemencies and all that. Democrats have pardoned far more than Republicans have. I asked Governor Westmore, why are you not talking about,
Starting point is 00:20:24 I think it was what, close to 200,000 people that he pardoned far more than Republicans have. I asked Governor Westmoren, why are you not talking about, I think it was what, close to 200,000 people that he pardoned for marijuana? Why are y'all not talking about that? Why is that not something y'all talking about? So when Trump brings a trick trick from Detroit and people on shade room, who's trick trick? Oh, nowhere is Detroit no damn way who trick trick is. So when people see that, they're like,
Starting point is 00:20:40 well shit, I don't know what to believe. That one, 2% of falling off makes a difference. Trump capitalized on the lost man, something I've been talking about for 15 years straight. The hoodwits were the lost man. Men who felt like they were not being heard, people who felt like they were not being understood. Now again, I'm talking specifically about black people.
Starting point is 00:20:58 I'm not talking about this working class because that translates to white working class. I'm talking about black people who felt like they were not being heard, were not being understood, and Trump capitalized on that. People ask, oh, why did he use Amber Rose? Well, guess what? She's from where? Pennsylvania.
Starting point is 00:21:11 Right, that's a swing state. So you don't have to like his shade room, but that was very strategic. It made sense to have Iceware Vezzo in Detroit, even though in the shade room. Who is he? I don't know, it's Detroit. That one and 2% made a difference. Why didn't you reach out to Kwame Capatria? Because he a felon? Is that why you don't think it was important
Starting point is 00:21:31 to at least, if nothing else, minimize your enemy? There's two things you do in a campaign. Minimize your enemy, maximize your friends. You didn't even reach out to that man for a conversation whether you like what he did in Detroit or not. The man still was elected, his mama was elected. He comes from a very long lineage of you know, of folks in Detroit. And I think that's even, it's worth having the conversation.
Starting point is 00:21:48 So Trump was able to appear as if he was one of them, which he was not, by the way. He's a white man who obviously, if black men couldn't have never gotten away with what he got with the fellas, but he was able to appear as if he was. He was able to appear of that connection. Why didn't they talk about what Governor Newsom
Starting point is 00:22:03 did in California, removing the gang enhancement? Removing the gang enhancement, you got homies who are literally getting on the yard for the very first time. If you do the crime, do the time, no problem with that. But in California, most people are affiliated with the gang just based on where you live. So Governor Newsom has passed great legislation that has allowed people to come home,
Starting point is 00:22:21 that has allowed people to actually get on the yard for the very first time. I got 10,000 homies right now in get on the yard for the very first time. I got 10,000 homies right now in LA that were organized for the next governor just based off that one thing. They didn't talk about those things, Envy, because they sit in this elitist positioning,
Starting point is 00:22:35 you know, of let's just not talk about that, you know, let's just go high and go low. And Trump was able to capitalize on that, and that made a difference when you talk about a 10%. So, Marjana. Yeah, I think it's hard for them to capitalize on something like the Newsome thing because it is something that's regulated in California.
Starting point is 00:22:47 Like the First Step Act was a federal law that people act, that he did a phenomenal job of showing, look, I bought this person home and I bought that person home. And like there was other people on social media that would talk about, man, my people just came home because of the First Step Act.
Starting point is 00:23:02 I actually think the First Step Act, people don't really credit that enough. They wanna talk about stimulus checks and PPP loans, but when you can actually see one of your homies come home from prison, that's a big deal. Yeah, and we saw what happened in real time, but I just wanna push back a little bit on how you capitalize against that,
Starting point is 00:23:18 how you can capitalize. When you look at what Governor Moore was able to do, the federal, when they took the federal for the marijuana. Yeah, simple possession marijuana. You show the connection. So yes, that was federal. Make it bigger. Right, but Governor Moore was able to actually utilize that.
Starting point is 00:23:34 Without that federal partnership, it wouldn't have happened. So it does trickle down, but the Democrats never connect the dots to show you, this is how it actually works. Federal was able to help the state, state was able to help the local, and so on and so forth. So there's ways to do it, they just don't do it Charlemagne, because they feel as if, you know, let's focus on these imaginary voters, let's spend all this money on white women, let's spend all this money on working class.
Starting point is 00:23:58 They're scared to get dirty, essentially, too. Yeah, and so Trump was able to capitalize on that just enough. Remember, this is about margins in the swing state. So when you got one or 2% that's saying, I'm sitting on the couch, or one or 2% that's saying, I'm going in a different direction, it makes a difference. Oh yeah, especially when you look at the election.
Starting point is 00:24:12 I mean, I think what Trump had 76.1 million votes, Harris had 74, and it's just all those margins. She lost by the margins in a lot of those swings. So what you think about Trump's cabinet and like his choices for his cabinet right now? Cause I mean, these are the people that are gonna have to be. Yeah, I don't think nothing.
