The Young Turks - Part 2: Bernie’s Birthday Bash

Episode Date: October 7, 2020

Part 2: TYT's Bernie Sanders Birthday Bash where we celebrate the progressive movement and take a look at Bernie in the early years, his time in Congress, and his legacy. Hosted by Cenk Uygur, Emma Vigeland, and Ben Dixon. Guests will include Nina Turner and Brianna Wu.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. The new BMO ViPorter MasterCard is your ticket to more. More perks. More points. More flights. More of all the things you want in a travel rewards card.

And then some. Get your ticket to more with the new BMO ViPorter MasterC. and get up to $2,400 in value in your first 13 months. Terms and conditions apply. Visit bemo.com slash V-I-Porter to learn more. All right, back on the Young Turks, Bernie Birthday Bash. Benjamin Dixon enjoys us. What are you doing, Ben?

Doing good, Jake. Glad to be here celebrating the man, Bernard Sanders. Apparently his son Levi growing up also called him Bernard instead of death. Maybe that's why Bernie didn't endorse him when he ran. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. No, I actually love that Bernie doesn't endorse his family members. And he says, I don't believe in dynacies, and I don't believe in royalty. So bless his heart.

You know, people say, hey, Jenger, are you mad at Bernie for, in a sense, unendorsing you in your campaign? Are you crazy? He endorsed me, he didn't endorse his own son. So no, no, I love him for it. I love that he had enough courage to endorse me in the first place. In fact, Nina Turner is going to be on in the next segment. We'll talk to her about that and the campaigns that Bernie's supporting. But Ben, before we get started on his two runs in 2016 and 2020, I'm just going to read a couple of names here, really. quick. So these are donors that are making shows like this possible at t-y-t.com slash go. Fadier and Sydney, 15 bucks, Julius in Rosendale, Massachusetts, 27 bucks, Pat L in Millville, Deliverr, that's my old immigrant W's and V's getting mixed up. Anyway, 27 bucks from Alfredo D in San

Antonio and five bucks from Sarah H in Florida. And we're now at $35,056 at t.com.com. I'd love to get the $40,000 today. You guys make all the difference. And we do this show together. And we try to get changed together. That's part of the point here. And I know the rest of the media hates that. Oh, they're like, oh, you should be disinterested in the news. No, the reason I cover the news is because I'm deeply interested in it. And I think we need a lot of change in this country. And so does Bernie. So that's why he ran twice. So I, um, I, We're going to show you one cute clip from 2016 to start the proceedings. You might remember this moment.

What? Now you see, this little bird doesn't know it. So, no. So that became Bertie Sanders. There's another famous clip of Donald Trump with an eagle, and the eagle spreads its wings, and Trump's like, ah! And that right there is a difference between the two guys, in a sense. Yeah, Jake, that clip just takes me back to a better time, a better time in American history, a better time when we could actually be gathered in a crowd, but also in a hopeful time. Like folks really, people like make a lot about this cult of personality around Bernie.

I don't think it's a cult of personality. I think it's a bunch of people who really believe that we could do better. And that's what Bernie symbolizes. Yeah, I actually, as usual with the corporate media, it's the exact opposite of reality. There's no cult of personality. If Bernie was not for those policy positions, progressives wouldn't have picked Bernie. We would to pick someone else. Absolutely. And it's, they're so maddening, Ben, I don't know whether to be mad at the media or just kind of almost sympathetic, like, sympathetic because they're just not that bright.

You know, there are folks who drive their agenda and they're the ones who make the hiring decisions. But by the time you get to those mid-level manager editors that put out the narrative, they're It just slaps, and they're like, oh, okay, we're supposed to tell everybody, don't ever focus on the policy, and if someone rises up because of policy, and you can't name another person who's risen up more clearly because of policy than Bernie Sanders, then we tell all of our reporters right to opposite, right to opposite, say nobody cares about his policy, and they love him for his hair, et cetera, right?

And that little bird thing there obviously doesn't mean anything like in a, in terms of how you should vote, of course, right? But it goes towards like this little moment where you got a sense of who the good guys are. It was like, like it was almost like a little look into the soul of the guy. And hence only symbolic, but look, he, you could say the relevant political part of that clip was the crowd, which has been the mainstay throughout in his two runs for president. And everybody knows Bernie's crowds. And when he ran again in 2020, Washington Post ran four negative articles on the first state. That's not to be confused with the 16 negative

articles. They ran over a 24 hour period or over a 16 hour period in 2016. That was a whole different incident. But when they he decided to run again in 2020, they said the crowds won't show up this time. It's like he's playing the oldies and nobody's going to show up. So let's look at Bernie's rally in Brooklyn in the 2020 campaign and see if the crowd showed up. Let's watch. Sisters, we have an enormous amount of work in front of us and the path forward will not be easy. The wealthy and powerful elite who decade after decade have gotten everything they want will do all that they can to defend their financial interests. And they have an unlimited amount of money at their disposal. But we have something that they do not have.

We have the people together. This is what I believe from the bottom of my heart. If we do not allow Trump and his friends to divide us up, if we stand together black and white and Latino, Asian American, Native American, if we stand together urban and rural, North, south, east, and west. If we stand together not as red state and blue state, but as working people, fighting for dignity.

