Transcription
Wake up, America. Wake up to what Donald Trump is doing. Here he is once again trying to rig the system. He doesn't believe in the rules. We can't stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district. We have got to meet fire with fire. We're asking the voters for their consent to do midterm redistricting to level the playing field all across the United States. On November 4th, you have the power to stand up to Trump. Donald Trump, you have poked the bear and we will punch back. This is a serious moment. Wake up.
There are a few reasons why that new ad from Gavin Newsome is so devastating. First and foremost, it's garnered a ton of attention online, and attention in 2025 for one person often comes at the expense of another. Don't think that Donald Trump can't see that for the last few weeks, Newsome is garnering more eyeballs than he is. And with Newsome now releasing commercials, it looks like he's leaning in, not out. In fact, him leaning in and going full boore into this fighter framing is a point he also made during our latest interview a few days back.
There's literally no more evidence than you need than the evidence that has been submitted in the first six and a half, seven months of the Trump administration. And you think this is going to get better? You think if we just say, "Well, Mr. Trump, it's fine. You know, we just, you know, we know it's a race to the bottom. You know, you may may you may call upon those other states, can you just do five and California will stand down?" God damn it. Enough.
>> Democrats, stop being weak. >> Step up. These guys have been dominating in the narrative. They have been defining the terms of the debate. It's time to get on our damn off our heels onto our front toes. It's time to do just that. Dominate the narrative. Flood the zone and surround sound. It's time for us to all band together. I I said that, you know, this is not no doover. This is it. Wake up to what's going on in this country and I'll iterate. I'll try anything. That's what that represents. I'm just trying to break through, man. I'm just trying to be accountable to be able to look at my kids said, you know, I would have, could have, should have, know that I did everything I could and you know what, see what fate brings. But we're going to put everything on the damn line. And and that's, you know, I'm proud of the folks from Texas. And that's why I'm proud of folks showing up at the No Kings Rally. People haven't given up yet. I'm telling you, we can win. We're going to do this. We can win this November. We can win next November. And then we can get this country back on track.
And so again, we can all see that Newsome is leaning heavily into the fighter framing, something I've personally been begging for for years. The fact that he's getting attention now is not just offering him positive reinforcement. It's sending a message to the rest of the Democratic party that this is what the country is looking for. I can't tell you how many videos I've watched online from people saying something along the lines of, "I don't know that Newsome aligns perfectly with my politics, but the guy is the only one out there fighting, so I'm on board." This is a message not just of support for Nuome, but to the other Democrats out there that we are sick and tired of being the party of strongly worded letters. We are sick and tired of putting up with half-assed fights that ultimately end in capitulation because of norms or the parliamentarian or the filibuster. You never see those things stop Republicans. So often it feels like Republicans won't allow anything or anyone to tell them no, while Democrats will look for any excuse not to get to yes. I spoke with Medie H about this phenomenon. Here's what he had to say.
Medie, do you think that what we're seeing right now from some of the Democrats out there, there are a few governors who are who are um vowing to fight back against what Texas Republicans are doing. We see Gavin Newsome, JB Pritsker, uh you know, we've seen to some degree Kathy Hokll in New York, although, you know, she's limited by what what New York's Constitution allows them to do. Although, I would also make the argument that Republican states have been limited by what they're able to do and they've done it anyway. We saw unconstitutional maps enacted in Louisiana and Alabama. Um and and still they they did that at such a late time that even though the courts noted that they were unconstitutional gerrymanders, it was too close to the election for them to change it. They relied on the PCEL doctrine. So I think if there was really uh a desire to get this stuff done, we don't have to look far to see what it looks like when those Republican governors get it done. That notwithstanding, do you think that there that that we're seeing something of a sea change among Democrats who have for so long been the party of strongly worded letters?
