Trump Spirals as House Dems Prepare for Major Attack Before Midterms - Sidebar with Katie Phang

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[00:00]
A
95 days. We're just 95 days out from the November midterms. And at a time when it seems like anything and everything goes. When it seems like anything and everything is going on and that it's so hard to stay focused, we have to. We have to understand that all of the calamity, the corruption, the grift, the graft, the insanity, it's happening because convicted felon Donald Trump has a majority in the Senate and in the House. And that all of the conversations that we have here at Katie Fing News and across the board, these conversations are premised on the idea that there is unchecked corruption just happening in real time. And we talk about stopping it, and we talk about actually having a plan, which Democrats have. But when you're not in the majority, it makes it virtually impossible to be able to check the corruption, prosecute the bad, and have accountability for those who enabled it. That is why I'm here to remind you that we're 95 days out. And it's not just me. Leader Hakeem Jeffries is also making sure that we know that we're just 95 days out from the midterms. And a reminder of what's at stake.
[01:19]
B
Two years ago, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans told you they'd bring grocery prices down on duty day one. They told you they'd stop spending money on stupid wars in the Middle East. They promised to bring energy prices down by 50% and get gas below $2 a gallon. The exact opposite has happened. For two years, Americans have been wondering, were MAGA Republicans lying or are they just incompetent? We now have an answer. It's all of the above. All of the above.
[02:02]
A
We will not survive another two years of the MAGA insanity. Those promises were not kept. Those promises were all broken. And for somebody like me, who, you know, is fighting tooth and nail for transparency and accountability when it comes to these Epstein files, if we end up with somebody like Attorney General Todd Bl, what have we seen happen? When we've had a Kristi Noem at DHS and now a Marque Mullen at dhs, and now we have a Scott Besant in the Treasury. I mean, when we end up with people like that, people that ended up being, you know, Senate confirmed, for example, it's because it all boiled down to the numbers. And we cannot have it be so razor thin. We have to make it too big to rig. So big that it is indisputable a win. So I sat down with Leader Jeffries. I wanted to Know, what races are we looking at? What should we be focusing on? How are we helping? What are we supposed to be doing to be able to make sure that our message as the Democrats rings far and wide? Take a listen. Joining me now is the amazing leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, it's good to see you. Thanks for joining me here at Katy Fang News.
[03:21]
B
Great to see you, Katie.
[03:22]
A
Okay, so I can't say we're 100 days out, can I? Because now we're down to double digits. I think we're at 95 days. And I was listening to a barn burner of a speech you just gave a couple days ago in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in support of a guy named Bob Brooks, who I actually interviewed here at Katie Fang News. Exciting candidate. And I'd like to think that he is one of several that are going to get across the finish line into DC to change the way that business is done. But I wanted to make sure that our viewers and our listeners got a good idea about the lay of the land as we're about 95 days out from the midterms.
[04:00]
B
Well, that's right. We got 95 days to change America. And we have incredible candidates all across the country like Bob Brooks, a union leader and firefighter. We've got doctors and nurses and combat veterans. Veterans and farmers and people who've dedicated their life to public service in a wide variety of ways. We have a Tejano music superstar, Bobby Polito, who is running in South Texas. We believe he's going to flip a district down in the Lone Star State. We even have a smoke jumper who is running in Montana and is an incredible candidate. Smokejumper and union leader.
[04:40]
A
That's right.
[04:40]
B
Similar to Bob Brooks at the same period of time. So we're going to run through the finish line. We're fighting for an affordable America. We know that life is too expensive. We're leaning into affordability. On the one hand, we have to deliver that for the American people and accountability on the other.
[04:58]
A
I love the messaging. It's clean, it makes sense, it resonates. Sam Forstag is that fire jumper. I also interviewed him as well. I mean, I do see that there's a theme here. Right. The common denominator for many of these incredible candidates is the authenticity of who they. They are and their lived experiences. It's something that I spend a lot of time on here to amplify because I do think voters have become a little bit more discerning when it comes to candidates. I think voters are of Course, they care about making sure the Democrats win, but they want to make sure that the, quote, right. Democrats win. Talk about Leader Jeffries, what the party is doing to really help boost and back these candidates.
[05:41]
B
Well, we're gonna continue to raise the resources necessary to allow these candidates to authentically communicate who they are as individuals. And exactly as you've pointed out, Katie, you know, we've made an intentional effort to recruit everyday Americans, people who probably never thought about running for Congress. But they know that our country is at a very perilous moment. Donald Trump and these corrupt Republicans have been unleashing incredible extremism on the American people. These people have even broken every promise MAGA extremists that they made to the country. They promised to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down, they've gone up, including because of the reckless war of choice in Iran and the fact that gas prices are skyrocketing out of control. These people promised to love and cherish Medicaid. Donald Trump actually said that and then turned around and enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping health care away for more than 14 million Americans. They promised that ICE enforcement was going to target the worst of the worst. And instead, ICE brutality has been unleashed, utilizing billions of taxpayer dollars to kill and brutalize American citizens or violently target law abiding immigrants, as we recently and horrifically saw in Maine and in Houston. So our view is that the American people want to throw these extremists out, but in order for that to happen, they've got to feel confident that you have CHANGE agents who are on the way into office, like a Bob Brooks. By way of example, Johanna Mendoza, who is running in Arizona. She is a single mom and a Marine drill sergeant as well as a combat veteran, Kate Connolly, who is running in New Jersey, excuse me, New York 17. She's going to retire. Mike Lawler. Thank God for that. The country will be better off. She's a hero and combat veteran, national security professional as well. So we've got CHANGE agents who are authentic, who are real, who have incredible life experiences, and we're going to do everything we can as House Democrats to lift them up so they can tell their story.
