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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
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B
Donald Trump and his fascist regime are so short sighted. They've come into the federal government and no doubt done illegal and immoral things. And then all of a sudden they're realizing, oh, the midterms are coming up. So what do cheaters do? They start to try to cheat. So they call up sycophants and ass kissers in Texas. And I'm talking about the governor, I'm talking about Paxton, and they say, he, will you cheat for us? And they're like, yeah, sure, no problem. We got you, bub. And the Texas Democrats are not having it. And that's why I am so happy to talk to Representative Julie Johnson, a gay trio from Dallas, Texas. You guys. Julie, how are you today?
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A
I'm so great. How are you today?
- [00:53]
B
Excellent. All right, tell us what on earth is going on with Abbott and Pax and who I want to remind our viewer is going through a, quote, biblical divorce. Is that correct?
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A
Oh, yes. It's absolutely ridiculous. He's the one of the most corrupt politicians to have ever graced the state of Texas, which is saying a lot. And it's, it's outrageous what he's doing. But, you know, what we're in, is we're in a mid decade redistricting. And because Trump knows his policies are full of shit and he's trying to cram them down the throats of the American people and they're just not having it, his pole waters are underwater. They know that they're in dire trouble for the upcoming midterm election. So rather than actually have a policy that people want to vote for, that people want to support, the next strategy is to try to rig and steal some elections. And so they're forcing a mid decade redistricting to try to draw five Texas congressional Democrats, me being one of them, out of our seats and make them lean Republican or strong inclinations for Republicans. And then, and so Paxton now and Cornyn and Abbott are in a contest of who could be the biggest bully to try to get the Texas Democrats who broke quorum to protest this terrible situation back to Texas. That's kind of where we are.
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B
And am I correct that I've read that Abbott wants to send the FBI to arrest democratically elected Texas politicians that are trying to ensure that the midterm elections project the will of Texas voters?
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A
Yes, you're correct. But the thing about it is, what you have to understand is they've issued an arrest warrant. Well, it's not a real arrest warrant in the way that you're, you're accustomed to it's a civil warrant that's issued by the speaker of the House. And basically it instructs law enforcement to bring an elected member back to the House chamber. And it's not like your typical criminal arrest warrant where somebody has violated the laws of the state of Texas or the federal government and they're trying to bring them back for criminal prosecution. This is a civil matter, a civil warrant, and there's absolutely no legal precedent whatsoever for the FBI to be involved in this at all.
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B
I think you'll be familiar with this phrase because I'm originally from Dallas. This is what we call all hat, no cattle.
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A
It is all hat, no catt.
- [03:24]
B
This is what the Trump administration is. It is a show pony administration that wants to terrorize people. But let's talk about for our listeners that are not familiar with Texas. And if you're in Dallas, if you're in Fort Worth, if you're in Austin, if you're in San Antonio, if you're in El Paso, if you're in Houston, these are large blue cities. Furthermore, these are the economic hubs of Texas that produce the majority of the tax revenue that supports the state. And I, I have a, when I'm not a podcaster, I'm an interior designer and I get, have a lot of projects in Dallas. And during this past election cycle, I was in the Dallas area, ritzy neighborhoods, Kamala Harris signs everywhere. So the silencing of red state Democrats and red state liberals is something, as a person that lives in a red state right now, I is something that we have to really fight for. And I think we have to show the nation red state liberals hit different, we're built different, we're tough. We'll say, come at us, we're not going to bend the knee. What is your take on that?
- [04:36]
A
I totally agree with you. You know, and it's, you know, in my district, for example, it's currently all urban. You know, it's 80% Dallas County, a little bit of Collin county and a little bit of Denton County. And there's not a single farm plot in my congressional district, not one. And what they've done is They've taken about 20% of my current district and kind of the northern part of Dallas County, Carrollton through Richardson, and taken a swath of about, you know, 150,000 Democrats that are in my district and paired them with six rural counties that go almost all the way to Louisiana. There's absolutely no commonality of interest in these constituencies. And then the other thing is we have Thousands of people that come to our office seeking, you know, assistance with taxes, veterans benefits, you know, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, all the things. And think of how is that going to manage administratively when you have a district that's hundreds of miles apart? How do you effectively serve these people? So this is just brazen politics, and it's going to really harm the actual constituents.
