← Andy Beshear Podcast
Andy Beshear Podcast
Episode 23: Hakeem Jeffries
00:49:41
We took the Andy Beshear Podcast to the heart of New York City 🏙️ – 36 floors up at NY Studio 1 – to sit down with a history-maker: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. He’s the first Black leader of a party in Congress, a Brooklyn guy through and through, and a master of fighting hard while keeping the door open for consensus.
Loading summary
Transcript172 lines
- [00:01]
NFL Announcer
You can't count on much these days. No way, Jim. This is incredible, but you can always count on Sundays with the NFL on CBS and Paramount. Here we go. This time for real. Watch your local NFL game live every Sunday all the way through the AFC championship game, and he's in for a touchdown. Visit paramountplus.com NFL to get started today and count on Sundays with the NFL on CBS and Paramount.
- [00:27]
Andy Beshear
Oh, welcome to the Andy Beshear Podcast. Here on location at the Sirius XM headquarters in New York City. Today we cement ourselves as part of the Sirius XM Podcast Network. This is a big opportunity, not just for the podcast, but I hope, for all Americans to have real, honest conversations, to try to find common ground, to apply common sense, and to get things done. At a time when we're always told there is an us versus a them, that you're supposed to dislike your neighbor for some reason, now's the time. We ought to remember that we have more in common than will ever pull us apart. And what makes this country so great is our ability to sit down, to talk things out, and to ultimately move forward for everyone. For those of you who are listening for the first time, this is not just a political podcast. We talk about things that are important to us. Family, faith, sports, politics, our values. And you'll hear from everyday folks. You'll hear from political leaders, you'll hear from faith leaders. Our goal is to introduce you to people not just for what they do, but for why they do it. And I hope that each and every episode you see as an authentic conversation, one where you don't hear talking points, but real people talking about how they feel. What we do isn't confrontational. It's about that critical conversation. And to get there, we have a couple of podcast, or as we call them, cast rules. The first is be authentic. We want everybody to be their true selves when they come on. The second is talk like a normal human being. The same way we talk to our friends, we need to be talking, not just on this podcast, but to this country. The third is no debating reality. Far too often on cable news or other places, you see somebody throw out a fact and then a talking head from one side and another side argue if that fact is a fact. Folks, facts are facts. Opinions are opinions. Number four, our most important rule is Tell your why. We've got to get beyond just what we believe and what our policy position is, but why we believe it. When we do that, we create grace and space for people to think about things differently or even be able to disagree on one thing, but come together and find that common ground on something else. And the last piece is have fun. I'm excited about this opportunity with Sirius xm, but I'm mainly excited to try to be that reasonable voice in a time of chaos that can hopefully bring more of us together and push this divisive period we're going through into the past. So today we start out with a great guest. We have Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is pushing hard right now to do just that. My favorite part about what you're going to hear is, is the agenda he has if he becomes speaker of the House isn't one for Democrats, but all American families. That's what this podcast is supposed to be about. So let's get to it. You're listening to the Andy Beshear Podcast, filmed at Sirius XM's headquarters in New York City. This week's guest may be our biggest yet. Don't tell Amy Klobuchar. It is the minority leader of the U.S. house of Representatives, the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Hakeem comes from an amazing background of public service with parents who are a caseworker and a substance use or addiction counselor, people who really gave throughout their lives. And I can't imagine that there is a better example for someone to follow than that. Leader Jeffries, welcome to the podcast.
- [04:36]
Hakeem Jeffries
Good morning. Great to be with you.
- [04:37]
Andy Beshear
I appreciate you being here.
- [04:39]
Hakeem Jeffries
Congratulations.
- [04:40]
Andy Beshear
Thank you, thank you. You're about to head to Washington, D.C. right after this. Tell me what's waiting for you there.
- [04:46]
Hakeem Jeffries
A mess. Because the whole thing has been a mess from the very beginning, you know, of this presidency. Chaos, you know, corruption, cruelty, has basically been what Donald Trump and Republicans have unleashed on the American people. So in Washington this week, as well as over the next couple of weeks, what we'll be dealing with is, is the need to try to fund the government. Now we got to fund the government in a way from our standpoint as Democrats that meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety, national security, and economic well being. That will be sort of the values based approach that we take to this showdown.
- [05:29]
Andy Beshear
So in going into this showdown, it seems that it might be one of the most complicated negotiations about keeping a government running. Because for the first time that I can remember, they passed a rescission bill that took back money, took back appropriations from a bipartisan agreement in the last budget.
- [05:52]
Hakeem Jeffries
Needless to say, to your point, Gov, these aren't trustworthy individuals. And so you're Entering into a theoretical negotiation with people who can't be trusted to engage in good faith once you reach an agreement and then try to have that agreement implemented. So that's going to be a complicating dynamic. As many people have pointed out as we proceed, the main issue of this showdown is going to be around health care. And our view is pretty simple. We will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to take away health care from the American people. This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. The notion that Republicans have already ripped away health care from millions of Americans, largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals are going to close, particularly, as you know, in rural parts of the country. In my state, in your state and beyond, nursing homes will have to shut down and copays, premiums and deductibles are about to rise significantly because of actions that Republicans have taken. So our view is that we will not support any effort to continue to assault the health care of the American people. We need to reverse the damage that's been done.
