← Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
Body Cams for ICE. Trump Wants To Take Over Elections. w/Kaivan Shroff.
00:53:48
It’s only Tuesday–and this week is already on fire. From ICE stalking kids and now Haitian caregivers, to Trump openly musing about “taking over” the fall mid-term elections and flirting with the Insurrection Act, Paul kicks off this all‑new daily episode with a blistering run through the wildest news of the day: Jill Biden’s ex‑husband charged with murder, Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother, a delayed moon mission, and another massive Russian barrage on freezing Ukraine.
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- [00:01]
Kaivon Schroff
Lifelock. How can I help?
- [00:02]
Paul Rykoff
The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.
- [00:05]
Kaivon Schroff
One in four tax paying Americans has paid the price of identity fraud.
- [00:08]
Commercial Narrator
What do I do?
- [00:09]
Paul Rykoff
My refund though. I'm freaking out.
- [00:11]
Kaivon Schroff
Don't worry, I can fix this. Lifelock fixes identity theft guaranteed and gets your money back with up to $3 million in coverage.
- [00:18]
Commercial Narrator
I'm so relieved.
- [00:19]
Kaivon Schroff
No problem.
- [00:19]
Commercial Narrator
I'll be with you every step of the way.
- [00:21]
Kaivon Schroff
One in four was a fraud paying American. Not anymore. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com Specialoffer terms apply.
- [00:30]
Paul Rykoff
The Democrats are fully eating their own. They're not focused on Trump. They're not focused on a really unpopular governor. They're not focused on the economy. The Democrats can always be counted on to eat their own. They find new and creative ways to drive people away from their broken, elitist, identity politics driven party every day. And this friendly fire incident in Texas I think is another example of why more and more people, especially young people, are declaring as independence. Welcome to independent Americans. Welcome to episode 432. I'm your host Paul Reikoff coming to you from New York City, USA. It is Tuesday, February 3rd. It is still super bowl week. Tonight is the Pro bowl and the weather here in New York is sunny and a steamy 34 degrees. Today I actually went for a run outside and good thing I did because what I came back to is nuts. And we're going to get through a lot of it. You know, every day I start the day by telling my boys today is going to be a great day to try to set the tone and then we try to get some sun and then I pick a different musical artist to introduce them to every day. So each day to start the show. Now I'm going to start by telling you who the artist of the day is. Today's artist, Today's band is Cake. If you don't know cake, they're amazing. I love cake. I love the band Cake. I saw them once at the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans, which I highly recommend. I also love to eat cake, but they are. Today's band is Cake. And I had to go for a run to work off the cake but also work off some of this energy and help us run through all of what is coming at us. And I'm going to bring you the five eyes like I do in every single show. Independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. And our guest coming up is going to bring that. It's Kaivon Schroff. He is a really smart, thoughtful, positive, Democratic commentator, nonprofit advisor. He's worked in Democratic politics and I think he's a really reasonable voice for the Democratic Party. He's got a new podcast called Extremely Reasonable. And I think that's, that's the perfect way to describe him. He's coming up, we're going to talk about how the Democrats are eating their own, why so many liberals are buying guns, and much more. Kaivon and I have been on News Nation together and I'm excited to have him here today to break down the latest. But before that, there is a ton happening, including just some straight up terrible breaking news. As I record this, there is a headline that Jill Biden's ex husband has been arrested and charged with killing his current wife. This is a developing story, But William Stevenson, 77, is facing a charge of first degree murder more than a month after police have responded to a domestic dispute in Delaware. I've never met Mr. Stevenson, but I've met Mrs. Biden. She's always been incredible and inspiring and it's just, it sounds like a really terrible situation. It also sounds like something that Trump is going to jump on and manipulate. I hope he doesn't, but I'm sure he will. But we'll have more on that in the days to come. Also, some more terrible news. It looks like now that Savannah Guthrie's mother may have been taken against her will. If you haven't heard, the Today Show Star's mother, 84 year old Nancy Guthrie was missing. Now she may have been abducted. This is just terrible news and there's no other way to spin it. And I just want to tell you, Savannah Guthrie is another person I've met before. She's always been kind and generous to me and I just want to say that my prayers and thoughts are with her and our family because this is a time of terrible news and it seems like every day we wake up and there's some new and crazy shit. But there is also some good news. Looks like the shutdown, the mini shutdown has ended and a bill is headed to Trump's desk. There's some interesting news. It looks like the moon launch that most of America forgot about. Yes, we are sending four astronauts to the moon has been delayed. It's been pushed off until March. I hope we can get at least one of the Kelly brothers, either Mark or Scott Kelly, to come back on the show to talk about that. There's also some more terrible but predictable news. Trump is saying that he's calling on Republicans to, quote, take over the elections I've always talked about how he's focused on the elections this fall. I'll have more on that coming up with Kaivon and on my own. And there's of course more ICE news. Don't believe the government. Believe your eyes. Because ICE continues to rampage across America. And there is maybe some good news regarding ice. Kristi Noem has said that now agents in Minnesota will all be given body cameras, effective immediately. Now, I guess it's good news, but it's beyond overdue. This shit should have happened a long time ago. This is the basic stuff that ICE should be doing now. They should take off the masks, they should make them show id. They should fire gnome. They should force them to use warrants and probably just defund and disband the whole damn rotten thing because it's broken beyond repair. And every day we get more and more examples. And Chris is going to play a clip that I want you to hear and see. That went viral after a father confronted ICE agents who followed his daughter home. The father steps up to defend his child as any reasonable parent would do, demanding answers because. Because ICE is menacing people all across America following kids. I've talked about some of the kids in my life who are petrified to just leave their houses. But these goons continue to be unlawful, unprofessional, unconstitutional and just unhuman the way they continue to threaten people and target people. And we now know today there are even more targets. After today, their