The Daily Beast Podcast - Rep. Grace Meng: How I’m Able to Work with GOP Racists

Episode Date: April 11, 2021

Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY)’s tearful rebuke against Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) during a House hearing on violence and discrimination against Asian Americans was semi-unplanned. She had a speech ready to go, but when Roy went on an anti-China and lynchings rant instead, she just lost it. “I had to cut out excerpts of my prepared speech, which I'm sure my staff got upset about, but I just had to say it. I had to respond to what he was saying and the disturbing way in which he said it,” she tells Molly Jong-Fast in this bonus members-only episode of The New Abnormal. “I was just so sick of the Republican party from the very top levels of leadership constantly using these [racist] terms, which literally helped embolden people to commit acts of hatred against the community.” Molly can’t help but wonder, out loud, how Rep. Meng can work with these people day in and day out. To that, she lets Molly in on a not-so-secret-secret: “The things that they say on social media is sometimes different from what they're doing,” she says, referencing the GOP members who didn’t vote for the American Rescue Plan Act, but tried to take credit for it among their constituents. There were even 164 Republicans who didn’t even vote for an anti-hate bill that just said they stand against Asian racism. But Meng isn’t surprised by that, especially after Jan. 6. “You had these members who literally talk about law and order on their conservative outlets. And then were literally blowing past, yelling at and shoving Capitol police officers because they didn't want to go through the metal detectors. It’s just a complete lack of respect for the very institution that they brag about respecting.” Molly compared it to the Trump era. “The whole Trump administration, it went from the Muslim ban to the wall with Mexico, and now they were like, you know what? This virus is from Asia. And it's like, they only have one speed. And it's racism.” Plus! Congresswoman Meng convinces producer Jesse Cannon that 16-year-olds should get the right to vote and addresses one of Molly’s favorite questions: How can Dems get better at messaging? If you haven't heard, every single week The New Abnormal does a special bonus episode for Beast Inside, the Daily Beast’s membership program. where Sometimes we interview Senators like Cory Booker or the folks who explain our world in media like Jim Acosta or Soledad O’Brien. Sometimes we just have fun and talk to our favorite comedians and actors like Busy Phillips or Billy Eichner and sometimes its just Rick & Molly discussing the fuckery. You can get all of our episodes in your favorite podcast app of choice by becoming a Beast Inside member where you’ll support The Beast’s fearless journalism. Plus! You’ll also get full access to podcasts and articles. To become a member head to newabnormal.thedailybeast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to another members-only beast-in-side episode of The Daily Beast of the New Abnormal. And we thank you so much for being here. Today we have an extra special guest with Congresswoman Grace Ming, who represents New York's 6th Congressional District. She sits on the subcommittee for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, as well as the State Foreign Operations and Related Program Subcommittee. Welcome, Congresswoman Ming. Thank you so much for having me. The way that I discovered you and how amazing you are is the bill that you're working on and the impassioned speech you gave about it. Can you talk to us a little bit about it?

Thank you, Molly. I'm such a big fan of yours and your whole team. So I'm so honored to be here with you and in this space. And thank you for addressing this issue. I will say that at the beginning of this hearing, I got really emotional. I had to shut off my video. never in my life have I seen so many people, including colleagues, who didn't necessarily look like me, who didn't have, you know, the same background as me as an Asian American,

talk out of concern, deep concern for what was going on in this country. Yeah. And to see that show of, you know, concern and support just really overwhelmed me. I got really emotional. This really was an effort by the Judiciary Committee to have a hearing where both Republicans and Democrats were actually invited to speak. And we were trying to find real solutions to this growing problem. Yeah. And I got upset because, you know, first of all, when Representative Chip Roy started talking, you know, he pretty much opened the hearing talking about lynching.

Yeah. And talking about different topics that had nothing to do with a hearing topic at hand. And I got really upset because, you know, I've never been a part of a hearing like this. I don't remember having a hearing like this. And I just did not want to cede even one second to any subject that had nothing to do with the serious subject that we were trying to address. You know, people forget about how terrible Triproy is. But he really is. And that speech that he gave was so shockingly terrible and also racist and also deeply disturbing.

But you do see that Republicans, I mean, it's so odd to me because as soon as this virus started, I could see Republicans trying to figure out a way to make it. I mean, remember, this whole Trump administration, it went from the Muslim ban to the wall. all with Mexico. And now they were like, you know, this virus is from Asia. And it's like they only have one speed and it's racism. Totally. I agree. I mean, the last four years when Trump was in office just felt like every single day or every few days, you would wake up. And he had a new plan for targeting a different group in this country. And to make them feel like they weren't American enough. they weren't good enough, and how do we get rid of them? Right?