- [05:43]
B
And let's, let's talk about walking and chewing gum at the same time. Let's talk about what the needs are for people in your district as it's currently drawn. But as a party, let's talk, talk about messaging to rural folks that think that the reason that they can't have nice things is because there's a lesbian serving, you know, as a representative, or because this trans kid over here that's just trying to exist, or because of this wonderful family that has this Mexican restaurant in the suburbs of Dallas. They have been lied to. They have been told, because they live in such a homogenous community. They have been told the reason that you can't have nice things is because of these woke gays and because the liberals are sending kids to school and they're whacking off wieners and then the kids are, you know, taking shits and litter boxes at schools. And all of this sounds so crazy to them. And they think, oh, my gosh, we can't have nice things, when in actuality, they can't have nice things. Because Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott and both of your senators, and we could talk about Ted Cruz right now, and unlikable he is, and not finished for probably four more election cycles. But I'll spare everybody that because I cover that extensively because these guys are billionaires, bitches. They support billionaires living an easier life. Life. And it's very easy. These billionaires that are worth a billion. I think comedian Bill Burr recently said, Congresswoman, he recently said, so what? You're worth a billion. Maybe be worth 900 million and pay your people a livable wage. They're working 40 hours a week and they can't get ahead.
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A
Right. You know, you're exactly right. And it's about, it's that it goes back to that old adage of that LBJ quote, you know, if I'll paraphrase it. But it basically is if you can convince a man that he's better than somebody else, you can fleece their pockets at the same time. And that is sort of exactly what's happening. You know, they've convinced these lower educated rural white voters in particular that they are better than the immigrants, that they're better than LGBT people, that they're better. And so somehow, because if they have somebody to exercise their superiority over that, that gives them. It sells the farm for everything else. And I think it's really important. It's one of the struggles, honestly, that I have in Congress. I'm a red state Democrat, and there are few of us, and there's not a single red state Democrat in leadership. There's not a single red state Democrat on the messaging arm of the Democratic Party nationally. And I think that's a mistake of the Democratic Party as a who that we have to elevate the profiles of and the voices of red state Democrats because we see a different. There's a different us, and there's a different reality on, on the table. And, you know, as an example of, I was talking to Wendy Davis one time about national Planned Parenthood, for example, they didn't have any red state members on their national board to understand what was really happening on the ground for abortion access in these red states in a deeply personal way. And so I just think that we have to do a better job of the Democratic media. And I think it's awesome to be on your show today, for example, having this conversation. We need to do more of it to get people who are in the hard trenches of Democratic politics of moving the needle in red states have their voices amplified a little bit more.
- [09:32]
B
Yes. And I do think there needs to be a succinct messaging to rural Americans and they're told and have been propagandized for so long that the left is radical. And I think in a very plain spoken way, we can say we don't think that you making $7 an hour and us advocating for you to make 15 to $20 an hour, we don't think that's radical. What we believe is radical is that your bosses make 3,000 times what you used to make. We think it's radical that that boss doesn't pay taxes and finds a lot of loopholes, but you have to pay taxes. And we think it's radical to bully people that you might think are a little bit different. We think it's, it's. We, we think that they're the radical ones. And I believe that it's easy, and I do this a lot to dismiss rural people, people as rubes and they don't know what's going on. But if you live in a red state, in this city, and I live in Oklahoma City, I end up around rural people. My son played Basketball inside, a lot of them is a good natured default setting. Do they vote for evil shit? Yes. But if we can focus on. You have that James Talarico, who I think is a really good messenger. I'm not religious. I'm not a good messenger to talk to Christians because they'd be like, oh, she's a crazy liberal atheist. But I think elevating Christians in the Democratic Party as credible messengers because the only culture in rural America are the churches to go message to them that this is not what Jesus would do, this is cruel. And I think he is a really good messenger about this. So regardless of what happens with the cheating that's happening, I think we have to walk and chew gum and we have to start talking to rural voters. And I agree with you, Congresswoman, Red state Democrats are the most credible messengers to lead the charge on this nationally.