If we stand together, believing in justice and human dignity, if we stand together, believing in love and compassion, if we stand together, believing in love and compassion. If we stand together, brothers and sisters, the future of this country is extraordinary, and there is nothing we will not be able to accomplish. Well, that was an awesome speech, an awesome crowd, has happened a lot, Ben. And I remember when I asked them in 2016, when did you know your campaign was going to catch on fire? He said, when I showed up at a campaign stop, and there was all these people lined up about 7,000 people who was amazing, I've never seen anything like that. And I asked my staffer, who are they here for? Who's on before us? And they said, no, Bernie, they're here for you. He said, then I knew we had something. But Ben, at the end of the day, he said,

if we stand together, we'll win, but we didn't, okay? So I'm keeping a reel on that front, obviously. So what do you think got in the way? Yeah. You know, he mentioned in that speech about not letting Donald Trump divide us. What he should have mentioned was not let the Democratic establishment divide us, right? Because there was a concerted effort, right? We're in a fight for our lives against Donald Trump. We got to get rid of Donald Trump. But we're celebrating Bernie tonight, and what stopped Bernie was the fact that the Democratic Party put more energy in stopping him than it feels like they're putting into stopping Donald Trump. And so that that's really what was the greatest hindrance. And what he represents is something that's almost antithetical

to the current Democratic Party. Like he represents working people of every race. He's not concerned with identity only politics, he's concerned about your identity, but he also was concerned about your material condition. And so that type of message was a threat to the billionaire donors that support the Democratic Party as well. So let's talk about this for a second, because we talked about his civil rights record in the last segment, Ben. And he had a great one. And his opponent didn't necessarily have a great one. And so no question that the media made a giant difference there. But is there anything he or his team could have done to win South Carolina and to win the African American vote throughout the South? Because they did a pretty

good job in reaching African Americans who were younger, and they did a better job of reaching minorities in other parts of the country. But my God, they had four years to work on it, and honestly, they still got killed in the South with black voters in 2020. So if you were in their place, is there anything you would have advised them to do differently, anything they could have done to change outcome in the South? Yeah, it's the same things that we try to advise them for the longest, you know, me on the outside way back in 2015, but he also had some pretty good African American advisors, team members, I could call them by names, but it was, there's a, Bernie's old and Bernie

stubborn, and Bernie was stuck in his ways. And he did not, just like the New York Times, opinion board piece where he said he just doesn't play the game. There are some things where he should have just played the game. There's some things where he should have made some phone calls and courted some people in a way that I don't think he was really comfortable with and honestly communicated more strongly on race because that's the game they played against them. Case in point, reparations. Nobody has heard anything about reparations from the Democratic Party since they stopped using it as a tool against Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders should have played the same game

that the Democratic establishment played against him. But he, that's not his style of politics. So you know, you can't fault him for being true to his style of politics. But there were things that it could have done. But hindsight is 2020. We know the games of the Democratic Party now. And so on the next go around, whoever the leader is of the progressive movement, we have to go after them the same way they come after us. Yeah, look, first of all, if he came out loudly in favor of reparations, First, as an example, to your point, Ben, they couldn't help but attack him, including Fox News. And what they would have done is told everybody where side he's on, right?

I made a wild suggestion, but I don't think it's wild. I think it makes sense that I think one way to go is it would have been, and there's a small thing, but it could make a big difference. Let's to say, look, who is the best performing ethnic group in terms of education in America? And if you don't know the answer, it's actually Nigerians, okay? And so if I was Bernie's team, I would have announced that we were going to do a massive scholarship to try to recruit more Nigerians to come to America because they're so successful in doing well here. Okay? What would have happened? Fox News would have lost their minds. Donald Trump would have lost their minds. Can you believe he's letting more black people in the country? Well, you just told everybody you're on the side of black folks and other folks aren't, right? Pick a moral

high ground and policy you agree with anyway and have them attack you because they're never going to give you positive coverage. Never, right? And so I don't know. But Ben, am I overstating it? I think honestly that the reason he lost two elections, yes, he could have done things better. You just mentioned some things he could have done better. I've talked about it a lot, and there are some other factors. But I think it's 70% the media that cost them elections. Oh yeah, yeah, because it's absolutely the media who spun those narratives, right?

The negative narrative of the Bernie Bros, right? The negative narrative about Bernie Sanders not doing well with the black. vote, like they gave wings and legs to a story that wasn't factual. And that became a self-fulfilling prophecy. And that's the, you know, manufacturer consent that we get from the Republicans, from the media on a regular basis. And that's something that we also have to be aware of, though. So my thing is, if we know the weapons that they use against us, then we have to be one step ahead of them at all times. And so we know the narratives now. We know the game. We know how they weaponize identity politics. We know how they even try to divide the working class.

and pit us against each other because that's been the strategy that they've employed for generations. So I do agree. I think it's mainly the media, but they also tapped onto some critical issues there that they felt that they can exploit with regard to Bernie Sanders. Yeah, so here's a couple more amazing facts before we show you another video. So during 2015, when Bernie was closing Hillary Clinton's lead in a way that was absolutely remarkable, Hillary Clinton got three times of coverage that he did. I mean, that is so hard to overcome. That is billions of dollars more in media coverage for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

And she already had great name recognition. Bernie Sanders' main problem in 2016 was name recognition. And they just starved him of that attention. But here's more stunning facts. So Trump got more attention than he did in 2015, of course, right? But also Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and even Ben Carson. Ben Carson got more press coverage than Bernie Sanders did in the year 2015. Now do you know how big a lead Bernie Sanders closed between May of 2015 and right after

the Iowa primary in February of 2016? So in about eight months, he closed a 50 point lead. He was down 60 to 10, and by the time Iowa was over, they were in a statistical tie according to Quinnipiac. And yet they covered Ben Carson more, unreal. So now I gotta squeeze in this one more video for you guys before we go to Nina Turner. These are debate highlights, and I wanted to emphasize that as well. So let's take a quick look at these.

