Sarah Longwell (5:44)

So let me ask you this, okay? So your journey makes complete sense to me because I went on a somewhat similar one. But it sounds like the thing that made you break with him was sort of the personal consequences of some of Trump's policies on you that impacted your business. But then the thing that made you sort of an. An activist almost was some of the core things. It was less ideological. It was less about policy. It was about this guy's tearing the country apart. You know, people are being hurt, they're being lied to. And so when you run now as a Democrat, is it enough to be anti Trump, or do you have sort of a set of policy positions that you think, do they transcend sort of normal Democrat, Republican lines? Are you just. Are you running as somebody who says, like, look, I'm for the working class, and I want to. I want to work to make their lives better, and I want to protect America from sort of this more authoritarian figure? Like, is that what's motivating you? Like, how do you run as a Democrat, as somebody who's been a Republican

Kyle Sweetser (6:48)

your whole life, When I was going in and out of people's houses and hearing this change in. In our society, I think about my family. I think about my wife, who. Who's half Thai, who our dad was granted amnesty under Ronald Reagan, a Republican. And what I see and what I've. What I've experienced, Republicans inability to pass immigration legislation because of political reasons is teaching a new generation to hate in our country. They are the way that they are messaging on this, and they're raising a ton of money. They're whipping up their base. But the way they're messaging on this is. It is dangerous. It's very dangerous. It's turning neighbors on one another. So when I think about the future, I want my wife. I want folks like my wife, my wife's family, I want them to feel like the Americans they are instead of going out and wondering who views them as an enemy because of what the Republican Party is doing, what the MAGA Republican Party is doing, turning people on their neighbors. I'll frame it like this. You know, they. The way that they message which you're very aware of, they target a specific group and in this case it's Hispanic immigrants mostly. But anytime that Hispanic person is an immigrant commits any sort of crime, it gets elevated in the news and it would be like what they're doing. If you were to take someone, we have 300 million people that live in the United States, more than 300 million. If you were to look for, let's just say someone with a red shirt that's committing murder every day and put them in the news after six months to a year, that's all that you're showing. That would condition the population to be afraid and to maybe even hate people that have red shirts. So what they're doing is they are conditioning people to hate immigrants. And immigrants are the lifeblood of this country. They are what have made America great. We are a country of immigrants. So that is a huge driver for me. And I think you'll find, especially talking to folks, the Republicans that you can win over, they're sensitive to this issue, they understand this issue, just how important it is that we do pass some sort of legislation so we can put this issue to BET and folks can quit playing political games.

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Sarah Longwell (11:00)

So tell me what it's like running as a Democrat right now. So right now you're in a field. There's a field of other Democrats. My best understanding, and maybe you could tell me if it's consistent with yours, is that you're currently at the top of that sort of Democratic field. And I mean, look, I looked at the Alabama numbers just before we hopped on really quickly, just to orient myself. Trump won it by 30%. 30. You know, he was like, plus 30 and a half percent. So that's not, not a lot of room for Democrats. But give me, like, both your theory of the case for winning the Democratic primary as a former Republican and then how you think you're going to tackle a general election in a place where Trump just dominated in the 2024 election.

Kyle Sweetser (11:43)

We need three things. We need a motivated Democratic base, which is we're going to have that. We need the press, Republican turnout. We're going to have that. And the last part, we need to win over 200,000 Republicans at least. And that's what I'm, that's what I'm going to focus on. And I'm going to do that by focusing on the issues, by working to meet people where they're at, by using my background to talk in the way that we need to talk, like real people, instead of a space alien from Washington, D.C. that they're used to. One of the problems that I've experienced here is there is this push by some Democrats in the state to not fight, to not call out Trump. I was warned many, many times when I first announced, don't, don't talk bad about Trump. You know, you can't call out Trump. I mean, so that, that's a part of where this problem is. Democrats are used to laying on the ground and getting stomped on, and they have been comfortable with that over the years. I was in a forum last night, great guy, great guy that, that moderated that forum. He's top Democrat in the state. He told folks, though I disagree with him here. Don't worry about the recent Supreme Court ruling where Alabama is probably going to lose all of our, he didn't frame it that way, but that's how I frame it. All of our Democratic representation. Don't worry about it. The, the, the law will take care of that. It'll be fine. And just a day later, we're learning that that's not the case. Case. Democrats in the state of Alabama have to stand up and fight. And so by standing against, standing up for the people, standing up and speaking out against the president, instead of doing what Democrats have done in the past year in the state, which as far as I'm concerned statewide, the strategy has been, we'll hope Republicans are just so bad that will win or there'll be some kind of character flaw like Roy Moore. So my approach is much different, much, much different. And it has caused quite a bit of friction, but it's not, it's necessary. It's, it's hard to do. That's why no one's done it in the state of Alabama. But I'm committed to doing that and I'm committed to calling the president out on all of the terrible things that the executive office and MAGA movement are doing.

