The Young Turks - Cory Booker Announces Presidential Bid And Is He Right For The Job?

Episode Date: February 2, 2019

Cory Booker has released his first ad for his run for president. A deep look into what Cory Booker aims to fight for as president. Get exclusive access to our best content. http://tyt.com/GETACCESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Drop it. Look at this fun power panel. Francesco Firo and thing. Hey. Oh, that's how it's pronounced. Yes. And Jane Hugo and John Ida-Rola. Look at me flanked by two Italians.

Italians. Are you? I am. I knew. That's why we're connecting. That's why. With names like Ida Rola and Furentini, I'm pretty sure. So it's actually the most Mediterranean power panel we've ever had.

It is. We just got to get Nomeon. Oh, that's right. Represent all the islands. That's right. Same face, same race. Shout out to now making. Yes.

Okay, so lots of big news as always. Okay, we kind of do a news show here. I've always described it that way. So apparently there's another presidential candidate. They decided not to announce on TYT, no big deal, not holding it against them. There is a polar vortex, we gotta get to it because Fox is of course being hilarious about it. Trump got interviewed in the White House, so that's obviously a disaster, so that's fun for everybody.

And what else we got for you guys? Oh, gay conversion theory, not theory, therapy. I have a bit of a controversial opinion on that. Okay, hold, hold, don't make assumptions, don't make assumptions, hold, okay? So that's in the second hour. So meanwhile, coming up this weekend, more Young Turks because can you really get enough young Turks? We're gonna watch that big game whose name cannot be mentioned for copyright reasons.

Fortnite. Obviously, yes, it'll be so us watching someone else play video games on Twitch. Why did you imply that there was something wrong with that? So, yes, that big game everyone watches. Wow, we're starting at 2.30, I don't know we're starting at 2.30 Pacific. Okay, 5.30 Eastern. So they will be- You're starting two and a half, like two hours early? No, one hour, one hour.

Okay. And I just found that out. Anyway, it's super informal. We're a second screen, we can't show you the game, obviously. You're just watch along with us or we're watching along with you. You're gonna do the replays here. You're just gonna act out all the- That's right, that's right. The sacks.

I know what I'm talking about. Yeah, that's right. If we reenacted the sacks, that would be worth everything we ever did. But to a sacks. So it'd be like, sacks, the sacks replay with the sacks. And then there's nothing sexual about it. Okay. Okay.

That is for certain. There you go. Anyway, so come watch it with us. com slash live, so that'll be fun for everybody, me, Manquins, and all the JR and all the fun crowd, not this guy. I'm going to a different party. Okay, sure. Yeah, okay, fine, go to a different party.

Anyways, check it out, guys, it should be a lot of fun. Okay, let's get started. John, big news. Okay, there is, unfortunately. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has announced that he will be entering the 2020 Democratic primary, surprising no one. Okay, but he is running. And look, he's got a big new video that he debuted explaining some of his platform.

And here is a section of that. What's up? Amen. I grew up knowing that the only way we can make change is when people come together. My dad told me, boy, never forget where you came from, or how many people had to sacrifice to get you where you are. So over 20 years ago, I moved into the central ward of Newark to fight slum lords and help families stay in their homes. I still live there today and I'm the only senator who goes home to a low-income inner city community, the first community that took a chance on me. It is not a matter of can we?

It's a matter of do we have the collective will, the American will. I believe we do. Together, we will channel our common pain back into our common purpose. Together, America, we will rise. I'm Cory Booker, and I'm running for president of the United States of America. Very exciting, high energy ad. So question now, are you ready to endorse? Yeah, we're about a year out from the Iowa primary.

So obviously, look, I've been telling you guys, in every single. Listen, hear him out, let's see what they got, we'll analyze Corey a little bit more as this show progresses and the good stuff that he's done, he's done some very good stuff and not so good stuff, but I'm initially amused by the reaction that he's getting. So John's right, everybody's noting that he is brimming with energy, CNN said that, said the only tweak they had, one of the very, very tweaks they had of him was that his high energy He was almost comical. And I like that he started out with, what's up?

CNN said that? Yeah, yeah. So, like, even CNN's kind of dunking on his attitude. They're like, okay, we have no personality, but you feel like you're faking it. Yeah, yeah. But it was the only smidge, like, one of the very few tweaks, I'm gonna get you some great comical over-the-top compliments CNN gave him in a second. But I remember Mitt Romney started his campaign video the same way, what's up, right?

But also with like the historically black college marching band. That's right. I'm pretty sure Mitt Romney had the exact same marching bands, which by the way, for those of you who knew what the best moment of 2018 was, definitely Beyonce's Coachella performance. And that was a total rip off of Beyonce. So pretty much could have been like an on the run tour number two, very Jay-Z, very Beyonce, it's been done, Corey, like, you kind of need to like shout out to the queen if you're gonna rip off her so bad.

Uh-oh, well, you don't wanna piss off the beehive. No, I don't, exactly, the beehive is so warming. I mean, but it's totally like a, maybe the beehive will, you know, be on our side. Yeah. So, but anyway, it's a fine video and just like, yeah, and he lives in Newark, bless his heart for that, that's great, just like Mitt Romney lives in the low-income community in Salt Lake. I don't know why I'm making a random Mitt Romney or is, although they're actually come

to think of it. We will return to that. Yeah, in 2012, Cory Booker famously defended Mitt Romney from Obama's attacks because he said, look, we shouldn't demonize people in private equity and high finance. Those are really good folks, really good folks who've given Cory Booker a ton of campaign money. At least in the past, now he doesn't take corporate pack money. So let's be fair on all counts.

So now, to CNN, this is my favorite part. So I remember when, you know, the establishment media, they have not been overly kind to Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, particularly Sanders. But they've had a couple, took a bunch of pot shots at Elizabeth Warren. And so I'm sure they did the same for Cory Booker when he announced. So I will read you some of the things that they wrote about him. He's got a pragmatic approach, as opposed to progressive, so of course are not. pragmatic, okay?

That right now, just warm it up, no big deal, right? He has, quote, raw political talent, same thing they said about Bernie. He is a quote, these are all quotes, quote, he's a powerful contender. He is a gifted orator, or orator, I should say. And then they go to a politician, they're like, we didn't say this. They said it, which is, by the way, the same thing they do with progressives. They say, I didn't say Bernie Sanders was a terrible human being. I got this legislator to say he's a terrible human being, right?

So in this case, they found Cedric Richmond, Louisiana Democrat, and they quote him, is the last line in the piece that Cory Booker is, quote, driven more by faith and purpose than politics. Oh, come on, come, come, go, go, go, go, I don't believe that about anybody. Last thing I want. Maybe. Please be driven by politics for love of God. Yeah.

Or not for the love of God, for the love of politics. Anywho, yeah. If his purpose is to become president, yeah, he's been driven. by that for you, I'm sure. Yeah. Look, guys, some folks care more about policy and are driven by policy that is based on their track record, et cetera. But let's all email is they're all politicians, okay, including the progressives, that

they, if you're running for president, you're kind of care about politics. And now I hope you're using politics to your policy goals, that that's your end, not just power for its own sake. But that's, those are descriptions that are really just like blanket and blazee that are like, this guy can raise a lot of money. from the people he needs to raise money from. And therefore, I'm gonna say he's got a, he's driven by faith and, what's the other one? Purpose.

Yeah. And he has raised a lot of money. Yes. That's certainly true. Okay, do that too. One last one, guys. So then they compare him to President Jimmy Carter and I was like, oh, because the mainstream media almost never talks positively about Jimmy Carter in the context of his presidency.