Like, that's just the feeling we had virtually every day waking up under during his administration. Yeah. I mean, it just feels like they really targeted Asian Americans. Now Asian Americans are being targeted. Yeah, I mean, this president did everything in his power to shift responsibility and to do everything. he could to make sure that people were not focused on what actually needed to be done to save lives in this country, but he just didn't want to get blamed. And that was the approach that he chose.

So talk to me about when you gave that speech, because it sounded to me like you really were speaking from the heart in a way that a lot of times people don't in congressional hearings. So hearings can be a bit scripted, right? We have to speak in a certain or. we have each been allocated of minutes of time. You can't go over. They'll shut your mic off. So lots of regulations. And I actually spoke multiple speakers after Chip Roy spoke.

So thank God for editing because in real life it really seemed out of context. And I knew I only had what I think was five minutes. So I had to cut out expert excerpts of my performance. parent speech, which I'm sure my staff got upset about. But I just, I had to say it. I had to respond to what he was saying and the disturbing way in which he said it. And I was just so sick of the Republican Party from the very top levels of leadership constantly using these terms, which literally helped emboldened people to commit acts of hatred against the community. Talk to me about your bill and where's that going?

So we have a few pieces of legislation. Last year, when Trump was still in office, we passed a really simple resolution. It was symbolic, cost no money, had no teeth. All it said was, I'm in Congress and I stand against bigotry towards Asians. Yeah. It passed, but 164 Republicans. still couldn't vote for it. They couldn't bring themselves to say that. And so this year, you know, incidents are still happening. We need something with more teeth, with actual resources to

help solve this problem. And so we introduced legislation. It really would just help streamline the process of how the Department of Justice deals with these incidents. We don't have a real unified way on how these incidents and crimes are reported. Who's handling them at the Department of justice. And there's very little guidance to our local entities and law enforcement and how we can ensure that it's easier for victims to actually report these incidents. I mean, 3,800 incidents have reported by an advocacy group. And God bless them. They've been doing great. But it shouldn't be up to one organization to have to collect all this data for the whole country to rely on. Yeah. I mean, that is really kind of nuts. And it feels like, you know, we're just not.

not talking about it enough. Yeah, definitely. We're not talking about it enough, not just in terms of Asian Americans, but all communities, anyone who could be a victim of hate crime, we don't have enough data. So if you just look at data,

it looks like it's not really happening that much from the federal government perspective. So I saw that you and Ianna Presley are supporting a bill to lower the voting age to 16 years old. I don't often find myself disagreeing with the legislation YouTube back, but this one I was a little. little on the edge about, let's say. Can you tell me why this is a good thing for our country?

I was convinced initially because a long time ago, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. This was in the midst of the Vietnam War. So we are utilizing the same process to potentially lower the voting age from 18 to 16. Look, unlike the Republican Party, I will do whatever I can to make sure that more people are involved and participate in the democratic process. People argue that 16-year-olds aren't mature enough. They can't make good decisions. All you have to do is to look at the national issues that are priorities of Americans across the country, across demographics, to see that our young people are leading the

charge on climate, on gun safety, on immigration, on health care, on so many issues. They've literally been on their front lines and have gone out of their way. to make sure that we are winning elections, more elections, and passing life-saving legislation. For those who are interested in the scientific argument, the frontal lobe part of the brain that needs to be developed for making logical decisions and arguments is fully formed by the age of 16. 16-year-olds can pay taxes. They can work. They can drive in many cases.

And so, you know, we believe that they should have a stay on so many of these issues that are affecting their lives. Okay. You won. Yay. What about your maternal fetal help, Bill? So we are really excited, actually. So we're working on various perspectives on dealing with moms, whether it's health care, whether it's the child care industry, whether it's making sure. whether it's making sure that we're helping the one million moms who are now out of the career workforce because of this last year of COVID.

Maternal health, I just want to acknowledge Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, who has been leading the charge on maternal health and maternal health issues, specifically for black women as well. And so we want to make sure, yeah, we want to make sure that moms are getting a fair shake that right now as we are recovering from the pandemic, as we are looking at ways to restore our economy, we have to do it better than when the economy existed when COVID and the pandemic first started. We weren't at an equitable place for so many communities even before the pandemic began. So this is our chance to reform this infrastructure of our care economy.