Sarah Longwell (14:02)

If you're in a Trump+30 state, though, you do have to win over a significant number of Trump voters. I hear you, though. I hear you. That. And look, it's part of the reason I wanted to have this conversation is I am interested, as a practical political matter right now, about people who have, in a state like Alabama, where Democrats, unless they're running against an active pedophile like Roy Moore, they, they don't win national elections, they don't win Senate seats, they don't win most elections. And so you've got to persuade, you can, you can depress. So, you know, if we're in an environment where Republicans are depressed and Trump's not on the ballot, we're also in an environment where Democratic enthusiasm will likely be as high as it's been. But like you said, 200,000 Republican voters, you've got to persuade. And now you have a unique profile from which to do it because you yourself were Republican who has moved. But are you saying that your pitch to them is a, is a sort of I'm going to stand up to Trump one, and is that compelling to sort of 200,000 Republicans, or are you trying to convince them to, to vote for you on a different reason? Like, how are you, how are you going to persuade those 200,000 people?

Kyle Sweetser (15:13)

Not everybody, despite what everyone thinks about Alabama and our reputation, not every Republican loves Donald Trump.

Sarah Longwell (15:20)

Well, I did. Look, he's only at a 53% approval rating in Alabama, which is much lower, actually, than I would have expected.

Kyle Sweetser (15:26)

You're right. And see, that's why we need to keep speaking up against Donald Trump. Hey, We're. We're what? I mean, we're. We're starting out. If you view it based on Trump, if, if we're running against Trump, which everyone says they frame it that way, that's the, where we're at. We're starting out negative 4. We're not starting out negative 20. And if you look at the opposition, Barry Moore, who is more than likely going to be the Republican Senate nominee, if you look at him, his entire platform, it is absolutely pathetic. He has tied his entire political career to Donald Trump. This guy has been in office, I guess, what, 15 years as a politician. He is a career politician that he's achieved so little that his entire platform, we, his ads are played everywhere. He calls himself a Trump Republican in the ad. I mean, that is his entire identity. So making sure that the MAGA Republican Party owns Donald Trump in all of his failures here in the state of Alabama is crucial. Continuing to speak the truth against, you know, the, the advice that, that we were given here in Alabama is driving Trump's numbers down in a lot of it. Folks think that everyone is, is supporting Trump because they're racist. That's not true at all. Most people here in Alabama, we're ranked 49th in income. People are trapped in this poverty loop where in some cases they work seven days a week just to try to provide for their families or two jobs. And people don't have the luxury of being locked in politically. So we've got to crack through to those folks. They don't have, you know, really the time because they're concerned about their children. They're concerned about, you know, paying their bills, paying their rent, putting food on the table. So I think it's just so important that we message in a way to reach those folks and we let those people know, hey, you need to come out and vote. If you look at the war with Iran driving up costs, driving up cost of fuel, if you look at the tariffs driving up cost to consumers, we're subsidizing some of Trump's buddies through those tariff taxes that we're paying. So, you know, we, we have got to stand strong, stand firm, and speak up against this MAGA authoritarianism in order to win. It is actually the key to victory. It is everything but what the Democratic Party has done. So not doing so it's a definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We're not going to do that this time. We're going to call Donald Trump out for the authoritarian that he is, and we're going to run against the MAGA machine and we're going to win November.

Sarah Longwell (18:37)

Yeah. I mean, it strikes me that, that saying to voters, hey, are you unhappy with the war in Iran? Are you unhappy with inflation? Are you unhappy that your grocery prices haven't gone down as you were promised? Then, like, send a message to Washington, send a message to Trump, like, let there be an earthquake in Alabama and send me. And let them know you're unhappy with the job he's doing. I mean, I don't know. That's, that's not, that's not a crazy.