Outside of his presidency, they give him credit as they should for the wonderful work he's done in charity and curing diseases. etc. But when it comes to the president, they're like, oh, President Jimmy Carter and the malaise that the country was in, we get an effectual. So it's like, oh my God, are they going to say Cory Booker is like President Carter? That would normally in the mainstream media, that's a terrible insult. I don't agree. I think President Carter was fantastic in a lot of ways, including getting us peace in the Middle East. So anyways, no, this is the one time that they praise Carter's presidency when they're comparing him to Booker. And they said, Booker,

Reminds him of President Carter and Carter's slogan about the presidency is as government needs to be, quote, as good and honest and decent and compassionate and filled with love as are the American people. So, like, they had to get that quote and it's somehow tied to Cory Booker because it's like the greatest quote about, you know, government and being filled with love, et cetera. and they're like, Booker obviously reminds us of Carter, who once said this. And so, God, that is amazing. I'm finding it hard because, like, I like love. You don't love that? I don't love love, but, like, I like love, you know? I would vote for love, but, um, so I don't know if I should endorse Booker because

I like, I'm very torn is what I'm saying. Yeah, that is. And the electorate will also be, if the question is love or no love. See, that's right. And that's why CNN did such a good job of being balanced in their coverage. Because people don't know, are they pro-love or anti-love? The only thing I would say based on the different things that you said is we have to hold off, I think, on the criticisms of Bernie so far in this go-round, because he hasn't announced

yet. Once he announces and they ignore him or denigrate him, then we can start to criticize. No, no, no, but that's- What's gonna happen. No, no, no, by the way, so two things about that, real quick. Number one, has any other candidate received dozens of critical articles about him before the announcement? Were they like, oh, hey, Cory Booker's got a really problematic history with Wall Street, etc.

Was there big exposés about that? I don't remember any. I hear, though, that he is a gifted order and a powerful political talent, contender, etc. Now, but you're right that let's, hey, let's give the mainstream media a chance, and this is why We talk about things in advance on the young Turks. Maybe we'll be proven wrong because we can sense the skepticism that we have, that maybe when Bernie Sanders announces and we all are guessing, as the whole planet is guessing, that

he will announce. And when he does, maybe the New York Times and CNN, et cetera, we'll be like, powerful, progressive champion of the people. What a great candidate. Let's see. Even if you hate everything he's ever said, you have to correctly identify that he's going to be a powerful contender this go around. Yeah.

You are just fooling yourself if you don't say that. In any event, I want to get a little bit to his policies. I want to give you guys a heads up, a bit of a warning based on some of the political history of Cory Booker, what might be coming to a news cycle sometime in the near future. that he is a big one for sort of political performances in the real world, which none of these are bad necessarily, but just this is a thing he does. So he went on a 10-day hunger strike during his mayoral run to bring attention to housing issues.

He went on food stamps to show how difficult it is. During one big storm, he shoveled a constituent's driveway and turned his Twitter account into a thing to coordinate shoveling. And so those are the sorts of things that he likes to do. He also, you might recall, ran into a burning building to save his neighbor. And so if buildings start to spontaneously combust near him in the future, watch out. Okay, well. He plays the media game really well.

He does. He seems to hit a mark that, like, let's say, Elizabeth Warren has missed in the past. But so he seems to sort of, you know, and no matter what your politics are, there's the popularity contest, you know, via Twitter. and like obviously running in to save his neighbor just for Twitter because like who hasn't. But you know, that wins in points. You know, to do these stunts, he knows how to appeal to people in that way. So guys, look, that cuts both ways. So he plays the media game well and hence glowing articles.

Every article I read was glowing about Cory Booker. On the other hand, those are good things to draw attention to. And so I like that he did those things. I mean, you can call it stunts, you can call it anything you like, but he's drawing attention to poverty. food stamps, et cetera. He's shoveling something to do his driveway. God bless his heart, right?

I don't know how big the fire was. I really don't. I don't know if it was like, I think it's a little smoke in the background. It was a toaster. Yeah, there was a to grill. Or if it was like a real serious fire. But in either way. Yeah.

Good things. Yeah, would you run into a fire, even if it was for politics? I don't know, right? So give him credit. Give him credit. So those are good things that he drew attention to and good things that he did. Yep. Trump said he would run into a school shooting without a gun.

So he hasn't done it, but anyway, and yeah. Oh, my God. No, we're not saying anything. For any of these, I just imagine, what if AOC did this? I'd like it. So I guess I can't get too down on. Anyway, just that might be coming. So, Corey Booker now announced what issues is he going to be driving,

at least in the early phases of this campaign, we'll see how things develop. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post spoke with some of Cory Booker's aides, and here are a few of the things that they brought up. The baby bonds program that Booker has previously talked about, setting up sort of an initial investment in every child, basically, to help to eliminate some of the systemic inequality of America. Criminal justice reform, antitrust action, legalizing marijuana, that's something he's talked

about for a long time. A pilot program for a federal jobs guarantee, housing tax credits for renters, a green new deal, and Medicare for all. Although, on those two last ones, there are, there's a need for further deal. details because he said today for Medicare for all, he would not be in favor of eliminating private health insurance. And on the Green New Deal, the Sunrise Movement, they tweeted about it earlier today. And they said there are elements of it that he has supported that I would say go farther

than for instance what Kamala Harris said last weekend. But he has not necessarily committed to the sort of urgent action that most committed environmentalists mean when we talk about a Green New Deal. Yeah. But look, it's a pretty good record right now. You know, in a different segment, we'll also analyze all the ups and downs of Cory Booker. And he's taking a ton of money from all these different industries in the past. And I think that that does merit some skepticism or significant skepticism.

But I'm super happy to have him as an ally in all of these. And he did great work on criminal justice reform. So I don't think that that's necessarily the question. And I think that a lot of times the establishment does this trick where they say like, Oh, so you're saying he's a bad person? No, nobody said that, right? So we're not having conversation about whether someone is a good person or a bad person, a good progressive or a bad progressive, a good senator or a bad senator.

We're having conversation about who would be the best person to be president of the United States of America. So I'm happy to have Cory Booker on the team. I'm not sure that I want him to be captain. And that's what this contest is about, who's going to be the captain of the team? And if you're progressive, you might want the most progressive candidate, but you'd be thrilled that he's at least on board for Medicare for all, et cetera. And so, or you might say, hey, you know what, I think someone who's more centrist is going

to win. I don't think so. I think someone who's more progressive is a much better chance of winning. But anyway, for better or for worse, that's his record. You want to get into some of the potential issues? Yes. Okay. So Cory Booker is now, he's in the race.

And like you said, he's getting a lot of positive coverage, at least initially. Probably it will continue. But at some point, the media's going to have to figure out if they want him or Kamala Harris in this Democratic primary. He does come into the race, though, with a number of potential issues. A lot of that having to do with his fundraising. He's a noted great fundraiser, but that often means that they're taking money from people that we would prefer that they do not.

So first off, small donors. Let's talk about that. Those who gave $200 or less account for 11% of his Senate fundraising base, according to FEC records. He raised his percentage of small dollar donors to 27% in the past two years, but Mr. Booker has the lowest percentage of small dollar donor funds of any center thought to be weighing a presidential bid up until relatively recently. And we can compare that to some of the others. If we bring up this chart, you'll see some of the fundraising as well as the percentage

that's small donor. So you see there that he's at 11%, someone like Kirsten Gillibrands at 16, Kamala Harris at 32, but then you have Elizabeth Warren at half, and Bernie Sanders at 61%. So it's pretty huge range, a huge difference between 11% and 61%. Even what he raised it to, 27, is a lot lower than either Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. So I'm going to give a backhand and a compliment here. So, to be fair to Cory Booker, the 11% is really low because, and not because he has two little small donors, that's only half their equation.

The other half the equation is because he has a lot of really large donors. So don't like, but those are the facts. So it's not like, my God, he cannot get small donors. It's that he has such gigantic donors that they dwarf his small donors. The fact that he got it up to 27% in the last two years is meaningless, that he wasn't running for office, so he wasn't soliciting big campaign contributions from Wall Street, et cetera. So 11% is the number to look at there. Yeah, and should we care about the enthusiasm folks have from small donors as opposed to giant corporations? Yeah, I think that's a perfectly legitimate thing to consider.

Yeah, and I know, I mean, you know, take this for the grain of salt, but there's going to be a lot of people running. And the DNC has said that access to the debate stage is going to be driven either wholly or partly, I would assume probably partly, by ability to generate small donors. Now, I'm sure that most of the senators are not going to have trouble qualifying past whatever bar they have there. But it does mean that it's going to be something that we're going to be talking about a lot more, thankfully. I think it's one of the best developments I've heard in a long time. Yeah, when, yeah, that I'm like, that's totally new. Well, we'll see, I mean, it's easy to say that. We'll see what the bar is at.

Sure. Yeah. 11%. Maybe 27. They're not going to eliminate court. That's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. But look, but that what I'm not worried about like whether they eliminate establishment candidates

from the debates. Sure. I want to make sure that populist candidates can get into the debates by getting a lot of small donors. Yeah. So look, one of the things we mainly push for after the some of the just Democrats wins like Accio-Cortez was, hey, you should use a different standard because the media kept asking, what did we miss? Why did we miss Ocasier, Cortez, Rashida Tilebe, et cetera? And we said, it's because you missed the small donors.