- [07:12]
Andy Beshear
I think when a lot of people think about health care, they rightfully think about being able to see their doctor close to home. But what they don't think about is health care is one of the fastest growing parts of our economy. And that especially in a rural community where the local hospital is the largest payroll, probably the second largest employer behind the school system, that if you drastically cut the revenue that's going there, which is what that big ugly bill does, you're not only going to shut down parts of the hospital, you're going to shut down the local restaurant, you're going to shut down the local coffee shop, you may shut down the local bank, that what they're doing is going to reverberate throughout the economy, economies, not just of urban America, but significantly, rural America.
- [07:53]
Hakeem Jeffries
Yeah, that's exactly right. The one big ugly bill was an assault on everyday Americans. It hurts everyday Americans in order to reward their billionaire donors. It's the most extraordinary thing that Republicans have jammed down the throats of the American people as part of their right wing effort to try to implement their extreme ideology, which is going to hurt the American people, hurt the ability to get health care when you need it and where you need it, where you need it. Rip away food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors and veterans. That's extraordinary. And all of this being done to provide massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors. And you're exactly right that if you decimate the health care ecosystem in a community, if you force Hospitals to close, particularly in rural America, small town America, increasingly in many parts of inner city America. You are going to hurt the economy in those communities and that obviously hurts the quality of life of the American people.
- [09:03]
Andy Beshear
That big ugly bill also strikes me, like you'd mentioned in terms of food assistance as wrong. At my core, I'm guided by my faith. And when I think about the miracle of the fishes and the loaves, it is in every book of the Gospel, which means it's a really important lesson for us. Yet many folks on the other side, Republicans in Congress who put their hand on that Bible that has that miracle in every book of the gospel and pledged to support the American people, just took food away from seniors and kids.
- [09:39]
Hakeem Jeffries
There are some people in Washington, D.C. who go to church and they pray on Sunday P R A Y, as you and I do. I grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. Faith is an important part of my journey, central to it. But we got some folks in Washington who pray on Sunday authentically, and then they come to Washington D.C. and pray P R E Y on the American people for the rest of the week. Pray on the poor, the sick, the afflicted, the least, the lost, the left behind. Pray on the everyday Americans who work hard but are struggling to survive. And you want to make things worse for them, not better.
- [10:15]
Andy Beshear
We're talking on the Andy Beshear podcast with Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who I think just took us to church for a minute. We were talking about what I think is the single worst piece of legislation in my lifetime, the big ugly bill. Let's transition to the worst economic policy that's going right along with it, which is the president's tariff policy. What we just saw was a jobs report that was dismal. It looks like now in June, we lost jobs, first time since COVID And the dismal number of new jobs created, very concerning the unemployment rate going up, manufacturing. We continue to lose jobs under this president. And I can tell you why. It's that you can't build a new facility when your costs float 30% because of tariffs. So you're also heading back in with a need to tell the American people that this president who said he'd make paying the bills a little bit easier, is making it a whole lot harder.
- [11:15]
Hakeem Jeffries
That's exactly right. This gets to sort of the core promise that Donald Trump and House Republicans have broken throughout the entire part of the 2024 campaign. Republicans promised that they were going to lower costs for everyday Americans. In fact, Donald Trump said that costs Were going to go down on day one. We know costs haven't gone down. They're going up. Inflation is up and the cost of living is up in part because of Donald Trump's reckless tariffs that are going to raise costs on the average American family by thousands of dollars a year and is already having an impact on jacking up.
- [11:55]
Andy Beshear
I saw one study that suggested that a middle class family might get a couple hundred bucks in the tax break or keep a couple hundred bucks in the tax break. You could have up to $2,700 a year in additional costs from tariffs. That is not a good deal.
- [12:09]
Hakeem Jeffries
Yeah. The math is not mathing when it comes to that situation. And you know, Donald Trump made this promise that he was going to address the high cost of living because he wanted to be elected. And it's clear that he and extreme MAGA Republicans had no intention of keeping their word because they've had every opportunity to try to work with Democrats to do something to address the inflationary environment that we have in this country. And they've chosen to do the exact opposite. Our view as Democrats is that the cost of living in the United States of America is too high.
- [12:42]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [12:43]
Hakeem Jeffries
America is too expensive. And we've got to make sure that here in this country, you work hard, you play by the rules, you should be able to afford to live the good life. That's not too much to ask. Good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education for your children and a good retirement, which, by the way, means keep your hands off Social Security and Medicare. They're doing the exact opposite. And we're going to continue to keep our eye on the prize to drive down the high cost of living, to fix our broken health care system, and by the way, to clean up corruption in Washington, D.C. which is hurting the American people.
- [13:19]
Andy Beshear
You just quoted the American dream that if you work hard and you play by the rules, you get ahead. I think what we've seen in polling, but I think we see it in discontent across America, too, is worries, especially among younger people, that the American dream is not in their grasp. They can't afford a home within 10 years of when their parents did. It feels like even that next job that's out there, it's tough to pay the bills. They're trying to decide whether they have kids or not. Even in this environment. How does the Democratic Party tell these folks that we are your party, we will fight for this, that you deserve that same dream that you and I were able to live?
- [14:01]
Hakeem Jeffries
Yeah. The American people across the country and Particularly young people are understandably frustrated and in some cases angry about the fact that they can do those first two things. They can work hard, they can play by the rules, but they're unable to get to that last piece. Being able to afford to live the good life, to experience the great American dream. And we've got to be clear out of the gate. We hear you, we see you, we feel you, we understand your frustration, and we're determined to make life better for you. And then we can lay out, you know, plans to be able to do that, to make home ownership actually affordable again. Because that's always been a central part of the American dream and it's increasingly out of reach.