Kyle Sweetser (19:06)

Well, look at what's happening with the Supreme Court and in Alabama's history. Alabama is the birthplace of the civil rights movement. And now through this administration, through the Supreme Court, through the MAGA movement, they are deleting that history, Such a rich history here in Alabama. I think that's going to have a huge impact on this election because it is so specific. If you look at the history to Alabama, you look at the bridge crossing in Selma every year and how important that is, and you have this, this administration, this movement that is moving in the open to delete that history to say that no longer matters. We're going to have people that are really ticked off, that are really motivated to vote in so many different areas because his MAGA movement has harmed so many different folks across the state, whether they're government workers, whether they work in construction, whether it's folks in shipping and receiving or folks that rely on products to, you know, that come from overseas to complete their projects or complete manufacturing process here in the states. So you're going to see a lot of people, especially when we get on the other side of the summertime, that really are open to something new. And that's really what I'd like people to understand here in the state of Alabama. This is something new. This isn't, you know, go back to 15 years ago when, when Alabama was still last place, because we've been last place now. We've had 15 years of one party Republican rule here in the state of Alabama and we're still last place. So it's time to send somebody to Washington D.C. that has, and we really need more than, than just a few that actually has a background dealing with people face to face, where they're comfortable to be themselves. That's, that's worked out in the heat, that's struggled, that knows what it's like to be an everyday American because we do not have that in Washington, D.C. and that's why we're at where we're at.

Sarah Longwell (21:33)

Yeah, I mean, this guy, what's his name? Barry Moore, he's the Alabama Attorney General. He is sort of like election denying, full MAGA, Trumper type. And I could see how you normal guy could connect better with voters, but that's going to require, I mean, he's got a, they got a big machine, a lot of money. What's your strategy? Is it like you just walk? You are you, are you events? Are you going to fish fries? Like, what is, what are you doing to reach people and make sure that they know the specific kind of person you are that is distinct maybe from how they think of Democrats in the state.

Kyle Sweetser (22:10)

Going all across the state talking to anybody and everybody. I've been speaking with a lot of unions and union halls, which been very helpful because, you know, the leadership is traditionally the Democratic leadership or folks that are Democrats. And then the, the membership votes heavy Republican, especially here in Alabama. So I've had the opportunity to talk to many of those folks. And yeah, I, you know, I had somebody try to call me out on fishing as if I was a typical politician. And by the end of the short conversation I had, you know, he knew that, that, that I knew more about fishing than him. So, yeah, it is you, you mentioned fish fries. We have so many events here across Alabama, so many outdoors events. One of the things I've been been doing since the beginning is I've been doing a lot of videos outdoors and mostly posting those videos to try to change the optics. And, and now a lot of people in the state, it's been successful, are now doing that. They're Democrats, which I hope they can be genuine about it, otherwise it'll all blow up. But, you know, trying to use just everyday optics, everyday images of how I actually am a regular person instead of putting on a suit before I get on this podcast with you and putting makeup on or whatever Barry Moore does, you know, and doing all this fake stuff. I think people are to the point that they see through it, they're tired of it, and they crave something genuine. So I can tell you out everyone that's running, probably on the Democratic side and the Republican side, probably the only person that actually hunts. I'm probably the only person that knows how to tie a fishing knot. And that goes a long way with people.

Sarah Longwell (24:06)

I can tie a fishing knot. All right, Kyle, I tell you what, man, I admire what you're doing. I always admire people who put their neck out and try to do something to make a difference. And so I'm glad we got a chance to catch up and I wish you the best of luck. And if you pull off the, the Democratic primary, we'll come back during the general and we'll check in. Okay, man.

Kyle Sweetser (24:30)

Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity. And do not, please, y' all do count Alabama out. Everybody has, has, has just completely forgotten our state and they don't want to put any effort in. But I guarantee you, if we got the amount of resources that Texas has received over the years because Republicans have done so poorly here, we would be having a completely different conversation. But we're there. This is the turning point. This is a once in a generation opportunity. The MAGA movement, Donald Trump has really botched things up so badly that this is the opportunity with a correct message, with a correct messenger to take Alabama to flip that Senate seat and to take it to MAGA authoritarianism up in the Senate to hold the president accountable.

Sarah Longwell (25:21)

Love it, man. Love it. Good luck to you. Thanks. Kyle.

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