The MeidasTouch Podcast - New Democratic Star Jared Moskowitz Destroys GOP Stunts and Tells Us How

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas interviews Democratic freshman superstar Congressman Jared Moskowitz about his time in Congress, Democratic messaging, and current events. Follow Rep. Moskowitz on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/RepMoskowitz Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 The Tony Michaels Podcast: https://pod.link/1561049560 American Psyop: https://pod.link/1652143101 Burn the Boats: https://pod.link/1485464343 Majority 54: https://pod.link/1309354521 Political Beatdown: https://pod.link/1669634407 Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://pod.link/1676844320 MAGA Uncovered: https://pod.link/1690214260 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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free of charge bet mgm operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming ontario you know and all we want to do is go back to trump i mean every hearing it's like ah just if we could just go back to what trump did, you know, the loser of the 2020 election, the loser of the Georgia Senate races, the loser of the 2018 midterms. By the way, just to jog your memory, the Trump administration finalized more federal rules in the last year of its administration than any other final year of any presidency in American history. More than Obama. I know it's inconvenient

timing, but perhaps we actually need more regulation with presidents taking nuclear codes and cuddling with them and showering with them in their homes. That was Democratic Congress member Jared Moskowitz from Florida's 23rd Congressional District, and I'm Ben Mycelis from the Midas Touch Network. And joining us today here on the Midas Touch Network. And joining us today here on the Midas Touch Network is Congress member Jared Moskowitz. Welcome to the Midas Touch Network. No, thanks. Thanks for having me. So what hearing did the MAGA Republicans hold today where you were speaking? Was this a gas stove conspiracy legislation? Was this more pistol braces for AR-15 public urination in DC? Tell us

about it. No, they already did two weeks of gas stoves. So they feel like they got their fill on that. No, we've we moved on to government red tape and see that's the whole problem, right? We could have a real discussion about government red tape and executive branch rulemaking. But instead, the title of the hearing was the Biden administration's campaign to bury America in red tape, like as if Joe Biden himself invented red tape. I mean, that's the problem. The hearings aren't serious. They're off, off Broadway. And they're there to perform. And so I just want to point out the ridiculousness of what they're doing. And so we featured a lot of your videos, a lot of videos of you at these hearings here on the Midas Touch Network. Can you talk to us about your approach to these hearings,

the questions and commentary that you give, and always with an eye towards exposing the hypocrisy at each of these hearings. Yeah, I mean, listen, obviously, there's, I don't know, 20 of us, 20 Democrats, you know, on the committee, and everyone has different approaches and different methods. And so one of the ways that I thought I could, you know, get people to pay attention to the ridiculousness is try to make it entertaining. And the one thing that unfortunately the Republicans do better than us is they've made politics entertaining, by the way, not in a good way, okay? But they've made it entertaining. And so what I'm trying to do is trying to take a little bit of that with facts

and poke holes in the ridiculousness of their argument. I mean, this is Congress, right? This is not community theater. And so, you know, I think American people, independents, Democrats, Republicans want us up here to pass laws and to advance the American agenda. Sure, we're gonna have disagreements. But I don't really think that they sent us up here because they want Hollywood for ugly people. I mean, I really think they sent us up here to do good for the American people. So that's what I'm doing. I mean, look, we've seen, you watch nighttime TV, you watch Colbert or Jon Stewart. They've taken politics, they've made it entertaining. And I think that that's successful getting your message across. And speaking of facts and breaking news today, economists are saying U.S. will avoid a recession. Inflation is expected to continue to drop. It's expected to drop to even 3.1%. But

what it always feels like, at least to me, when I'm covering these hearings and what these MAGA Republicans are doing, it seems that they not only have been rooting for a recession and bad things to happen to our country, but they have actually been trying to implement policies that affirmatively cause harm. I mean, you're in the mix there with these MAGA Republicans. I mean, do you observe that taking place? Look, what I observe taking place with most of them is it's a show, right? When the cameras are on, you know, or they're doing a podcast, right? They're pitching, they're selling all the time. They got that from Trump. They learned that from the former president. And then