- [11:44]
A
I think it's also a notion that, you know, we're Texans, right? You, you're, you're from Texas too. You understand what. And the Oklahoma, very similar. You know, I think the notion is we have to dispel this myth that somehow Democrats want government to run your life. And that's not the case at all. What Democrats do is we espouse policies that make you be able to lead an independent life ways, you know, to have a wage that you can support your family on, that you're not dependent on government services, that you have access to healthcare so that you can be healthy. And, you know, all the other things. I think it's, we have got to go into these communities and, you know, I think, you know, Beto tried to start that when he started you going in there. But we have to do that and I think we have to have more initiatives to really take it to these rural counties. Because I think part of the problem too, though, is they haven't been communicated with, they haven't been worked, they haven't had Democrats go out there and visit them. And so one of the things of the hazards of what the Republicans have done, pairing all of these urban areas with all of these rural counties, is now these rural counties are going to get a whole bunch of Democrats coming to visit and preaching, preaching our version of the gospel of what it really means to love thy neighbor and to serve the poor and to do all the things that your faith tenants tell you to do. And because now otherwise I've been forced just to campaign in Dallas, but now we're going to have to go, go to them. And I think, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.
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B
Yeah, I don't either. And I do think you started off that statement with the propaganda that they've been fed that democr want to control your life. And I think it's a very simple, plain spoken case to make. The person that I see in Texas that wants to control your life is Abbott. Like he's the most controlling. He wants to control what happens at your ob GYN appointment. And you can say, oh yeah, sure, I'm pro life, but until your daughter has a life threatening pregnancy and then she's unable to receive care because your governor has said he's going to throw her in jail and the physicians in jail and the nurses in j jail, that is controlling your life. That is not freedom. And then to also say to rural voters, well, you know, Kathy down at the church, her son always seemed a little effeminate. Do we want to be mean to Kathy's son? Do we want to be mean to him? Because she's good, she's a good church going lady. She always shows up for Bible study on time. I don't want to bully her son. That's not my business. And one thing that I think sits really well with rural people is mind your own business. Very simple messaging. And the people who do not mind their own business are MAGA Republicans. They are all up in everybody's business. They want to control who you love. They want to know what's going on in your bedroom. Even Mike Johnson talks about how he and his son monitor each other's porn, which is just so weird I can barely even talk about it. You got ted Cruz on 911 a few years ago liking porn tweets. But then he has the audacity to tell you, congresswoman, who you can love and who you can marry. And my thing is, if Ted wants to watch porn, swing for the fences. It's not my business.
- [15:03]
A
Right. You know, one of the things about me is I ran for the state legislature in 2018 after Trump 1.0 because I was so annoyed. And you know, I never thought as a lesbian I could win elected office in Dallas in the suburbs of Texas. And I'm the I flip my seat red to blue. I'm the first Democrat to hold it in 40 years. And I won by 13 points because I campaigned on these truths. I want government to do its job. I want us to have a balanced, reasonable budget that's responsible, that takes care of the needs of government. We educate every child in this country. We invest in our infrastructure to make sure we have power and water and our roads are safe, all the things that government is supposed to do. Then on the other side, you know, we just get out of the way. We let everyone live their life. We don't tell people what they can do. You know, let people love who they want, do all the things, and just get out of the way of interference in people's personal life. And I flipped a seat, and I won by 13 points. You know, I think that's a message that resonates with a lot of folks. It's not that we don't want government to do its job. We definitely want government to do its work. But it needs to be done, you know, you know, just be normal and be reasonable and be practical, the way we all have to live our lives at home. And I think just bringing it down to a basic level that everybody can kind of understand really makes a difference, and just getting the message out is our biggest obstacle.
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B
Thank you so much for sharing that. And I want all of our LGBTQ listeners in red states to just take a moment to marvel at what the congresswoman has done in a red state. And when you feel isolated in, you feel judged, and you feel alone, remember this interview and take it as some hopium, because generally, the majority of us in this country love you the way that you are. And, Congresswoman, I'm a big fan. Thank you for your advocacy and your work in red states. As a person that lives in a red state, I think your work is so critical. And thank you for coming on today.
- [17:10]
A
Hey, thank you so much. I want to leave you with this one story based on what you just said. You know, after I was first elected, I went to an event, and this woman, who is probably in her early 80s, came up to me, and she hugged me, hugged me some more, hugged me a little bit more. You know, one of those that never ended kind of hugs, and she had tears streaming down her face, and she said, I never, ever thought I would have somebody like me representing me in elected office. So, you know, our participation matters, our seats at the table matter, and I really appreciate you having me on. I'm a big fan of your show, Big fan, and would love to see you in Dallas sometime. That'd be a lot of fun.
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B
Oh, that would be so fun. Again, thank you for sharing that story. It gave me the chills, and the visibility is so, so important. Thanks again, Congresswoman, and Godspeed.
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A
Thank you.