Starting point is 00:24:26 I think Republicans ran, Democrats ran, is gonna be a dictator. Guess what, they want a dictator. We've been saying this forever. We've been talking about this day of bipartisanship, and let's just get it through Congress. Charlamagne, you know I said it a million times, like with the George Floyd Act,
Starting point is 00:24:44 reducing college debt, doing executive order. Everybody said, you know I said it a million times, like with the George Floyd Act, reducing college debt, doing executive order. Everybody said, you can't do executive order. You got to go through Congress. Republicans are going to change it back. If you get in, they're going to change it back. Guess what? Republicans don't give a damn about changing it back.
Starting point is 00:24:55 They changed back Roe vs. Floyd. They changed back a whole bunch of shit. Obamacare and everything else. Democrats refuse to work as a dictator. They want a dictator. Everybody's saying, oh man, he's gonna be a dictator. Right. That's why they want it. Oh yes. He's gonna take migrants out. Yes. That's what they wanted. People need to stop saying that online.
Starting point is 00:25:11 It's driving me crazy. Oh Latinos. Oh man. Oh man. Y'all about to see. They want the immigrant. People who are legal, who come out of this country legal, they are literally telling you yes. We don't support illegal immigration. So people are thinking they saying something on social media, y'all gonna see, no, they want a dictator. Democrats ran on democracy, they ran on dictators. Y'all gonna be a dictator day one. That's exactly what they want, a dictator.
Starting point is 00:25:35 Somebody's gonna push the line, somebody's gonna go damn bad what Congress is talking about. Somebody that say I don't care what the rules are, I'm gonna do what I wanna do. They want a gangster, period. Yeah, I agree with that. I wouldn't say dictator, but they want somebody that don't give a fuck and is going.
Starting point is 00:25:47 You wouldn't say dictator, he said he was gonna be a dictator on day one. He said that on day one, but I think what people mean when they say, they just want somebody that's gonna say, you know what, as long as things are getting done for the people, I don't care how it gets done. Like John Stewart did a great monologue last night and he was just like, Democrats always follow the norms
Starting point is 00:26:04 and Republicans don't follow the norms they gonna find those loopholes to break the which is kind of like dictatorship though I wouldn't call it dictatorship he said he gonna do what he want to do that's what he's gonna do he ain't gonna play the political game he ain't gonna play the press so I mean that's saying I'm gonna do this and if you don't do it it's gonna be hell to pay if you don't do it you know I'm gonna make sure you don't win if you don't do it I'm gonna call you out we talked about this with't win. If you don't do it, I'm gonna call you out. We talked about this with Joe Manchin. They let, they set up, now Joe Manchin cedars to a Republican. We've been talking about this. This has been going on for the last 15 years.
Starting point is 00:26:32 This loss was not just what happened in the last 100 days. This has been, at least from my experience, 2007, I can name year over year over year on what's going on, what happened, on how we got it. And then another thing I want wanna bring up on this messaging, abortion. Democrats ran on reproductive rights and democracy. Fell right out the gate. You had states like Arizona and Nevada that had abortion on the ballot.
Starting point is 00:26:56 So Democrats' mindset is, let's put abortion on the ballot and that's gonna bring, you know, so people know get out the vote, GOTV, that's how you get out the vote. Oh, they're gonna go to the polls now that abortion's on the ballot. Well, what you did, meatball head,
Starting point is 00:27:08 you actually allowed Republican women who were pro-choice to actually vote for abortion and still vote for Trump. There's no rule that says if you support pro-choice that you won't vote for Trump. So Republican women in Nevada and Arizona literally have the opportunity to bring abortion back and Still vote for Trump so Democrats shot themselves even in the foot if you were expecting women to go vote for reproductive rights Because you gave them an out and then that was a mistake out the gate look at Michigan Michigan
Starting point is 00:27:38 You can get an abortion in Michigan. So that don't land anywhere I know people want this idea especially black voters could we like to take care of everybody, and oh, what about them in Texas? But the average person is voting their personal interests. Can't see past their bills. That's it. And if I can get an abortion in Michigan, what matters to me if you get it in Arizona, or Nevada, or whatever it was?
Starting point is 00:27:56 So when you're running on reproductive rights, which I think was a mistake, and just democracy, people didn't give a damn about democracy. We talked about it when I was sitting here in 2018. That was the first question you asked me at the gate. What do people think about it? I said, don't give a damn about democracy. We talked about it when I was sitting here in 2018. That was the first question you asked me out the gate. What do people think about it? I said, don't give a damn. It's white folks, white folks.
Starting point is 00:28:09 They don't give a shit about no insurrection. They'll do it again. This is what's been happening in this country for 400 years. So the messaging was wrong out the gate. We talked about that. Not running on the economy. Not running, but I still think though,
Starting point is 00:28:20 even if she would have ran on all those things, they still would have rather voted for Joe Biden half dead weekend at Bernie's. I don't think so, Ted. They didn't even win Scranton. They didn't even win Scranton. Joe would have at least won Scranton. He would have at least won Scranton.
Starting point is 00:28:31 Harris lost Scranton. I think Joe would have got like 65 million votes. Okay, so if what you're saying is true, what was all... because I felt how you feel now is how I felt in the beginning. And then when I saw all the excitement and the money moving and all of that, what was all, because I felt how you feel now is how I felt in the beginning. And then when I saw all the excitement and the money moving and all of that, I was like, we got a chance. What was all of that then?