when the cameras are off, they're slightly normal, which I know some of your reviewers just regurgitated and swallowed it. But it's really true that what is beamed into people's brain every day is just a show in order to get their voters foaming out the mouth as if someone is going to come to their door and knock on it and ask for their gas stove. Or, you know, you can eat Chick-fil-A, you can't eat Chick-fil-A, you can chop a target, you can't chop a target. I mean, I can't keep up with, you know, MAGA Republicans. I mean, give them credit for their stamina. I mean, they like are, they're spinning themselves in circles, trying to figure out what they're for, what they're against. I mean, it's really kind of a crazy town and amazing on what they're doing. They've hijacked

the party from their own party. The House came to a standstill last week. They took the power away from the Speaker to pass their rules. I mean, we are really an uncharted territory. They've filed articles of impeachment. I think of everyone who works in the Biden administration, even their spouses even. I mean, there'll be no one left, by the way, to run the country based on how many articles of impeachment they have filed. But I think we have to, rather than ignoring them and pretending like it's ridiculous, we have to combat it with facts and figures. And we have to, we don't, we shouldn't come at it from an intellectual standpoint. We should come at it like I'm trying to do from a humorous standpoint, because I just think it really pokes holes and really shows how ridiculous they're being. You know, one of the things that Congress member Eric Swalwell told us on the show was

he'd be at a hearing and one of these MAGA Republicans would say the most awful and heinous and despicable things about him. And then they would, you know, leave the hearing after the cameras were off. And he said, you know, like I'd be in the bathroom and someone would, one of the exact people who were saying all these hateful things would say, hey, you know, I think you did a really good job out there. And Congressman Swalwell was like, you kidding me? You just said all these hateful things. Do you see that performative stuff happening all the time? I mean, you've said that you think that when the cameras are off,

some of these people are slightly normal and you're right. Our viewers will be like, what? How is that possible? But can explain a little bit more what that means when the cameras are off? Do these people just put the act down and act fairly like normal? Hey, what's up? Nice shoes, Congressman. Well, look, yeah. I mean, so the answer is, yeah know, yeah, a lot of them when the cameras are off, right, and they're there, no one's paying attention, right? They are, I should say, more normal. And they cut the act out. And that's, that's part of what's going on in Congress now is that, you know, this has become so performative in order to get on Fox or to get on Newsmax or to get on OWN, right? It's about comms. I mean, 90% of what we do in Congress now is comms. It's messaging, right? And it's combating the ridiculous things that are coming out of Congress. Again, not one hearing on school safety, right? In the six months we've been here, but we had countless hearings on gas stoves. I mean, look, I went around my entire district, okay, and by the way, I represent affluent areas in my district. They have really nice gas stoves,

Vikings, I'm sure, okay. Not a single one of them has called me or emailed me about their gas stove, but I do hear that they're worried about their kids in school, right? And that really shows the Republican priority, is that they want to spend time scaring the American people. And that's what it is. They're constantly creating a boogeyman, right? It's all about the government's coming for you. They're going to take away your rights. We're losing the country. It's all about scaring and distracting. See, one of Trump's tactics is he knows what his weakness is. And in order to try to weaken that argument against him, he then attacks his opponent for that same weakness. And the Republicans have adopted that tactic. I'll give you an example, right? These confidential

boxes, right? These confidential boxes, right? The confidential documents. Trump's in trouble because he took them knowingly. They were serious national security secrets, okay? Nuclear codes, Iranian battle plans, okay? And then he refused to give them back for a long period of time. Pence and Biden unknowingly took documents, and when they needed the documents back, they were allowed in the house and they came and took the documents, no problem. But hey, in order to weaken the case against Trump in the public sphere, we got to muddy the waters with Biden and with Pence. Hunter Biden's laptop. I mean, this whole Hunter Biden's laptop thing, that's all about trying to distract from