>> I hope so. I'm going to reserve judgment till I see some actions back up those words. Uh Illinois Governor Pritska, New York Governor Hokll, and California Government have all said the right things. Now they just got to do it. Um as you say, there are some limitations, but these are the same limitations that Republicans overcome all the time. You and I at the Zateo event in LA talked at great length in front of the audience about the Senate parliamentarian and how Senate Democrats deferred to the parliamentarian said, "Well, she said we can't do a minimum wage increase. She said we can't put this in our bill." Republicans came along and they refused to even meet with the parliamentarian when they did their big ugly ass bill. So that is the difference in the two parties. I hope and I've said this before to you and to others. I hope Democrats learn the right lessons from this period of opposition that when their opponents get into power, they're not limited by conventions or norms or all the other things that now seem so quaint and antiquated. And you can't play this whole moral high ground game. Well, you know, they're going to do this stuff, but we're going to stay pure. Doesn't work like that. You do that and you lose. And it's worse than just losing. You do that and you abandon your constituents who need you.
Mandy, we we've spoken about this idea that what the future of the Democratic party is going to look like is not necessarily whether progressivism wins out or a more moderate posture wins out, but rather this idea of Democrats who are actually going to stand up and fight. Do you agree with that? Do you think that that the future of the Democratic party is not so much like the monolithic nature of of your political ideology, but rather just your willingness to like go balls to the wall?
>> Yeah, I've been saying that for a while. I said that when Democrats were in office as well. I think you know the left right dimension is still important in policy terms for sure but in terms of saving American democracy standing up to Republican party it's less relevant. It's about who actually has the balls the backbone the ability the desire uh the communication skills to actually take the fight uh to the other side and fight on their terrain not your own terrain. So I hope this is a message loud and clear to every Democrat out there. We are tired of being rolled. We are tired of strongly worded letters. We are tired of losing. Stand for something and fight for it. We can tell when you're bullshitting. We can tell when you're saying nice things for the cameras. Nuome gets credit here because he said that we have to fight fire with fire in Texas and then he did it. Redistricting is going to be on the ballot in just 10 weeks. Was it an enormous lift? Yeah. Would there have been a thousand reasons not to do it? Absolutely. Did it get done anyway? Yes. That's what it looks like when you actually fight for something. Every other elected official, take note. You don't get credit for saying things that sound good. You get credit for doing them. Who's the next governor that's going to introduce new maps? Who's the next state legislator that's going to neutralize what's happening in Texas and Missouri and Indiana and Florida? Who's the next Democrat to recognize the urgency of the moment that we're in right now? Who's going to disabuse the Democratic Party of this prevailing notion that extraordinary times call for ordinary responses? Because that might have worked in the past, but we are in a new era. one where our leaders need to actually stand up and lead.
To that end, we all have a role to play in this. Part of showing the rest of the country and certainly the rest of the party what it means to step up relies on these map redraws here in California actually passing. That means we need to convince tens of millions of Californians in just 10 weeks time. Why it is so critical to redraw our maps and neutralize the blatant power grab happening in Texas. Republicans are going to pour millions upon millions into killing this referendum. Why? Because they know it's easier to kill it in California than nationwide. And so all of their money, all of the billionaires are going to coalesce right here into this state. We have to make sure that we win, not just to protect our democracy, but also to send a signal to other Democrats nationwide that when they fight for us, we all will show up. This is going to be an incredibly expensive effort. So if you can contribute anything, please do so. I'm going to put the link to donate on the screen, in the post description, and in the comments. So, let's all do our part and fight to save our democracy.
[Music]
Before you go, if you enjoyed this content and you want to see more and support independent media, please subscribe to this channel. The subscribe button will be right here on the screen. But second, the reality is that we are now in a political environment where this administration can lean on any of the social media platforms to suppress certain voices if they don't like critical coverage. That means my longevity here is in the hands of a few tech billionaires who are already making it clear that they are willing to cater to this administration. To that end, signing up for my newsletter is a way for me to reach you directly if that ever becomes necessary. I'll put the link right here on the screen as well, so please sign up. It's free, but there's also an option to do a paid subscription if you'd like to support me and my team. I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for watching.