Care for All is comprehensive. It covers all health care needs. For senior citizens, it will finally include dental care, hearing aids, and eyeglasses. Second of all, second of all, I do know, when I wrote the damn bill. And second of all, I get a little bit tired of Democrats afraid of big ideas. Republicans are not afraid of big ideas. They could give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to billionaires and profitable corporations. They could bail out the crooks on Wall Street. So please don't tell me that we cannot take on the fossil fuel industry. And nothing happens unless we do.

Let's talk about democratic socialism, not communism, Mr. Bloomberg. That's a cheap shot. Let's talk about democratic. Let's talk about what goes on in countries like Denmark. With Pete correctly pointed out, they have a much higher quality of life in many respects, than we do. What are we talking about? We are living in many ways in a socialist society right now.

Problem is, as Dr. Mont Luther King reminded us, we have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor. You support Medicare for all, which would eventually take private health insurance away for more than 150 million Americans in exchange for government-sponsored health care for everyone. Congressman Delaney just referred to it as bad policy, and previously he has called the idea

a political suicide that will just get President Trump reelected. What do you say to Congressman Delaney? You're wrong. Every question framed against them. Every question. And so, look, I got frustrated that sometimes he didn't make as good arguments as I imagined we could have made for the progressive movement. But he had to climb an impossible hill where they just kept pouring like oil down the hill

and saying, oh, go ahead, why don't you just climb up it? It's not easier for not climbing up it. So look, the critique there is he should have said from the get go, hey, you know what socialist cops and fire department and the military? And so stop this insane talking point. And if you, Jake Tapper or Anderson Cooper, you ask me that one more time, I'm gonna begin to understand that you don't understand anything about politics. And you probably should be fired.

Do you understand that with every country is a mixed economy? Do you understand that? If you don't understand it, you should not be in the news business. But that's not who Bernie Sanders is. And by the way, if they didn't like Bernie, wait till they get somebody who actually is a fire breather. And one day, someone like that will rise out of the left. Yeah, yeah, Jake, I say that all the time. They really should have accepted Bernie Sanders because he was, he was the negotiation.

There are people who are coming up in the ranks who are going to be far more charismatic, able to argue more, debate better, and play the game of politics better than any Democratic establishment player can. And they are going to be truly a leftist. Yeah. So I'm going to read a couple more names here. And then Nina Turner is next. And I'm going to read a couple comments. So IRNC from hunting in Vermont, appropriately, $27. These are all at 20 at t.com slash go. We've got to have the progressive mic be louder, as you can tell here.

That's basically why we lost the last two elections. And it turns out, I was having trouble with his name, he's apparently donated a couple of times. It's Jmo because he's Turkish, this he's pronounced like a J. I should have known that. I gave 15 bucks from New Orleans, obviously to Louisiana. Dean U from Honolulu gave 27 bucks, Erasmus C from Sacramento gave 10, and Bernard R appropriately from Jersey City gave 27 bucks, that's also appropriate.

So I wanna read one comment here. Badger gal says, well actually before I do that, let me tell you where the thermometer is at, 35,534, would love to get to 40,000 by the end of the day. If you can, t.y.t.com slash go. Badger gal wrote in in the member section, this is making me tear up. I just don't feel that sense of hope anymore. Well, don't worry, stay right here, because coming up next, Nina Turner and Hope. We'll be right back. coming out for you guys, including a special surprise guest that trust me is going to actually surprise you. So, but first, I want to thank the people that make this show possible.

So let me read some names from t.wit.com slash go. Adriana G is Spring Valley, California, 15 bucks. Rick B. in Port Angeles. One of the hardest parts of getting older is feeling like something's off in your body, but not knowing exactly what. It's not just aging. It's often your hormones, too. When they fall out of balance, everything feels off. But here's the good news. This doesn't have to be the story of your next chapter. Hormone Harmony by Happy Mammoth is an herbal formula made with science-backed ingredients,

designed to fine-tune your hormones by balancing estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and even stress hormones like cortisol. It helps with common issues such as hot flashes, poor sleep, low energy, bloating, and more. With over 40,000 reviews and a bottle sold every 24 seconds, the results speak for themselves. A survey found 86% of women lost weight, 77% saw an improved mood, and 100% felt like themselves again. Start your next chapter feeling balanced and in control. For a limited time, get 15% off your entire first order at happy mammoth.com with code next chapter at checkout. Visit happy mammoth.com today and get your old self back naturally. Washington, 50 bucks. Jill A in East Lansing, Michigan, 27 bucks. Jill, your vote is also

important here in Michigan. James D. Doesn't it suck to the rest of our votes that are not important? Anyway, James D in Brattleboro, Vermont appropriately, 27 bucks. Therese K in Massachusetts, 27 bucks. Thank you guys, we appreciate it, and the thermometer is now at 35,965, trying to get to 40,000 for today to keep up with those right-wing billionaires funding right-wing media. So t-y-t.com slash go. Also, member, who just joined on YouTube, Jeremiah Damako and Rick Tymec. And speaking of YouTube,

I want to read two YouTube super chats here. Rodney Fong wrote in, the world is driven by the global economy to change every day. If you aren't progressive, then you will be left behind like our government. We need to vote to get people like Bernie into government. We need to vote, sorry, and to keep us safe and competitive. So that's perfect. And part of the reason I read it's we're about to focus on the future and hope and how we can get more folks in the government. And so, and then the last one is two hippie misfits, that's their title, on YouTube wrote in, we've been radicalizing the progressive movement since the early 1970s. Thank you for all you do. We love your expanding. We love you for expanding

our voice. You keep us saying. Well, you keep us able to do this. So we're all the young turks together. T.y.t.com. Appreciate it. All right, Ben Dixon joins us for this special. And now Awesome guests for you guys. Nina Turner, Senator Nina Turner, joining us on TYT again. Welcome, Nina. How you doing? Great to be here, Jane. All right, great.