Donald Trump's legal problems. I mean, think about what they're trying to convince the American people. Every day they go on TV and they talk about he's sleepy, he's old, he's boring, he's not steady on his feet. Now he's Tony Soprano. I mean, he's the head of the Biden crime family. Listen, love Joe Biden. He's been a public servant his entire life. He has seen loss in his life more than any parent should ever have to deal with. Okay? But they're trying to take one of the most boring

families in America and turn them into the Sopranos. By the way, if they're able to succeed on that, I mean, then anything is possible in this country. I mean, it's just lunacy. Now, okay. You know, we have this 1023 form that, you know, the FBI is talking about. And obviously I can't go into the details because unlike the Republicans who pledge not to talk about confidential information and go talk about it, I actually won't. OK, but, you know, they're now trying to say, well, by the way, we have audio tapes. The form shows audio tapes. By the way, this form, which was filled out, OK, now three years ago, is about a conversation that happened seven years ago in Russian. Okay, double hearsay. You can't make this stuff up.

And now there's 17 audio tapes. And, you know, Chuck Grassley, who's still using his BlackBerry, even though they turned the service off. Okay, this is the guy, okay, who's going to tell us they got 17 audio tapes like what was he I mean just come on I mean and so but what but Democrats have to do is we have to recognize that's the game right and we have to play it right if we come to it with this intellectual you know kind of response they're just going to run over us we have to realize that this isn't serious this is silly and we got to point that this isn't serious. This is silly. And we got to point that out to the American people.

Let's talk about democratic priorities. Let's say 2024 Democrats are able to take over the House of Representatives. What would we expect a democratic controlled House of Representatives to look like? What would be the priorities there as opposed to gas stove legislation, more pistol braces, Dr. Seuss hearings and Mr. Potato Head? What would Democrats focus on? Well, I mean, listen, like you said, the economy is getting better every day and the economy is good. Unemployment is low.

Inflation is coming down. The stock market is doing better. These are things that he should talk about, right? Because as they're trying to distract, which is what I just explained before, it's all about distracting from good news by scaring people, right? It's like Wizard of Oz, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Don't look at the good economy. We're coming for your gas stove. And so he should talk about the economy, talk about how he's improved that. He should talk about the infrastructure bill, because by that time, we're going to start to see it actually in motion. He should talk about the fact that,

unfortunately, for the first time in American history, we're seeing our colleagues across the aisle roll back constitutional rights, six-week abortion bans, right? What, do we think they're just going to stop there? No, they're going to come for other rights that American citizens have because Republicans are no longer for small government. That's a thing that they still talk about. They're for less regulation. They're for smaller government. They're for less spending.

No, not sure. Right. Unless there's a Democrat in the White House, which all of a sudden that's when they find their moral compass. No, they're for more spending. They're for more government, government in the libraries, government in corporations, government in the marketplace, government in your bedroom, government at Disney World. That's a new one. And so, you know, this is what they're pitching. And Joe Biden needs to say two things. He needs to say what he's for, which is making sure we have a good economy, making sure that we have a strong military, that we support what's happening in Ukraine to make sure that Russia doesn't continue to advance, that we obviously look at China because they're going to be significant competition. We got to figure out how to bring jobs back to this country. We got to figure out how to make sure that we have a supply chain that works and we're not just dependent on foreign nations during a national emergency. We got to talk about obviously bringing down the cost of home ownership in this country. We got to talk

about making sure we have a good quality education. And most importantly for me, which is why I've done it in every single solitary hearing when they go and do stupid things, is we got to make sure that we're talking to parents about how we're going to keep their kids safe. They talk about crime. They're trying to weaponize crime. Crime, crime, crime, crime, crime. By the way, breaking news to my Republican colleagues, mass murder is crime. And yet they don't want to do anything about that. Mass shootings, crime. Don't want to do anything about anything to do that. And so the idea that we can't deliver a promise to parents that when they drop their kid off in the morning, they get to pick them up. The fact that we can't deliver on their promise, that's a failure on us.