[07:59]
A
For those of us that also want to help this happen, you know, we're just outside of that one year window of what I call Donald Trump's big bullshit bill. And we know that there have been some immediate impacts on Americans. For example, more than one and a half million children have now lost their SNAP benefits. But we also know that they were incredibly sneaky in the way that the Republicans put together and structured the big bullshit bill because some of the impacts and some of the bigger impacts would not be felt until January of 2027. Now that is after the November midterm. So what should we be looking at when it comes to some of the things that are the byproduct of that big bullshit bill?
[08:44]
B
Well, absolutely, because of what has happened. The largest cut to Medicaid in American history, a trillion dollar cut. What we've already begun to see is that hospitals and nursing homes and, and community health centers and clinics are either closing in parts of the country, including in rural America, or on the brink of closing. You have medical facilities that are no longer able to provide certain services to their communities because of the pending cuts that as you pointed out in large measure will take effect in January of next year. But the pain is already being felt. So part of our promise to the American people in our effort fighting for an affordable America is to lower the cost of things like groceries and gas and housing and at the same time fight to make sure that we have affordable health care for every single American. That is going to require us to reverse the damage that has been done, including as it relates to reversing the Medicaid cuts, extending the Affordable Care act tax credits by way of example, and rolling back some of the devastating cuts to medical research, pediatric cancer research, for instance, has been targeted. I mean, this is how extreme these people are and this is all going to hurt the well being and the health of the American people. We have to reverse engineer the damage that has been done, but also make sure that something new comes out of the carnage to provide high quality, affordable, accessible healthcare to the American people. And we're committed to that endeavor.
[10:28]
A
I appreciate the last sentiment you shared because I actually have been very big in promoting the idea that we really can't go back, like we can't go back to what we had before. It clearly wasn't working even for Democrats. We have to be able to take advantage of this new blood, this new change, to be able to build something new, learning from our mistakes, cherry picking from the good and making sure we don't repeat the bad. I will say people who will probably be sad to see Republicans lose control of the majority in both chambers in November are the billionaires, the billionaire buddies of Donald Trump. That chasm between the haves and the have nots has become disturbingly and grotesquely large. There is some great reporting, a bombshell reporting from the Wall Street Journal talking About how Donald Trump has pretty much been not only self benefiting and self dealing from padding his wallets and those of his family and his business entities, but making sure that he's amassing a war chest to be deployed. We're not quite sure how. I'll give an example. This woman, Meredith o', Rourke, is his primary and his go to fundraiser, who almost every night, according to this reporting, Trump calls her to say, what's the update? How many companies and donors have cut checks. Who hasn't? Putting pressure on her, saying that she's a killer with the donors. And she in turn refers to Trump as the boss wants this money. You know, leader, I see something like this. I see SoftBank giving 50 million toward Trump's presidential library. That has to be in quotes because I don't think he reads apple giving a $25 million check towards the White House Ballroom Project. Meta. Giving 10 million to a Trump PAC on top of 22 million to that presidential library. And the millions keep on going. That's a lot of zeros, leader, that I don't see helping the American people.
[12:16]
B
It's absolutely not designed to help the American people. Let's understand something. Donald Trump is functioning like an organized crime boss.
[12:24]
A
That's right.
[12:25]
B
And he is running this Trump cartel that is primarily designed to enrich himself, his family, his friends and his donors while running at the same period of time, the largest shakedown scheme in the history of the country. The whole thing is grotesque. Which is why, as House Democrats, one of our core promises to the American people is that we're going to hold the crooks accountable. Wherever and whoever you are, if you are stealing from the American people, if you're screwing over the American people, and if you are shaking down the American people, we're going to have a problem with you. We're going to expose your behavior and we're going to make sure you're held accountable. Because if you have people who are more concerned with enriching themselves, you know, they're not focused on actually making life better for the American people. And so there's a connection between the corruption and the absence of improving the quality of life of everyday Americans.
[13:29]
A