- [14:46]
Andy Beshear
And that's going to take more supply in addition to that ability to finance it.
- [14:51]
Hakeem Jeffries
That's exactly right. We have a supply demand challenge in the United States of America. That demand for homeownership and housing that is affordable greatly exceeds the supply. So one of the things that we clearly have to do at the national level is to incentivize growth and development and the building of housing that people can afford. And it's an all hands on deck effort, state, local, federal, as well as a partnership with the private sector.
- [15:20]
Andy Beshear
I remember when Brittany and I bought our first house and how it made me feel. It made you feel like a success. It made you feel like you could provide. And we bought the smallest house in our neighborhood. I was told I could never lose money in that neighborhood. I proved them wrong. But the lack of people being able to feel that, I think we've got to recognize takes a toll on mental health in many ways. It's like how some people are talking about crime right now, that we deserve not just to be safe, but to feel safe. That the party that recognizes that mental health is just as important as physical health, we've got to understand that people's emotions and feelings about their life are really important.
- [16:05]
Hakeem Jeffries
Yeah, that's absolutely correct. We've seen that in New York City, where over the last few years you've seen a decrease in crime, but because of the feeling that things are out of order when you leave your home or when you go and shop at the drugstore and everything is locked up, or you're concerned that someone can push you into the subway tracks with an ongoing train, it's just a frightening situation. That these feelings are real, they're authentic, and we have to confront them now. I do think that we've got to make sure, as Democrats, we're focused, of course, on the economy, of course on Healthcare, but on keeping communities safe.
- [16:44]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [16:44]
Hakeem Jeffries
And recognize the importance of public safety. And we want to strengthen the relationship between the police and the community for the good of everyone.
- [16:52]
Andy Beshear
So my take is that reducing crime takes hard work, and it takes efforts that last more than a month and more than a year. So certainly in Kentucky, we raise the pay of our state troopers, and we have the most state troopers we've had in decades. It's funny, if you actually pay people closer to what they're worth, more people will do that important job. But then we also attacked recidivism. We're teaching a trade in each of our prisons to try to prevent that second or third crime. We're trying to intervene with youth, hopefully before a first crime or certainly after. I think that is a contrast. That's the hard work. This deployment of the National Guard, it might help crime statistics for a week or a month, but when they leave, you're going to face the exact same things as before. And that's even before we get into whether we should have armed military on the streets of the United States of America.
- [17:44]
Hakeem Jeffries
And the American people clearly are rejecting the notion that that American troops should be unleashed on American citizens. And this notion that you have a president of the United States who's going to declare war on an American city like the great city of Chicago is completely and totally outrageous. What we should be doing is leaning into the hard work and sustained work of driving down crime and building partnerships between police and community. And, you know, we're going to continue. I certainly have made clear. I'm going to support the Chicago Police Department, support the Metropolitan Police department in Washington, D.C. support the NYPD here at home, and make sure that we are doing what is necessary to give local law enforcement the tools to drive down crime and make life better for the American people.
- [18:33]
Andy Beshear
From what I see, the only group out there trying to defund law enforcement is this administration. Whether it's Violence Against Women grants or others. I mean, there are a lot of important federal grants that help us prevent crime from happening, happening in the first place, which should be the goal, that if it never happens, no one goes through that trauma.
- [18:51]
Hakeem Jeffries
That's exactly right. That Donald Trump, Republicans, the administration, they're defunding local law enforcement, ripping away grants used to support the ability of law enforcement to actually do their jobs effectively.
- [19:03]
Andy Beshear
You're listening to the Andy Beshear Podcast, where we have been having a great discussion with Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on so many major challenges that our country is facing. But I want to turn It a little to. And I want to talk about you personally, all right. Because I know what it's like to get up every day and to run into this current chaos, to try to make life better, to try to do anything and everything we can. One of the things we talk about on this podcast is our why. Not just the what, but the why. What's your why? What drives you?
- [19:36]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, you know, I grew up in a working class neighborhood in central Brooklyn, Crown Heights neighborhood. My parents were both union members throughout their entire career. My dad was a substance abuse social worker who dealt with the heroin epidemic, the crack cocaine explosion in the 80s and late 70s into the early 90s. And my mom was a caseworker who worked for the Department of Human Resources Administration at the city level. Grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. As I mentioned, it was a very challenging time in central Brooklyn. The crack cocaine epidemic brought a lot of violence to the neighborhood and to the community, to the city, and in fact, to the country. So there was a lot of pain, a lot of hurt, a lot of injustice that I saw growing up and knew that I wanted to make a difference in some way, shape or form in my little corner of the world. And eventually that led me to go to law school, to practice law, and then to run for office in the state legislature where I initially served in the New York State Assembly.
- [20:52]
Andy Beshear
So your job now is pretty complicated. You got to manage a whole lot of people, all successful, most probably a type personalities that ran for and won and probably think they know exactly what we should be doing at all times. But you do it well. You seem to be very well liked inside the caucus. So my simple question is, how do you do that?
- [21:15]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, you know, I think out of the gate, I appreciate you saying that, is that everybody is a leader and everyone was elected to represent hundreds of thousands of people in the communities they now serve in the People's House. And in the People's House, we pride ourselves on being the institution that is closest to the American people. Right? That reflects the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the fears, the concerns, the anxieties, and in the words of the framers, the passions of the American people. And so everyone has a serious job to do. And I respect their perspective, their opinion, their passion, and their drive in trying to get the job done at the same period of time in a legislative body. We have to try to get to the highest common denominator.