new focus will be Haitians. There's a great story that I'll link to in in the show notes about Jewish seniors who are offering to hire Haitian caregivers because Trump's TPS allowances are going to end today. Temporary protected status, which Haitian people have ends today in America. And some Holocaust survivors, because they know what authoritarianism and fascism looks like, are offering in their 80s and 90s to protect their Haitian caregivers, to protect their Haitian friends. This is another example of how ICE is expanding its attack on America, on immigrants and on our values. And another example how people are stepping up. I also want to underscore helpers are stepping up. And that might be an unlikely 95 year old Holocaust survivor, but courageous people are stepping up and fighting back. But it reminds us that ICE is coming against everybody, cops, veterans, kids, elderly, Holocaust survivors. This is where we are, America. And if you're not angry, you're not paying attention. Also related, if you're not paying attention to the fact that the Insurrection act still looms, I'm going to continue to focus on it. Because Trump is just saying it out loud. He said yesterday that Republicans should, quote, nationalize elections and take control of them from the states. He's not even hiding it anymore, folks. After attacking the voting records in Georgia this week, he's again saying out loud that Republicans should say, quote, we want to take over. He has no intention of not disrupting the elections this fall. We can't wait till the elections. We can't wait for the Democrats to save us. We have to continue to mobilize. We have to continue to push back. I'm going to talk to Kaivan more about that, but the Democrats keep focusing on the midterms. We might not get midterms. Trump is telegraphing his punches again. He does not want free and fair elections in the fall at all. He said it, so believe him, the Democrats won't save us, and they're not planning to ensure these elections even happen. I don't think there's focused leadership. I don't think there's a plan. I haven't heard of any special committees or legislation, no, nothing. And Trump is continuing to chug along. I'm going to ask Kaivon about that in a minute. All right. You can see my voice is still hurting, as is our reputation around the world. Folks in Greenland and Denmark and Europe are still pissed off at the way Trump ridiculously and shamelessly spoke at them. And Trump is continuing to wage war against the free press. And I want to focus on things that you should know about, including X. We talked about X yesterday and how it's a cesspool of hate and vitriol that flies at me. Well, now there's new reporting that it looks like Elon Musk's Grok loves porn. No surprise there. No one should be surprised that Elon is finding new ways to. To contaminate the world. And it looks like his artificial intelligence creation. Grok loves porn and is continuing to weave it into everything he's doing. I think it just shows how there's no guardrails on social media controlled by Musk. Sexual content is flying around everywhere, and I think it was really only a matter of time, especially if you think about the fact that they want to capture and radicalize isolated young men that are core to their movement and everything from crypto to ice. This is what they want. And, you know, they want to focus on young men. What better way to do it than we've porn into X. But our enemies are celebrating and our media continues to be under attack in other parts of the world. Some news around Iran. Trump continues to say that he's going to bomb Iran. Don't lose sight of this. There is a, quote, armada now staged off the coast of Iran in the Middle East. And he said yesterday that if talks don't work out, quote, probably bad things would happen. He talked again about an armada. They say they're planning talks. But meanwhile, Trump continues to threaten to annihilate the entire country. All right, speaking of a country enduring constant attack, Ukraine. It is day 1441 of Russia's full scale invasion. And one of the coldest nights so far happened last night in Ukraine. Temperature is below 22 degrees, negative Celsius. Power's almost always off. It's been a dark and cold time for our friends in Ukraine. For Americans, that's negative 8 degrees Fahrenheit. And the ceasefire, the so called ceasefire that lasted about 12 hours is dead. Putin is doing back, going back to what he always does. He continues to bomb Ukrainians. There was a new huge wave of drones and missiles that hit Kyiv and hit Dnipro and other cities across the country. Fires raged all across Kyiv. It was one of the biggest full scale attacks we've seen. Just understand it will never end until Putin is defeated or gone. The road to peace, I think, goes over Putin's dead body. So we have to continue to call for internal forces to take Putin down. I've said it for so many years. The road to peace for Ukraine is only going to go through Putin being gone. And we're going to continue to watch this space. All right. There's always news around the Epstein files. It looks like now Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify before Congress. They've done a change of 180 maybe in response to pressure. I'll talk to Kaivon about that. And we will have to bring back what is an old segment, I think I should call it the Democrats suck and they won't save you. The Democrats are eating their own this time in Texas. It looks like now the leading candidates for Senate in Texas and the leading voices in Texas, Colin Allred, who ran last time and lost, and James Talarico are in kind of an identity culture war, racial accusation thing. You know, James Telo put out a statement on an Alred video that says it was a mischaracterization of a conversation they had. And here's the bottom line. We're going to get into it with Kaivon in a second. The Democrats are fully eating their own. They're not focused on Trump. They're not focused on a really unpopular governor they're not focused on the economy. The Democrats can always be counted on to eat their own. They find new and creative ways to drive people away from their broken elitist, identity politics driven party every day. And this friendly fire incident in Texas I think is another example of why more and more people, especially young people, are declaring as independence. This is why Democrats are at 27% and so are the Republicans by the way. It's why their brand is toxic nationwide more and more and why 45% of Americans and rising are independents. The Democrats will not save you America. The Republicans obviously won't either. We'll talk to Kaivon about that in a second. But Independents are maybe a source of hope. They're not a silver bullet, but they are a good shot. And they're not just moving the needle. We are the needle. I talked about the Texas special election. I think they will be critical in the 10 Texas Senate race and I just finished up a zoom a couple hours ago with our friends at open primaries, John Updike and Todd Achilles, the candidate running in Idaho and Ty Pickens. I will post it maybe as a special episode coming up, but I want to encourage you to go back and check out all our episodes with our independent candidates who are running. We