So Nina, let's talk a little bit about the future. So obviously, 2016 was an amazing campaign. As I explained the last segment, Bernie in eight months closed a 50 point lead, which is just spectacular. Never really got the credit for it, obviously, same whole thing. corporate media, but in 2020, it was less of a surprise and it was more of a heartbreak. A lot of folks, including myself, thought, we got them, we got them, I think we're gonna win. So a lot of people are asking, okay, after that heartbreak, what do we have left to hope

for? Well, I'm right there with you, feeling though we had it this time. In terms of moving forward, it's certainly very clear that Senator Bernie Sanders was the spark. The movement is the fire. We are the fire. And it is our job, our collective job, those progressives, leftists. I'm losing track of what we call in ourselves these days. But people who believe in humanity, who are pushing for causes that are bigger and higher than themselves, people who believe what is just and believe in what is just, what is right, and what is good. The work continues. It never stops. It's the same work that our forebears. have done before us. It's our work to do. And you know, the senator was very clear about that. That is why not me, us is real. And we need to take that mantle, not me, us. It is about us.

And we must carry on. So, Nina, how do we carry on? So I know part of the answer is supporting more progressive candidates. And so, you know, and that's exactly why I helped to co-found just Democrats, that's why I now founded Rebellion Pack. And we're talking to Brianna Woon in a little bit, she's running a rebellion pack to help candidates now and in the future. So how can other progressives help? So how can Bernie Sanders help other progressive candidates? How can you help? Well, sir, I've endorsed several candidates. I will continue to do so. I'm going to do that in a more organized fashion. I get calls, emails, DMs, every social

media outlet where people can reach me asking for my endorsement. So I am going to formalize that. And hopefully when we get through this part of COVID, it probably will not be until next year. The whole new normal, but we got to find ways to make our physical presence known in a safe way. And if we can't be there to help candidates physically, we got to be able to do it virtually. And that is the beautiful thing about being able to give you a time, you're telling your treasure. You can make calls for people who you support you and you got to leave your house. You can give a donation so that they can either purchase commercials or ads or send flyers. There's all sorts of ways still in the 21st century that we can help the candidates that we want to support.

I believe the future is that the leftists, we need to run people against neoliberal Democrats in every single election cycle, period. Make it known, just come on out and just say that's exactly what we're going to do. If you are not willing to use the people's power on the people's behalf, we come in for the people's seat. Not for you, but for the people seat. And we're gonna talk about what the people need. We need leaders who have a vision that will provide provision for the people. It's our government and it's our money. So nobody can sit on the sidelines, not in 2020, not in 2021, 2022,

2023, 2024, and so on and so forth. We also need progressive organizations to come on and stiffen up here. We got out maneuver point blank. The neoliberal coalesce, then we know what happened. And so the progressive movement needs to be more agile. So those who lead organizations, I wanna see progressives build a pact

with one another PACT, a table of progressives. Let's find those issues that we can agree on, top three. So you can keep your autonomy and your group and keep on fighting. But if we say our top three issues are criminal justice reform, Medicare for all, legalizing cannabis, cannabis, hey, then that's what we do and come by hook or by crook. We stand in together, no daylight between us on those issues.

And that way, that allows those organizations to continue to do the beautiful work that they're doing on other issues. But we are locked step on certain issues. And then another way is to come together to run candidates against neoliberal Democrats. Yeah, there's a thousand things I want to say about that, but Ben, I want to let you jump in here. I am so happy to hear Nina say that about running and primary, primary everybody, right? The establishment showed us this year that they will not abide by their own rules. They blacklist certain companies that work with candidates who are primaring someone that's

an establishment, but then Nancy Pelosi turned around and endorsed someone in a primary challenge. And so since they did that, let's return the favor. Not only to be spiteful, because I'm not above being petty, but because like Nina said, it's the people seat. And they're not using the seat or that power to be to help the people. So by all means, if there are people out there who are sincere about their progressiveness and not just using it as talking points and they are ready to get into the fight, then we need to find them, run them and primary everybody. Yeah. So Nina, I'm going to ask you a kind of a hard question here. Because if I'm I'm a progressive in Congress. I'm calling you every other day. But I don't get the sense

that even our top progressives are sticking together too well. Because I mean, when you talk about the groups, the groups, you know, some of them are wonderful. And we talk about it, you let our revolution. I love our revolution. I think they do amazing work at the grassroots level. I think there's a couple of other groups that are great. Obviously just Democrats, I think has made a giant difference. Absolutely. But the rest of them, God, we couldn't organize them if our lives depended on it. They just, there's honestly, so many of these groups are so selfish, it's unbearable.

But when we talk about the folks in Congress, you get a sense that they're reaching out to the progressive community a lot? I mean, almost none of them endorsed Cory Bush. Yeah, don't get me started on sister Bush. And that was a candidate that I endorsed. We've been together since her first run in 2018. And I'm so glad that we stuck together. She calls me Big Sus. Yeah, too many of them turned the blind eye to Sister Bush.