- [22:00]
Andy Beshear
And.
- [22:00]
Hakeem Jeffries
And so it all begins with respect. And that's progressives, that's new Dems, that's Blue Dogs. In the Congress, in the House, we call them the news blues. And progressives. That's who we are. Right. And we reflect the gorgeous mosaic of the American people in many different ways, including ideology, but everybody driven by the same set of values, which is we want to make life better for the American people. And I've said to my team that probably the four most important words that I can say to any House Democrat on any issue is, what do you think? What do you think? And we start there, get everybody's perspectives, and then work to get to a common goal of advancing the ball for the American people.
- [22:47]
Andy Beshear
So you do a lot of listening.
- [22:48]
Hakeem Jeffries
A lot of listening, and then at a certain point, you got to make a decision.
- [22:51]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [22:52]
Hakeem Jeffries
But you know, in the same way that you listen to the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky as you are working through challenges, and we are required to listen to the people that we represent and each other.
- [23:03]
Andy Beshear
And then you make the call.
- [23:04]
Hakeem Jeffries
And then you make the call.
- [23:06]
Andy Beshear
So I love how you talk about the House of Representatives being so close to the people. You have a district, you're in the district a lot. How is it that your Republican colleagues seemingly have abandoned not just their job as a separate branch of government, but also listening to the people they serve? I'll give you an example. One of our congressmen in Kentucky, Brett Guthrie, pushed that big ugly bill through the House. He has rural hospitals throughout, but it also eliminates those EV credits. And he has three of, I think, the five largest battery plants in the world, which we're proud there in Kentucky, in his district. What happen to this group that should be so close to the people, but what they've done is going to fundamentally harm them.
- [23:52]
Hakeem Jeffries
They've just become a cult like group of folks so that when Donald Trump asks them to jump, they simply say, how high? And the House Republican Conference, this temporary majority in the House of Representatives, has become nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. And they've abandoned any notion that they're going to behave like a separate and co equal branch of government. And so you've got individuals like the congressman who you mentioned, who drives a bill.
- [24:22]
Andy Beshear
I don't mind saying his name.
- [24:23]
Hakeem Jeffries
Yeah, Guthrie. Guthrie drives a bill into law that's going to close hospitals in his community, shut down jobs in his community, and raise electricity prices in his community and as well as across the country. Because one of the many toxic things to come out of the one big ugly bill is the fact that electricity prices are going to skyrocket and are already all across the country.
- [24:50]
Andy Beshear
So what would change with a Democratically controlled House of Representatives and a speaker, Hakeem Jeffries?
- [24:56]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, we're going to put the American people first and we're going to actually enact legislation that is designed to improve the quality of life of the American people with a focus on lowering the high cost of living, housing costs, childcare costs, utility costs, as well as grocery costs and insurance costs. We're going to focus on focusing the attention of the Congress on actually fixing our broken health care system. Work hard to reverse the Medicare and Medicaid cuts, of course, because both Medicaid and Medicare will be adversely impacted by what the Republicans have done in the one big ugly bill. We want to actually strengthen hospitals, strengthen nursing homes, strengthen community based health clinics, and we have to drive down premiums, co pays and deductibles, as well as prescription drug prices, not pass legislation which is the case with the one big ugly bill that will drive up costs for the American people. And then, you know, we also believe we have to. We have a corrupt system in Washington and we need to clean up Congress, clean up things at the Supreme Court level, and also certainly clean up the intense corruption that is coming out of the Trump administration. Because when people are focused on enriching themselves as opposed to helping the American people, it's the American people who suffer.
- [26:16]
Andy Beshear
What I'm hearing is not a Democratic agenda, but an agenda for struggling American families. You and I have talked about this a lot. We've been together, I think, three, four times in the last six months about the idea that just about every family is worried about their job and being able to afford what they need, is worried about their next doctor's appointment, the roads and bridges they drive, the school they drop their kids off at, and whether they feel safe in their community. And what I hear you saying that a Democratic House of Representatives would do is lift everyone up, leave no one out. Republican families and independent families are going to benefit just as much.
- [26:52]
Hakeem Jeffries
That's right. We believe in an America with a strong floor and no ceiling. Pretty simple. Strong floor, no ceiling. That in this great country, you work hard, you play by the rules. There should be no ceiling to the success that you can achieve for yourself, for your family, for your children and your grandchildren. The fact is there's a ceiling right now for far too many people. And that's highly problematic. And we need to break that. That's not the America of the American dream. At the same period of time, we should have a strong floor in this country. And that's anchored in things like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, the Affordable Care act, veterans benefits and nutritional assistance, the things that Republicans are actually trying to detonate and to hurt the American people in the process. And so that will be our focus. And it lifts everyone up. And it is designed to bring the American dream back to life, which a lot of people right now, particularly young people, have come to the conclusion is no longer viable. That's not the kind of country that we want to live in moving forward. And that's what we're going to work to change.
- [27:58]
Andy Beshear
While you're trying to restore that American dream, Republicans and state legislatures are trying to change the rules of the game, are trying to redistrict in the middle of a decade, which normally you do at the end. And they're doing it very overtly. They're basically saying, we think we're going to lose and thus in the middle of the game, we're gonna change the rules.