included Cody Sawwin who ran for a local election in Texas. And I hope to hear from other folks from across Texas and across the country. All right. Rounding the bend in culture, Springsteen has spoken. Shabuzzi has spoken. But so is someone who never stops speaking out, the great Tom Morello. Tom Morello of Rage against the Machine continues to turn up the volume and speak out bravely. I met Tom Morello backstage at a benefit concert for vets in New York many, many years ago with Serge Tankian from System of a Down and others. It was kind of a surreal experience. Michael Franti was there a lot of folks who've been speaking out for a long time. But he is calling out what we're seeing, which is fascism. And Tom Morello's words have never been more powerful and never been more true. I'm going to play this clip and hopefully you'll be able to see it or watch it. But Tom Morello is a voice of power and is a voice of reason and I hope a voice of clarity. Let's talk some sports, which is also at times a place of clarity and reason or at least joy and break. But there won't be a break from the politics. The UN is calling for a 52 day pause in all wars for the Olympic Games. The Olympics are starting next week. And the United nations has called for a centuries old tradition that ensures the safe passage of athletes attending the events. In Italy, more than 240,000 people died in conflict related violence just last year, according to the Conflict Location and Event Data and the Washington Post. So the UN Is doing something noble. They're asking for a global truce. This goes back to ancient times in Greece when warring kings were said to have signed a treaty allowing safe passage. This was revived in the 90s during the Bosnian war. And we can hope that it happens now. And we hope that there will be peace at the Super Bowl. And here's a big question. Will Ice be at the Super Bowl? Will Bad Bunny and Green Day be silent? They're in the halftime show. Will, will ice try to arrest Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl? Because there's no immediate threat or reporting on that last part. But it seems entirely possible, right? I mean, how much would Trump and Pete Hegseth like to arrest Bad Bunny on the greatest stage in the world? We're going to watch this space. We'll continue to cover it. And of course, Friday football is coming up where I will talk to Rachel Maddow and she will have her predictions. And meanwhile, there is an overwhelming lame counter halftime show that is being put on by Turning Points usa. It's got Kid Rock, Brantley, Gilbert Lee Bryce and Gabby Barrett. I don't even know who that is, but Kid Rock is the headliner and they're calling it the All American Halftime Show. I don't think anybody's going to watch it except those folks and maybe Pete Hegseth and some other radicals. And of course Pete Hegseth can't be quiet. He had to tweet. Hey tpusa, how can the Department of War get in on this? Yeah, because we'd love the entire Pentagon to be supporting an alternative narrative and extreme political actors instead of a unifying event like the Super Bowl. Perfectly on brand for Pete Hegseth. A reminder. Finally, the Pro bowl is tonight. There is a 7 o' clock flag, sorry, 8 o' clock flag football game. It's a 7 on 7 game. And as I've told you, I'm picking the NFC coverage starts around 6:30 and I think it'll be a nice break, a nice escape because man, it's only Tuesday.
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Commercial Narrator
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Paul Rykoff
A very crazy Tuesday. And it is a time during these cold winter months for us all to especially stay vigilant. All right, folks, after that very long intro, because it's been a crazy day, I am happy to bring in a guest and that is someone I've wanted to get on this show. And this is the perfect moment. A person who brings perspective, common sense, energy, experience. He's a Democratic commentator, nonprofit advisor and attorney. Worked at Every town, worked for Hillary for America, has worked around Democratic politics and was a 2024 DNC delegate. Also been a guest on News Nation. Like I have, the great and powerful Kai Van Schrop is here. Thank you so much for joining us. Kaivon, it's great to finally have you here, man. Welcome to Independent Americans.
- [18:35]
Kaivon Schroff
Great to join. Very excited to chat.
- [18:38]
Paul Rykoff
I know that was a really long intro. I need to be quiet just so I can rest my voice. But whoa. Right?
- [18:46]
Kaivon Schroff
Gosh. I know when you said it's only Tuesday, I was like, oh, it is only Tuesday.
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Paul Rykoff
God, it's like, it's like a new disaster every six hours. Right?
- [18:55]
Kaivon Schroff
I was going to say 2026. Off to a bad start, to say the least.
- [19:00]
Paul Rykoff
And off to a bad start for the Democrats. I want to get you on that in a second. I want to talk about this food fight in Texas. You also wrote a great piece about why liberals are buying more guns. I want to talk about that. But first, you know, let me ask you a question. I ask everybody. Come on. Where are you and how are you?
- [19:18]
Kaivon Schroff
I'm in New York City like you, and I'm actually good. I had a great weekend in D.C. seeing some friends, catching up with some work colleagues. So no complaints. And other than it being freezing in both D.C. and here still. So.
- [19:31]
Paul Rykoff
And you're kind of a, you're a common sense voice in a fractured and, I don't know, dismantling potentially disrupted Democratic Party. What is that like? Do you feel like a one eyed man in the world of the blind?
- [19:49]
Kaivon Schroff
You know, it feels worthwhile, to be honest. I know that's kind of corny to say, but I've been in this space a long time. I, in 2024 was a, a DNC delegate. I was doing a lot of cable, a lot of commentary supporting, you know, originally President Biden's reelection and then obviously Kamala Harris. And in that mode, obviously, I thought the stakes were very high, wanted to advocate for the Democratic Party and our policies against Trump. But in this moment, you know, I do think that everything's been ripped wide open and there is that room for conversation and nuance and not only is there room for it, there's a desperate, urgent need for it. And I think it's been put off so long that we're now seeing a lot of that come to a head. And I think, you know, I wish there were more people willing to say, say nuanced takes. You know, I know actually when, when we met, we were both on to talk about Mamdani with Curtis Sliwa and you know, look like there's certain things I like about Mamdani. I think the way he presents, the way he campaigns, the way he stands up for against Islamophobia. Those have been powerful moments and I'm willing to compliment those things while also criticizing what I find have been fundamentally dishonest campaign pledges from him. A lot of times people online see that and they'll respond saying, oh, you're playing both sides or, you know, I'm unfollowing you because you didn't say the thing I wanted you to say. I think we have to break out of that to be able to actually move forward as a party. And I think this Talarico Crockett fight is evidence of that.