That's a really important thing here because the theme and the common denominator is the corruption. Right. And it's not just financial corruption. We're also talking about ethical corruption. We're talking about the grift and the graft. When it comes to accountability, that is something that I want to make sure is a commitment from any and all candidates I want to go to D.C. because that's really how we get the job done. It's the affordability goals that are achieved, but it's also making sure that the people who got us down and led us down this path to where we are also are held to account. That really is the perfect segue to me to ask you about your thoughts on the very tenuous grounds that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to be the Attorney General of the United States seems to be. We're seeing some hesitation by Tom Tillis and John Coryn, for example, on Senate Judiciary, about Blanch. But, you know, we need, we need the Majority leader not only in the Senate and in the House, because if, gosh forbid, somebody like Todd Blanch makes it all the way into that seat of being the Attorney General, we can't count on him and the Trump DOJ to make sure that the laws are being abided by and that crooks are really, really getting investigated and prosecuted. So we need the power of oversight, we need the power of accountability through Congressional committees to expose the truth.
[14:54]
B
That's exactly right. And Jamie Raskin, as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and Robert Garcia as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee in the minority, along with all of the Dems on those committees, have been doing a tremendous job and aggressively pushing back against the administration, exposing a lot of the corruption and the graft and the lack of focus on making life better for everyday Americans. Collectively, as House Democrats in the minority, we have managed to run Pam Bondi out of town as well as Christine Noem out of town. But we're just getting started. And when we have the gavels in our hands, when there's a chair, Jamie Raskin, and a chair Robert Garcia, by way of example, we'll be able to do a whole lot more in terms of the accountability aspect of the agenda. And again, it's all designed to make sure that people in government are actually focused on making life better for the American people as opposed to screwing them over, which is what is taking place in Washington, D.C. right now. And we're committed to making sure that we deal with these issues in every single institution. And so one of the things that we've promised to the American people is that we will ban the President, the Vice President, and members of Congress from trading stocks. We will clean up the mess that exists at the United States Supreme Court, which is in many ways out of control, both in terms of their substantive decisions and also in terms of the ethical swamp, because that's the only institution in government that doesn't even bother to have an ethical code of conduct. The whole thing is crazy. They apparently believe that they're above the law, along with Donald Trump, who they gave blanket immunity to. And we got to reverse that. It will take, in all likelihood, a constitutional amendment, but we certainly, I think, are committed to, to doing what's necessary there. And we've got to combat corrupt price gouging that is explicitly undermining the ability of the American people to live an affordable life. And our ability to do all of those things and more is certainly enhanced if the American people give us the honor of serving in the majority in the next Congress.
[17:15]
A
So there's a lot of races, there's a lot of players here. There's a lot of people we want to support. Do you have any suggestions on resources? Where can people go to learn more about these critical races? Where they can go and give support, where they can help, give money and time and volunteer? Because I know that we have a relentless thirst and desire to take back the majority in both the House and the Senate. And we need to know how to do that.
[17:42]
B
So we have identified both what we call frontline candidates. Those are incumbent Democrats in the toughest districts in the country who need to be reelected in order for us to have a shot to take back the majority. Because you can't achieve addition, and we only have to flip just a handful of seats. But you can't achieve addition through subtraction. So those are our frontline members. And then we have another group of folks, the ones that I previously mentioned, who are candidates who are running. We call them red to blue. That's right, because they're in red seats running, or at least seats that are held by Republicans. And we're going to flip them blue. And so we have the list of both those categories on DCCC.org and folks can go and connect up with our efforts collectively across the country and with those individual campaigns. And those are going to be the seats. It's what we call in total, the battleground that will decide the future of the House of Representatives and in many ways, the future of the country. Because we can't afford another two years of MAGA extremist Republicans just functioning like a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, as opposed to actually trying to improve the quality of life of the American people. That's why we're committed to fighting for an affordable America.
[19:10]
A
Listen, what do we get? We get Fauci hearings and $5 million gold horses. That's what we get if we keep this going. Right. By the way, just a footnote. I had the amazing Lauren Underwood, the congresswoman, on this channel, just a few days ago, talking about the flipping of the red to the blue. So this is the perfect compliment to that conversation leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you. Listen, I know it's not easy. I know it's not easy to do what you're doing, to have to navigate it all. I know there's. There's some measure of infighting, if we're gonna call it that. There's a lot that's at play. But I do know that if we can kind of stay the course and keep our eye on the ball, we can do this. We can make this happen. So I appreciate you joining me and getting us up to speed on all of this, because it's incredibly important for not only me, you, and everybody, but for democracy. So thanks for your time. I really appreciate it.
[20:00]
B
Thank you so much. We can do it, and we will do it together.
[20:03]
A
Thanks. Katie Feng here. We launched the Katie Fang News Channel in partnership with the Midas Touch Network, so we could bring you the latest in legal and political news. Straight, no chaser. So if you're a fellow truth teller, hit that subscribe button and share the word about this channel so we can build a high information America together.

