INTERVIEW: Tezlyn Figaro Talks Kamalas Missteps, Celebrity Roles In Campaigns, Push The Line Movement + More

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Breakfast Club Episode: INTERVIEW: Teslin Figaro Talks Kamala Harris's Missteps, Celebrity Roles in Campaigns, Push The Line Movement + More
Release Date: November 20, 2024
Host: DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God
Guest: Teslin Figaro

---

1. Introduction of Guest

[02:52]
DJ Envy introduces Teslin Figaro as a returning special guest:
"We got a special guest in the building, ladies and gentlemen. She's back. Ms. Teslin Figaro."
Teslin Figaro expresses enthusiasm about returning to the show:
"I'm really feeling good. It's good to be back. Back with family. Chop it up with y'all. Drop some dimes, name some names."
Charlamagne Tha God welcomes her back:
"Welcome back."

2. Analysis of Vice President Kamala Harris's Election Loss

a. Multiple Reasons Behind the Loss

[03:24]
DJ Envy poses the critical question:
"Well, let's start right off with the presidential election. Why did VP Harris lose?"
Teslin Figaro responds by highlighting the complexity of the loss:
"Oh, man, I should have brought my whiteboard. That many reasons... it's really in the Midwest. A tornado requires water, humidity, when, you know, multiple things."
He emphasizes that there wasn't a single cause:
"Yeah, it's not one reason. And when I hear people saying, you know, oh, if he just did better with the messaging... we've been told this multiple times."

b. Significance of Race in the Election

[04:55]
Teslin Figaro attributes part of the loss to racial dynamics:
"And America was not going to vote for a woman of color, period."
He critiques the Democratic Party's approach:
"Allyship. Alleged allyship. I have never known a white woman to give a job to a woman of color before they got it... they didn't give it to Hillary Clinton. Why would they give it to Harris?"
Charlamagne Tha God counters by acknowledging the positive influence of black women:
"I think Kamala as a black woman is the only reason... she raised all of this money, ended up having the second most votes of any Democratic nominee ever with 74 million votes."
Teslin Figaro maintains that while there are positives, negatives outweighed them:
"There might be a black and brown coalition in New York, but in the south, the Midwest, and the west, there is no black, brown coalition."
He further argues that many black voters are moderate or lean conservative:
"Black people are the side chicken. Bottom line, we need to just accept that."

3. Campaign Strategies and Resource Allocation

a. Focus on Entertainment vs. Ground Organizing

[10:53]
DJ Envy inquires about campaign spending:
"Is it normal for candidates to give so much money to quote, unquote, entertainment when you seeing that they paid this person to speak...?"
Teslin Figaro critiques the disproportionate spending:
"They spent more on entertainment setups and not on the ground... Organizations like Until Freedom, Tameka, Mallory, they got $150,000... that's a problem."
He stresses the need for a balanced approach:
"No war is won by just the Air Force. You need the ground. You need marines and the army."

b. Mismanagement of Funds

[13:22]
Lauren La Rosa questions the use of campaign funds:
"What did they do with that?"
Teslin Figaro responds critically:
"Nothing they can do with it. Projects like gatekeepers got gatekeeped... Derrick Johnson calling out the campaign for not spending money with black media."
He highlights the delayed distribution of funds:
"Organizations had to use the money on their own, making it impossible to effectively get out the vote."
Charlamagne Tha God notes Trump’s different approach:
"Trump didn't use his money as much for entertainers, did he?"
Teslin Figaro contrasts this with Democrats:
"Trump has been organizing and he's never stopped. He has a nonstop organizing machine that Democrats just don't do."

c. The Importance of Year-Round Organization

[12:07]
Charlamagne Tha God emphasizes continuous effort:
"I would like to see some of the grassroots activists on the ground. Start adapting to social media as well."
Teslin Figaro agrees and elaborates:
"We're trying to get people in position, putting money year-round, not just during election seasons."
He criticizes last-minute funding:
"Opponent is over building a house with adding on swimming pools, garages... but black organizations got their funds three weeks out."