It's a failure on Congress. It's a failure on elected officials. It's a failure on governors and state legislatures everywhere. I did this in Florida. I raised the age to pass. I raised the age to buy any gun in the state of Florida at 21. I did that with Republicans. And so we can do this. We can accomplish it, but we have to stay at it. We have to keep it top of mind. We have to continue to have a concerted effort. That's why we're doing discharge petitions on gun violence prevention now, because we're trying to keep it top of mind. We have to continue to have a concerted effort. That's why we're doing discharge petitions on gun violence prevention now, because we're trying to keep it in the news. I think what Gavin Newsom is doing is important. I don't think, obviously, we're going to pass a constitutional amendment.

Lord knows we probably couldn't pass a constitutional amendment that said the sky is blue. But I think by showing, taking another angle, by talking about it, keeping it top of mind, Joe Biden's got to remind the American people that he's going to keep their kids safe. And if they elect the other party, right, who is for ghost guns for people who are mentally ill, you know, printing a gun in your, you know, in your home, you know, a terrorist can do that. Somebody who's mentally ill can do that. A felon can do that. You know, that's what their party wants. Just, you know, more guns. In fact, the reason why the House is back in session

this week versus last week when they had to send us home early is because what was the one issue that my colleagues across the aisle were able to coalesce around? More guns, more gun accessories. Pistol braces, yep. Pistol braces. And finally, what was your reaction to the unsealed indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith and the arraignment and just in general, all of Trump's posts and the statements that he's presidency, if he were to come back, there were very few movies in which the sequel was as good as the original. Godfather 2 aside, the sequel usually isn't as good as the original. I think the idea of a second Trump presidency, it would test the democracy in this country in ways we didn't see, even in the first term, even with January 6th. And that's another thing Joe Biden should talk about. I mean, that is on the ballot,

where we're going as a country in the future. As far as the indictment is concerned, you know, look, I actually don't think it's something to celebrate about. Now, no one is above the law, right? He broke the law. He should be indicted. But, you know, to have a president now, former president, twice indicted in this country, it's a sad moment in history. Don't get me wrong. He brought it on himself, right? I'm making excuses for him. But, but it's a sad moment in history that this is where we are with him. And so look, he deserves a fair hearing. He deserves a fair trial. He can afford counsel. So he'll have the best of the best, even though no one wants to work for him because he doesn't pay them. And so I'm interested to see the evidence. Usually when they come out with a

speaking indictment like they did, and if you look at the indictment and if you listen to former prosecutors, Bill Barr, who just said he's toast, and Chris Christie, another former prosecutor who said if half the stuff is true, he's going to jail for a long period of time, then he deserves, you know, the outcome. I, you know, I think what, you know, the American people should be recognizing is that, you know, what Trump is trying to do right now from a strategy standpoint is get a hung jury, right? That's his, that's his goal here. His goal isn't to win. He's not going to beat 37 counts. Okay. Like that's impossible, right? This is not like where the glove doesn't fit. We must acquit. He's not going to have that moment, okay? But all he needs is one, one MAGA juror who believes that it was Trump that did, you know, Good Friday, then he'll get a hung jury. And that is his goal. And so, you know, look, obviously, like my colleagues across the aisle, the MAGA Republicans have weaponized this. They really talk about, you know, the weaponization of government, the deep state.

You know, they really have weaponized this. I am concerned about what's to come, quite frankly, because there's going to be responses from Republicans that are going to undermine democracy. I mean, Trump has already said, and his people are already coming out, that if they get power back, they're going to indict Biden and maybe Hillary. I mean, poor Hillary. I mean, like they can't get her out of their mind. I mean, she lost. She's in retirement. She's having a private life. And yet Hillary, they're still talking about her emails. I mean, good God. It was like Hillary broke their heart and they're not over it and they're never going to forgive her. I got one more question, Congressman, about Florida.