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: "Trump Spirals as House Dems Prepare for Major Attack Before Midterms"
Podcast: Sidebar with Katie Phang
Host: Katie Phang
Date: July 31, 2026
Guest: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (House Democratic Leader)

Episode Overview

This episode, airing 95 days before the 2026 midterms, centers on the urgent political and legal state of the country under Donald Trump’s leadership. Host Katie Phang is joined by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries for an unfiltered conversation about unchecked corruption, Democratic strategy for the midterms, and the paramount importance of Congressional accountability. The episode is a rallying call for listeners to recognize what's at stake, participate in democracy, and heed the Democrats’ plan to flip the House and Senate.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Peril of the Current Political Climate

Katie opens with a stark reminder of the chaos and corruption happening "in real time" due to Trump’s hold on the House and Senate.
"All of the calamity, the corruption, the grift, the graft, the insanity, it's happening because convicted felon Donald Trump has a majority in the Senate and in the House." — Katie Phang (00:22)
The urgency: 95 days left before the midterm elections; Democrats need a decisive win to enact change.

Broken Promises Under MAGA Republicans (01:19–02:01)

Hakeem Jeffries highlights how MAGA Republicans haven’t delivered on major promises:
- Lowering grocery and energy prices
- Ending foreign wars
- Maintaining healthcare integrity
"For two years, Americans have been wondering, were MAGA Republicans lying or are they just incompetent? We now have an answer. It's all of the above." — Hakeem Jeffries (01:42)

Democratic Strategy and Candidate Recruitment (03:21–07:58)

Focus on authentic, service-driven candidates: union leaders, veterans, nurses, music icons, and more.
“We have incredible candidates all across the country... Doctors, nurses, combat veterans, and farmers, people who’ve dedicated their life to public service... We believe [they’re] going to flip a district down in the Lone Star State.” — Hakeem Jeffries (03:59)
Intentional recruitment of "everyday Americans" who best represent diverse communities.

The 'Big Bullshit Bill' and Its Impacts (07:58–10:27)

Analysis of a major GOP bill labeled by Katie as the "big bullshit bill":
- Immediate and delayed cuts, particularly to Medicaid and SNAP (food assistance).
- Noteworthy statistic: “More than one-and-a-half million children have now lost their SNAP benefits.” — Katie Phang (08:05)
- Future pain set for after the elections, designed to obscure the true impact until 2027.
Jeffries: Hospitals and clinics are closing or curtailing services, especially in rural areas.
"We have to reverse engineer the damage...also make sure that something new comes out of the carnage." — Hakeem Jeffries (09:56)

Corruption & Accountability: The Trump Cartel (12:15–14:54)

Katie and Jeffries discuss explosive Wall Street Journal reporting on Trump's fundraising and self-enrichment:
- Massive donations from corporations (SoftBank, Apple, Meta) to projects like the Trump “Presidential Library” and White House Ballroom.
- "Donald Trump is functioning like an organized crime boss... running this Trump cartel that is primarily designed to enrich himself, his family, his friends and his donors while running at the same period of time, the largest shakedown scheme in the history of the country." — Hakeem Jeffries (12:15)
The need for Democratic or non-partisan oversight to investigate and prosecute political corruption.