Starting point is 00:28:50 Why was that there? I didn't think Joe would win either, but I didn't think he was gonna win. But he should have held the L. Joe wouldn't have got close. When you got the doughnut saying, we not giving you no more money, Joe? Well, you didn't have no choice.
Starting point is 00:28:59 That's right. So let's be clear, they did not have a choice. Because George Clooney and them said, yeah, they said they didn't have no choice. So two things be true at the same time. They had to put Harris in, no doubt about that I'm not disagreeing with that, but I still don't think they would have voted for her.
Starting point is 00:29:12 They just wouldn't, they're just not going to give something that they didn't get first. Did she do the best that she could? Yes. Did she do everything they told her to do? Yes. Did she have 100 days to do it? Yes.
Starting point is 00:29:20 This is not about shitting on her. This is about setting up a woman that failed in a hundred days to do the damn near impossible. I think Joe Biden should have took that L. but yes, this is not about shitting on her. This is about setting up a woman to fail in 100 days to do the damn near impossible. I think Joe Biden should have took that L. He's the one that said he was gonna run. He's the one that set up there the entire time. They didn't build the bitch.
Starting point is 00:29:34 Let him take the L. Why now are you putting it on? She said bench by the way. Yeah. No, it sounded like they didn't, no I was with you, I'm like. They ain't built the bitch. Yeah, I told you man.
Starting point is 00:29:44 Like yeah, cause don't do that to my bitch. I thought it was like the friendly bitch. Like not the, yeah. Don't do that to my bitch. Yeah, yeah. That too. But some of me tried to ask you earlier. So can she run again?
Starting point is 00:29:52 Would you advise her to run again? No, I wouldn't. Do you think she should run again? No, cause it's, again, we gotta stop with, I don't know what this obsession we got with federal. I'm gonna keep pushing that. Let them have it. Let's talk about, especially Republicans now saying,
Starting point is 00:30:04 give it to the state. If you really want to make real change in your community, I know it's not as sexy, I know it's not as exciting, but it really is at the state level. It really is at the local level. If you believe in, you want to fund the public schools, you can do it at a local level. If you say, you know what, I want charter schools, I want to be able to educate our own,
Starting point is 00:30:20 you can do that at the local level. Why are we so infatuated with this White House? I don't get it. Why not be in Atlanta Council with 16 other people, You can do that at the local level. Why are we so infatuated with this White House? I don't get it. Why not be in Atlanta Council with 16 other people, in Orlando with six other people, to be able to say, I'm gonna write a check to the Black Business Investment Fund,
Starting point is 00:30:33 you know, to be able to say, hey, here's some money to go start a business. You can pass reparations at the local level. So I don't understand this obsession that we have with this federal thing. And I'm gonna be honest with you, Lauren, Black women, a lot of times we. Inside you, two wolves are locked in battle.
Starting point is 00:30:51 One thrives on fear and anger and doubt. The other courage, wisdom and love. Every decision, every moment feeds one of them. Every decision, every moment feeds one of them. Which wolf are you feeding? I'm Eric Zimmer, host of The One You Feed. I've been there, homeless, addicted and lost. I know the power of small choices to turn your life around. On this podcast, I sit down with thinkers, leaders, and survivors to uncover what it takes
Starting point is 00:31:27 to feed the good wolf. This podcast saved me. It's like having a guide for the hardest parts of life. The wolves are hungry. What will you feed them? Listen to the one you feed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey y'all, I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford,
Starting point is 00:31:49 host of Therapy for Black Girls. And I'm thrilled to invite you to our January Jumpstart series for the third year running. All January, I'll be joined by inspiring guests who will help you kickstart your personal growth with actionable ideas and real conversations. We're talking about topics like building community and creating an ideas and real conversations. We're talking about topics like building community and creating an inner and outer glow. I always tell people that when you buy
Starting point is 00:32:11 a handbag, it doesn't cover a childhood scar. You know, when you buy a jacket, it doesn't reaffirm what you love about the hair you were told not to love. So when I think about beauty is so emotional because it starts to go back into the archives of who we were, how we want to see ourselves and who we know ourselves to be and who we can be. So a little bit of past, present and future, all in one idea, soothing something from the past. And it doesn't have to be always an insecurity. It could be something that you love. All to help you start 2025 feeling empowered and ready. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls starting on January 1st on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jason Alexander.
Starting point is 00:32:53 And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the Really No Lily podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor we got the answer will space junk block your cell signal the astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer we talked with the scientists who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the wooly mammoth plus this Tom Cruise really do his own stunts his stuntman reveals the answer and you never know who's gonna drop by mr. Brian Cranston is with us
Starting point is 00:33:25 How are you? Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park Wayne Knight. Welcome to really really sir bless you all Hello Newman and you never know when how I'm in down might just stop by to talk about judging really that's the opening really no really No, really go to really no really calm and register to win $500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign Jason Bobblehead Hey everyone, I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York. And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey,
Starting point is 00:34:09 and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers. And on our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, we're opening up about the chaos of our daily lives between the juggle of being athletes, raising children, and all the messiness in between. We're also turning to fellow athletes and beyond to learn about their parenthood journeys and collect valuable advice. raising children and all the messiness in between. We're also turning to fellow athletes and beyond to learn about their parenthood journeys
Starting point is 00:34:27 and collect valuable advice. Like FIFA World Cup winner, Ashlyn Harris. I wish my village would have prepared me for how hard motherhood was gonna be. And Peloton instructor and Ratchet Mom Club founder, Kirsten Ferguson. And I remember going in there hot mess. So listen to Moms Who Puck, a production of iHeart Women's Sports and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment Hey guys, I'm Kate Max.