- [28:22]
Hakeem Jeffries
That's right. You know, I understand why people have been understandably disappointed with the results of the 2024 election. And we lost the presidential race, and it was tough. And we have to deal with this guy who's sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, unleashing this parade of horribles and extremism on the American people day after day after day. But it's also important to recognize that the American people are very clear eyed about the failures of this administration, the failures of House Republicans, and the failures of this one big ugly bill, and are ready to throw them out of office in the midterm elections. Which is why Republicans, to your point, Gov, are determined to try to rig the congressional maps and steal the midterm elections without giving the voters the opportunity to make a decision about who they want to see representing them in the House moving forward. And so we've been very clear that we are not going to unilaterally disarm, that we need to operate from one set of rules. And we do need to get to a place where this type of mid decade redistricting is prohibited nationally. And we have a national standard. But until we get to that point, as we've seen in California and we'll see in other states, Democrats are going to respond to this effort to gerrymander the congressional map and respond immediately, forcefully and appropriately to ensure that House Republicans and Donald Trump cannot mathematically gerrymander their way to an artificial victory.
- [30:00]
Andy Beshear
All right, my last question is one we ask every single guest. And your answer might be being on podcasts, but if you have a secret superpower, a talent that most people don't know, what is it?
- [30:13]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, you know, I think what I've learned over the years, particularly in my legislative journey, is that restraint is one of the most underestimated qualities that someone can have. Because you never really see the upside of restraint.
- [30:29]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [30:30]
Hakeem Jeffries
But you will see the downside of absence of restraint. And in this business where, you know, there's a lot of different incoming that you take. Yes, but you're trying to navigate your way to certain objectives. We have to win, we have to defeat this extreme administration. Sometimes restraint is required so that we are not taking the bait, particularly the right wing bait that is regularly thrown out there to try to distract us and throw us off track from winning on behalf of the American people.
- [31:00]
Andy Beshear
But you're not chasing the shiny ball. You're staying on people's economic concerns and the challenges they're gonna face. Going to see a doctor.
- [31:08]
Hakeem Jeffries
That's right. And we have, you know, listen. It's an unprecedented assault on the economy, on healthcare, on nutritional assistance, on veterans, on farmers, on law abiding immigrant communities, on the rule of law and democracy itself. And so there's a lot that's being thrown at us, all of which are important. But at times, in terms of how we strategically navigate our way forward, I draw lessons from the civil rights movement where they made strategic decisions, knew when to show restraint, and knew when to unleash righteous indignation. And the combination of that was able to get the country to a better place.
- [31:50]
Andy Beshear
This has been the Andy Beshear Podcast with our first guest since we've officially been a part of the Sirius XM Podcast network. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you for being in this fight, my friend.
- [32:01]
Hakeem Jeffries
Thank you, my friend. If you thought goldenly breaded McDonald's chicken couldn't get more golden, think Golder. Because new sweet and smoky special edition gold sauce is here made for your chicken favorites at. Participate in McDonald's for a limited time.
- [32:17]
Nordstrom Rack Announcer
Great brands, great prices. Everyone's got a reason to rack.
- [32:22]
Hakeem Jeffries
You know, they have Marc Jacobs, Nike.
- [32:24]
Prolon Announcer
Yes, just so many good brands.
- [32:27]
Nordstrom Rack Announcer
Join the NordicLub at Nordstrom Rack to unlock exclusive discounts on your favorite brands. Shop new arrivals first and more. Plus, get an extra 5% off every rack purchase with a Nordstrom credit card. More perks, more value. That's why you wreck.
- [32:53]
Andy Beshear
You're listening to the Andy Beshear Podcast. We just wrapped up a great segment with Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries talking about issues across the board and now our segment is my discussion with the Johns. Those are my friends John Rabinowitz and John McConnell. The purpose of this segment is, in many ways the purpose of the podcast, that we can talk about difficult issues in a conversation among friends. And what better way to do that than with a couple of my friends? How's it feel to be in the New York headquarters of Sirius XM filming the little podcast that could a great day.
- [33:32]
John Rabinowitz
Talk about a long way from the beginning.
- [33:34]
John McConnell
I mean, it is surreal. And I will tell you, I am very happy with the layout of this set, and I'm very happy that we're not sitting on a tiny couch while.
- [33:44]
Andy Beshear
We'Re all up here celebrating. We have some challenging things going on in our country right now. I think we start where the American people start each day, and that's the economy. That's people worried about being able to pay their next bill or take their next vacation. And we just had a labor report come out at the end of last week that was rough. It saw significantly fewer new jobs than we've seen in just about any report. Unemployment rose. Wages grew by the lowest rate in 14 months. With revisions, it showed that June lost jobs. And that's the first time since the pandemic December of 2020. More clouds on the horizon. The only good news in the report was healthcare. Jobs were increasing. And we know that big, ugly bill will deal a blow there. And the final piece that's gotta be really tough for this president is a loss of manufacturing jobs. Down 12,000 now, down over 78,000 since the beginning of his presidency.
- [34:48]
John McConnell
I'll tell you, Andy, to me, that was the most interesting part of the whole report, was how many manufacturing jobs were lost. I do think this probably solidifies the case for the feds to cut the interest rate. And he'll probably take credit for that. I will tell you that. I mean, while unemployment did rise to 4.3%, it's still a somewhat record low. But it is very concerning with, I think they predicted, what, 75,000 jobs and it was only 22,000. So, yeah, I think there is some real concern.
- [35:22]
Andy Beshear
Yep.
- [35:22]
John Rabinowitz
And the loss of the manufacturing side, I agree, John. And it. It probably is going to create some type of a Fed movement. But for people to have to lose their jobs to make something like this happen, seems like it's a hard way to come to that decision.