And that's a better indicator of enthusiasm, energy, et cetera. And the fact that the DNC has accepted that is wonderful. So let's see how the debates play out. But now getting to the heart of Cory Booker's fundraising, look, it's a super real issue. Almost none of the mainstream articles mentioned it, but we went back and looked at, of course, to intercept in other places that has documented it. So back in 2014, when he ran for Senate, his first full term, he raised more money, and this is amazing from the financial industry than any other senator, okay, but I'm not anywhere

near done. He also raised the most amount of money, because he's number one in all these categories. the real estate industry, entertainment industry, tech industry, accountants, and groups considered to be pro-Israel. So, wow, man, big donors love Cory Booker. Oh, God, those are all the sectors, everything you want. He is very, he's also, he must be like loving HQ2, Amazon headquarters, I don't know, Any kind of, probably against BDS for sure, not really understanding the occupation.

Anyway, great, awesome. Let me give you just a couple of the numbers really fast. So from Securities and Investment, he received $1.87 million back in 2014, a ton of money, obviously. Also received more pharmaceutical manufacturing cash over the past six years than any other Democratic Senator, $267,000, amongst a number of others. Here's one of my favorites. So Securities in investment industry, obviously is the financial industry. So he's number one at 1.87 million back in 2014.

You know who number two was? Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell got 1.26 million. He's the leader of the Republicans. He got $600,000 less than Cory Booker did, who's a Democrat and in the minority in the Senate. That's unbelievable. Wall Street still has some taste, is why.

A little bit of taste. Well, I was early day Bougar a million times over McConnell. But the fact that Wall Street would too is interesting and concerning. Look, part of that might have been a reward for 2012 because in 2012 he famously came out and criticized Barack Obama and supported Mitt Romney. He didn't say vote for Romney. He voted for Obama and supported Obama overall. But on the issue of the financial industry, he came out and said that Obama was wrong

to criticize Mitt Romney's record in finance and to criticize him. private equity in general. And Wall Street saw that and loved it. Sure. I think, I mean, listen, I think that some of all of this is going to get just laid out in front of him during the debates. I mean, he's the anti-Warren at this point. And when you look at all of that and you look at the financial sector that's behind

him, who are completely freaked out about Elizabeth Warren running and an Elizabeth Warren presidency, as they are with Bernie Sanders presidency. But no matter what, you know, establishment media says, all of that stuff is going to be dragged out by the, like, how many candidates are now in the running, they're all going to lay it out, be like, oh, interesting that you say that you live in this low-income neighborhood in Newark, and yet you have taken tons of donations from the real estate sector, and I'm imagining those aren't like, you know, neighborhood co-ops that are filling your coffers, right? And so there's those hypocrisies.

I do think that where he was strong in that video and it has to be mentioned, and I sort of did by talking about Beyonce, but centering the amount of racism that this president has kicked up that has always been part of the legacy of the United States that is now just bubbling up to the surface and needs to burn off is crucial. I think any candidate, just as they need to be tackling our inequality, have to be tackling racism and have to have racial justice at the center. So that is why I think he's formidable. I don't think he's formidable in terms of the donors, in terms of his history.

And if establishment media is like, well, he's looking good, he's not, he's not. And if actually real questions are asked during the debates, and I think that his opponents will ensure that they will be, he will get filleted when it comes to who his biggest donors are and how he will continue to open this country up to even more inequality. So all great points. Let's talk about more upsides and downsides. So he's obviously great on the issue of race and we support him wholeheartedly on that. But look, it's one thing to be like, hey, you know, I want full civil rights for African Americans

and Latinos and everybody else. That's relatively easy, but you have to back it up with policy, but Cory Booker has. So he did great work on criminal justice reformer deserves among the most credit for the bill that just passed while Trump's president. And that's a bill that's progressive, does not have very many downsides? Does it get everything we want? No, but it moved the ball in a real direction in a really positive way. So as we're analyzing candidates, we cannot live in that black and white world that the right

wing does or sometimes the establishment does. Near Tandon famously said about a David Sorota tweet, which showed, which showed, where Beto O'Rourke had gotten money from oil companies, that it was very dangerous to show where he got money from. So I guess she's gonna consider this video dangerous because we showed you where Booker got some of his money, but we should not make the same mistake, okay? Do not take credit away from him on the great work that he's done. He went and supported Ben Jealous, who's very progressive for governor of Maryland, et cetera.

Now, on the other hand, there are things that are of concern, right? So, like, now, okay, no, let me give him one more compliment. During the Kavanaugh hearings, he was tough on Kavanaugh and he had a good moment there and all that was great, okay, and you need fighters. But that's where part of my problem comes in. So historically, throughout his career, he has emphasized love and unity, and you're going to say that's a funny thing to object to, Jane. But I do, and I'll tell you why.

And again, he emphasized in this run, quote, common purpose and a revival of civic grace. So, unfortunately, I don't believe this is a good time to talk about civility. I think this is a good time to kneecap Republicans. And so I'm not interested in finding common purpose with Donald Trump. And so if I'm worried that if he, not only in how he would campaign against Trump or any other Republican, in trying to find unity that does not exist with the MAGA guys. But I'm even more worried that if he's president, and then he's like, all right, let's have beer summits, and let's try to see if we can come to agreement with Mitch McConnell on how we should

treat Wall Street and pharmaceutical companies. Not remotely interested in that. No, I don't want unity with Mitch McConnell. I want you to kick Mitch McConnell's ass. And accountability for the corruption that we know has been going on in, let's say, the amount of money that was funneled through the to the GOP. Like, we still don't know the end of all of the investigations that are unfolding. So I don't want a president to come in.

And again, this is one of my biggest criticisms of Obama, of course, is like, a war on terror, forgive and forget, you know, and continue. Like, no, you actually, there were war crimes committed and we have to treat them as such. And I'm not saying, you know, lock him up, but like, I'm not saying don't lock him up. But I'm also just saying, let's ensure, and I think some of the Democrats in Congress are really ensuring that we can no longer have a president or a GOP that is as corrupt. Yes, you have to divulge your tax returns, you know, we're gonna safeguard voting rights and all that.

So I agree with you. We can't get in there and just play the same middling centrism that actually causes us to lose. And also we forget, because we've been, I think the left has been losing for so long, just how far to the right this like tablecloth of American politics has been pulled, we got to restrain that, you know? And if, and because we're progressives, I would say pull it to the left, which means there's actually food on the other side. So people get to eat. Yes. I would also say, I mean, look, they're all on CNN all day long saying amazing, natural political talents and everything. It's not just that I don't want a person who's going to focus entirely on unity

and bringing us together, which I think is a fool's errand. I also think that pragmatically, politically, I think it's unwise for him in this primary. I mean, yeah, the American people like people who say we're going to come together, I guess. But I don't think that's the number one thing that people want or will want in the Democratic primary. I think they want to know that the situation with healthcare is going to be fixed, that there's going to be jobs, that we're going to take climate change seriously, all of these things. And it's not to say that he doesn't have policies hypothetically that would do that, but if he's on a debate stage talking about, you know, like loving Mitch McConnell or whatever,

okay, that's what you can spend your time on, or you can give me a very good reason to believe that you're going to confront the biggest issues facing our country with the urgency they deserve. I don't think you can necessarily do both of those things. Yeah, so, you know, and they give him this mantle of being great at politics in, you know, I quoted CNN earlier in the show about how he's a powerful contender, raw political talent, all this stuff, he's pulling at 3%. Look, I don't want to, like, I don't want to judge him too harshly on that. It's early, there's a million people in the race.

But if you're going to give him all those accolades, they need to be connected to something, right? Whereas, for example, Bernie Sanders is polling at number two, not number one, Biden is, okay? or Sanders is pulling at number two. Does he get the mantle of raw political talent, et cetera? Never, ever, ever, ever, right? Oh, you know, he's awkward, he's this. I mean, they find a thousand negative adjectives. But he's pulling at, in the worst poll, at 16%.