Starting point is 00:35:00 You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together.
Starting point is 00:35:26 You know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout? Well, that's when the real magic happens. So if you love hearing real, inspiring stories from the people you know, follow, and admire, join me every week for Post Run High. It's where we take the conversation beyond the run and get into the heart of it all.
Starting point is 00:35:46 It's lighthearted, pretty crazy, and very fun. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get caught up and is wanting to be validated so damn bad. So when the excitement was there, when everybody's like, oh man, we can do this, we can do this, black girl, man, we can do this, we can do this. Black girl, man, we can do this. We can do this. We do this.
Starting point is 00:36:05 This validation of needing to be affirmed, needing to say you are qualified enough. You are good enough. A lot of that played into it. A lot of that played into it, but let's not forget 3000 black women did a petition and said, Joe Biden, keep your ass in. They ignored that and went with the money to Charlemagne's point. They didn't have a choice. I agree with you, especially about the state thing.
Starting point is 00:36:26 You know, there's something else Trump said that man landed. And I was, I'm still trying to figure out how did he land this? Cause it's so hard to get people to focus on this. The abortion thing, right? He told them I want it to be in the hands of the state. So whenever you would have conversations with people about, you know, abortions on the ballot, they'd be like, no, Trump just wants it to be in the hands of the state. I've never seen a politician
Starting point is 00:36:46 convinced people on a national level that it's gonna be local and that's fine and they buy into it. Well Trump can get anybody to buy into anything he say. Democrats have never been equipped to run against Trump let's just name it you know let's just say they've never been equipped to run against him he's too petty he goes too low he don't give a damn what y'all talking about. And he's an entertainer first. He's an entertainer first. And so they've never been equipped
Starting point is 00:37:10 to go against this man, never. But to your point, Charlamagne, for those that understand the state's rights and when you go back to Reagan, reason why black people are against that is because what it does is it disenfranchises us even more. So if you're saying, okay, in Oklahoma, you can't get access to healthcare,
Starting point is 00:37:30 but you can get access to healthcare in California, very liberal, these are folks that can't just pick up, you know, and go to California to get what they need, don't have the money, so it affects poor people in a very bad way, the state's rights. But conservatives, they like states, give it to the states. Their mindset, if you don't like it, move somewhere else.
Starting point is 00:37:46 But not enough of us have the resources to just move, you know, somewhere else to just move where things may be favorable to you. So as black voters, we're always trying to carry the lease of these and everybody else and think about everybody else. But the reality is, Charlamagne, people are only looking out
Starting point is 00:38:02 what's in front of their doorstep. And if I can do XYZ in Michigan, if I can have a successful business with zero regulations in Atlanta when COVID happened, when Governor Kemp, you know, we don't like Governor Kemp, but Atlanta was still thriving. Black business was still thriving. Georgia's still thriving.
Starting point is 00:38:20 So when people look outside their door, remember when Governor DeSantis reduced the gas, when they was talking about, you can't do nothing about the gas, when gas was so high. He said, oh no, I can do something about it, this is why I can talk about state. So when people remember that,
Starting point is 00:38:31 even though there's more liberal, more Democrat voters in Florida, people remember what affected their pocket. And that Republican governor made a difference. Kemp in Georgia made a difference, was passing out Kemp cards. He did the same thing Trump did when he signed his name. He gave him Kemp cards.
Starting point is 00:38:44 People remember that. So you can have a state with a Democrat governor like North Carolina, but they still went with Trump because they're looking at how does it trickle down. You can have a state that flipped and went blue, but have a Governor Kemp who's a Republican. People like their governors. People don't have to like Texas.
Starting point is 00:39:04 You don't have to like Texas in New York, but your money gonna go far in Texas. Ask any felon in Texas. They working in oil fields, $18 an hour, $25 an hour, $30 an hour, that makes a difference. So even if they don't like Republicans, even if they don't like Trump, when you looking at how that affects your money daily,
Starting point is 00:39:19 it makes a difference. And that's where they lost as far as really trying to understand, you know, the economic conversation, especially with black people. What else we got on the list? Cause I know you got something more down there. I got a lot on the list. I kinda wanna just deal with Michigan quickly
Starting point is 00:39:34 because I do have some concern with that. I mentioned Rashida Tlaib and I'm not mad about how she was able to organize her voters, but I do have some concern for Detroit. I do feel as if Detroit does not have the voice that they should have, that Rashida Saleed was able, and she should. I think she went hard in the paint.