4. Messaging Failures

a. Focusing on Democracy and Reproductive Rights

[26:53]
Teslin Figaro criticizes the Democratic campaign's messaging:
"They ran on reproductive rights and democracy, but people didn’t care about democracy."
He cites specific policy failures:
"Abortion was on the ballot in Arizona and Nevada, but it didn’t resonate with voters."
Charlamagne Tha God adds:
"The First Step Act was not credited enough. People wanted tangible results like getting homies out of prison."

b. Lack of Economic Focus

[23:45]
Teslin Figaro argues that economic issues were neglected:
"Why not focus on local economic policies that directly affect voters?"
He references Governor Kemp’s actions in Georgia:
"Reducing gas prices during high inflation made a significant impact."

c. Ignoring Constituent Needs

[43:29]
Teslin Figaro points out that the campaign ignored essential community concerns:
"People are more concerned about their own front door issues than geopolitical matters like Gaza."
He emphasizes local relevance:
"If you can have a successful business with zero regulations in Michigan, why didn't the campaign highlight that?"

5. Impact on Voter Engagement

a. Black and Latino Voters

[07:15]
Teslin Figaro discusses Latino voter behavior:
"Latinos have always strategically split their votes, 50-50, giving themselves leverage."
Charlamagne Tha God notes unexpected voting patterns:
"Latino men voting conservatively was a surprise."
Teslin Figaro explains the split:
"Iranate in Florida and California have different voting behaviors based on local community dynamics."

b. The Lost Votes and Their Influence

[09:10]
Teslin Figaro highlights the critical margins:
"A 2% loss across key states like Michigan and North Carolina made the difference."
He attributes this to misaligned messaging:
"Messaging was all wrong, focusing on the wrong demographics."

6. Comparisons to Trump’s Campaign Tactics

a. Continuous Organizing and Media Engagement

[14:01]
Teslin Figaro praises Trump's relentless campaigning:
"Trump has a nonstop organizing machine, with monthly rallies and constant media engagement."
Charlamagne Tha God agrees:
"He's an entertainer first, never stopped engaging."

b. Appealing to Marginalized Communities

[16:19]
Teslin Figaro contrasts Trump's approach to community engagement:
"Trump appeared connected by partnering with local influencers and organizers, unlike Democrats."
He cites examples like Kwame Kilpatrick's influence:
"Trump utilized relationships that have deep roots in communities."

7. Critique of Democratic Leadership and Consultants

a. Elitism and Disconnection from Grassroots

[41:43]
Charlamagne Tha God reflects on advice from genuine supporters versus paid consultants:
"The genuine advice came from those not paid by the campaign, but they weren't listened to."
Teslin Figaro criticizes the party’s internal dynamics:
"White liberal consultants run this party, ignoring grassroots needs and advice."

b. Failure to Listen to Community Leaders

[39:33]
Teslin Figaro points out the lack of support for grassroots organizations:
"They didn't connect with real organizers who are actively working in the community."
He mentions specific cases like the National Action Network:
"Allocations went to high-profile individuals rather than on-the-ground efforts."

8. The Role of Celebrities in Campaigns

a. Use of Entertainers versus Effective Organizers

[15:27]
Charlamagne Tha God highlights the use of celebrities to fill stadiums:
"They filled the stadium in Houston because of Beyonce."
Teslin Figaro acknowledges the importance but stresses authenticity:
"Celebrities need to partner with organizers who can sustain year-round engagement."
He uses Killer Mike as an example:
"Killer Mike is an organizer first. He actively engages with the community beyond performances."

b. Push The Line Movement’s Perspective

[50:20]
Teslin Figaro discusses his own initiative, Push The Line:
"Push The Line is about nonpartisan training to empower candidates and organizers year-round."
He describes the training’s effectiveness:
"We had over 300 people attend training sessions, showing genuine interest in grassroots organizing."

9. State-Level Policies and Their Impact

a. California’s Governor Newsom’s Policies

[17:34]
Teslin Figaro praises Governor Newsom's legislation:
"Governor Newsom passed bills that allow individuals to re-enter society, helping reduce incarceration rates."
Charlamagne Tha God adds appreciation for state-level reforms:
"The First Step Act helped people come home from prison, which is a significant achievement."

b. Georgia’s Governor Kemp’s Policies

[35:55]
Teslin Figaro cites Governor Kemp’s efforts in Georgia:
"Governor Kemp’s policies on reducing gas prices and supporting local businesses had a direct positive impact."
He contrasts this with Democratic neglect:
"Democrats failed to highlight these state-level successes that mattered to voters' daily lives."