- [21:16]
Paul Rykoff
So I want to get that to that in a second. But I want to talk about when we last saw each other. So you and I go on News Nation with Connell McShane and I. This was surreal for me. Right. Like, you're on one side of me, you got a black leather jacket on. You're relatively young. Okay. And on the other side of me is Curtis Lewa. He's got the, I think he had the beret back on, right? Yeah, yeah, he went back to full Curtis mode. Like, when he was running for mayor, he took the House. But, you know, it was actually like a relatively reasonable conversation, I think, between the three of us. And I give Connell credit on that. But I think it's also kind of the conversation you don't hear enough of. Like, you and I sometimes go to these shows like Abby Phillips and others, where it's just bombs away. But, like, we had a thoughtful, nuanced conversation. And let me ask you if I can, how do you rate Mamdani so far? I mean, now he's in office, it seems like most of America's kind of forgotten about him because there's so much other shit on fire. He's getting some criticism here in New York for not cleaning up the snow fast enough, which is always the first test of a new mayor is like, okay, here's a snowstorm. But, you know, a month under his belt here. You know, as. As a more moderate Democrat who wants to bring more people in. How would you rate Mamdani so far?
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Kaivon Schroff
You know, I. I do think it's too early to give a proper rating, but I. I think, you know, the snow is cleared compared to DC where it took days, there was snow on the ground. You know, everything is relative. I will say there was so much hype over this storm that I think it actually did him a huge service and favor because it wasn't as bad as people talked about for days and days and days. And then obviously, I don't think the city had a major issue with it. The reality is, though, we're already seeing what we talked about that day, which is the far left coalition that got him over the line in the primary and really boosted him onto the national scene. Already turning on him in major ways, even over things. And we'll talk about, I'm sure, social media later on on a number of things, but even in Right, he put out a tweet saying there was a police involved shooting. Immediately. So many people that are Mamdani fans are like, oh, he's already sold out three, four weeks on the job. And he's using, you know, the language of the police state or whatever.
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Commercial Narrator
Right.
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Kaivon Schroff
That type of language and quote. So he kind of has, I think, built himself a cage a little bit by leaning into some of those supporters. And also then he's made a lot of unforced errors, I will say the fact that his transition had had to resign over anti Semitic tweets. But then also he's appointed that woman, Sia Weaver, as, you know, head of housing or focused on rents. And she had some crazy tweets in her background and crazy clips and quotes. And of course, you know, we've obviously seen Republicans just go 100% percent lean into their candidates, their people, their nominees. They don't give an inch. And it seems like he entered office with that mindset and approach. The reality is, though, the majority of New York City did not vote for him. Right. In terms of numbers. And of those people that did actually vote, a huge amount voted for either, you know, Cuomo or Curtis Sliwa. So he doesn't really have the mandate to just blow past all stakeholders. And we're already seeing that on a number of issues. And at the same time, last point on this, you know, when you and I were chatting, there was still this idea that maybe there was going to be a competitive governor primary here. I mean, race in New York where Hochul could face against Stefanik, who was expected to be a challenger, that's now gone away. And Hochul's in a much stronger, more confident position where I don't think we're going to see her bowing down to the altar of Zoran Mamdani. So that's another challenge for him.
- [24:52]
Paul Rykoff
Yeah, you know, I think it's a really important point because she put her support behind mom Donnie earlier. And when she was facing, you know, likely a challenge by Stefanik, who would have been a Trump endorsed MAGA leader, I thought that was going to be a problem. I was like, you know, she's going to have a hard time getting the middle. And I've said there's an opening for an independent. I said to myself, shit, if someone like me ran, I was just going.
- [25:14]
Kaivon Schroff
To say, all right, let's turn my clock.
- [25:16]
Paul Rykoff
If it was Stefanik against, against her, you know, there was an opening for an independent, but now there's not. Right. It seems like the Democrats are kind of coalescing around Kathy Hochul and she's going to get like a Gillibrand type, easy road to reelection. But I do think coming back to Mamdani, there's one thing that's important. Governing is hard. Like doing the thing is hard. And vetting people is hard. Making the machine move is hard. And what I'm seeing, that's a lot like the Trump administration, especially in the first term, is a lot of inexperience. Right. Like, you can't just roll into city hall and start vetting people and going through how to hire people on a government process, how to deal with the press. There's a lot of youngsters and they're bringing great energy and they're bringing some new ideas. They also don't know how to make the machine work in the same way that others do. But he's also, I think, smartly kind of keeping a low profile. Right. He's focusing on let's make buildings open again, let's get rid of scaffolding, let's focus on snow. And it seems like he and Trump are kind of just staying out of each other's way for now. But I don't think that's sustainable. Right. I mean, there's going to be, obviously.
- [26:25]
Kaivon Schroff
ICE will be at the center of, I think, whatever that conflict looks like next. That's my guess. I think it's not, you know, wild to predict that, but we'll see what that looks like for sure.
- [26:33]
Paul Rykoff
So have you been, have you been surprised or impressed by the Democrats really standing up on ice? I mean, it's nice of them now to stand up. I mean, I was going to be on with Senator Slotkin on CNN last week who I was reminded, voted for Kirsty Noem. Right. A lot of these people voted for Kristi Noem, voted some of them voted for Pete Hegseth and then voted for Doug Collins. And then they say, oh, we didn't know. Like, who the fuck didn't know about Kristi Noem, Right. And now she's in place. So do you think that the Democrats have kind of gotten a spine on ice? They're always behind the public, but has the public finally gotten them to the point where the Democrats are maybe gonna win a fight?