And now they call in there and patting her in the back. You go, girl, I knew you could do it. You know, that's foolishness. You got to stand with people, especially people you come up the ranks with. And I get it, you know, when you serve in a caucus, as I did, that if you got, you know, people you've started to build a relationship with, and then you got your girl or your colleague, right? running, you know, it may be hard, but see, when you take the personality out of it, just let your colleague know, look, we serving together, but I got to support this candidate for these reasons. I'll catch you on the other side, but I'm going for this candidate for

reasons other than the fact that I serve with you, and therefore I got to sign some type of document or some oath that I got to support you. Either the folks that we don't need progressives a name only, okay, because our lives are on the line right now. The planet. is on the line. All of the things that we hold there's online. So we need some folks that's going to give up some stuff for the privilege of holding the people's power. And there are groups like groups action and PDA and other groups who are really ready, willing, and able to go ham on these neoliberals and these progressives and name only because we only have a finite amount of time to have the people's power. And we've got to be about the people's business, jink. Ben, it's time out, scare folks. When we'll need. No, come on and let's change some things. We can turn that house around in particular because there's an every two year venture versus the Senate, which is every six year. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have run some candidates in the Senate, but imagine

if we focused on local level and on that Congress, every time they turn around, there's a progressive running against somebody that is not doing the bidding of the people of the United States of America. I'm talking about the poor, the working poor, and the barely middle class, the marginalized, lives, people cast aside, them the folks I'm talking about, because all the other folks don't need nobody looking out for them. Can I just say Nina Turner for whatever she wants to run for 2021, 2022, 2024, Nina Turner, fill in the blank, because that's the kind of passion and fire that we absolutely need.

Thank you, yeah. Well, you know, first of all, thank you for inventing Pino. The first time I heard it is from you just now, progressives in name only. I don't know if it's Pino or Pino. Maybe it's Pino, maybe that's better. Pino is little too nice. I got to get some credit to Norm Solomon of Roots action. That's him, that's all him. All right. So, but Ben brings up a good point. So let's let, I don't know if we're the first to ask you, but let's ask you, are you thinking about 2024? I am. I mean, there are lots of people that I hear from.

from all the time from all over this country who want me to consider running again. It's always something that is on my list. But for this moment, I'm going to continue to help progressive candidates, progressive causes. I'm also going to not continue to navigate the rest of justice space to do those things. So we need corporations to come on through. Now they come through for themselves and the tax breaks and how they lobby Congress. We need them come on through for the people. And there is a way to get those corporations do that, especially on the justice side since the killing of George Ford. Floyd, we know that a number of corporations are pledged whole lot money for racial justice.

Let's see if they can do that. So I'm also going to put some of my talent on that side, but absolutely strong consideration for 2024, no doubt. Okay, well that's clear. So Nina, when you look at the difference in how two groups perceive you, it is as stark as I have ever seen it for anyone. The progressive movement absolutely loves you, and the media, not so much. So when we talk about you as a potential presidential contender, when I talk to Washington reporters, they're like, and I'm like, why? I literally can't name anyone in the progressive movement that is more popular, and they're

You're just absolutely convinced that it could only be a corporate Democrat. So how do you react to something like that and how do you overcome something like that? Well, thank God I don't have to depend on corporate media to be my measuring stick. The people are my measuring stick. And if I do decide to do something in 2024, it won't be because of the media lifted me up. It would be because the people lift me up. See, when you're out here doing the people's bidding, sometimes that's in conflict with mainstream media. It's in conflict with Neil Lewis, it's in conflict with the status quo. I'm all right with that. You know, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt said one time when he got that progressive, when progressives

pushed him to be more progressive when he said, and Senator Sanders said the same thing on the campaign trail. I welcome their hatred. This is why we love Nina Durr. I, you know, I've told this story many times, but Nina, that I'm watching a speech of yours and you get to a point, Well, first of all, you go into the crowd, which I love. People have forgotten that. Nobody does that other than you. And then you get to a point where you say, you know, they say I'm an angry black woman. Yeah, and that's when you paused.

And I was like, don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say. That's when everybody apologizes, right? He says, no, I'm not, please. Right? And you're like, damn right I am. I'm like, she's the one. She's the one.

Yeah. Yeah. Lean into that angryness. I'm just saying, I mean, if you ain't mad about what is happening, you know, 92 million. people in climbing without health care, you know, underinsured or uninsured, if you ain't angry that folks are facing eviction, meanwhile back at the ranch, Congress can go on breaks while people are suffering. If you ain't angry that people are playing games with the military industrial complex, that even in the House of Representatives, now we get what Mitch going to do, Mitch got to go. But even in the House of Representatives, we can't pass a 10% cut on the Pentagon

budget. If you ain't angry that people in this country can't make ends, We can't even get a basic universal income people haggling about whether or not we're going to keep the $600 extra a week going. If you ain't angry that essential workers are not protected and doctors and nurses don't have all the equipment that they need, if you're not angry that our babies because of COVID and the fact that we were not prepared are going to be set back, especially in poorer communities from an education perspective, if you are not angry that people go in to bed hungry every night, babies are. going to bed hungry every night in a hegemon nation, baby, if you're not angry, something is wrong with you. And you know, I had a boss who once said, if your hair is on fire, you always ask like, hello somebody. You have to act like your hair is on life. A whole body is on fire right now. People are suffering. The pandemic just blew the roof off of the illusion. There are no more illusions in the United States of America or dare I say the world that the

The people who are catching hell lay bare were catching hell five years ago, 10 years ago, hell 10 minutes ago, those are the people. And if we can't elect folks to office, all levels of government, but particularly the federal level where they ain't got the balance, one damn budget, who don't have the will to stand up for the people against, if there are corporate folks and people giving you donations who can't see how people are suffering, if the wealthy folks, folks in this, you're not making enough money. What is it, the 12 wealthiest people control one trillion dollars? Yeah, I mean, that's called predatory capitalism. It's called excessive greed and we don't give a damn who dies. I mean, if you gotta get your money from folks like that, then you don't need their money. It is something unseemly and immoral. And some of these same people who do believe in a God will go to the damn church knowing

What the hell would Jesus do? He'd turning over the money tables like he did. That's what he would be doing. So I'm tired of the foolishness, Ben and Jink. I'm over it, been over it. So yeah, I'm an angry black woman and you're damn right. My hair is on fire and I am going to act like my hair is on fire at all times. That's me.