- [35:35]
Andy Beshear
The reason behind this is pretty clear, and we've talked about it on past episodes. If people go back, it's that tariffs are a horrible economic policy right now. Those loss of manufacturing jobs. When the president talks about reshoring, I'm seeing it in real time. I'm seeing projects that were scheduled to move forward. Stop. Why? Because tariffs impact the cost of construction significantly. I've said on some of the past podcasts that the number I'm given is 30%. That if costs can float 30% and you have a billion dollar project, that's another $300 million, or scale that down for a smaller company. $100 million project could be $30 million extra. That is so much. It could put companies under and they're not willing to take the risk.
- [36:20]
John McConnell
You know, we've talked about this a lot. As a small business owner of both, like a restaurant and bar, I was pleased to see. I have not promoted it yet, but I will, don't worry. I was pleased to see that, like hospitality, those jobs are up. But the economic disruption really does affect us, even at a very small level, because we're not sure should we invest more in our people and our infrastructure when we don't know what the price is going to be next month. It's very concerning. As bad as that labor report was for President Trump, there's actually someone in his cabinet that had a worse time last week.
- [36:53]
Andy Beshear
Much worse.
- [36:55]
John McConnell
So last Thursday, Health and Human Service Secretary Kennedy faced bipartisan criticism from senators on his handling of the firing of the CDC director. Has he made access to vaccinations more of a challenge?
- [37:09]
Andy Beshear
They were rough with him, too.
- [37:11]
John McConnell
Three hour hearing, more or less, and he had to defend himself, saying that he was trying to bring the CDC back to the gold standard. Right. And so, John, what I'd like to know from you and your thoughts are, are we dealing with a conspiracy theory versus science with Secretary Kennedy sort of situation?
- [37:33]
John Rabinowitz
I think it goes back and forth. He seems to create science out of nowhere to support the next conspiracy.
- [37:40]
Andy Beshear
Science out of nowhere isn't called science.
- [37:41]
John Rabinowitz
No, no. It's made up at that point. But when you look at what it affects my family on a personal side is that, you know, I have a son who's autistic and nonverbal and has allergies and cannot actually take some vaccines. And the ones he can, he has. So when we look at him going to school, going to high school every day, you know, the protections around him a lot of times are the fact that everyone else has had the vaccine. So in most cases, we're not gonna see some of these diseases return when he can't be protected. So it scares us.
- [38:14]
John McConnell
I think it's a Real struggle with credibility to not acknowledge that the vaccine saved millions of lives. I mean, even as a Republican, the COVID vaccine. Right. I mean, to me, you have to follow the science and the analytics. And so to me, it just is a real challenge to believe that what he's saying is correct.
- [38:34]
Andy Beshear
And that was one of the MRNA vaccines, you know, one of the quickest vaccines created in human history, if not the fastest. Huge amounts of data show, especially getting us out of the pandemic, pretty, pretty effective. But now they just canceled $500 million of MRNA vaccine research, which, again, if it gives us a vaccine faster than ever, don't we want it for the next pandemic? And I also go back and think that these same people used to be against vaccines because they thought you were putting live virus in their body. And this is the opposite. Yep.
- [39:09]
John Rabinowitz
And you think about going back to what we look at. I mean, the concern about measles now and what's happening there. Something I was never scared of for Lyndon. And now all of a sudden, that's a fear that we have every day.
- [39:20]
Andy Beshear
And that's the idea that I need to get vaccinated for measles to protect Lyndon as well as myself.
- [39:27]
John McConnell
I totally agree. Listen, I have friends who, for whatever reason, are really against vaccines, but they keep it to themselves. Right. They don't have a national platform where that could really scare a lot of people. So to me, I just struggle with the messaging and kind of.
- [39:43]
John Rabinowitz
Moving on to some other news, we now have the Department of War with our Secretary of War, Pete. So this was something that kind of came out of nowhere, and the President seems to be very determined to talk about how we should have never lost a war.
- [39:57]
Andy Beshear
This president has some really incredible contradictions. We just talked about the COVID vaccine, and he wants to both say Operation Warp Speed was a huge success that saved the world, and vaccines may be bad or Covid wasn't real. It's this amazing contradiction, and this is the same thing. He has just changed a name to the Department of War. He has at least joked, if not said, that he's declaring war on Chicago, yet he thinks he should get a Nobel Peace Prize all in the same week and month.
- [40:28]
John McConnell
Well, we've had multiple episodes where we talk about the importance of words and how words matter. Listen, I think wasn't it up Until World War II, it was the Department of War. Right. And it was changed by Truman, and then I think George Washington launched it. So. But to me, it's again, just almost a distraction, another distraction. From real issues that are going on.
- [40:51]
Andy Beshear
I think that's fair. Okay, so in turning to a non political topic, college football now up and running through two weeks and the NFL is almost through week one. We are taping this on a Monday. So there's still just Monday Night Football left because it's early. I went to bed a little early last night and could not believe the Bills came back on Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry looked like he was running through everybody on the way to a big win.
- [41:18]
John McConnell
I mean, that looks like in all likelihood a championship game in the making. Right. And that's week one with the town. I mean, the best two quarterbacks in the league, in my opinion. And so I think it's going to be a great season. There was real parody. I was listening to you talk earlier about the jets and seeing Aaron Rodgers come back and throw four touchdowns here in New York probably wasn't great for New York fans. But my Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the victory. It was ugly, but they won.