If one guy's at 3% and he's super talented politically and the other guys at 16%. I would argue that he's a little bit more talented politically. But, Jank, what was Sanders polling at at this point in the last cycle? Like 3%. Oh, no. Oh, my God, here it comes, Cory Booker. By the way, if Cory Booker, like Bernie Sanders, closes a 60-point lead, now it's a two bigger feel to close 60 points, but has that kind of rise, I would give him tremendous credit for

an unbelievable political, because they, like, the mainstream media might believe it, but I would be dramatically surprised, and I would give him credit for being apparently an amazing political talent that I underestimated. So finally, look, it's all about policy, guys. So I hope that's what it's about for you if you're a progressive or whatever you believe in. So, and that cuts both directions too. So in reaching out to Republicans, sometimes he has gotten good policies passed, like criminal justice reform that I just mentioned.

He actually did work with some Republicans to do that. So now, so that's why reaching out of Republicans is not a blanket wrong. It's again, we don't live in a black and white world. If they have come in our direction and want to do justice reform or they want to give felons the right to vote as they did in Florida, for example, fantastic, and I'm happy to agree with them because they're agreeing with us. But if you're going to go in their direction in a situation, as Francesca pointed out, that has been pulled massively to the right, that I'm not at all interested.

So which brings us to the drug importation. Bill. So Bernie Sanders proposes a bill that would have allowed us to import drugs from Canada. And it easily could have passed because 13 Republicans voted for it. So how in the world did it not pass? It got 13 Republicans to vote for it. Because 13 Democrats, including Cory Booker, flipped over to the other side, voted with the majority of Republicans and said, no, you will not have access to cheaper drugs in America.

And I want you to be clear. So he said, well, it's because of safety issue. Really? Yeah. And even Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican, was like, yeah, really? Show me the dead Canadians. Okay, you show me dead Canadians that died from the horribly unsafe drugs from Canada and I'll vote in the other direction. And that goes to John's point of that's, these Republicans aren't voting that way because they had a change of heart. They're hearing that from their constituencies that actually drug prices are a huge concern for them. Obviously, the premise of this bill, by the way, is insane.

Like, the drugs manufactured in the U.S. are cheaper in Canada, and it would actually be wholly cheaper if we just re-imported them because the Canadian government has, like, better controls on pricing. We are sick. No, that's right. And so I just want you to understand that. The safety issue is pushed by big pharma, that is their number one thing. And unfortunately, since they've captured our government, it worked under Clinton, Bush,

and Obama, and now Trump, okay? Safety, they're produced here. The drugs are manufactured here in America. But in, but our government is so corrupt, we're not allowed to negotiate drug prices with the drug companies, whereas Canada's government can negotiate. So it's actually cheaper to make him here, ship him to Canada, and then ship him back, okay? But Cory Booker blocked it. He later changed his vote a little bit and said, well, I was just about I introduced

safety amendments and I feel like now all of a sudden these dangerous Canadians are a little bit safer, you're telling me, and the mainstream media will tell you, and then you decide if you believe them, that the fact that he was the number one recipient or pharmaceutical industry donor money did not affect his vote to vote in the same exact way that the pharmaceutical industry wanted him to using the same exact excuse that the pharmaceutical industry uses, which is that the drugs in Canada are unsafe. Which is why it's hard to believe that he would be running on Medicare for all, or that even if he did run on Medicare for all, that he could be believed and trusted to do that.

And as many people have analyzed the Medicare for all landscape, we know that Big Pharma, that's Those are the Democrats, like Big Pharma has the Democrats in their pockets, and Democrats are going to be the biggest hurdles to get Medicare for all. Energy, all that, that sector, those Republicans, that's red. But they are gonna be Democrats like Cory Booker will be the biggest blocks, either in Congress or in the White House, to getting something like a Medicare for all plan. We gotta break. Yep, all right, let's see a quick break.

When we come back, Trump does his usual nuts routine. We'll break it down for you guys. We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-F-The-Republic, or UNFTR. As a Young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful. But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-F-The-Republic, or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called powers that

be. Featuring in-depth research, razor-sharp commentary, and just the right amount of vulgarity, the UNFTR podcast takes a sledgehammer to what you thought you knew about some of the nation's most sacred historical cows. But don't just take my word for it. The New York Times described UNFTR as consistently compelling and educational, aiming to challenge conventional wisdom and upend the historical narratives that were taught in school. For as the great philosopher Yoda once put it, you must not learn what you have learned. And that's true whether you're in Jedi training or you're uprooting and exposing all the

propaganda and disinformation you've been fed over the course of your lifetime. So search for UNFDR in your podcast app today and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained all at the same time. Drop it. Drop it. Look at this fun power panel. Francesco Fido and... Why?

Hey. So that's how it's pronounced. Yes. And Jay Hugar and John Ida Rola. Look at me flanked by two Italians. Are you? I am. I know.

That's why we're connected. That's why. With names like Ida Rola and Furentini, I'm pretty sure. So it's actually the most Mediterranean power panel we've ever had. It is. We just got to get a Nomeon. Oh, that's right. Represent all the islands.

That's right. Same face, same race. Shout out to now making. Quaterranean. Yes. Okay, so lots of big news as always. Okay, we kind of do a news show here, okay? I've always described it that way.

So apparently there's another presidential candidate. They decided not to announce on TYT, no big deal, not holding it against them. There is a polar vortex, we gotta get to it because Fox is, of course, being hilarious about it. Trump got interviewed in the White House, so that's obviously a disaster, so that's fun for for everybody. And what else we got for you guys? Oh, gay conversion theory, not theory, therapy.

I have a bit of a controversial opinion on that, okay, hold, hold, don't make assumptions, don't make assumptions, hold, okay? So that's in the second hour. So meanwhile, coming up this weekend, more Young Turks, because can you really get enough young Turks? We're gonna watch that big game whose name cannot be mentioned for copyright reasons. Fortnite. Obviously, yes, it'll be so us watching someone else play video games on Twitch.

Why did you imply that there was something wrong with that? So yes, that big game everyone watches. Wow, we're starting at 2.30. I don't know we're starting at 2.30 Pacific. Okay, 5.30 Eastern. So they will be- You're starting two and a half, like two hours early. Two hours early. No, one hour, one hour.

Okay. And I just found that out. Anyway, it's super informal. We're a second screen. We can't show you the game, obviously. You're just watch along with us or we're watching along with you. You're going to do the replays here. You're just going to act out all the sacks.

That's right, that's right. I don't know what I'm talking about. Yeah, that's right. If we reenacted the sacks, that would be worth everything we ever did. But two is sacks. So it'd be like, sacks. The sax replay with the sax And then there's nothing sexual about it

Okay Okay That is for certain Anyway, so come watch it with us TartD.com slash live So that'll be fun for everybody Me, Mancourts and All the JR and

All the fun crowd, not this guy I'm going to a different party Okay, sure, yeah, okay fine Go to a different party Anyways, check it out guys It should be a lot of fun Okay, let's get started, John, big news. Okay, there is, unfortunately.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has announced that he will be entering the 2020 Democratic primary, surprising no one. Okay, but he is running and look, he's got a big new video that he debuted explaining some of his platform and here is a section of that. What's up? I grew up knowing that the only way we can make change. is when people come together. My dad told me, boy, never forget where you came from

or how many people had to sacrifice to get you where you are. So over 20 years ago, I moved into the central ward of Newark to fight slumlords and help families stay in their homes. I still live there today, and I'm the only senator who goes home to a low-income inner-city community,

the first community that took a chance on me. It is not a matter of can we? It's a matter of, do we have the collective will, the American will? I believe we do. Together, we will channel our common pain back into our common purpose. Together, America, we will rise. I'm Cory Booker, and I'm running for president of the United States of America. Very exciting, high energy ad. So question now, are you ready to endorse? Yeah, we're about a year out from the Iowa primary. So obviously, look, I've been telling you guys in every single instance, hear him out, let's

see what they got, we'll analyze Corey a little bit more as this show progresses and the good stuff that he's done. He's done some very good stuff and not so good stuff. But I'm initially amused by the reaction that he's getting. So John's right, everybody's noting that he is brimming with energy, CNN. said that, said the only tweak they had, one of the very, very tweaks they had of him was that his high energy was almost comical. And I like that he started out with, what's up?