The Threat of an Unchecked DOJ (13:28–14:54)

Katie raises concerns about Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s potential confirmation, and what it means for justice and the rule of law.
Emphasis on the necessity for Congressional oversight, especially in judicial and executive appointments.

The Democratic Agenda for Institutional Reform (14:54–17:14)

Jeffries emphasizes:
- Efforts by Dems (even in the minority) to expose corruption and force out problematic officials (e.g., Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem).
- "When we have the gavels in our hands...we’ll be able to do a whole lot more in terms of the accountability aspect of the agenda." (15:27)
- Pledge to ban stock trading by top federal officials and members of Congress.
- Plan to address ethical issues at the Supreme Court, seeking a constitutional amendment if necessary.
- Combat price gouging and corporate excess.

How Listeners Can Take Action (17:14–19:59)

Jeffries lays out "frontline" (incumbents in tough races) and "red to blue" (Dem challengers in GOP-held seats) strategies.
Resources for involvement: DCCC.org for information, donations, and volunteer opportunities.
"Those are going to be the seats...the battleground that will decide the future of the House of Representatives and in many ways, the future of the country." — Hakeem Jeffries (18:29)
Both Phang and Jeffries reinforce the necessity of grass roots activism.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Corruption:
"Donald Trump is functioning like an organized crime boss... the largest shakedown scheme in the history of the country." — Hakeem Jeffries (12:15)
On Real-World Consequences:
"Hospitals and nursing homes and community health centers and clinics are either closing in parts of the country, including in rural America, or on the brink of closing." — Hakeem Jeffries (08:46)
On Democratic Strategy:
"We've made an intentional effort to recruit everyday Americans, people who probably never thought about running for Congress." — Hakeem Jeffries (05:46)
On Institutional Reform:
"One of the things that we've promised to the American people is that we will ban the President, the Vice President, and members of Congress from trading stocks." — Hakeem Jeffries (16:13)
On Stakes for Democracy:
"There's a lot that's at play. But I do know that if we can kind of stay the course and keep our eye on the ball, we can do this. We can make this happen." — Katie Phang (19:35)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00 – 01:19: Setting the scene – urgency and stakes for the midterms
01:19 – 02:01: Jeffries on broken MAGA promises
03:21 – 04:58: Democratic candidates and strategy
05:40 – 07:58: Candidate recruitment and authentic representation
07:58 – 10:27: The “big bullshit bill” and its human consequences
12:15 – 14:54: Trump fundraising, donor influence, corruption as organized crime
14:54 – 17:14: Congressional oversight, institutional reforms
17:14 – 19:59: How to get involved; resources for action

Takeaways & Resources

Main Message: The episode delivers a powerful warning about the cost of political apathy and the need for turnout and engagement in the 2026 midterms.
Get Involved: Visit DCCC.org for ways to support battleground candidates and volunteer.
Core Themes: Accountability, affordability, combating corporate and political corruption, and the vital importance of restoring ethical governance.

This summary delivers direct insight into the episode’s central issues, the Democrats’ outlook, and how listeners can be part of the movement to reshape Congress—just in time for the crucial midterm elections.