- [41:45]
Andy Beshear
And the Bengals did something that they haven't done in several years. They won their first game. It didn't look great, but they had a healthy Joe Burrow. And this is a team that, that made a deep run several years ago, but has started with three or four losses each of the last several years and then either made the playoffs or been on the cusp. The AFC seems loaded.
- [42:09]
John Rabinowitz
And being here, I've seen a lot of jets fans walk through and say hi to them. So I'm just consoling them, assuming that that's what they needed and it seems to be correct.
- [42:17]
John McConnell
Well, listen, John, I am glad you're adding to this football discussion. You've worked really hard with your background and appreciation of football. You're going to games, you're appreciating UK and Louisville. So I'm just really impressed with this football season. You're stepping it up.
- [42:31]
John Rabinowitz
I'm trying to Aura Farm and just kind of grow myself into this.
- [42:34]
Andy Beshear
Well, you'll hear about Aura Farm here in a minute with Gen Z lingo with the kids. But we also got to see some of our friends who went with their daughter to one of the first college football games since she's been in college. And that was. Why don't you describe that, John?
- [42:54]
John Rabinowitz
It appeared to be more a forced family fun. Appeared to. I'm here on behalf of everyone else watching a football game.
- [43:00]
John McConnell
Hold on. Your daughter invited you to go to the game? My daughter, she just sent me a picture. I'm here. There was zero invite.
- [43:07]
John Rabinowitz
Okay. Well, she almost Blocked you at one time for a little while.
- [43:09]
John McConnell
She told me she was going to block me because I was making too many bad dad jokes and comments. My most recent asking, she asked Andy, she's like, do you want one of these shirts? I said, can you put number one dad on the back? Jokingly, she blocked my number.
- [43:23]
Andy Beshear
Wow. Now, a podcast that was formed by the three of us on a back patio is now part of the Sirius XM Podcast Network, and we're here in their headquarters in New York City. Pretty special.
- [43:36]
John McConnell
What could go wrong?
- [43:46]
Andy Beshear
We're back on the Andy Beshear Podcast. Those of you who regularly listen to us know that this is a family affair and that on a number of these episodes, we have my kids, Will and Lila, on to teach us Gen Z lingo. Will, Lila, welcome to the Sirius XM Podcast Network family.
- [44:05]
Will Beshear
Thank you. This is exciting.
- [44:09]
Andy Beshear
Yeah.
- [44:09]
Lila Beshear
Great to be here.
- [44:10]
Andy Beshear
What do you have for us in our first official episode with SiriusXM.
- [44:15]
Will Beshear
Okay, our word for today is aura farming. Do we have any guesses what that means?
- [44:21]
John Rabinowitz
Wait, Aura farming? That sounds like, well, aura farming, make me grow taller so I won't look so small between these two guys.
- [44:27]
John McConnell
Listen, I knew we were in trouble when you had both your kids in here with these words as opposed to just one. So this is a great word.
- [44:36]
Andy Beshear
So I know what aura is. You all have taught me that. We had mean tweets, which your mom and I do every year, where we read the meanest things that people say about us online and laugh. And one of them said I had no aura. And so I've been working on that new suit and all.
- [44:52]
Lila Beshear
It's definitely. I feel like your aura has gone up since that you took it personally.
- [44:56]
Andy Beshear
I did take it personally.
- [44:57]
John McConnell
How do you improve your aura farming? Can we give us some clues?
- [45:01]
Andy Beshear
So aura farming, would it be growing your aura that would seemingly be farming?
- [45:05]
Lila Beshear
Yeah, it's growing your aura, basically. So you've been aura farming over these past, past, you know, like couple months since those mean tweets, when you really, you know, feel down on yourself, you know, to boost your self esteem.
- [45:17]
Andy Beshear
Because I have such a self esteem problem.
- [45:20]
Lila Beshear
You just have to aura farm.
- [45:22]
Andy Beshear
What are some of the ways that a person can aura Farm?
- [45:24]
Will Beshear
Well, what do you think?
- [45:25]
Lila Beshear
There aren't necessarily, like, methods that are, like, textbook.
- [45:29]
Andy Beshear
So this segment won't be tips to aura Farm.
- [45:32]
Lila Beshear
No, we're just acknowledging, you know, you have been attempting to aura farm.
- [45:38]
John McConnell
Can you improve multiple auras or is it one? Are you focused on one aura so.
- [45:43]
Lila Beshear
It doesn't like that if I wanted.
- [45:45]
John McConnell
To be like positivity. So I started focusing on the aura of positivity.
- [45:49]
Will Beshear
No, that's not what aura is.
- [45:51]
Andy Beshear
So if you see. If you see somebody, let's say you've seen somebody at school and they come in one day and they're walking different, they seem really confident. Have they been aura farming?
- [46:02]
Lila Beshear
Well, that's one way, but another way is also being nonchalant. Like, if you're, you know, like if you're standing in the hallway by your locker, you know, you're. You're just acting really cool. That's aura farming. So there are different ways to do it.
- [46:16]
John Rabinowitz
I have a question, Will. Do you feel that these guys are aura farming off of me when I come into the pod 100?
- [46:22]
Lila Beshear
I mean, we get to sit on the tiny couch.
- [46:23]
Will Beshear
Oh, yeah.
- [46:25]
John Rabinowitz
There you go.
- [46:27]
Andy Beshear
Come on. So for those who don't normally watch the podcast, our studio has a couple of chairs and a tiny couch. And we typically put the biggest people together on the tiny couch.