- [27:12]
Kaivon Schroff
You know, I think they have stood up and some of them in major ways putting themselves, their bodies on the line, putting their careers on the line. But to that point, right. I think, you know, there's been debate in the Democratic Party over the specific phrasing of the right abolish ice. And I see both sides of that argument. I think, you know, yes, it's a phrase that's caught on that is actually popular with, you know, even surprising demographics beyond the Democratic Party at this point, given what Americans have seen on this issue, the horrors really up close constantly on video. But at the same time, you know, voters can be fickle and finicky and, you know, I appreciate your audience and that they are interested in an independent voice. At the same time, a lot of times those voters and those voices are quite swayable. And I can imagine, right. That imagine Democrats go all in on Abolish ICE as a slogan. And right now that feels absolutely moral and Absolutely. Just imagine a year from now, though, there's five high profile, terrible stories about a murder of an American by a migrant, whether they're here legally or not. And you can see how quickly. Right. That's going to change the voting base and the demographics. And it is the job of Schumer and Jeffries to keep that factor in mind as well. I'm not saying they've been too, they haven't been too slow on some of these things. They haven't responded well with the conviction that they've needed to on some of these things. Absolutely. Those criticisms are fair. I think it's just always so easy for people online to jump at the short term, like, well, why didn't you do this? Why didn't you storm out? You know, there was some foreign country, I saw a viral video maybe you caught of a lawmaker, had like grabbed a bill and ran out with it. And I was like, this really is what, like the do something crowd online thinks they expect Schumer to do or Jeffries to do when the, they're saying, you know, why don't Democrats do anything? The reality is voters delivered Republicans a trifecta of government. Governors in blue states are standing up to this. They are being targeted. Right. Blue states are being targeted by ICE and Trump out of retribution. So it's a complicated scenario. Democrats get a lot of blame sometimes they deserve more blame on certain things. And sometimes I think, you know, people don't pay enough attention to the nitty gritty and the details.
- [29:22]
Paul Rykoff
Yeah. You know, I think Democrats and Republicans, you know, suck in different ways. Right. I mean, Republicans are driving our country off a cliff and it feels like the Democrats can't stop them in part because they're so inauthentic. Like Schumer is now, like putting the word fuck in his videos. Right. And like half of them are growing beards and all of a sudden they all have trucker hats. It's like, it's this overcompensation that's so transparent in a way that I think always shows maybe most of all the Democrats are, aren't really leading and they're afraid and they're calculating. And that's what I think I see with ice. I think it's actually very popular now to say, get rid of ice, defund it, just destroy it. And I think they're still being too calculated. They're like, well, we said that about the cops and that didn't go so well. But this is, this is, I think, an example again of where the Democrats are behind the country and they're calculating and they're listening the pollsters and they're checking the wind. But let me, let me build on that if I can, with you, Kyra. Let's go down to what I think is our top topic, And I'm going to come back to this every couple of weeks or days. The Democrats won't save you, right? America thinks that the Democrats will save us. Many think that. I think more and more they're realizing the Democrats won't save you. I don't think the independents alone can save you either, but I think at least we're close to the majority and need more attention. But the Democrats can't save you for a number of reasons, most of all because they always eat their own. And there's enter, enter this Texas squabble and maybe you can help people who maybe aren't tracking on this summarize it for us and tell us what you think this means about the Democratic Party and in my view, how they're not really up for this moment and how they might not run the table in the fall even if there are free and fair elections. But for me, most of all, I feel like they're disproportionately focusing on Texas, which in my view is a state they can't win anyway, which is which underscores for me why the Democrats are lost. But tell us, if you can, Kaivon, what's your take on this Texas situation and why it's important?
- [31:30]
Kaivon Schroff
Okay. Well, to start, I have to say I do think voting for Democrats if you're an independent can save us in the short term. So, so do it. But we'll work back towards not in.
- [31:41]
Paul Rykoff
Nebrask and not in Idaho and not in South Dakota where the Democrats are.
- [31:46]
Kaivon Schroff
As a country, right? As a country, if you want ICE abuses to stop, if you want some of these things to stop, that's a short term solution. And of course it doesn't solve all our long term problems. But I do think, right, part of the problem here is it's not on Democrats to save us, it's on you to save us, the voters, the people. Take some responsibility, be involved, go show up. I mean, I'm so proud to see as awful and devastating as it is to see these ICE videos, but to see people willing and brave and even losing their lives, of course, standing up for this, that is so fundamentally powerful in American and yes, Democrats are the ones trying to stop ice. That's a fact. But getting back to this right there was actually good news for Democrats that actually shows they were doing really well and that we are on track to perform well in midterms, which was not only the last year's election results, but we just had a special election where a man named Taylor Remitt in Texas flipped a seat won by 17 points. I'm sorry, I think a 30 point swing in a district that Trump had won by 17 points right. In 2024. So that's huge progress. And of course, there was a crazy MAGA candidate on the other side, so that's a factor as well. Can't over read into that. But the day after that, good news. Colin Allred put out a video where he had latched onto a Tiktoker's claim that James Talarico, who's running in the primary against Jasmine Crockett, had called Colin Allred a mediocre black man and said that he was prepared to run against a mediocre black man, not a smart, intelligent black woman like Jasmine Crockett. That rubbed the Tiktoker the wrong way. She posted about it. It went viral. Colin Allred jumped on it not only to endorse Jasmine Crockett, but to take some pretty hard swings at Talarico. And basically, I think his main claim was, why are you calling me mediocre? But also you're mediocre and you're only getting attention because you're a white guy saying the things that a lot of other people say. And when you say it, it gets attention. And so that was the, the short term, most recent part of this conflict. But I think it really has to me a lot more to do with not only the last few months, but the last 10 years in Democratic politics come to a head. And part of that story is right when Jasmine Crockett jumped in, there were a lot of people, a lot of sort of, and I will say white male online figures that were upset she jumped in. They felt that she was going to win the primary, but that she was unelectable as a black woman in Texas.
- [34:08]
Paul Rykoff
She was.