10. Conclusion and Teslin Figaro’s Call to Action

a. Push The Line Movement Details

[50:23]
Teslin Figaro wraps up by promoting his movement:
"Push The Line Politics until something happens. Text PUSH THE LINE to 66866 to join."
He emphasizes the need for continuous engagement:
"Activists are eagerly seeking training to make real change at the local level."

b. Encouragement for Year-Round Engagement

[51:19]
Teslin Figaro encourages proactive organizing:
"We need to partner with entertainers who can support year-round efforts, not just during campaigns."
He underscores the importance of grassroots support:
"Building momentum requires consistent resources and commitment beyond election cycles."

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Teslin Figaro [03:24]:
  "That many reasons... it's really in the Midwest. A tornado requires water, humidity, when, you know, multiple things."

• Teslin Figaro [04:55]:
  "And America was not going to vote for a woman of color, period."

• Charlamagne Tha God [06:15]:
  "Killer Mike talks about it all the time. We need entertainers to mobilize."

• Teslin Figaro [10:53]:
  "No war is won by just the Air Force. You need the ground."

• Charlamagne Tha God [14:01]:
  "He has a nonstop organizing machine that Democrats just don't do."

• Teslin Figaro [26:53]:
  "They ran on reproductive rights and democracy, but people didn’t care about democracy."

• Charlamagne Tha God [43:29]:
  "They were focusing on the wrong demographics."

• Teslin Figaro [50:23]:
  "Push The Line is about nonpartisan training to empower candidates and organizers year-round."

Final Thoughts

In this episode, Teslin Figaro provides a critical analysis of the Democratic campaign strategies, particularly focusing on Vice President Kamala Harris's loss. He argues that racial dynamics, mismanagement of campaign funds, ineffective messaging, and lack of grassroots organization significantly contributed to the defeat. Teslin emphasizes the necessity for year-round engagement and authentic partnerships between entertainers and organizers to mobilize voters effectively. He also introduces his initiative, Push The Line, aimed at empowering community leaders and fostering sustained political activism.

Transcript

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

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[Teslin Figaro]

I would describe it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's very seamless. It's like you clip it onto your ear and then sometimes you can forget.

[Teslin Figaro]

It'S there but it's not going anywhere.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Because it's like clipped. It's kind of crazy.

[Teslin Figaro]

If I could bring my music with.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Me wherever I go, it just make.

[Teslin Figaro]

Life easier and seamless without interruption.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

To be able to have the music on hand like that without any interruptions would be great.

[Teslin Figaro]

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.

[DJ Envy]

Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlamagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lauren La Rosa, filling in for Jess. We got a special guest in the building, ladies and gentlemen. She's back. Ms. Teslin Figaro.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Welcome back.

[Teslin Figaro]

Hello, hello, hello. How you feeling? What's happening? Charlamagne? Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Lauren.

[DJ Envy]

How you feeling this morning?

[Teslin Figaro]

I'm feeling good. I am. I'm really feeling good. It's good to be back. Back with family. Chop it up with y'all. Drop some dimes, name some names.

[DJ Envy]

Okay, yeah.

[Teslin Figaro]

Here to get.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

We dropping dimes on Ted.

[Teslin Figaro]

Dropping dimes on everybody from top to bottom.

[DJ Envy]

Well, let's start right off with the president presidential election. Why did VP Harris lose?

[Teslin Figaro]

Oh, man, I should have brought my whiteboard.

[DJ Envy]

That many reasons.

[Teslin Figaro]

That many. Yeah. And the reason why this is important, I literally have my stuff in order because a lot of people envy said, you know, she lost because of this reason or she lost because of that. And it's really in the Midwest. A tornado requires water, humidity, when, you know, multiple things.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Not one reason.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, it's not one reason. And when I hear people saying, you know, oh, if he just did better with the messaging. Oh, if they did better with the media. I've really kind of put together a list, a flow chart on how basically a colossal fuck up from top to bottom.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So you do an autopsy.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, we're doing autopsy. We're doing a full autopsy. So if we just really take it from the top, as we all said, Joe Biden should have never ran. We have to first, you know, start there. Shouldn't have never ran. He said he was a one time was gonna be a one term president. We talked about it multiple times. He actually volunteered that lie to say, hey, I'm only gonna run one term. I'm coming in just to stop Trump immediately. Then they should have started building a base immediately. Right out the gate. Trump was still campaigning this entire time. We talked about it. We talked about how it was constant rallies, constant organizing. You and I talked about it on the Van Jones show. We're saying you guys really have to continue the organizing year round. And that's why I blame a lot of the people at the top who have the ear of the. You know, of the candidates and campaign consultants, because they've been told this multiple. Multiple times. So we should have found a white man right then and there who was going to be next in line to build a business.