Starting point is 00:39:55 She's a Palestinian woman, I expect her to. I have no issue with that, but I do feel like Detroit kinda got crashed out a little bit, that there's not representation. Detroit is one of the blackest cities in the country. And so when you had a few enough that say, you know what, I just don't want to be a part of the process anymore, and that entire conversation
Starting point is 00:40:15 was on Gaza, and I know there's a talking point and Progressives is gonna come in and tell you that the polls say that black people are concerned about Gaza, and yes we are. We are very compassionate. But if you ask the average black person, black American, on what they're most concerned about Gaza, and yes we are. We are very compassionate. But if you ask the average black person, black American, on what they're most concerned about, they're talking about again, their own front door.
Starting point is 00:40:32 They're more concerned about what's happening here over what's happening in geopolitics. So to be able to be a single issue voter, I don't have no problem with Rashida Tlaib, none at all. But when you had three black women who ran against Rashida Tlaib in 2022, all. But when you had three black women who ran against Rashida Tlaib in 2022, all three of them combined still didn't have even half of what Rashida Tlaib has.
Starting point is 00:40:50 So she has the votes, she has the power, but I feel Detroit is not getting their just due and at least being a part of the conversation, and I hope that changes. What else you got on that list? I think that's it, unless y'all got something else for that to go over. You know, I wanted to ask you about Hakeem Jeffries.
Starting point is 00:41:05 Hakeem Jeffries said this week that he says Democrats are set up for a major comeback. You think that's possible? But what's the comeback? I mean, let me know. There ain't no comeback. What's the comeback? This is like, that rapper.
Starting point is 00:41:17 I've never seen nothing like this. I've never seen nothing like this. That mix tape, but they still do it anyway, and then they don't, I don't think so. I don't think, first of all, and I forgot, I wanna name a couple of names because a lot of people ain't naming their names. I do encourage people to go look at that list.
Starting point is 00:41:29 And there were two names that kept popping up over and over, Quentin, no disrespect, I've never met him, you know, but he was in charge of the bag and also Cedric Richmond. Now you remember when Cedric Richmond came on the Breakfast Club and said, hold him accountable. Remember that a couple of years?
Starting point is 00:41:40 I've been, I don't even listen to this. When Cedric made that statement on Breakfast Club and said hold him accountable if anything doesn't go to where it's supposed to go in the Biden administration and then he just disappeared he left his position we didn't even know he left his position I don't I didn't pay Cedric no attention. Well he literally told grassroot organization if y'all just want the money just say that yeah we saying that whereas and I'm saying this completely I didn't ask for no check don't want no check not interested in no check I'm just
Starting point is 00:42:06 telling you what the people said you're gonna get none of the billion I don't get none of the billion. That billion was going around. They told black people to go to hell. They're like money don't like like you need money for things like why is that such a like a falsehood or something like people are so. Well no they know they they got it it just didn't come to black folks. It didn't go to black media. It's the Al Sharpton guys though. Yeah Al Sharpton did get something. Got 500,000 plus the BZ. Roll got it. It just didn't come to the black folks. It didn't go to black media. It's the Al Sharpton guys, huh? Yeah, Al Sharpton did get something. It got $500,000 plus the BZ. Roller Martin guys, huh?
Starting point is 00:42:27 Yeah, Roller got his check too. Roller, what's happening, Roller? Can't let me hold something. But it don't seem strange that all that money went out and they instilled it in the negative and students. No, it ain't strange. They do it every year. They've been doing this like this.
Starting point is 00:42:38 They do it every year. Again, it's not just on the entertainers. These white liberal consultants who run this party, because they do, and then they tell the black folks in charge, the gatekeepers of the gatekeepers, to tell them, okay, give them $100,000, give them $150,000, give them to... They kept lying, saying, oh, the money coming, the money coming. They literally didn't give it to them until three weeks out.
Starting point is 00:42:57 So now you wonder why you lost the black vote. So what are they giving them this money for? So, like, for instance, Roland Martin or Reverend Al, what do they use that money for? The only reason I said that, because you just said that. Roland was advertising. Advertising.
Starting point is 00:43:09 Yes. I don't know what Reverend Al was for. Well Reverend Al, they gave, we really naming names anyway. That's why I'm just asking, y'all put the numbers out there. Well they gave it to National Action Network. They gave a donation to him.
Starting point is 00:43:20 Yes, two donations of a quarter million dollars. Yes, and so that organization is an organization, you know, the works year round, I guess, you know, allegedly for, and I'm not saying that, you know, to be funny, but you know, for outreach. So, but again, it can't just be on just Revenal. You know, it's not just on, you know, no, no, I'm glad, no, I'm saying, I'm wanna be clear.
Starting point is 00:43:39 It can't, you can't just continue to keep spending money just on Revenal, you know, these organizations, why are you not, again, why are you not connecting with these grassroots organizations who are literally struggling, literally struggling to give them the money so that they can organize year-round in order to keep people engaged? And bottom line, buy votes.