CNN said that? Yeah, yeah. So, like, even CNN's kind of dunking on his attitude. They're like, okay, we have no personality, but you feel like you're faking it. Yeah. But it was the only smidge, like one of the very few tweaks. I'm gonna get you some great comical over-the-top compliments CNN gave him in a second. But I remember Mitt Romney started his campaign video the same way, what's up, right?

But also with like the historically black college marching bands, I'm pretty sure Mitt Romney had the exact same marching bands, which by the way, for those of you who knew what the best moment of 2018 was, definitely Beyonce's Coachella performance. and that was a total rip-off of Beyonce. So pretty much could have been like an on-the-run tour number two, very J-Z, very Beyonce. It's been done, Corey. Like, you kind of need to like shout out to the queen if you're going to rip off her so bad. Uh-oh, well, you don't want to piss off the beehive. No, exactly, the beehive is so warming. I mean, but it's totally like a, maybe the beehive will, you know, be on our side.

Yeah. So, but anyway, it's a fine video. And just like, yeah, and he lives in Newark, bless his heart for that, that's great. It's just like Mitt Romney lives in the low-income community in Salt Lake. I don't know why I'm making a random Mitt Romney errors, although they're actually coming to think of it. We will return to that. Yeah, in 2012, Cory Booker famously defended Mitt Romney from Obama's attacks because he said, look, we shouldn't demonize people in private equity and high finance. Those are really good folks, really good folks who've given Cory Booker a ton of campaign

money. At least in the past, now he doesn't take corporate pack money, so let's be fair on all counts. So now to CNN, this is my favorite part. So I remember when, you know, the establishment media, they have not been overly kind to Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, particularly Sanders, but they've had a couple, took a bunch of pot shots of Elizabeth Warren. And so I'm sure they did the same for Cory Booker when he announced. So I will read you some of the things that they wrote about him.

He's got a pragmatic approach as opposed to progressives who of course are not pragmatic, okay? That right now just warm it up, no big deal, right? He has quote, raw political talent, same thing they said about Bernie. He is a quote, these are all quotes, quote, he's a powerful contender, he is a gifted orator, order, I should say. And then they go to a politician, they're like, we didn't say this. They said it, which is, by the way, the same thing they do with progressives. I didn't say Bernie Sanders was a terrible human being.

I got this legislator to say he's a terrible human being, right? So in this case, they found Cedric Richmond, Louisiana Democrat, and they quote him as the last line in the piece that Cory Booker is, quote, driven more by faith and purpose than politics. Oh, come on, come, go, go, go, go, I don't believe that about anybody. Last thing I want. Well, maybe. Please be driven by politics for love of God. Yeah.

Or not for the love of God for the love of politics. Anywho, yeah. If his purpose is to become president, yeah, he's been driven by that for years, I'm sure. Yeah. Look, guys, some folks care more about policy and are driven by policy that is based on their track record, et cetera. But let's all email is they're all politicians, okay, including the progressives. That they, if you're running for president, you're kind of care about politics. And now I hope you're using politics to your policy goals that that's your end, not just power for its own sake.

But that's, those are descriptions that are really just like blanket and blazee that are like, this guy can raise a lot of money from the people he needs to raise money from. And therefore I'm going to say he's got a, he's driven by faith and what's the other one? Purpose. Faith and purpose. Yeah, and he has raised a lot of money. Yes. That's certainly true. Okay, do that too.

One last one, guys. So then they compare him to President Jimmy Carter, and I was like, oh, because the mainstream media almost never talks positively about Jimmy Carter in the context of his presidency. Outside of his presidency, they give him credit as they should for the wonderful work he's done in charity and curing diseases, et cetera. But when it comes to the presidents, they're like, oh, President Jimmy Carter and the malaise that the country was in, we get an ineffectual. So it's like, oh my God, are they going to say Cory Booker is like President Carter? that would normally in the mainstream media, that's a terrible insult. I don't agree, I think President Carter was fantastic in a lot of ways, including getting us peace in the Middle East.

So anyways, no, this is the one time that they praise Carter's presidency when they're comparing him to Booker. And they said, Booker reminds him of President Carter. And Carter's slogan about the presidency is, as government needs to be, quote, as good and honest and decent and compassionate and filled with love as are the American people. So they had to get that quote and it's somehow tied to Cory Booker because it's like the greatest quote about government and being filled with love, et cetera, and they're like, Booker obviously reminds us of Carter who once said this.

I don't like that quote. God, that is amazing. I'm finding it hard because like I like love. I don't love love, but like I like love, you know, I would vote for love, but so I don't know if I should endorse Booker because I like, I'm very torn, is what I'm saying. And the electorate will also be, if the question is love or no love. See, that's right, and that's why CNN does such a good job of being balanced in their coverage. Because people don't know, are they pro-love or anti-love?

The only thing I would say based on the different things that you said is we have to hold off, I think, on the criticisms of Bernie so far in this going on, because he hasn't announced yet. Once he announces and they ignore him or denigrate him, then we can start to criticize. No, no, no, no, but that's- It's gonna happen. No, no, no, by the way, so two things about that, real quick. Number one, has any other candidate received dozens of critical articles about him before the announcement?

Were they like, oh, hey, Cory Booker's got a really problematic history with Wall Street, et cetera. Was there big exposés about that? I don't remember any. I hear, though, that he is a gifted order and a powerful political talent, contender, etc. Now, but you're right that let's, hey, let's give the mainstream media a chance. And this is why we talk about things in advance on the young Turks. Maybe we'll be proven wrong because we can sense the skepticism that we have.

That maybe when Bernie Sanders announces and we all are guessing, as the whole planet is guessing, that he will announce. And when he does, maybe the New York Times, the CNN, et cetera, we'll be like, powerful, progressive champion of the people. What a great candidate. Let's see. Even if you hate everything he's ever said, you have to correctly identify that he's going to be a powerful contender that's going to go around.

Yeah. You are just fooling yourself if you don't say that. In any event, I want to get us a little bit to his policies. I wanna give you guys a heads up, a bit of a warning, based on some of the political history of Cory Booker, what might be coming to a news cycle sometime in the near future, understand that he is a big one for sort of political performances in the real world, which none of these are bad necessarily, but just this is a thing he does. So he went on a 10-day hunger strike during his mayoral run to bring attention to housing

issues. He went on food stamps to show how difficult it is. During one big storm, he shoveled a constituent's driveway and turned his Twitter account into a thing to coordinate shoveling. And so those are the sorts of things that he likes to do. He also, you might recall, ran into a burning building to save his neighbor. And so if buildings start to spontaneously combust near him in the future, watch out. So-

Okay, well- He plays the media game really well. He does, but- He seems to hit a mark that, like, let's say, Elizabeth Warren has missed in the past, but so it seems to sort of, you know, and no matter what your politics are, there's a, the popularity contest, you know, via Twitter and like obviously running in to save his neighbor just for Twitter, because like, who hasn't? But, you know, that wins in points, you know, to do these stunts, he knows how to appeal to people in that way. So guys, look, that cuts both ways.

So he plays a media game well, and hence glowing articles. Every article I read was glowing about Cory Booker. On the other hand, those are good things to draw attention to. And so I like that he did those things. I mean, you can call it stunts, you can call it anything you like, but he's drawing attention to poverty and food stamps, etc. He's shoveling something to his driveway. God bless his heart, right?

I don't know how big the fire was. I really don't. I don't know if it was like, I think it's a little smoke in the background. It was a toaster. Yeah, there was a to grill. Or if it was like a real serious fire. But in either way. I don't subscribe.

Yeah. Good things. Yeah. Would you run into a fire, even if it was for politics? I don't know, right? So give him credit, give him credit. So those are good things that he drew attention to and good things that he did. Yep, Trump said he would run into a school shooting without a gun.

He hasn't done it. Anyway, and yeah. Oh, my God. No, we're not saying anything. For any of these, I just imagine, what if AOC did this? I'd like it. So, I guess I can get too down on it. Anyway, just that might be coming.