[DJ Envy]

A white man.

[Teslin Figaro]

A white man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Young white man.

[Teslin Figaro]

Absolutely. Young white man. Right then and there. And it's not Governor Newsom, by the way. A lot of people keep saying that Governor Newsom will get swamped.

[DJ Envy]

So from the door, you didn't think Kamala was going to win?

[Teslin Figaro]

No. Right out the gate. No, no, no.

[DJ Envy]

Because she's a black woman or.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, absolutely. So that's number three. So let's first get that. So they should establish a bitch. They didn't do that. Governor Newsom. I just want to put that out there. A lot of people like him, great debater. He would have got swamped. You have to remember, he literally passed the bill K through 12 to have shared bathrooms with gender. So imagine what conservatives would have dealt with that all over the nation. The homelessness and all of that. So then, yes, number three, America was not going to vote for a woman of color, period. And no, in the history of black women and white women. Allyship. Alleged allyship. I have never known a white woman to give a job to a woman of color before they got it. That includes even McDonald's on fries. Just not gonna happen. Have you ever, white woman ever said, you know what? I think you're more qualified. Go ahead and take it. They didn't give it to Hillary Clinton. They were not gonna give it to her. I know there was hope. I know you talked about, you know, believing in us, but it was never about us believing in us. It was about us knowing them. It's not about being qualified. This was when it came down to saying they didn't give it to Hillary Clinton. Why would they give it to Harris? So that was, to me, an error right out the gate. But we had no choice because Biden.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think Kamala as a black woman, is the only reason. Well, first of all, two things. The last two elections, the Democratic Party need to be thanking black women, Right? Because if it wasn't for Jim Clyburn telling Joe Biden, hey, I'm not endorsing you unless you promise that you're going to put a black woman on the Supreme Court. I'm not endorsing you. So that's what made him endorse Joe Biden. He wins South Carolina, changes the complexity of his campaign. If it wasn't for Kamala Harris In 2020, I think a lot of us wouldn't have went out there and voted for President Biden. I didn't vote for President Biden. I voted for Vice President Kamala Harris. I also think in 2024, when you look at the fact that Joe Biden's presidency was dead, like, completely dead in the water, and Kamala Harris came the top of the ticket, raised all of this money, ended up having the second most votes of any Democratic nominee ever with 74 million votes. I think that only happens because she's a black woman.

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, two things can be true at the same time. There can be some positives that came with that, but there also can be some negatives. Where we look at the data, we don't have to. Yes, we looked at where white women aligned. We looked at where the Latino community aligned. We looked at the bottom line data.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That shows Latino men. That was a surprise.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah. Why was it a surprise?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You don't think so?

[Teslin Figaro]

No, no, absolutely. With Democrats, Latinos have always split their vote 50, 50. They've always. When you look at, you know, I organized for the Bernie Sanders campaign in Michigan. I was the only black woman on the ground in 2015 that helped lift that state. Latino community has always been divided. When you look at Florida and you look at the Cuban community, they've always went conservative. When you look at the Bernie Sanders, the left side, the California, they always go left. They have always strateg. And I ain't mad about it. They've always strategically been able to have leverage because they go 50, 50. You remember when Joe Biden told black leaders when he won?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Right after that?

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah. Right after he said, I owe you. Black people, remember when they had the meeting and they leaked the tapes in front of Al Sharpton and all them and said, y'all need to go follow the Latino community because they're the ones that have the leverage? So I'm not mad at it, but we need to talk about it for what it is. There might be a black and brown coalition in New York. You know, I've talked about that all the time. But when you talk about the south, that changed, too. They're moving over. When you talk about the south, when you talk about the Midwest, and particularly when you talk about the west, there is no black, brown, Coalition, and it's okay for people to vote their interests. Also got news for you. Black men are conservative. Doing my Joe Biden whisper. Black people are conservative. I don't know why people want to keep, you know, making that not an issue. So when you're talking about black men and you're talking about other black. Black people with a majority of the country in the south, majority are moderate. I know progressives want to sell a different story, but black people, for the most part are moderate and a lot of them lean conservative. We're going to get into that when we get into the messaging, but let's just kind of go back a little bit. I agree that there was some positives to it, but when it came down to it, when we looked at race, white women, to me, just like they did in the midterm, just like they did when they were with Obama. Then they went with Trump, and then they went back to Democrats in the midterms, and then they flipped back. When you're talking about white supremacy and talking about positioning, like what they did with the women's suffrage movement, I just didn't see them doing it for a black woman over them. They didn't do it with Hillary Clinton. The only person that ever beat Donald Trump is Joe Biden. And I agree with you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But 52% of white women voted for Clinton. 55% voted for Biden. So then white women been showing out. White women haven't shown up the last three elections.