- [34:08]
Kaivon Schroff
Or not even as a black woman, as an outspoken anti MAGA figure. So that was one theory of the case, although that came right on the heels of all those same voices demanding that primaries are important, that iron sharpens iron, that Graham Platner, a controversial white male candidate in Maine, be allowed to, you know, stay in, be absolved of all these controversies and conflicts that maybe other candidates wouldn't have been given a pass on. And he's running against an older female candidate with much more experience, much more establishment in the party. So that's just some context, because it. It underscores some of the risks that are starting to bubble up then. The bigger picture, though, here, right, is not only that hypocrisy of, well, why can't Jasmine get in if she's going to win the primary? Now they're saying, by the way, that the only way she'll win is if she leans into, you know, identity politics. Can't be both of those things that she was going to win and that she can only win if she's leading into race. But 10 years ago, Hillary Clinton versus Bernie Sanders, right, that was the original rift, I think, mainly between the center left and the further left. And a lot of people felt sexism played a role in that, and a lot of people felt that gender was weaponized as a tool in that race and whatever. That's just a fact. People feel both ways about that. Then you go next and you have a controversial primary in 2020 where Elizabeth Warren accuses Bernie Sanders of telling her, which I 100% believe he said that he doesn't think a woman can be elected president. And look, we haven't elected a woman president so far, but he denied that statement. Another rift. And then you obviously had the nomination of a black woman, Kamala Harris, the first black woman nominated in the Democratic Party and in America, period, for a major party, and she loses to Donald Trump. And then there's this aggressive debrief that points to a couple factors which we can debate. But the factors are media thinks there was too much focus on wokeism. There's a manosphere that Democrats didn't properly engage. Democrats are behind on digital. Those were three takeaways. Now, I would argue to you that we just saw a bunch of data in 2025 that it really was pretty tightly about issues like the economy and affordability. We didn't see that just in a blue city like New York. We saw it in Virginia, we saw it in New Jersey. We saw those candidates not shy away from issues of, you know, diversity, inclusion. When it came up, they didn't center that as the pieces of their campaign. They focused on affordability. So that's all happening. And then here's what's happening, too. It's a perfect storm for James Tallarigo because he's a rising star in the party. He goes viral. He talks about issues that are resonating in this moment, like wealth accumulation, like the Christian nationalists trying to take over our country. And he flips that around very powerfully to, in a way that resonates. But because now Jasmine Crockett's jumped into the race and because of some of these very online voices being incredibly dismissive of her, incredibly aggressive, you know, even and very online folks will know this. I don't know if you even paid attention to this much, Paul, but there was a Hollywood focused podcast, these two gay podcasters. One was Bowen Yang from snl, sort of flippantly dismissing Crockett's candidacy despite, let's be honest, them knowing very little about Texas politics or politics, period. They have no basis on it other than being a random person with opinion, which is allowed. They shared that random opinion and a lot of people found it disrespectful and dismissive of an important black female figure in national politics. And they responded to that. Which, by the way, there's a lot of discussion about cancel culture on online and I have to say, as somebody that shares opinions that Democrats don't always like and try to speak my thoughts the way I do, that is I try to be as well thought out as I can and then I stand by my position and if you have a problem with it, you disagree, I'm willing to engage on that. But what I don't do is cry and say, oh, 10 people commented below, they hate me and I'm ugly. It's cancel culture. Because that's not really cancel culture.
- [38:01]
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- [39:31]
Kaivon Schroff
That's people disagreeing with you. You shared your opinion, so stop being a baby. So anyway, that's all. So much context.
- [39:37]
Paul Rykoff
Yeah. So here's the biggest takeaway. It's a fucking mess. It's a giant, like, friendly fire incident within the Democratic Party. And part of why I was brought, and my attention was brought to this is you wrote something on X. You said the race has turned into a referendum on the idea that Dems need to center straight white men post 2024, both policy wise and in terms of candidates. Not saying that's fair, but. And Tim Miller jumped in right, from the board and said, who made the Democratic campaign in Texas a referendum on race?
- [40:10]
Kaivon Schroff
You did. Tim Miller. You did. That's what I would say to him.
- [40:13]
Paul Rykoff
Let me finish. He said, that's fucking idiotic and that person should be banished from electoral politics. Here's an idea. Campaign on costs and Ken Paxton being corrupt. And he said, you know, every statement put out by every person about this controversy has been atrocious. This is a Texas Senate seat. What are y' all doing? Right. I do think that there is a power in this, right? And here's the bottom line. Colin Allred didn't come close to winning. Right. And Democrats fall in love, I think, with candidates, at the end of the day, don't win. They fell in love with Beto o', Rourke, too, Right? Beto Rourke is. This Del Rico guy is kind of like the legacy of Beto o', Rourke, except he kind of sounds like a preacher, but he's, like, smart, like Buttigieg. And there's all this hope in there, right? But the reality is, I think, like, that, that that most Democrats are going to be too liberal for Texas right now. And unless you could come up with a moderate Democrat, unless you could come up with an independent. I've said this before. If Matthew McConaughey or Mark Cuban run, especially as an independent, they beat everybody. But you've got a group of people that are generally unpopular. I don't think Jasmine Crockett can win, most of all because I think she's too liberal. I just think she's been too outspoken for Texas now, that's my view. If you want to prove me wrong and show that a liberal woman can win Texas, I'll be proven wrong. But I think in general, what it's viewed as is a far right Republican and a far right Democrat. And most people are stuck in the middle. Right. And that's why I think it's a really important reflection for America, because Texas is extremely independent and might be among the most ripe places for an independent, unaffiliated candidate. It's the place where Kiki Friedman came from. Right. Willie Nelson people would love to see for many years as the governor, Governor of Texas. But that's not right. Like if McConaughey ran, if Mark Cuban ran, I think they'd win by a lot. And that opportunity exists not just in Texas, but in a lot of other places. Let me put a pin in it if I can with you. Right. And move on to something that's below the radar that you wrote about that I think is important and fascinating. Lots of people are buying guns in this country. Lots of people have guns in this country. But a lot of liberals are buying guns. Right? People. And I've heard from folks who are liberals who know I'm in the military. Hey, man, how do I get a gun? Do you think I should get a gun? You know, for a lot of different reasons, especially from friends who are worried about protecting their family for any number of reasons, especially with the rise of anti Semitic, Semitic attacks. But talk to me if you can, Kaivon. Why do you think liberals are buying so many guns? And to complete your piece, why do you think it's a bad thing?