Preach it. Preach. My God. Teach it. Teach it. All right. I don't know if you're waiting on me to say something. me to say something, but there's absolutely nothing that needs to be said after Nina Turner,

the indomitable Nina Turner. All right. So for by the way, if you want to hear more of that, and he has got a podcast, hello somebody, and you're gonna love it. So make sure you check that out. You know, before I let you go then, let me let me ask one more question. So in order to do it right next time, we got to learn the lessons of the last two times. So give me your biggest takeaways from what went wrong and how we can fix it in 2024. We gotta know that the neoliberal see us coming. They saw that in 2016, how well the senator did, and they saw him coming this next time, not only him, but they saw the movement behind him coming. And they had to all coalesce. We were not agile enough as a movement.

We need some more discipline. Now, you know, we write on the issues, but baby, we got to get discipline to be able to overtake an entrenched system that is not going to roll over and say, you know what, progressives, y'all. So, right? We do need to take care of Mother Earth. People do need universal health care. We do have to do something with a criminal justice system that is, Lord, have mercy, don't get me started. So we have to organize and be disciplined and move like we want to win. It is not enough to have the right ideas. Maybe we got to win. It is time to prepare right now. There's an African proverb that says the follow, and one must never build their shield on the battlefield. If we want a different outcome and a different result in 2024, then it's shield building time right now because they're coming for us.

And they are going to coalesce because they fear the change that we're talking about. Leaders who answer 99.9% to the everyday people of this nation. They fear it. So we got to organize. You know, Brother Killer might put it best. I can't put it any better than he did. He said plot, plan, strategize, organized, mobilized, and capitalized. Baby, that's what we need to do right now.

We can't get ready in 2024. We need to get ready right now. Yeah. Look, there is a squad that is not yet in Congress, but I just want folks to whisper of a dream. Nina Turner, Killer Mike, Jamal Bowman, Orie Bush. Okay, if you like the last squad, wait to yell on this squad.

There it is. That's too hot to hand. I don't know if the world ready for that. Yes. I mean, I'd like to take that squad out for a drive. See how that one goes. Happy birthday to Senator Bernie Sanders. He definitely took it to the system in 20,

2016, tried to repeat it in 2020, our movement and this nation will never be the same because he had the courage to stand up. Absolutely. Nina Turner, you're the best. Everybody check out, hello somebody. It's easy to remember as Senator Nina Turner's podcast and you're gonna love it. Thank you so much. And Ben, thank you as well for everybody else. We'll be right back. Bay Bash. As you can tell, we're going to talk to Brandi Annahu in a second. She's another great guest that's coming up. And later, the surprise guest that I've been telling you guys about, it's a bit shocking, will appear on the O-Turts for the first time. So we'll get to that in the next

segment. But first, as I always do, let's read your names because you make this show possible and we can't do it without you. So Paris C gave 15 bucks from Wilmington, Delaware, Mildred C, from LA, 15 bucks, Omar K from Columbus, Ohio, 15 bucks, Terry Jay from Seattle, 27 bucks, and Matthew H from Arlington Heights, Illinois, 30 bucks. So those are all folks who gave at t.com slash go. And now we're up to this most thermometer, $36,401. Today we're trying to get to $40,000. We'll see if we can do that. And guys, we're this year we've been trying to get to 200,000 every month, and it might seem like a lot. But it actually is a tiny amount compared to what the right wing gets. So Prager, you alone gets about $23 million

a year from two right wing billionaires. So that's not revenue, that's not profit. That's just, they just give it to them. It's socialism for the richest Bernie and Nina Turner we're talking about. Us, we got to rely on you guys. But I'm glad we do. Because together, we become way, way stronger. You can knock out two donors. You can't knock out 28,000 donors, which is what you guys are. So t.com slash go to make that possible. And then I wanted to read the big phenom, by the way, just joined on YouTube. You could hit the join button below to become a member on YouTube. I just want to read a couple of comments from our members on our website, t-y-t.com slash join to become a member there.

Mickey C. says far too many people don't realize that Bernie isn't a far left radical. According to civilized societies, he's barely left of center. That's 100% true. I feel the same exact way about my policies and I can prove it and I'm going to prove it. In the book that I'm writing, if you want to pre-order that, that's justice is coming book.com. No more Tronometry writes, and imagine a Nina Turner, Rashida-Talib combo. I can't even they end. Neither can I. Corporate media's heads would explode. It would be awesome to see. Queen Bree just saw it joined up on YouTube. I can see your guy's names. It's great. Thank you for doing that. And last one, Craig Cray Suflai writes in, I sure hope