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, but they were also comfortable with Joe Biden. Let's remember Joe Biden is one of them.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Let's go back to why no 55% of white women voted for Trump over Biden.

[Teslin Figaro]

Right. To align with white supremacy. To align. Because this is about white supremacy. This is about, would they rather have their household ahead of you as a black man?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What about with their husbands?

[Teslin Figaro]

That's exactly it. And nothing's wrong. And people need to stop these pundits. Get them a nerd. They went against their own interest. No, their interest is their household. Your interest is your interest. My interest is my interest. When I keep hearing people say that they went against their own interest. No, they actually aligned with their interest, which is white man, white woman, black man, black woman. That's the order. That's how it is. Black people are the side chicken. Bottom line, we need to just accept that. I know. We want to say black girl magic. No, we want to say, oh, because black this and that. Black women can't save this country. And we need to stop selling that dream. Let's get in position and understand what we can do. Which is why I was talking about the local and state level and stop trying to sell this timeshare scam. Because to me it was a timeshare scam. I agree with you that there was really no other choice because Joe Biden was trash. We get that he was trash. So once they said, okay, let's rally around Harris, now she's Democrat nominee. Okay, so cool. We with that. Black women raised $30 million out the gate. Black men raised 30 million out of gate. So now we're having to deal with who dropp this bag, who dropped this billion dollar bag. And that, that's the issue where we get into how they spent the money. I didn't think she had a chance in hell, but once you decided to move forward, okay, so what do we do with the money? Black voters, they lost black voters across the board. That one, 2% across the board makes a difference when you talk about Michigan, makes a difference in North Carolina. So that's where we get into your concern when you talk about messaging, where the messaging was all wrong.

[DJ Envy]

Now I want to ask you about, about the money. Is it normal for candidates to give so much money to quote, unquote, entertainment when you seeing that they paid this person to speak and this person to have their back, Is that normal when it comes to politics?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Who did they pay to speak though?

[DJ Envy]

Well, allegedly, we'll say allegedly.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, they didn't pay people to speak.

[Teslin Figaro]

They didn't pay to speak. But the money that it took to get the setup, the advanced team. That's right, the entertainment. So let's go back a little bit. 100 days was impossible even for a white man, in my opinion. I just wanna go back to 100 days. Running a campaign was damn near impossible for anybody in particularly a woman of color. So now we're in this hundred day thing in order to get people to come out. We do use entertainers and I push back on. People say don't use entertainers. It's important. Killer Mike talks about it all the time. We need entertainers to mobilize. When you're trying to get that Stanfield of 20, 30,000 people, you got three days to do it. We actually need our entertainers. The problem though, envy, is the entertainers not necessarily being aligned with organizers on how to use their voice throughout the year. I would love to see plies like work with an organizer throughout the year, not just election season, so that we can continue to have this conversation. So I don't want to Shit on entertainers, we need them. But when you have 100 days and you're spending more on entertainment setups and not on the ground, and you have organizations like Until Freedom, Tameka, Mallory, they got. And again, we can look at the numbers. The numbers are available online, guys, so this ain't making it up. When you're giving organizations like that $150,000 and telling them will make it do what it do, that's a problem. No war is won by just the Air Force. I'm an Air Force veteran. You need the Air Force, yes. You need the big entertainers, you need the media, you need the podcast. That's the air. But you also need the ground. You need marines and you need the army. And they, bottom line, took black voters for granted, like we've been talking about for years. They figure, well, you know, she's black, so that'll be fine. They literally shitted on organizations. Hundred year organizations got $75,000, $100,000, 100 black men, I believe they got like 75,000, $100,000. So what is that saying on how you're trying to organize, you know, with black men? So that's an issue when we talk about this billion dollar bag. And not just because of now envy, but also the infrastructure that we're trying to build. So midterms are in March and I'm independent, so I'm just giving, you know, what it looks like to build this house. You need this money flowing year round. They're trying to build now. So your opponent is over building a house with adding on swimming pools, adding on garages, adding all this, and then they come give the money two, three weeks before the election is over. Before the election, black organizations did not get money until three weeks before. Literally they told the churches.