I think that's great. How does it feel like there are so many congressmen, on the Republican side and a few women who really do seem like terrible racist. How do you work with those people? They are so disciplined in their message of hate and deceit. You know, things that they say on social media is sometimes different from what they're doing. And so I do like to remind us Democrats and our Democratic Party that we have to continue to do better job at getting accurate information out. You saw how they all went home bragging and

touting the American Rescue Plan when in reality, they voted against it. So if our party and our candidates aren't doing a sufficient job at getting the message out, their constituents and voters may believe that they played a role in putting thousands of dollars back in the pockets of their constituents, when in reality, they totally opposed it. So we have to make sure we are communicating better and getting accurate information out. Yeah, you know, I have this thought. I always feel like Republicans are so good at messaging. And Democrats just, I mean, you see this sort of like, you know, like almost a food chain

that goes from like, you know, the Washington Examiner to the Daily Caller, to Tucker Carlson to Foxx, you know, that there's sort of a food chain with conservative messaging and they just stick to it so well. And then you have Democrats who, right, I mean, if people could hear the message would be incredibly popular, right? Like, Democrats want to give you money. Democrats are fighting for you, you know, better maternal fetal health. Meanwhile, like Jim Jordan is working on, like, you know, Britney Spears, Dr. Seuss. So I just am curious to know, like, Do you have any thoughts on how Democrats can get better at this? I have so many thoughts.

I spent so much time thinking about this. You know, after Trump was elected, remember, we had so many conversations about, you know, what is our message? What is our slogan? And I always pushed back a little because I said that it's not just that Trump had a catchy slogan or that he had an easy enough slogan that appealed to voters, some voters. But it's also, you know, not having a messenger. So in the past few years, I spent some time traveling the country, talking to candidates, talking to Democrats, and also trying to reach out to communities who've never heard from the Democratic Party. And I've heard from them, for example, that we're not doing sufficient outreach in rural communities, in minority communities, on local radio stations.

We can't just focus on mainstream media outlets because there are a lot of people, even outside of that food chain, the conservative food chain that you talk about, they're spewing their conservative talking points, but you know what they're also doing that Democrats haven't been doing? They're reaching out on those stations like the local radio stations, the agricultural newsletters, the ethnic media outlets. They're doing a better job than we are. And so they're able to break through where some of those voters are hearing nothing from us.

So we have to continue to do better. Yeah, it seems to me like that's really true. Do you think that Democrats can persuade people or do you think it's really a situation where Democrats need to be registering new voters? We have to do it all, right? Like we can organize. We can communicate. We can communicate in a more responsive and quicker way, I think. we need to make sure that we are hammering that message home.

And so I was glad to see after the American Rescue Plan, I saw various billboards and advertisements where Democrats or the candidates were actually saying, hey, your senator actually didn't vote for the American Rescue Plan. And so I like that. We need to call them out. We need to call the facts out. Do you see people like Marjorie Taylor Green not wanting to go through the metal detector Or, I mean, are they really as problematic as they seem on television?

Yeah, they're pretty problematic. It must be so weird to work with people like this. I keep thinking about the hours and days after the January 6th insurrection and how the house put up, you know, metal detectors. And we're just doing what they could in a short time to keep us safer. And then you had these members who. literally talk about law and order under conservative outlets. And then we're literally blowing past, yelling at, and shoving Capitol police officers because they didn't want to go through the metal detectors. Yeah. So it's just a complete lack of respect for the very institution

that they brag about, you know, respecting. Yeah. It must be so incredibly weird. Do you think that the fencing should stay up in the Capitol? I think the issue is not just about the fencing. It's the attitude as to what security and preventative measures were taken. I mean, on the morning that I went to the Capitol on January 6th, there was barely any security personnel or, you know, even trucks and barricades that go up, even during like a protest with. young people or Black Lives Matters. When Bill Nye came to visit the science guy, there seemed to be more horsemen around. I mean, I didn't have any intelligence briefings, but it doesn't take a genius to know that there were actual threats and people with weapons coming towards the capital and definitely

in Washington, D.C. Yeah. No, I mean, I think that's a good point. And it is a smart point. So what do you think as a blue stated congresswoman in a blue district, like, what can you do? What are your sort of your vision for the future right now? I will continue to harp on the importance of communication. You know, we sometimes as Democrats live in a bubble. We think that people know our values and they know what we're working on. But the truth is they don't. Even in my own district in Queens, There were multiple Trump rallies right before the 2020 election. And they don't necessarily understand that Democrats are working on issues that matter to them. And we have to do a better job in various ways to get that message out.

Yeah, I think that makes sense. Thank you so much, Congresswoman. I hope you'll come back soon. Oh, thank you. Thanks for all the work you guys do. Yeah. Oh, thank you. On that note, we'll wrap this episode of the new abnormal from The Daily Beast.

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