Nina runs for office. We really need our voice and spirit to change our politics for the better. I think that we all agree to that. Actually, you know what, I'm gonna throw on one more from YouTube Super Chat because Laura Shin wrote and I literally cannot breathe when I see Nina Turner. I love her so much, her voice gives me strength, it's like going to church. Okay, agreed. All right, now on to another progressive hero. Brianna Wu joins us, she's a former just Democrat, ran for office, and is now the executive

director of- Rebellion pack. So Brianna, great to have you back on the young terms. Thank you so much. It's always such a pleasure to be here, Jenk. All right, so for those who are uninitiated, tell us what rebellion pack is. Rebellion pack is our way to fight back. Like you and I both know that Democrats and progressives especially are held to double standards with what we can say and what we can't say. We saw this in the Kennedy Markey race. Marky would put out tough message. messaging saying, you know what, Joe Kennedy is just running on his name. He doesn't have

policy. And the Boston Globe and the Boston media blasted him over that. We put together tough ads saying the exact same thing, caught on like wildfire on Facebook, put it on TV, people loved it, and we helped him win. So our mission objective is to put out the tough messages that progressive Democrats can't because they're held to double standards. So let's take a look at the future. Now, in 2020, Bernie Sanders had a heartbreaking loss. And then others, including you and I, Roughway, briefly ran for office and didn't make it. But then we had amazing victories. Cory Bush, Jamal Bowman, Marie Newman, then you've got Mondarin in New York, and you've got many others throughout the country. that weren't at the congressional level. And then you've got Ed Markey, the race you were talking

about, fending off an up-and-coming corporate Democrat backed by Nancy Pelosi. So when you look at that whole picture, are you, let's be as honest as we can. Are you encouraged or discouraged for 2022 and beyond? I think it's going to depend on how discouraged progressives feel. If we stay true to ourselves and we dig deep and we keep fighting, hell yeah, we're going to win. We're going to be fine. It's just two heartbreaking losses in a row. You know, I'm on record saying I will vote for Joe Biden, but I'm never going to feel enthusiastic about that. But we have to get out there and do it because it's about supporting Cory Bush.

It's about supporting AOC. It's about supporting all these great progressive Democrats that we've got. So we have to have their back with resources, with time, with energy, and with messaging discipline. So I would say our future is largely up to us. Yeah, that's certainly true. And we've got to, as Nina Turner was just saying, we've got to plan and organize now to be able to win, not just in these elections, but also in 2022 and 2024. Actually, I wanted to play Bernie's speech of the DNC this year, or a portion of it, and have you react to it because I think it relates to something you just said.

So let's roll that. This election is the most important in the modern history of this country. In response to the unprecedented crises we face, we need an unprecedented response, a movement like never before. of people who are prepared to stand up and fight for democracy and decency and against greed, oligarchy, and bigotry. Our campaign ended several months ago, but our movement continues and is getting stronger every day. Many of the ideas we fought for that just a few years ago were considered radical are now mainstream.

But let us be clear, if Donald Trump, Trump is reelected, all the progress we have made will be in jeopardy. Together, we must build a nation that is more equitable, more compassionate, and more inclusive. I know that Joe Biden will begin that fight on day one. So, Brianna, Rebellion Packs running yet ads against Trump as well. So do you agree with Bernie, because the problem is that it's the Democratic Party and the media are a little bit of the story of the boy who cried wolf, right? This is the most important election of your lifetime.

This is the most important election, every election, every presidential election. But do you agree with Bernie that this, in fact, is the most election, important election of our lifetime? I absolutely do. I don't know if our democracy can withstand four more years of Trump. He has frayed the guard rail, he's attacked the judiciary. We see the attorney general, you know, constantly attacking the rule of law. I genuinely worry that if we don't defeat Donald Trump this time, that the United States

is going to descend into a hybrid autocracy where we're not going to have free and fair elections. And it truly terrifies me. And I just want to touch on something Bernie said there. You know, we're all tired. I have never been as exhausted as I am today after four years of Trump. But I grew up in Mississippi. And I think about the black people I grew up with that stood through the civil rights movement in Mississippi and how tired they must have been back in the 90s, back in the 2000s today. We are all tired to our bones, but we have to keep fighting, because if we don't, we're essentially forfeiting the country.

Look, I'm a broken record on two things, but only because they're, they're the two things that I think affect things the most. And so one is money in politics and getting money out. If we don't, you know, these, I'm gonna have to start two more packs, like for God's sake, Let's focus our energies so that we can fix the core of the problem. But the second thing is the corporate media, because almost all of our candidates run into the same problem, which is getting halfway decent press coverage, getting any press coverage at all, and then getting press coverage that isn't overtly hostile. So in terms of, I'll ask about two things.

One, against Trump, is there, what can Rebellion PAC do? And two, how do we begin to change the folks of the media, if that's possible, to give progressors a fair shake? So the first question, what can Rebellion PAC do? We're looking right now at the really tough swing state elections. And these were won by almost nothing in 2016. Michigan in particular, it was a little over 10,000 votes. So if you were telling a pack, hey, you need to go out there and let's say triple that.

Make sure you get 30,000 progressives to get out there and vote. That's an achievable mission objective. And really think about this. You've got the centrist Democrats, they're sure going to go after centrist corporate Democrats. And we know from the convention they're going to be very good at targeting towards Republicans. But over here with the progressives, is anyone really talking to progressives and saying, you know what, if you show up and vote and get Cory Bush in there, along with AOC and the squad,

think about what we can really get past. No one is making that cakes. So I see my objective every single day for now until the election is to go out there to those swing states, make those cases using modern techniques to progressive Democrats. make sure that we vote and make our voice heard. Right. Now, about the media, is it through the ads, is it through data? How do we get change the dynamic and the paradigm of the media seemingly being against progressive candidates so fervently as they were with Bernie in 2016 and 2020?

That's that really is the core question, Jay. If you look at the Boston Globe coverage of how they covered me during GamerGate, where it was Brianna Wu, the victim, Brianna Wu getting death threats or bricks through a window, look at how they covered me. They were delighted to write editorials and send TV cameras out and to cover me when I was a woman in danger. But when I was a woman asking for power and asking for my ideas to be heard, to shut down automatically. The truth is, we can't count on traditional media to get our messages out there and cover us fairly.