- [42:49]
Kaivon Schroff
Yeah. So, you know, I worked for Everytown, which is a leading gun violence prevention nonprofit, and so very focused on, you know, gun safety and gun laws. And I think what's really interesting to note is when I was there, I was surprised to see how many true Republican Second Amendment advocates they had rallied to support their cause. But the reality is that as we saw with the unfortunate situation and killing of Alex Preddy, Right. When you bring a gun to a situation where you think the federal government is imposing on you and treading on your rights, as I think is a very fair argument to make, is happening with ICE and what they're doing, you are giving them the narrative that we always see, which is, right, this person had a gun, they were a threat, and you're always going to be up against coordinated numbers, law enforcement, right. I mean, you're not going to win that battle. So going in there, you have to ask, what, what's the best case scenario of having that. And I think that's just the practical argument. It doesn't make it right. But what is true is that liberals have always argued that, you know, more guns make us less safe to an extent, just data wise. Right. You have more suicides completed, you have more DV situations turn fatal, you have more accidents with kids. Just possessing guns creates that risk. And so liberals are buying guns because they feel in Trump 2.0, they're being targeted by authoritarianism. It's actually the exact scenario that the right has claimed they've needed guns for this whole time. And again, I don't think it's realistic that an armed citizenry is going to do much in 2026 the way that people think. But what it does still do is create all that risk for liberals to even just out of state symbolic protests say, oh, I'm gonna go get my gun, and then you now have a gun in the house. And it does still add all those compounding factors and make folks less safe. And also it doesn't solve the problem, which is the reality is, and you know, people can disagree with this as much as the 2016 Resistance Libs and all those folks and the pink hat people were mocked and memed. They were right about a lot of stuff and they warned about a lot of stuff. And we're seeing a lot of that stuff now 10 years later in our streets. And so thank God that they did do that organizing and that online response, because those are the actual things that are going to help us move forward from this moment. It is the people showing up in community and standing with their neighbors and whipping out their phones. But showing up with a gun is always going to give, you know, Trump and those folks the ability to say, well, they were armed even if they weren't armed. Right. It's just the classic go to federal response or law enforcement response in every situation. So kind of just teasing out that idea that let's not give away something we've been talking about and rightly, I think, on the data focused on for the last 20 years in this moment.
- [45:40]
Paul Rykoff
Yeah. And I mean, I'll take it a step further to what we've been talking about on this show quite a bit. I mean, Trump is looking for a reason to say there is armed rebellion and insurrection. And if a bunch of liberals show up with guns, which we can't really stop. Right. I mean, they're open carries, almost full carries in so many states that he may use that as the reason to say it's an armed rebellion. I'm calling in the Insurrection Act. I'm sending in the 11th Airborne Corps. I think you and I might. Might disagree on some of the gun ownership components, but there's one piece that you touched on that I want to make sure we come back to. That is very important that all of us who understand guns and own guns and have used guns understand that that's a. It's a hidden part of the data. When you have a gun in the house, the rate of suicide is much higher, period. Right. This is something the veterans community knows very, very well. This is almost indisputable. That's why there have been public awareness campaigns saying if you're going to have a gun, get a trigger lock, get a gun safe, you know, make it so that you can't get to a gun in a hot moment. But the reality is that the reason why the veterans suicide rate is so much higher, in part is simply because of access to guns. Because we've got guns not just in military service, but as law enforcement and in our personal capacity. A lot of us have full carries, have personal guns. Can you talk about that component from your work with every town? And I want to celebrate that work as well, because I think there is a common sense middle on this. And independents especially are very well positioned. And maybe at this moment, especially where Second Amendment advocates are now awake after what happened to Alex Previ Pretty, the way he was targeted, the way he was legally allowed to carry that gun has activated people. So it might be a moment for a breakthrough on guns in some way, but in particular that item of suicide. Can you talk about that?
- [47:29]
Kaivon Schroff
You're absolutely right. I mean, and not even just from the gun violence perspective and work. I've also worked with mental health nonprofits, and one of the topics they talk about is means reduction. Right. And limiting access to mechanisms that can help you commit complete suicide. So, you know, obviously a gun is a major tool for that and one of the main, most common ones used. But I think you're absolutely right. Right. If you're buying a gun as well, in the context of things being so awful and bad, just imagine then when you talk about the issue of suicide, how much those two things together probably add up. It's like you're buying a gun not just for a random reason. You feel under threat, you feel the government's awful, you feel everything's going wrong and. And then you just have it around. Of course, that creates, you know, a dangerous situation for a lot of people.
- [48:18]
Paul Rykoff
Yeah. I mean, this is A fucked up Tuesday. And I'm trying to find some silver linings wherever I can. And I think there is, you know, it's a very tough needle to thread here. But there is an opportunity in this crisis moment maybe for some different kinds of conversations around guns. Right? I mean, you've got far left protesters and far right protesters that now equally feel threatened by a common enemy in ice. And that might be, you know, nothing unifies people more than a common enemy, and even more so than Trump. I think ICE is becoming that enemy, and that might give us an opportunity for different kinds of conversations around guns. And I'm hopeful about that part of it.
- [48:55]
Kaivon Schroff
I think you're absolutely right. And you even have the NRA and big gun groups coming out against Trump on the issue. And, you know, Jeanine Pirro said, you know, guns are banned from D.C. basically the other day, and you have even far right conservatives upset about that, of course. So maybe there is, I think, a moment to at least remove the partisan sort of retreat on this issue on both sides. And maybe you do have groups like everytown and groups in the gun violence prevention space say, hey, like, you know, you do have these sort of rights. We've always said we don't want to take away the Second Amendment. We've always said, you know, in this context or with these precautions, Americans have a right to own guns. But, you know, not like this. So maybe we could see some of that.
- [49:38]
Paul Rykoff
And I think Trump is hitting, I think I mentioned this before on the show, but I want to reiterate it. Trump is hitting a really important third rail of politics in America. A lot of Americans don't like the government, and now he's the government. So now you're the man, and they don't like you because you're the man. Right. I mean, there's always been a resistance to government, especially among libertarians, especially among conservatives. And this is, I mean, this is such a twisted time that we can all align around this common threat, and maybe that is the opportunity for unification. And I just, I just want to celebrate you for being a voice of reason, for being a brave voice to challenge your own team and your own family in a way that's really important. I think it's really something important. And these conversations are important. If they were smart, they'd put you in charge of the dnc, because then they get a lot more independence and a lot more folks that are on the fence and leaving your party in droves.