Loading summary

Transcript23 lines

[00:00]
A
95 days. We're just 95 days out from the November midterms. And at a time when it seems like anything and everything goes. When it seems like anything and everything is going on and that it's so hard to stay focused, we have to. We have to understand that all of the calamity, the corruption, the grift, the graft, the insanity, it's happening because convicted felon Donald Trump has a majority in the Senate and in the House. And that all of the conversations that we have here at Katie Fing News and across the board, these conversations are premised on the idea that there is unchecked corruption just happening in real time. And we talk about stopping it, and we talk about actually having a plan, which Democrats have. But when you're not in the majority, it makes it virtually impossible to be able to check the corruption, prosecute the bad, and have accountability for those who enabled it. That is why I'm here to remind you that we're 95 days out. And it's not just me. Leader Hakeem Jeffries is also making sure that we know that we're just 95 days out from the midterms. And a reminder of what's at stake.
[01:19]
B
Two years ago, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans told you they'd bring grocery prices down on duty day one. They told you they'd stop spending money on stupid wars in the Middle East. They promised to bring energy prices down by 50% and get gas below $2 a gallon. The exact opposite has happened. For two years, Americans have been wondering, were MAGA Republicans lying or are they just incompetent? We now have an answer. It's all of the above. All of the above.
[02:02]
A
We will not survive another two years of the MAGA insanity. Those promises were not kept. Those promises were all broken. And for somebody like me, who, you know, is fighting tooth and nail for transparency and accountability when it comes to these Epstein files, if we end up with somebody like Attorney General Todd Bl, what have we seen happen? When we've had a Kristi Noem at DHS and now a Marque Mullen at dhs, and now we have a Scott Besant in the Treasury. I mean, when we end up with people like that, people that ended up being, you know, Senate confirmed, for example, it's because it all boiled down to the numbers. And we cannot have it be so razor thin. We have to make it too big to rig. So big that it is indisputable a win. So I sat down with Leader Jeffries. I wanted to Know, what races are we looking at? What should we be focusing on? How are we helping? What are we supposed to be doing to be able to make sure that our message as the Democrats rings far and wide? Take a listen. Joining me now is the amazing leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, it's good to see you. Thanks for joining me here at Katy Fang News.
[03:21]
B
Great to see you, Katie.
[03:22]
A
Okay, so I can't say we're 100 days out, can I? Because now we're down to double digits. I think we're at 95 days. And I was listening to a barn burner of a speech you just gave a couple days ago in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in support of a guy named Bob Brooks, who I actually interviewed here at Katie Fang News. Exciting candidate. And I'd like to think that he is one of several that are going to get across the finish line into DC to change the way that business is done. But I wanted to make sure that our viewers and our listeners got a good idea about the lay of the land as we're about 95 days out from the midterms.
[04:00]
B
Well, that's right. We got 95 days to change America. And we have incredible candidates all across the country like Bob Brooks, a union leader and firefighter. We've got doctors and nurses and combat veterans. Veterans and farmers and people who've dedicated their life to public service in a wide variety of ways. We have a Tejano music superstar, Bobby Polito, who is running in South Texas. We believe he's going to flip a district down in the Lone Star State. We even have a smoke jumper who is running in Montana and is an incredible candidate. Smokejumper and union leader.
[04:40]
A
That's right.
[04:40]
B
Similar to Bob Brooks at the same period of time. So we're going to run through the finish line. We're fighting for an affordable America. We know that life is too expensive. We're leaning into affordability. On the one hand, we have to deliver that for the American people and accountability on the other.
[04:58]
A
I love the messaging. It's clean, it makes sense, it resonates. Sam Forstag is that fire jumper. I also interviewed him as well. I mean, I do see that there's a theme here. Right. The common denominator for many of these incredible candidates is the authenticity of who they. They are and their lived experiences. It's something that I spend a lot of time on here to amplify because I do think voters have become a little bit more discerning when it comes to candidates. I think voters are of Course, they care about making sure the Democrats win, but they want to make sure that the, quote, right. Democrats win. Talk about Leader Jeffries, what the party is doing to really help boost and back these candidates.
[05:41]
B
Well, we're gonna continue to raise the resources necessary to allow these candidates to authentically communicate who they are as individuals. And exactly as you've pointed out, Katie, you know, we've made an intentional effort to recruit everyday Americans, people who probably never thought about running for Congress. But they know that our country is at a very perilous moment. Donald Trump and these corrupt Republicans have been unleashing incredible extremism on the American people. These people have even broken every promise MAGA extremists that they made to the country. They promised to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down, they've gone up, including because of the reckless war of choice in Iran and the fact that gas prices are skyrocketing out of control. These people promised to love and cherish Medicaid. Donald Trump actually said that and then turned around and enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping health care away for more than 14 million Americans. They promised that ICE enforcement was going to target the worst of the worst. And instead, ICE brutality has been unleashed, utilizing billions of taxpayer dollars to kill and brutalize American citizens or violently target law abiding immigrants, as we recently and horrifically saw in Maine and in Houston. So our view is that the American people want to throw these extremists out, but in order for that to happen, they've got to feel confident that you have CHANGE agents who are on the way into office, like a Bob Brooks. By way of example, Johanna Mendoza, who is running in Arizona. She is a single mom and a Marine drill sergeant as well as a combat veteran, Kate Connolly, who is running in New Jersey, excuse me, New York 17. She's going to retire. Mike Lawler. Thank God for that. The country will be better off. She's a hero and combat veteran, national security professional as well. So we've got CHANGE agents who are authentic, who are real, who have incredible life experiences, and we're going to do everything we can as House Democrats to lift them up so they can tell their story.