People say MSNBC is like this far-leftist thing. It's not. It's very centrist Democrat. So I think what's really important is you've got to support progressive media that you believe in, like young Turks and nation, these other progressive institutions. And I think we really have to put together our own media ecosystem to get these messages out there. Markey won in Massachusetts because we were all hyper organized in getting our friends out there, aware of the election, and making sure they showed up to the polls. That is a playbook that bypasses the media. As far as I can tell, that's the only way we're going to get Medicare for all past. All right. And let me ask you a funny question.

Because obviously we embarked on this journey together on rebellion, you and I did. But for the audience at home, why did you decide to do this in particular? It was a really hard decision. Yeah, I had already started fielding offers from the game industry to go back to software engineering. But what I realized is a lot of people, after they run for office and they don't win, they They're so hurt from the experience because it's really emotionally painful that they don't stick around. And I know you saw this too running for office, Jank, that when you're looking at the professional

class of politicos, they're sometimes lacking on the progressive policies and the progressive approach to things. So I saw my ability to use my experience in the tech industry with really ferocious messaging to really go out there make a bold pack that wasn't afraid to throw some metaphorical punches for the causes I believed in. So short answer is I saw that there was a leadership vacuum, and I really thought that we could win the 2020 election. Yeah, well, I think we definitely can win the 2020 election. I agree with you that something like Rebellion PACs, laser focus on some key states and districts that can win is

could make a huge difference. It could make all the difference. So everybody's got to help in their own way. At this point, Rebellion Pack isn't strong enough or isn't large enough, I'm keeping it real, to be able to affect the entire national race. But if we could do our part in Michigan and a couple of other places, I think that it could make a big difference. And we get to hit harder than traditional Democratic packs. So then that leads me to this question. So you talked about punching harder and Bernie, for all of us, you know, being the diogenes of the progressive movement and in politics, the one honest man and the guy who held a lantern for us to see the way, was not that hard to puncher.

So the next person who runs, who has a real shot at the presidential level, do they need to be more aggressive and even honestly hostile to the, what is what we can tell you ahead of time is going to be the horrible media coverage that they get? Yeah, maybe they do. I think it depends on the candidate. Something I really do appreciate about Rebellion Pack is we can say that we can run the nastiest, most accurate ads you can ever imagine and get that message out there in a real way. So you can call me every name in the book. I don't care, we're gonna keep saying it. I do think that we need to stand truer to our values. But I think with Bernie, you know,

change something that I have my own experience with Bernie, where I was growing up in Mississippi. And the media looks down on these 20 somethings today that heard Bernie in 2016 and got active in politics. I know exactly what that that's like because I remember being 20 something in Mississippi and trying to find my political footing and hearing Bernie talking real for the very first time. So I just think that I think that we have to be honest with ourselves and our values and throw a punch, but people are attracted to the truth. And that's what we need to stick to. Well, you know, it's interesting because even though we start a rebellion pact together, you know, I hadn't even considered the fact that maybe the next candidate we have in

2024 for the progressive movement at the presidential level doesn't have to throw as many punches if we do it for them. So rebellion pack.com, we, maybe that'll be our tagline. We throw punches. We're the sin eaters. So, but Brianna, before I let you go, you know, I don't want to glide past it because there's actually a really powerful point you just made there a couple of questions ago. That when the media saw you, you know, we talked about you gotta be willing to withstand some critique to say the least, right?

And God, you've been attacked almost as hard as anyone's ever been attacked during GamerGate. And I know a thing or two about getting attacked. So we're in the counterpunch business. But that line you had about how when you were in Gamergate, the media did cover you fairly, and in a sense rose to your defense. But when you ran for office and asked for power, then they turned on you. That is really interesting. And look, I don't know if you could psychoanaly them, but what, because I don't think that they're doing it consciously. I don't think the reporter who thought, I like Brianna, my God, what they're doing to her at Gamer Gate is outrageous. Oh, she's running for office, I really can't stand there. I don't think that's

a conscious thought, right? Right. So what is it about that dynamic that? that made them flip and not give you the time of day when you ran for office, you think? I think it's someone fitting into a storyline, right? It's almost like the media makes up a story about you. It's like it's really hard to break out of that. You see this a lot with the media covering racial issues as well. They're very happy to cover the the horrors that happen to people of color. But as soon as that person of color is running for office, you see all these double standards and questions come up in a really uncomfortable way. So I don't think it's malicious, but I also think it speaks to the homogenous nature of newsrooms. And you and I both seen

that in our careers. And there just aren't people there with our beliefs. And I think that needs to change. All right. Well, rebellion pack.com, help us change it. We got a lot more plans where that came from, Brianna was the executive director, and she's doing an amazing job. Thank you so much for joining us, Brandon. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Chad. All right, so guys, we're gonna take another quick break here. We do have our special, amazing, surprising guests coming up. It's a birthday wish for Bernie Sanders. You'll see who it is, but share the stream, like the stream, because you're gonna want to see this. And as we go on here,

Let me do the usual. Let me thank you guys. New names, KDM from St. Paul, Minnesota, 50 bucks. Roger T from Roseville, California, 30 bucks. Andrew L from Bristol, Illinois, 27 bucks. Derek S. from Antelope, California, three bucks. Harland, and from San Pedro, California, $10. Love you all. T.Y.T.com slash go is where you make the progressive movement possible. We do have one, at least one media source on your side. You're looking at it. And so far, by the way, the thermometers right now is at 36,571. All right, when we come back, finally, the surprise guest, and I will give you my concluding thoughts about where we take the progressive movement on today's special Bernie birthday special

that we're having for you guys. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work. Listen ad-free. Access members, only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple. podcast at apple.co slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.