- [50:30]
Kaivon Schroff
I'm open.
- [50:31]
Paul Rykoff
All right. All right. Well, before we, before we wrap. Let's go to something good.
- [50:34]
Kaivon Schroff
Something good. Something sweet.
- [50:39]
Paul Rykoff
We're going to finish with something good. It's a difficult time, but I always want to come back and, and talk about something good. And today I'm going to talk about a unifying factor in Minnesota. Tattoo artists are seeing a surge in requests for the rebel loon. I don't know if Chris can maybe pop this up on screen, but it kind of looks like a combination of the Minnesota state bird with the Star wars symbol and has become a symbol of ice resistance, folks. If you don't know, sometimes I have this Star wars helmet in the back, right. And it's kind of a combination of that and the state bird, and it's also just kind of a badass looking tattoo that kind of looks like a Hunger Games tattoo or something from a superhero world. So I think the creativity of the resistance that continues to come out of this country is especially. We've talked about musicians and so many of them not just at the Grammys, but beyond. I saw a video this morning from Dave Matthews. I've talked about so many great artists that are meeting this moment, but the creativity is awesome and this tattoo is awesome. And I think it's something good. All right, Kaivon, over to you, my friend, on this Tuesday. What do you got? That's something good.
- [51:47]
Kaivon Schroff
Okay, Something good. So I don't know if everyone considers this good. I think you will. National popular vote. There's an effort to get 270 electoral votes banded together and have a slate just support the national popular vote. This empowers independents, I think, because it gives them more voice and doesn't just let everything be run by the party machines. And that advanced today in Virginia in a major way. So they try to get out of committee on that and we'll see it progress. And I think if Virginia joins, there'll be over 220 of the 270 votes. They need to have this thing in action. And I think that would be one of the most important electoral reforms that we've seen, seen in a while and really reshape the way that power and money influence our politics. So good news on that.
- [52:33]
Paul Rykoff
I love it. I love it. It's a novel concept, you know, the people deciding our elections. We talk a lot about election reform. I think we need it. I also think we need you in the, in the, in the dialogue more out in front. Would you ever run for office, Kyman? What do you think?
- [52:48]
Kaivon Schroff
I don't know. I guess, like, get me to be the dnc chair first and then I'm on it.
- [52:52]
Paul Rykoff
I think the DNC is listening to me, I will tell you that. But I do want to celebrate you. Well, thank you, folks. Should follow your substack. Tell them about your new podcast.
- [53:02]
Kaivon Schroff
Thank you. Yes, I have a new podcast called Extremely Reasonable. Some great guests on there. Actually have a great Republican on this week, Rena Shaw. So check it out. It's on Spotify. Also have a newsletter on substack. And I'm everywhere on social media at Kaivon Troff. Just how my name's spelled.
- [53:18]
Paul Rykoff
All right. Kaivon Schroff, you are awesome. I am so grateful for you joining us. I hope you'll come back again and we could talk again. Maybe a regular segment on how the Democrats won't save you and the Democrats suck and you can come and try to talk some, some, some. Some reasonability to your party and at least help us understand what the hell is going on over there. Folks, the great and powerful Kaivan Shroff. Thank you for joining us. All right, tomorrow I got a bunch of media to do. We have our weekly visit on News Nation. I don't know if Kaivon will be there or not, but we have that. We have CNN tomorrow night with Aaron Burnett. Maybe I'll be on msnbc. All right, tomorrow it looks like Jesse Ventura is locked. We will see. I don't want to count my chickens, but it looks like tomorrow, tomorrow evening or so you will have an exclusive national conversation with the great Jesse the Body Ventura will be here on Thursday. We got Chuck Todd. Chuck Todd will be here. I'll ask him on his thoughts of all of this and the Super Bowl. Rachel Maddow on Friday. We will do Friday football and a big week ahead. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe. Despite my crappy voice that I am continuing to try to raise, like so many of you, America's divided. But here at Independent Americans, I am working to change that, to contrast the heat of all the other political shows. So if you're among the 45% of Americans who are independent, this is your show. Or if you're like Ivan and others, you're a Democrat, you're a Republican, whatever you are, come on over. Because our independent movement is bringing hope for the future. Country over party, people over politics, light over heat. And that movement is growing and it's the hope of our. The hope of our blah. I'll say it again, hope is the oxygen of our democracy. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Share it far and wide. With your Republican friends, your Democrat friends, whatever. Invite them to declare their independence and stay vigilant, my friends, because eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. And no, you're not alone in your vigilance. We're all vigilant and we're all in this together. And one final thought. I went for a run today. When I finished my run, I faced a Statue of Liberty sometimes on the Hudson. And when I looked out across the Hudson today, which has been dominated by ice, the ice was breaking, the ice was starting to crack up. And it's just a reminder to stay vigilant, folks, and stay strong. Because we got to keep bringing and being the light because better days are ahead and it's going to be a long and hard fight. But our light and our truth will break the ice just like we're seeing on the Hudson River. And once again, like the Statue of Liberty out on that river, Liberty will stand tall, but not without a fight. Every generation of Americans has their fight and this is ours. So don't believe the government, don't believe Trump. Look out for each other. Remember what Lady Liberty stands for out there in the middle of all that ice. And remember what we stand for. And don't let the bastards get you down. We will prevail. I'm your host, Paul Rykoff. Thank you for tuning in to independent Americans. I will see you tomorrow. I'm with, I hope Jesse Ventura. Happy Tuesday. Enjoy the Pro bowl tonight. It's only Tuesday. I'll see you tomorrow. Stay vigilant. America tells me the left and right are dreams for those without a clue and when you wait it's time to grow and it's not cool to believe in school but if I can say one thing I've seen the children of the revolution and the good trouble they can break he says the red and blue identity Independent is an attitude and island in the sea of rhetoric and I can rather go he tells me the left and right Our dreams for those without a clue and when you wait it's time to grow Power by righteous media.