Starting point is 00:43:57 That's what they did with the Latino community. They put in the midterms, they put 30 different community centers in Florida. Wasn't just about voting, they was coming in trying to figure out what they could give healthcare, trying to figure out what they could give healthcare, trying to figure out what resources they could get, trying to figure, you literally took care of the community. That's where that money's supposed to go,
Starting point is 00:44:11 and it's not just for advertising. Advertising is important, but it's more than that. You literally are supposed to buy votes, guys. That's how it works, buy votes. That sound crazy. Yeah, buying votes? When I say that, I mean, if you got a nonprofit and you in the hood and I give you
Starting point is 00:44:25 300,000 and I'm telling you use that 300,000 throughout the year to do job training, use that 300,000 throughout the year to do resume building, use that 300,000 to put people in a better position. Now people can feel it and say, okay, and then that organization has responsibility to say, this came from the Harris campaign, this came from XYZ, this is how we got what we got. And then now people can say, okay, I feel it, like with the First Step Act. They feel it, they can see it, they can touch it. And Republicans have just did a better job with that. It's not that Democrats don't have the receipts,
Starting point is 00:44:54 they just don't talk about the receipts. Their messaging has always been poor and raggedy as hell, which is why I left in 2010. So it's not that they don't have the receipts, they just don't talk about it. They don't feel they have to. They feel they know it all, and turns out they didn't know shit at all.
Starting point is 00:45:07 They knew it all and knew absolutely nothing. They didn't listen to any advice that people gave them. They said they knew what was best. They said we got this. And turns out you didn't have it. I'ma be honest, I don't know how much of, well, I take that back. I do know there was a lot of people out there
Starting point is 00:45:20 that was giving genuine good advice, but what I realized is the people who was out there giving genuine good advice was the people who were really doing it out of the goodness of their heart. A lot of other people I heard talking, they was really upset they wasn't getting no money. And so a lot of the stuff that they was saying was literally just based off of,
Starting point is 00:45:35 when y'all gonna give me some money? When y'all gonna give me some money? Everybody that I heard actually giving good advice was not getting paid by the campaign. And those were the ones who weren't getting listened to. Which is crazy to me. But why can't the, why you not give me some money be a call sign too?
Starting point is 00:45:48 For real, like if you got enough people saying we need, we need, we need, it's like okay, we need to figure out why do all these people keep saying we need. Like that's common sense to me as a politician. Well you should be paying for it. The good and the hard shit is over with. I mean like I've done good and the hard for a long time
Starting point is 00:46:01 and it's basically gonna make you a full time Uber driver. At the end of the day, people gotta get paid, but yes, people have their own interests on why they were trying to get XYZ and they pissed because they didn't get the money. A lot of these people that you're talking about, they got paid last time. They wasn't saying shit about the streets,
Starting point is 00:46:15 but now that they got gate-kept, now it's oh man, what's going on? You know, I've never had so many calls and people say, oh man, we didn't get this and get that. I'm saying streets been, you know, I'm talking about those grass root organizations. They never were getting the money. So yes, people have their own special interests
Starting point is 00:46:29 on why they're trying to get it, but it's a billion dollars, pass it out. If we gonna run this scam, this timeshare scam, then yeah, give it out. There's nothing wrong with that as well. So whether it was a good and sort of hard or good advice, because they had an interest, they weren't listening to anybody, Charlamagne.
Starting point is 00:46:44 They really do believe that they have all of the answers, like literally all of the answers. And they were so wrong about everything, like when they had that whole, oh black men aren't gonna show up and vote for the vice president, and you know, President Obama was out there waving his finger at us,
Starting point is 00:46:59 it's like, no, y'all should be focusing on these white women, right? Like those are the ones that haven't shown up the last couple of elections. The Latino men, I didn't hear them putting a real emphasis on that either, but the Latino people didn't show up for them. So it was just like, I just saw them make mistake after mistake.
Starting point is 00:47:13 Another thing I would say is you had a presidential campaign that had trouble connecting with the working class, right? Cause they had a bunch of consultants who got backgrounds with these giant companies. Do you think that they should just bring people on these campaigns that are literally from the grassroots? Because to me, those were the best ideas coming from. Yeah, okay, that's exactly what the best ideas
Starting point is 00:47:31 coming from. And another point I'm glad you brought that up, Charlamagne. Also a lot of fringe groups, people that were giving them hell online that they ignore, that they say, oh, that's just them talking, oh, that's just them talking. Again, minimizing your enemy. So there were groups online
Starting point is 00:47:48 that are literally talking to 50,000, 100,000 people every week. You don't have to think that's important. But when you got groups online saying reparations are not, sit on the couch, don't do this, don't do that, and you're ignoring that group as a real constituency. And you're saying, oh, don't worry about it, they just online group as a real constituency and you're saying,
Starting point is 00:48:06 oh don't worry about it, they just online. Well over time, because again, a lot of these people, and they rock with me, they're talking about this year-round. See, while you're just talking about this is last 100 days, they're talking to 100, 150,000 people every week, every week, every week, every week, and nobody pick up the phone to say, hey can I have a meeting with you? Can I at least see what you're talking about? Can we at least have some kind of common ground? When Democrats in California threw black folks under the bus, you know, on reparations, nobody thought it was worth even having a conversation with the folks online that are giving you hell. When you look at people, I'm just going to say the homie Tareed Nashi giving them hell online every day. Nobody think you can call and say,
Starting point is 00:48:43 hey, y'all did a whole rally on reparations in DC. Let's have a conversation. What can we do to at least hear what you say? So when you do that, that just continues to motivate them to keep saying over and over and over. They ain't fucking with us. And that makes a difference when you talk about one and 2% in these margins. I agree with you wholeheartedly. And I think it's about when you do it. To your point earlier, everybody who's thinking about running in 2028, they should start campaigning now. Don't wait until the year of the election to start reaching out to these different people
Starting point is 00:49:11 because then it looks fake. It looks like it's not authentic. It looks like you don't really care. Start making those connections now. But let me ask you a question. Do you think it should be that, like Charlemagne said, or do you think we should take a page out of Canada's book and out of France's book
Starting point is 00:49:23 where it's like there's a cap, there's a specific time limit, you know what I mean, because people get fatigued. And after a while, people like F all this ish, you know what I mean, do you feel like we should go more into that, because now it's almost like big bank take little bank. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:49:35 You mean as far as campaigning is concerned. Oh, should there be shorter campaigns? Should there be shorter campaigns? No, no, no. Because in Canada, they have a specific time limit. It's so hard. Whether it's three months or a certain amount of money that has to.