You served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2019. And you had to work with Governor DeSantis, who's now running in the primaries for the Republicans. A lot of people are saying Democrats or the DNC have abandoned Florida and that Florida is now a red state. I mean, what do you say to people who have said Democrats can't win statewide in Florida anymore? You know the state better than anyone. Well, let me say a couple of things on that. So first of all, I served in a state legislature for six years where completely controlled by Republicans, passed gun violence prevention laws, more so than in some blue states and earlier than in some blue states with Republicans. I wound up being the emergency management director in the DeSantis administration for two and a half years because of what happened in my community, what happened in my high school, watching government fail those parents. And so look, we can figure out ways to work together. One of the things I try

to tell my Democratic colleagues, as someone who actually went around the state with Governor DeSantis during emergencies, is that you don't have to like them. But what you have to recognize is that what we're selling in the state and what Democrats are selling in the state, Floridians are not buying. We can focus group why, messaging, is it money, because they're not hearing our message, but he won his reelection by 19%. This is a guy who barely beat Andrew Gillum. And four years later, he wins by 19%. Yeah, we can talk about, oh, Charlie Crisp wasn't the greatest candidate. Okay, fine. So he wins by eight or 10, but 20? So we have a messaging issue and a communication issue. We talk about how the Republicans are

an anti-party, right? What are they for? And we don't know. I don't really know what they're for up here nationally. They're just a grievance party. We kind of became that a little bit in Florida. We kind of became just the anti-Ron DeSantis. And by the way, don't get me wrong, there's plenty of policies to oppose of his, but what are we for? What are Democrats for in Florida? And so, no, I don't think the Biden administration should write it off because I think the policies they've put in place since reelection are extremely unpopular. Six-week abortion ban, more gun nonsense. I think we got to communicate that. And Biden's got to make them play defense, whether it's Trump, which it's most likely going to be,

or for something, if there's some sort of shift there, Ron DeSantis, who's second in the polling, you know, so we, you know, Florida is kind of head of Maga land right now with both Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump being residents of that state. And I think, you know, between the Disney stuff and, and, and the sick week abortion ban, I think there's an opportunity, uh, and you got to make them spend money there. If they don't have to spend money in the third largest state in the nation, the Republicans don't have to spend money there, then they're going to spend that money in Michigan and Pennsylvania and elsewhere. And so, you know, I think Biden's going to have the resources. And I think he's got to put those resources in

Florida. Does that mean he wins Florida? Listen, I don't know. Dade County is a problem. They've scared, you know, the Venezuelan and the Cuban population down there to thinking Democrats are socialists, which we're not. But we got to figure out again how to talk to people. What are we for? What's not true? What's misinformation? And then we got to register voters. Republicans have out-registered us for the first time in Florida history. So we got to register voters. Nikki Freed is the new chair there, who was the agriculture commissioner. I think she's up to the task. I think she understands this is a long fight in Florida, try to regain it. But you can't write off the third largest state, because if you're writing off Texas and you're writing off

Florida, then Republicans just have a built in advantage into the into the electoral map. Congressman, any final words to all of our viewers out there who are nervous about the state of our democracy, but who are buoyed by your word seeing you at these hearings? What's your final word to everybody out there? Well, I mean, look, they should be nervous, but engage, get engaged, engage yourself. Right. We got to make sure that we're in the arena. And, you know, listen, figure out how to talk to people, people even you disagree with. You don't have to, you know, get into a fight or an argument, but find that independent that leans a little to the right and have a calm conversation with them, why it's so important for them and their children and their grandchildren to make sure that America stays the country it is today and doesn't turn towards authoritarianism or fascism.

Talk about the things that aren't true. They probably are going to say things that are totally not true. You got to respond to that with facts. You're not going to convince everyone, but we got to make sure that we're doing this neighbor by neighbor, person by person. Some of us has cousins and aunts and uncles that watch Fox. They call and they say, do you know that Joe Biden did this? And you want to poke your eyes out, but instead of yelling back at them, calmly show them that it's not true. And that, you know, not everything they read on the internet is true. And not every text message that they get is not true. And just because someone types it doesn't make it true. You know, and so I get engaged, stay engaged. Don't be dismayed,

be concerned. But don't be dismayed. You know, I Joe Biden is going to go into re-election, I think, in a stronger position than even he is now. Congress member Jared Moskowitz, thank you so much for your time. It's great having you on the Midas Touch Network. Thanks, guys. Hey, Midas Mighty, love this report. Continue the conversation by following us on Instagram, at Midas Touch, to keep up with the most important news of the day. What are you waiting for? Follow us now.