So, Corey Booker now announced, what issues is he going to be driving, at least in the early phases of this campaign, we'll see how things develop. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post spoke with some of Cory Booker's aides, and here are a few of the things that they brought up. The baby bonds program that Booker has previously talked about, setting up sort of an initial investment in every child, basically, to help to eliminate some of the systemic inequality of America. Criminal justice reform, antitrust action, legalizing marijuana, that's something.

he's talked about for a long time, a pilot program for a federal jobs guarantee, housing tax credits for renters, a Green New Deal, and Medicare for All. Although, on those two last ones, there are, there's a need for further details because he said today for Medicare for all, he would not be in favor of eliminating private health insurance. And on the Green New Deal, the Sunrise Movement, they tweeted about it earlier today. And they said there are elements of it that he has supported that I would say go farther than, for instance, what Kamala Harris said last weekend. But he has not necessarily committed to the sort of urgent action that most committed

environmentalists mean when we talk about a Green New Deal. Yeah. But look, it's a pretty good record right now. You know, in a different segment, we'll also analyze all the ups and downs of Cory Booker. And he's taking a ton of money from all these different industries in the past. And I think that that does merit some skepticism or significant skepticism. But I'm super happy to have him as an ally in all of these. And he did great work on criminal justice reform.

So I don't think that that's necessarily the question. And I think that a lot of times the establishment does this trick where they say like, oh, so you're saying he's a bad person? No, nobody said that, right? So we're not having conversation about whether someone is a good person or a bad person, a good progressive or a bad progressive, a good senator or a bad senator. We're having conversation about who would be the best person to be president of the United States of America.

So I'm happy to have Cory Booker on the team. I'm not sure that I want him to be captain. So, and that's what this contest is about, who's going to be the captain of the team? And if you're progressive, you might want the most progressive candidate, but you'd be thrilled that he's at least on board for Medicare for all, et cetera. And so, or you might say, hey, you know what, I think someone who's more centrist is going to win. I don't think so.

I think someone who's more progressive is a much better chance of winning. But anyway, for better or for worse, that's his record. You want to get into some of the potential issues? Yes. Okay. So, Cory Booker is now, he's in the race, and like you said, he's getting a lot of positive coverage, at least initially. Probably it will continue.

But at some point, the media's going to have to figure out if they want him or Kamala Harris in this Democratic primary. He does come into the race, though, with a number of potential issues. A lot of that having to do with his fundraising. He's a noted great fundraiser, but that often means that they're talking about. taking money from people that we would prefer that they do not. So first off, small donors. Let's talk about that. Those who gave $200 or less account for 11% of his Senate fundraising base according to FEC records. He raised his percentage of small dollar donors to 27% in the past

two years. But Mr. Booker has the lowest percentage of small dollar donor funds of any senator thought to be weighing a presidential bid up until relatively recently. And we can compare that to some of the others. If we bring up this chart, you'll see some of the fundraising as well as the percentage that's small donor. So you see there that he's at 11%. Someone like Kirsten Gillibrands at 16, Kamala Harris at 32. But then you have Elizabeth Warren at half. And Bernie Sanders at 61%. So it's pretty huge range, a huge difference between 11% and 61%. Even what he raised it to, 27, is a lot lower than either Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. So I'm going to give a backhand and a compliment here.

So to be fair to Cory Booker, the 11% is really low because, and not because he has two little small donors, that's only half the equation. The other half the equation is because he has a lot of really large donors. So don't like- Oh, good. But those are the facts. So it's not like, my God, he cannot get small donors. He said he has such gigantic donors that they dwarf his small donors. The fact that he got it up to 27% in the last two years is meaningless, that he wasn't running

for office, so he wasn't soliciting big campaign contributions from Wall Street, et cetera. So 11% is the number to look at there. Yeah, and should we care about the enthusiasm folks have from small donors as opposed to giant corporations? Yeah, I think that's a perfectly legitimate thing to consider. Yeah, and I know, I mean, take this for the grain of salt, but there's going to be a lot of people running, and the DNC has said that access to the debate stage is going to be driven, either wholly or partly, I would assume probably partly, by ability to generate

small donors. Now, I'm sure that most of the senators are not going to have trouble qualifying past whatever bar they have there, but it does mean that it's going to be something that we're going to be talking about a lot more, thankfully. I think what's one of the best developments I've heard in a long time. Yeah, when, yeah, that I'm like, that's totally new. Well, we'll see, I mean, it's easy to say that. We'll see what the bar is at.

Sure. Yeah. 11%. Maybe 27. Yeah, they're not going to eliminate court. That's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. But look, but that what I'm not worried about like whether they eliminate establishment candidates

from the debates. I want to make sure that populist candidates can get into the debates by getting a lot of small donors. So look, one of the things we mainly push for after the some of the just Democrats wins like Accio Cortez was, hey, you should use a different. standard because the media kept asking, what did we miss? Why did we miss Ocaser, Cortez, Rashida-Talib, et cetera? And we said it's because you missed the small donors.

And that's a better indicator of enthusiasm, energy, et cetera. And the fact that the DNC has accepted that is wonderful. So let's see how the debates play out. But now getting to the heart of Cory Booker's fundraising, look, it's a super real issue. None of the mainstream articles mentioned it, but, you know, we went back and looked at, of course, to intercept and other places that has documented it. So back in 2014, when he ran for Senate, his first full term, he raised more money, and this is amazing from the financial industry than any other senator, okay, but I'm not anywhere near done,

he also raised the most amount of money, because he's number one in all these categories, from the real estate industry, entertainment industry, tech industry, accountants, and groups considered to be pro-Israel. So, wow, man, big donors love Cory Booker. Oh, God, those are all the sectors, everything you want. He is very, he's also, he must be like loving HQ2, Amazon headquarters, I don't know, Any kind of, probably against BDS for sure, not really understanding the occupation. Anyway, great, awesome.

Let me give you just a couple of the numbers really fast. So from Securities and Investment, he received $1.87 million back in 2014, a ton of money, obviously. Also received more pharmaceutical manufacturing cash over the past six years than any other Democratic Senator, $267,000, amongst a number of others. Here's one of my favorites. So, Securities in investment industry, obviously is the financial industry. So he's number one at 1.87 million back in 2014. You know who number two was? Mitch McConnell.

Mitch McConnell got 1.26 million. He's the leader of the Republicans. He got $600,000 less than Cory Booker did, who's a Democrat and in the minority. And in the minority in the Senate. That's unbelievable. Wall Street still has some taste, is what, just a little bit of taste. Well, I was early day Bougar a million times over McConnell, but the fact that Wall Street Wood, too, is interesting and concerning.

Look, part of that might have been a reward for 2012 because in 2012 he famously came out and criticized Barack Obama and supported Mitt Romney. He didn't say vote for Romney, he voted for Obama and supported Obama overall, but on the issue of the financial industry, he came out and said that Obama was wrong to criticize Mitt Romney's record in finance and to criticize private equity in general. And Wall Street saw that and loved it. Sure. I think, I mean, listen, I think that some of, all of this is going to get just laid out in front of him during the debates.

I mean, he's the anti-Warren at this point. And when you look at all of that and you look at the financial sector that's behind him, who were completely freaked out about Elizabeth Warren running and an Elizabeth Warren presidency, as they are with Bernie Sanders presidency. But no matter what, you know, establishment media says, all of that stuff is going to be to be dragged out by the, like, how many candidates are now in the running, they're all going to lay it out, be like, oh, interesting that you say that you live in this low-income neighborhood in Newark, and yet you have taken tons of donations from the real estate

sector, and I'm imagining those aren't like, you know, neighborhood co-ops that are filling your coffers, right? And so there's those hypocrisies. I do think that where he was strong in that video, and it has to be mentioned, and I sort of did by talking about Beyonce, but centering the amount of racism that this president has kicked up that has always been part of the legacy of the United States that is now just bubbling up to the surface and needs to burn off is crucial. I think any candidate, just as they need to be tackling our inequality, have to be tackling

racism and have to have racial justice at the center. So that is why I think he's formidable. I don't think he's formidable in terms of the donors, in terms of his history. And if establishment media is like, well, he's looking good, he's not, he's not. And if actually real questions are asked during the debates, and I think that his opponents will ensure that they will be, he will get filleted when it comes to who his biggest donors are and how he will continue to open this country up to even more inequality. So all great points, let's talk more about more upsides and downsides. So he's obviously great on the issue of race, and we support him wholeheartedly on that. But look, it's one thing to be like, hey, I want full civil rights for African Americans and

Latinos and everybody else. That's relatively easy, but you have to back it up with policy, but Cory Booker has. So he did great work on criminal justice reformers, among the most credit for the bill that just passed while Trump's president. And that's a bill that's progressive, does not have very many downsides? Does it get everything we want? No, but it moved the ball in a real direction, in a really positive way. So as we're analyzing candidates, we cannot live in that black and white world that the right

wing does, or sometimes the establishment does. Near Tandon famously said about a David Sorota tweet, which showed where Beto O'Rourke had gotten money from oil companies, that it was very dangerous to show where he got money. from. So I guess she's gonna consider this video dangerous because we showed you where Booker got some of his money, but we should not make the same mistake, okay? Do not take credit away from him on the great work that he's done. He went and supported Ben Jealous, who's very progressive for governor of Maryland, et cetera.