[07:59]
A
For those of us that also want to help this happen, you know, we're just outside of that one year window of what I call Donald Trump's big bullshit bill. And we know that there have been some immediate impacts on Americans. For example, more than one and a half million children have now lost their SNAP benefits. But we also know that they were incredibly sneaky in the way that the Republicans put together and structured the big bullshit bill because some of the impacts and some of the bigger impacts would not be felt until January of 2027. Now that is after the November midterm. So what should we be looking at when it comes to some of the things that are the byproduct of that big bullshit bill?
[08:44]
B
Well, absolutely, because of what has happened. The largest cut to Medicaid in American history, a trillion dollar cut. What we've already begun to see is that hospitals and nursing homes and, and community health centers and clinics are either closing in parts of the country, including in rural America, or on the brink of closing. You have medical facilities that are no longer able to provide certain services to their communities because of the pending cuts that as you pointed out in large measure will take effect in January of next year. But the pain is already being felt. So part of our promise to the American people in our effort fighting for an affordable America is to lower the cost of things like groceries and gas and housing and at the same time fight to make sure that we have affordable health care for every single American. That is going to require us to reverse the damage that has been done, including as it relates to reversing the Medicaid cuts, extending the Affordable Care act tax credits by way of example, and rolling back some of the devastating cuts to medical research, pediatric cancer research, for instance, has been targeted. I mean, this is how extreme these people are and this is all going to hurt the well being and the health of the American people. We have to reverse engineer the damage that has been done, but also make sure that something new comes out of the carnage to provide high quality, affordable, accessible healthcare to the American people. And we're committed to that endeavor.
[10:28]
A
I appreciate the last sentiment you shared because I actually have been very big in promoting the idea that we really can't go back, like we can't go back to what we had before. It clearly wasn't working even for Democrats. We have to be able to take advantage of this new blood, this new change, to be able to build something new, learning from our mistakes, cherry picking from the good and making sure we don't repeat the bad. I will say people who will probably be sad to see Republicans lose control of the majority in both chambers in November are the billionaires, the billionaire buddies of Donald Trump. That chasm between the haves and the have nots has become disturbingly and grotesquely large. There is some great reporting, a bombshell reporting from the Wall Street Journal talking About how Donald Trump has pretty much been not only self benefiting and self dealing from padding his wallets and those of his family and his business entities, but making sure that he's amassing a war chest to be deployed. We're not quite sure how. I'll give an example. This woman, Meredith o', Rourke, is his primary and his go to fundraiser, who almost every night, according to this reporting, Trump calls her to say, what's the update? How many companies and donors have cut checks. Who hasn't? Putting pressure on her, saying that she's a killer with the donors. And she in turn refers to Trump as the boss wants this money. You know, leader, I see something like this. I see SoftBank giving 50 million toward Trump's presidential library. That has to be in quotes because I don't think he reads apple giving a $25 million check towards the White House Ballroom Project. Meta. Giving 10 million to a Trump PAC on top of 22 million to that presidential library. And the millions keep on going. That's a lot of zeros, leader, that I don't see helping the American people.
[12:16]
B
It's absolutely not designed to help the American people. Let's understand something. Donald Trump is functioning like an organized crime boss.
[12:24]
A
That's right.
[12:25]
B
And he is running this Trump cartel that is primarily designed to enrich himself, his family, his friends and his donors while running at the same period of time, the largest shakedown scheme in the history of the country. The whole thing is grotesque. Which is why, as House Democrats, one of our core promises to the American people is that we're going to hold the crooks accountable. Wherever and whoever you are, if you are stealing from the American people, if you're screwing over the American people, and if you are shaking down the American people, we're going to have a problem with you. We're going to expose your behavior and we're going to make sure you're held accountable. Because if you have people who are more concerned with enriching themselves, you know, they're not focused on actually making life better for the American people. And so there's a connection between the corruption and the absence of improving the quality of life of everyday Americans.
[13:29]
A