- [46:39]
John McConnell
And for perspective on size, as the first lady said, it could have fit in the overhead compartment on the way here. Correct.
- [46:46]
Andy Beshear
And we could have had it in the Sirius XM Network studio. Now, what do you think that the tiny couch does to someone's aura?
- [46:54]
Will Beshear
Oh, it grows it.
- [46:55]
Andy Beshear
Oh.
- [46:57]
Lila Beshear
So all the aura you've gained over these past couple months, you know, from that just horrible tweet, just sitting on that one time for one segment is like double that.
- [47:08]
Andy Beshear
So while we've got you, give the listeners who are tuning in for the first time a few reasons to go back and to listen to your Gen Z lingo. It can certainly help someone like me.
- [47:20]
Will Beshear
Yeah.
- [47:21]
Andy Beshear
Understand what my kids are saying.
- [47:22]
Will Beshear
Understand what your children say.
- [47:24]
Lila Beshear
Yeah. It really helps you get with the times, as they say.
- [47:27]
John McConnell
Oh, listen, I totally agree. I use it all the time in front of my three girls, and they are shocked.
- [47:32]
Andy Beshear
So, Will, could it make the three of us hip?
- [47:35]
John McConnell
Oh, no, no.
- [47:38]
Lila Beshear
Don't ever say that again.
- [47:40]
John McConnell
Can we improve your aura, please?
- [47:41]
Andy Beshear
Apparently, it just decreased in real time in the studio. The lights at SiriusXM just changed.
- [47:48]
John McConnell
I thought that seat had it for you, but now, who knows?
- [47:50]
Andy Beshear
Well, Will, Lila, thank you for joining us. Thanks for making this podcast a success. It is. Now, how does it feel to be contributors to a podcast that's gotten picked up and gone nationally?
- [48:03]
Will Beshear
Feels great.
- [48:04]
Lila Beshear
Yeah. I'm just happy to be a part and thankful to be here.
- [48:07]
Andy Beshear
This is the Andy Beshear Podcast, and as Lila says, we're doing it for the plot.
- [48:11]
NFL Announcer
If you thought goldenly breaded McDonald's chicken.
- [48:14]
Hakeem Jeffries
Couldn'T get more golden, think colder because new Sweet and Smoky Special Edition Gold Sauce is here made for your chicken favorites.
- [48:24]
Andy Beshear
I participate in McDonald's for a limited.
- [48:26]
Prolon Announcer
Time Want to look and feel your best this summer? Don't just think skin deep, think cell deep with Prolon. Prolon is a plant based nutrition program featuring soups, snacks and beverages that nourish the body while keeping it in a fasting state, triggering cellular rejuvenation and renewal. With proper diet and exercise, Prolon can help target fat loss, support lean muscle and reset your metabolism so you look and feel your best all summer long. Prolon is science backed nutrition that can help change your relationship with food in just 5 days. Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe@prolonlife.com PandoraPromo these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. See site for details.
- [49:13]
Andy Beshear
This has been an amazing episode of the Andy Beshear Podcast. Our first filmed right here at Sirius XM's headquarters in New York City. As we end this episode, I wanted to make sure that our first time listeners got to hear from my better half, my partner in all things, my wife Brittany. How's it feel for this little podcast that could to now be on the SiriusXM Podcast Network?
- [49:38]
Brittany Beshear
This is really exciting. You have been talking about doing a podcast for a really long time and you know, John and John would come over and you guys would hang out and talk about it and it's just one of those, those little seeds that kind of grew and grew and it's remarkable and amazing that it has gone all the way from the patio to SiriusXM.
- [50:00]
Andy Beshear
That's pretty neat for people who are tuning in for the first time. What are some highlights of previous episodes you suggest they check out?
- [50:08]
Brittany Beshear
Oh goodness. I think the Ask Andy questions that I had if you want to learn about big belt buckles and oh, I.
- [50:17]
Andy Beshear
Had a glorious big belt buckle growing up.
- [50:20]
Brittany Beshear
And the car that you had we always talk about, you know, our kids are learning to drive and their car is infinitely. Actually it's in one piece, which definitely is better than either of ours.
- [50:33]
Andy Beshear
My 1982 Chevy Cavalier was not.
- [50:35]
Brittany Beshear
Oh my 1990 bucket state wagon. It was a thing of glory. The thing was a tank. Seeing our two kids be apart and teaching us things and you know, through Gen Z lingo, putting us in our place because I mean we're not old, but definitely, you know, to them, we're old. You just said hip hop today.
- [50:57]
Andy Beshear
I did, I did.
- [50:58]
Brittany Beshear
And you didn't mean like your actual hip.
- [51:00]
Andy Beshear
That's true. That's true. So for, for our first time listeners, if you gave them one last thought about why they should subscribe to the Andy Beshear podcast on our YouTube channel or download us through any of the major podcast networks, but most importantly, signed up with Sirius and was able to access us through the Sirius XM app, what would you tell them?
- [51:23]
Brittany Beshear
I would say it is a fun, enjoyable podcast. I think we're funny and most of all, just do it for the plot.
- [51:32]
Andy Beshear
Once again, we're gonna do it for the plot. This has been the Andy Beshear Podcast. Remember, you can download us on all major platforms or subscribe to our YouTube channel @andy Beshear Podcast. Your downloads and your subscriptions are what keep us going and keeps this conversation going. So make sure you're a part of it and let's do this.