Now, on the other hand, there are things that are of concern, right? So like, now, okay, no, let me give him one more compliment. When he, during the Kavanaugh hearings, he was tough on Kavanaugh, and he had a lot of A good moment there and all that was great, okay? And you need fighters. But that's where part of my problem comes in. So historically, throughout his career, he has emphasized love and unity, and you're going to say that's a funny thing to object to, Jane.

But I do, and I'll tell you why. And again, he emphasized in this run, quote, common purpose and a revival of civic grace. So unfortunately, I don't believe this is a good time. to talk about civility. I think this is a good time to kneecap Republicans. And so I'm not interested in finding common purpose with Donald Trump. And so if I'm worried that if he, not only in how he would campaign against Trump or any other Republican, in trying to find unity that does not exist with the MAGA guys, but I'm

even more worried that if he's president, and then he's like, all right, let's have beer summits, and let's try to see if we can come to agreement with Mitch McConnell on We should treat Wall Street in pharmaceutical companies, not remotely interested in that. No, I don't want unity with Mitch McConnell. I want you to kick Mitch McConnell's ass. And accountability for the corruption that we know has been going on in, let's say, the amount of money that was funneled through the NRA to the GOP. Like, we still don't know the end of all of the investigations that are unfolding.

So I don't want a president to come in. And again, this is one of my biggest criticisms of Obama, of course, is like, are war on terror, forgive and forget, you know, and continue. Like, no, you actually, there were war crimes committed, and we have to treat them as such. And I'm not saying, you know, lock him up, but like, I'm not saying don't lock him up. But I'm also just saying, let's ensure, and I think some of the Democrats in Congress are really ensuring that we can no longer have a president or a GOP that is as corrupt. Yes, you have to divulge your tax returns, you know, we're going to safeguard voting rights and all that. So I agree with you.

We can't get in there and just play the same middling centrism that actually causes us to lose. And also we forget, because we've been, I think the left has been losing for so long, just how far to the right this like tablecloth of American politics has been pulled. We've got to restrain that, you know? And if, and because we're progressives, I would say pull it to the left, which means there's actually food on the other side. So people get to eat. Yes. I would also say, I mean, look, they're all on CNN all day,

saying amazing, natural political talents and everything, it's not just that I don't want a person who's going to focus entirely on unity and bringing us together, which I think is a fool's errand. I also think that pragmatically, politically, I think it's unwise for him in this primary. I mean, yeah, the American people like people who say we're going to come together, I guess, but I don't think that's the number one thing that people want or will want in the Democratic primary. I think they want to know that the situation with health care is going to be fixed, that there's going to be jobs, that we're going to take climate change seriously, all of these things.

And it's not to say that he doesn't have policies hypothetically that would do that, but if he's on a debate stage talking about, you know, like loving Mitch McConnell or whatever, okay, that's what you can spend your time on, or you can give me a very good reason to believe that you're going to confront the biggest issues facing our country with the urgency they deserve. I don't think you can necessarily do both of those things. Yeah. So, you know, and they give him this mantle of being great at politics in, you know, I quoted CNN earlier in the show about how he's a powerful contender, raw political talent,

and all this stuff, he's pulling at 3%. Look, I don't want to, like, I don't want to judge him too harshly on that. It's early, there's a million people in the race, but if you're gonna give him all those accolades, they need to be connected to something, right? Whereas, for example, Bernie Sanders is pulling at number two, not number one, Biden is, okay, but Sanders is pulling at number two. Does he get the mantle of raw political talent, et cetera? Never, ever, ever, ever, right?

Oh, you know, he's awkward, he's this. I mean, they find a thousand negative adjectives to, but he's polling at, in the worst poll, at 16%. If one guy's at 3% and he's super talented politically and the other guys at 16%, I would argue that he's a little bit more talented politically. But, Jank, what was Sanders polling at at this point in the last cycle? Like 3%. Well, oh no.

Oh, my God. Here it comes Cory Booker. By the way, if Cory Booker, like Bernie Sanders, closes a 60 point lead, now it's a too big a field to close 60 points, but has that kind of rise, I would give him tremendous credit for an unbelievable political, because they, like, the mainstream media might believe it, but I would be dramatically surprised, and I would give him credit for being apparently an amazing political talent that I underestimated. So finally, look, it's all about policy, guys.

So I hope that's what it's about for you, if you're a progressive, or whatever you. believe in. So, and that cuts both directions too. So in reaching out to Republicans, sometimes he has gotten good policies passed, like criminal justice reform that I just mentioned. He actually did work with some Republicans to do that. So now, so that's why reaching out to Republicans is not a blanket wrong. It's, again, we don't live in a black and white world.

If they have come in our direction and want to do justice reform, or they want to give felons the right to vote as they did in Florida, for example. example, fantastic, and I'm happy to agree with them because they're agreeing with us. But if you're gonna go in their direction in a situation, as Francesca pointed out, that has been pulled massively to the right, that I'm not at all interested. So which brings us to the drug importation bill. So Bernie Sanders proposes a bill that would have allowed us to import drugs from Canada. And it easily could have passed because 13 Republicans voted for it.

So how in the world did it not pass? It got 13 Republicans to vote for it. Because 13 Democrats, including Cory Booker, flipped over to the other side, voted with the majority of Republicans, and said, no, you will not have access to cheaper drugs in America. And I want you to be clear. So he said, well, it's because of safety issues, really? Yeah. And even Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican, was like, yeah, really?

Show me the dead Canadians. You show me dead Canadians that died from the horribly unsafe drugs from Canada, and I'll vote in the other direction. And that goes to John's point of that's, these Republicans aren't voting that way because they had a change of heart. They're hearing that from their constituencies, that actually drug prices are a huge concern for them. Obviously, the premise of this bill, by the way, is insane.

Like, the drugs manufactured in the U.S. are cheaper in Canada, and it would actually be wholly cheaper if we just re-imported them because the Canadian government has like better controls on pricing, we are sick. No, that's right. And so I just want you to understand that. The safety issue is pushed by Big Pharma, that is their number one thing. And unfortunately, since they've captured our government, it worked under Clinton, Bush, and Obama, and now Trump, okay?

Safety, they're produced here. The drugs are manufactured here in America. But our government is so corrupt, we're not allowed to negotiate drug prices with the drug companies, whereas Canada's government can negotiate. So it's actually cheaper to make them here, ship them to Canada. Canada and then ship him back, okay? But Cory Booker blocked it. He later changed his vote a little bit and said, well, I was just about I introduced safety

amendments and I feel like now all of a sudden these dangerous Canadians are a little bit safer. You're telling me, and the mainstream media will tell you, and then you decide if you believe them, that the fact that he was the number one recipient of pharmaceutical industry donor money did not affect his vote to vote in the same exact way that the pharmaceutical industry wanted him to using the same exact excuse that the pharmaceutical industry uses, which is that the drugs in Canada are unsafe. Which is why it's hard to believe that he would be running on Medicare for all, or that

even if he did run on Medicare for all, that he could be believed and trusted to do that. And as many people have analyzed the Medicare for all landscape, we know that Big Pharma, that's, those are the Democrats. Like, Big Pharma has the Democrats in their pockets, and Democrats are going to be the biggest hurdles to get Medicare for all. energy, all that, that sector, those Republicans, that's red. But they are going to be, Democrats like Cory Booker will be the biggest blocks, either in Congress or in the White House, to getting something like a Medicare for all plan.

We got a break. Yep. All right, let's take a quick break. When we come back, Trump does his usual nuts routine. We'll break it down for you guys. Come right back. We hope you're enjoying this free clip from the Young Turks. If you want to get the whole show and more exclusive content while supporting independent

media become a member at t yt.com slash join today. In the meantime, enjoy this free second. All right, back on the young three, I have just one tweet for you guys, but it's a good one. T.M. writes in, if you're a fan of, uh, fan of Francesca and Miss Newsbroke, then check out her podcast. Why, I totally agree. The bituation room. Yeah. Check that out. Which I get it everywhere. John's been on. It's fun. I'm just going to sing. Jenk will come on someday. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Do people know that the podcast is musical? It is. I don't know that. Yes. But it's only in that, my range is just, it's really just sea. If it's a musical, then perhaps I won't come. But I could do my flipper thing. Yeah, please.