That's a really important thing here because the theme and the common denominator is the corruption. Right. And it's not just financial corruption. We're also talking about ethical corruption. We're talking about the grift and the graft. When it comes to accountability, that is something that I want to make sure is a commitment from any and all candidates I want to go to D.C. because that's really how we get the job done. It's the affordability goals that are achieved, but it's also making sure that the people who got us down and led us down this path to where we are also are held to account. That really is the perfect segue to me to ask you about your thoughts on the very tenuous grounds that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to be the Attorney General of the United States seems to be. We're seeing some hesitation by Tom Tillis and John Coryn, for example, on Senate Judiciary, about Blanch. But, you know, we need, we need the Majority leader not only in the Senate and in the House, because if, gosh forbid, somebody like Todd Blanch makes it all the way into that seat of being the Attorney General, we can't count on him and the Trump DOJ to make sure that the laws are being abided by and that crooks are really, really getting investigated and prosecuted. So we need the power of oversight, we need the power of accountability through Congressional committees to expose the truth.
[14:54]
B
That's exactly right. And Jamie Raskin, as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and Robert Garcia as the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee in the minority, along with all of the Dems on those committees, have been doing a tremendous job and aggressively pushing back against the administration, exposing a lot of the corruption and the graft and the lack of focus on making life better for everyday Americans. Collectively, as House Democrats in the minority, we have managed to run Pam Bondi out of town as well as Christine Noem out of town. But we're just getting started. And when we have the gavels in our hands, when there's a chair, Jamie Raskin, and a chair Robert Garcia, by way of example, we'll be able to do a whole lot more in terms of the accountability aspect of the agenda. And again, it's all designed to make sure that people in government are actually focused on making life better for the American people as opposed to screwing them over, which is what is taking place in Washington, D.C. right now. And we're committed to making sure that we deal with these issues in every single institution. And so one of the things that we've promised to the American people is that we will ban the President, the Vice President, and members of Congress from trading stocks. We will clean up the mess that exists at the United States Supreme Court, which is in many ways out of control, both in terms of their substantive decisions and also in terms of the ethical swamp, because that's the only institution in government that doesn't even bother to have an ethical code of conduct. The whole thing is crazy. They apparently believe that they're above the law, along with Donald Trump, who they gave blanket immunity to. And we got to reverse that. It will take, in all likelihood, a constitutional amendment, but we certainly, I think, are committed to, to doing what's necessary there. And we've got to combat corrupt price gouging that is explicitly undermining the ability of the American people to live an affordable life. And our ability to do all of those things and more is certainly enhanced if the American people give us the honor of serving in the majority in the next Congress.
[17:15]
A
So there's a lot of races, there's a lot of players here. There's a lot of people we want to support. Do you have any suggestions on resources? Where can people go to learn more about these critical races? Where they can go and give support, where they can help, give money and time and volunteer? Because I know that we have a relentless thirst and desire to take back the majority in both the House and the Senate. And we need to know how to do that.
[17:42]
B
So we have identified both what we call frontline candidates. Those are incumbent Democrats in the toughest districts in the country who need to be reelected in order for us to have a shot to take back the majority. Because you can't achieve addition, and we only have to flip just a handful of seats. But you can't achieve addition through subtraction. So those are our frontline members. And then we have another group of folks, the ones that I previously mentioned, who are candidates who are running. We call them red to blue. That's right, because they're in red seats running, or at least seats that are held by Republicans. And we're going to flip them blue. And so we have the list of both those categories on DCCC.org and folks can go and connect up with our efforts collectively across the country and with those individual campaigns. And those are going to be the seats. It's what we call in total, the battleground that will decide the future of the House of Representatives and in many ways, the future of the country. Because we can't afford another two years of MAGA extremist Republicans just functioning like a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, as opposed to actually trying to improve the quality of life of the American people. That's why we're committed to fighting for an affordable America.
[19:10]
A
Listen, what do we get? We get Fauci hearings and $5 million gold horses. That's what we get if we keep this going. Right. By the way, just a footnote. I had the amazing Lauren Underwood, the congresswoman, on this channel, just a few days ago, talking about the flipping of the red to the blue. So this is the perfect compliment to that conversation leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you. Listen, I know it's not easy. I know it's not easy to do what you're doing, to have to navigate it all. I know there's. There's some measure of infighting, if we're gonna call it that. There's a lot that's at play. But I do know that if we can kind of stay the course and keep our eye on the ball, we can do this. We can make this happen. So I appreciate you joining me and getting us up to speed on all of this, because it's incredibly important for not only me, you, and everybody, but for democracy. So thanks for your time. I really appreciate it.
[20:00]
B
Thank you so much. We can do it, and we will do it together.
[20:03]
A
Thanks. Katie Feng here. We launched the Katie Fang News Channel in partnership with the Midas Touch Network, so we could bring you the latest in legal and political news. Straight, no chaser. So if you're a fellow truth teller, hit that subscribe button and share the word about this channel so we can build a high information America together.