Starting point is 00:49:43 Yeah, it has changed. It used to be six months, one year, two years. Congress has to run every two years. The minute they get in office, they're campaigning and trying to raise money. So no, we are in a year-around. Donald Trump has changed this and will forever be changed. This is a year-around effort, year-around.
Starting point is 00:50:00 Resources year-around, that's why I do my training, push the line, nonpartisan training. Year-around, getting people in position. That's what Project 2025 is all about. People can think it's fake or not fake, but that's all about putting people in position, putting people at the commission level, putting people at the state level, putting people at the state. If they're not investing year-round, if you're going to bring Plies into the game, then Plies partner with somebody like myself or somebody like Luntifree, somebody else to help bring this noise year-round. because what happens is the day after the election,
Starting point is 00:50:27 you go back to talking about what you were talking about before and now you got to start the machine all over again. Well, Ply's ain't said nothing from the car since the election. No, he didn't. I think Ply's talking about Starbucks and all kind of stuff. I ain't seen Ply.
Starting point is 00:50:39 Well, he did say he had woke up. Remember, he said he missed the election night, but he woke up and saw. He did say that after the election. But since then, I ain't seen him, Ply's after the election. But since then I ain't seen him, Playa talking about Starbucks and women feet. I ain't seen him talking about politics. Man, I love Playa.
Starting point is 00:50:51 I ran for office in 2011 in Orlando. First person I reached out to was Playa. I talked to his manager, he said, Playa don't do politics, he not in politics. So to see him doing this now, and reached out to him again since then, by the way, reached out to his manager to say Why don't you help me get these people trained you have a voice get these people trained 2011 said man
Starting point is 00:51:10 Come on, let's do something with the hundred years the hundred years record that he got Let's do something about mass incarceration in Florida So when I watch him doing that every day non-stop is heartbreaking to me because we do need our entertainers But we need them to I don't expect him to do the work year-round We do need our entertainers, but we need them to, I don't expect them to do the work year round. Entertainers like getting applauses. And see, this work is about getting boos. This work is not about applausing.
Starting point is 00:51:30 They only wanna be, no disrespect, but entertainers like responding to the applause. So the minute you start booing them, the minute you start saying, I don't like you, we saw with Ice Cube when he took a chance and went out there and talked about, you know, the state of black America, and people started booing him and all,
Starting point is 00:51:44 we ain't seen Ice Cube since either. So, you know, that and people, I mean, I don't. You gotta be able to take that smoke. They can't take it, and then they say, oh, I don't blame Cube for leaving, but I do though. I love it. When he leave? No, I love being in the trenches.
Starting point is 00:51:55 I like it. I blame you though, because homie, you done set up here and got it. I done reached out to Cube too. You got everybody excited. I don't expect you to do the work you're around, but partner with people that can, because we need
Starting point is 00:52:05 We need people like that glow really come talk to your home girl Like glow really need people in her ear to to know she got a hell of a story Why why are we not connecting her with people that actually know her story sexy red? Oh, we don't need sexy red Yes, we do. She a whole damn move Maybe y'all don't know how to talk to her But she can go partner with some of the homies that not even on the list at all Not even on a voter list. When you bring 10,000 people into the fold,
Starting point is 00:52:28 15,000 people in the fold is not even on anybody's list that nobody's, that's how you win these elections. That's why Trump was able to make that difference on people who were not engaged at all. But in order to do that, you have to do it year round. You cannot do it, no, 90 days before the campaign. It's never gonna work. Ted, I agree with you.
Starting point is 00:52:42 I think what we're saying is, because I think this is what people think. People think that entertainers are the leaders, they're the generals, it's never gonna work. Tez, I agree with you, I think what we're saying is, because I think this is what people think, people think that entertainers are the leaders, they're the generals, they're not, they're the soldiers. And you want them to be the soldiers to go organize the people to bring them back to the actual generals, the people that actually do the work. Absolutely, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:52:58 And y'all can have the mic, we ain't trying to take the mic from you, like we get it, get the mic, but pass it on to people that are really, really, really trying to do it. I will do the heavy lifting, the organizers will do the heavy lifting. Our platforms are never gonna be as big, you know,
Starting point is 00:53:11 as a Cube or Glorilla or Sexy Red. And I don't want to encourage, discourage them to get out because that's also what's happening. Cause see now they done put their clout on the line. And then now you got, you know, tell you like, I'm not getting in that shit again, man. Fuck that. Oh yeah, especially when the candidate lose.