All right, what do you got, Jen? Okay, let's end with a little bit of fun. The polar vortex has driven Fox News completely insane. That is the only conclusion that I could draw when you see what they have been saying recently about climate change and electric cars, even solar panels, and the sun. So first, we have Ed Henry. He is going to attempt to make an argument about how the left is lying to you about climate change here.

First, it was global warming. Then it was climate change. Now, maybe extreme weather. The left keeps rolling out new terms, but pushing the same agenda. So what you saw there is that apparently. the left, which is everything. It's politicians, the activists, environmentalists, it's the, you know, the scientists themselves used to just say global warming, then they changed to climate change. Now it's just extreme weather. We can't talk about any, only the latest

one that we can talk about. So extreme weather, that's what we have now. So I'm glad that he acknowledges that we have all the scientists on our side. Because it used to be 97, it's now 99% of scientists believe that not only that climate change is real, but that it's manmade. So, okay, They're the left, I guess they're the left. And they're the ones that call it climate change. And every, I believe extreme weather is a term that's been around for some time. They like it if we're called extremist weather. That's their kind of thing.

Call it by its right name and then we can solve it. God damn it. All right, anyway. Ed Henry, I believe that he was a neutral reporter at CNN. And now all of a sudden, like the left calls it these changing names. It's funny how a paycheck from Fox News changes your perspective. a little bit. Yeah, I don't understand.

We can keep saying it's waste of time, but climate and weather are not the same thing. Individual acts of extreme weather are not the same as climate. But if you cared to talk to a scientist for literally 10 minutes, you would know the reasons, the scientific rationale for the idea that global climate change will inevitably lead to more instances of more intense extreme weather. And also, you'd understand that it's not that people talk about global warming, then they talk about climate change. People have been using both of those terms for literally decades, one of the reasons that people who communicate about these issues have largely shifted from talking about global warming to climate change is not because of changing science, but because of moron right wingers like the people we just saw.

Global warming is an accurate description of what's happening. The global average temperature is going up consistently, but it is not only that things are getting more warm. They're also in some places getting more dry, in some places getting more wet. In some places, they get colder when it gets cold. That is why we talk about the more generalized phenomenon of climate change. It does not mean that global warming isn't happening. This is a more all-inclusive term for the combination of different things we're seeing. Look, that is not a left-wing ideology.

That is what 99% of the scientists all across the world, the Chinese scientists, the Indian scientists, the American, the Bolivian, every scientist says the same thing. And if you choose to have a war on science and you say, okay, well, that's your call. That's fine, all right? So, but the reality is that the scientists say that it leads to more extreme weather. Climate change does. And in, okay, so isn't warming overall, to the point John's making about weather, and weather is what happens outside your window.

On any given day, that is the weather. Climate happens over a long period of time. So even though it is cold today in the, specifically in the Midwest in America, Right? Not all across the world. There's actually a raging, horrible fire in Australia as we speak now. Wait to get a little of the idea of the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. When Trump hears about it, he's like, fake news, there's only one hemisphere.

Oh, this cold one place hot and another, ha ha ha, lips, lips, right? I've seen the edge of the planet. Right. So you want to know the four hottest years that have ever existed as long as we have been tracking it? 2015, wow, that was pretty recent. 2016, 2017. It's coming right-house.

And 2018. Those are the four hottest years in- But we're in for a cold one. Because the Polo-Mortex is happening in 2019, I don't know guys, I think it might be cold. I was reading about this and like I have to say that the three people in the studio right now are in Los Angeles. So honestly, you shouldn't listen to anything that we're saying. I don't just turn it. No, don't turn it off.

But I will say I didn't understand. It's really simple why it's so cold up in the northeast is jet streams are changing. And when the Arctic is melting, all of that cold air and water is coming down. It's just moving toward lower where it shouldn't be, which is why you have hashtags in Chicago that are Chiberia. Like, this is, it's very scary. Like we, there's a reason why it's, why the cold's up there and down there and not in the middle, you know, that's how life was formed on Earth. Yeah, just real quick, Jennifer Francis, senior scientist at Woods Hole Research Center

that studies climate change impacts, says that the global warming leads to a hotspot in the Arctic, which then allows the polar vortex to come down into where we live. So that's one of the reasons. By the way, that one is a little bit more in dispute. 99% of the world scientists have not studied that particular issue, and scientists are generally very conservative in their nature, not in their politics necessarily. And so whether climate change leading to the polar vortex coming to the Midwest is an open question.

Yeah. But it leading to more extreme weather overall is not an open question. Yeah. And by the way, like what you just described, if they want, if Ed Henry and whoever else was sitting next to him, if they wanted to know that and they wanted to understand that, They could do it, but it's all about how you distribute your resources. So yesterday on my show, I had Bill McKibbon on, and we talked about the Polar Vortex. Do you know who they threw to after the clip that you saw?

Some conservative radio host, who doesn't know anything about science. And he was on Fox News all day. They could learn, they choose not to it. Unfortunately, the consequence is that their audience also doesn't learn. Now, if we could get video five ready, I just want to close with this because Jesse Waters is not known for being one of the smarter people on Fox, even on Fox and Friends when he appears there. He says something about the polar vortex that is stupid enough that we have just got to listen to it.

Here it is. They have this new green deal or whatever, okay, where they want to eliminate all oil and gas in 10 years. Yeah, 10 years. If you're in the polar vortex, how are you gonna stay warm with solar panels? Are you gonna drive a Prius through a foot of snow? Absolutely not. And they want to tax estates.

So I have to give my kids half of my estate when I die, which will be a national tragedy. He thinks that when it's cold, solar panels don't work. Do you want to know where solar panels are used? First of all, in Chicago, they're used, in Antarctica, which is pretty cold for Earth. The Curiosity rover on Mars has solar panels on it. It's really cold on Mars, by the way. But John, does the sun really work when it's cold? And also, for all you working class Fox viewers, my especially, my especially, you're

The state will be handled by my family, okay? How many, like, if you say estate, my estate on national television, you should be off of national television. Well, unfortunately, they're almost all on national television, because they get paid so much. But Jesus, Fox, if you were paying Jesse Waters that much, because in order to have the estate tax even apply to you, even apply to a single dollar, for a couple, you have to have $22 million, according to the latest Republican proposal.

So Fox News, did you pay that talentless hack $22 million enough for him to be worried about his estate or do the cloud? Yeah, they're parodies of themselves, and you know what? I've always said this, but I think they're the right. They're fan boys and girls of AOC. The Green Deal, they're super curious about it. They love that stuff. They're like, these guys have ideas and stuff.

It comes from the brain. Like, so they say, but I think they're ultimately, and I have faith. And that's why I love you guys and love this show and TYT is because I think that the right is ultimately just fan girls and boys of the left and they're curious about progressives because they know we've got better ideas. I like that theory. It's good point that on. All right, guys.

We're at the time on the first hour. Francesca, thank you. Everybody checking out the Bituation Room. And while you're on the podcast, you should also check out the damage report. That's a podcast. For members, you can see it, not just hear it. You get a video of it as it's live, so t-y-t.com slash join for that, but everybody, make sure you go to facebook.com slash the damage report, TYT, the damage report, TYT, and just like it

or follow it, even if you don't really like or follow it. You should. It would reflect well on you if you did. Bill McKibbon was on. Come on. On the other hand, Fox News, at a radio talk show host, I mean, who's going to know more about the environment? He's such a big deal, I could not find any social media for him to look into his past.

All right, we got a great hour coming up for you guys, including my controversial opinion on gay conversion therapy, so, and, oh, what is Governor Bevin up to now in Kentucky? Oh, you're gonna love that story, he's, so he's not, by the way, good news, and there's a a twist in that story too he's not going after the left he's going after the right in a twist that was totally unexpected all right we'll talk about that when we come back thanks for listening to the full episode of the young turks support our work listen to ad free access members only bonus content and more by subscribing to apple podcast at apple dot co slash t yt i'm your host jank yugar and i'll see you soon