Starting point is 00:53:23 Yeah, when the candidate lose, exactly. Exactly. Because you don't put them in position to make it seem like oh, all we gotta do is have Beyonce get up and talk. And now you got her, like you said, the candidate's on. People calling her out. And that's not on her.
Starting point is 00:53:35 It's not on Beyonce. It's not on these, but you do need people to get people to the stands. But it's the year-round organizers that they just refuse to do. So I want our entertainers to stay in the game. I just want you to partner with organizers that really actually give a damn about this work,
Starting point is 00:53:48 because we really do, you know, year-round, and we don't have enough killer mics, in my opinion. Tell them how to connect with you and your push the line movement. Yes, push the line, politics until something happens. And thank you guys for supporting that when we did, I guess it was two years ago, when I came to the Breakfast Club,
Starting point is 00:54:03 we had over 300 people, you you know they came to Atlanta on their own dime to learn how to be candidates to learn how to be operatives to learn how to be organized it's a nonpartisan training that I created these people flew from all over LA Dallas Houston New York in the room you know 300 people that's why when people tell me don't nobody want to do this they're not interested that's not true Jay was there in the background. She came to the training, came all the way from DC. These people were outside at 6 a.m. in the morning,
Starting point is 00:54:30 in the rain, to learn how to do this. They want the training. They want to know how can I change on the local level. But we just don't have enough support to get around it. So I'm asking people to text, push the line, all caps, push the line to 66866. And I'm trying to get partners guys I'm trying to people over 50 cities have said can you bring the training here but I can't keep when
Starting point is 00:54:50 the training how to organize how to organize if you want to be a candidate you want to be an operative if you want to be an organizer whatever it is you want to do I believe my training is one of the best and the reason why is because it truly is a military mindset it truly is cutting through all the bullshit I've been all the bullshit. I've been to all the trainings. I've been to Congressional Black Caucus training, White House training, Yale Women's Law School.
Starting point is 00:55:13 I've been to them all, and all of them sell a bunch of bullshit, respectfully. You know, they come in and tell you, you know you're going to have a stab, you're going to have this or that. My training is really designed to tell you, you know, Lauren, it's really just going to be you with $20. I'm not with it, now how can we move from that? So people are hungry, they want the information.
Starting point is 00:55:29 I'm trying to get people to partner to help me do more of it, because I can't just do it myself, out of my own pocket. I don't want to charge people. People don't have the money to pay for it. So we're just trying to keep building up that momentum and hopefully be able to do a few more.
Starting point is 00:55:41 So you need people to text to join and you also looking for new partner. Yeah, I need Charmaine to write me a check. Oh, yeah, by the way. What you need, Taz? What you need? I'm making a able to do. So you need people to text to join and you also looking for Yeah, I need Charlemagne to write me a check. Oh, yeah, by the way. What you need, Tess? What you need? I'm making a donation right now. What you need?
Starting point is 00:55:50 I know Charlemagne's donation. You better ask her big. You better ask her big. Yeah, let's give her 150,000. We can go to the Detroit. Oh, that's a lot now. But I got it. We can help get you there now.
Starting point is 00:55:57 50 people got a thousand dollars. It's the holiday season. Yeah, and I do want to say that also, Wisconsin. I don't know if y'all know this, largest black male incarceration in the country. The highest black femicide rate, yes. More black women are murdered in Wisconsin than anywhere. They didn't give any money to Milwaukee at all.
Starting point is 00:56:17 So now you're expecting, that's what you were expecting, and also Wisconsin is one of the most, the least diverse state in the country. So now you're gonna run a former state attorney in Wisconsin where black men are locked up more than, you know, this is true. Whether you like it, we got a deal with what it really is. They weren't trying to hear any of that.
Starting point is 00:56:35 They shit it on Wisconsin. They shit it on Milwaukee. They used to do Hip Hop Week there every year. They don't have the budget to do that anymore. They were trying to bring, say, how can we come down, get out the vote. They couldn't get $2,500 together to say let's get the vote out.
Starting point is 00:56:49 They went to the white voters in Wisconsin. So these are the kind of things, guys, that we just have to put on the table. I know people saying, Tez, move on, just deal with it. No, we have to call this shit out, guys, because if we continue to mismanage this money, then we're not actually getting the help that we need, and it's critically important.
Starting point is 00:57:04 Does this, if I text Push the Line to this number, does that still work? Mm-hmm. All right, text Push the Line to 666, no, 66866. Text Push the Line to 66866 to join Tezza's email list for Push the Line. That's right.
Starting point is 00:57:19 Thank you for having me, guys. We appreciate you for joining us. Thank you for letting me go through my list. That's all good. It's Elvin Figaro. It's The Breakfast Club, good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.
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