[Lauren La Rosa]

What did they do with that?

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, nothing they can do with it. And then saying, well, here go $200,000. Make it do what it do. And what I found this time is the gatekeepers got gatekeeped because the streets was never getting the money. So when they were calling me, dropping dimes, hotels, and we only got this, and I got that last time, we got a lot of money. I said, I'm here to tell you the streets never got any of it. But now that the gatekeepers got gatekeeped for the first time, Derrick Johnson literally calling out the campaign in an article saying, you guys are not spending money with black media. You're not spend spending money on the ground. We are literally starving. Most of these organizations had to use this money on Their own. And that makes a difference when you're talking about getting out the vote.

[DJ Envy]

Trump didn't use his money as much for entertainers, did he?

[Lauren La Rosa]

Right.

[Teslin Figaro]

No, he didn't at all. Well, he doesn't have.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He had a lot of earned media.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, he had a lot of earned media. Also, Trump has been organizing and he's never stopped.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

For 10 years.

[Teslin Figaro]

For 10 years, nonstop. When you have a rally every month, when you're engaging people every month, when he's using social media, when he's using truth, he's okay, Twitter, you don't wanna work with me, cool. I just go start on my own. He has a nonstop organizing machine that Democrats just don't do. They don't develop those relationships. They come in, okay, we got six months. Let's make it do what it do. So this is the result. And so people can say, well, that's just 10%, that's just 1%. But when you add up those numbers across the board, it makes a difference. And I also wanna say this, Black conservatives, I want us to have more leverage. I also want us to have more positioning within the Republican Party. If you're gonna move on to the Republican side, where is our leadership, you know, when it comes to that?

[DJ Envy]

Can she run again? Can Kamala Harris run again?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Let Taz get through her points.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Before you go move on to the next thing, I have a question, because it's about what you're talking about. So you saw Candace Owens going back and forth with Ms. Tina Knowles about Beyonce, and Beyonce being involved in the rally in Houston to the point that Candace was making is kind of what you're saying. Do you think that. How do you utilize a major celebrity like a Beyonce? Because she's not going to be on the ground? And what should Kamala Harris campaign have done better utilizing a big celebrity of that nature? Because she's getting dragged for it because they're saying it looks unauthentic and Candace Owens is saying it looks unauthentic. And this is why you didn't win. But Beyonce is not going to be outside like, you get what I'm saying?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So what you just said is true, Tez. Like, they filled the stadium in Houston, right? Because of Beyonce.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah. You have to fill the stadium. And I'm an organizer first before I'm a pundit. So when we use. People like that are telling me we never knocked on no doors, I kind of discredit what they're saying. She has to find talking points to talk about her opponent, period, point blank. When it comes to Candace Owens. I use Killer Mike as an example. You know, our brother, Killer Mike, he's an organizer. First, he's always been an organizer. Before he was a rapper, before any other thing, he's an organizer. So when you go to Atlanta, Georgia, and you don't call Killer Mike to take you to the same spots that they took the same Chick Fil A that they took Trump to, the same. The west side of Atlanta had zero signs on the ground. When you don't utilize a Killer Mike, they got barbershops all throughout Atlanta. And he's literally made himself available.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You could have been sitting in bank, had seafood. Right, by the way. And to Ted's point, Killer Mike did make himself available.

[Teslin Figaro]

He made himself available.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I know this for a fact.

[Teslin Figaro]

This is a fact. And you shit on that. And you think that's not important when an organizer who literally has him and Tip has literally put mayors in office. That's telling me how you feel about your black outreach. Oh, they'll just do it because she's black. Well, I got news for you. The black vote went the opposite direction. It went the opposite direction because people are getting tired of being taken advantage of. They're being tired of not having this conversation year around Charlamagne. And so when you guys did. I'm just gonna go ahead and say it. When you did the thing in Michigan town hall. Yeah, Zeke New era Detroit sitting right there in the thing.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[Teslin Figaro]

I asked him, hey, campaign never reached out to you immediately after you said no, they said nothing to me. You can't organize in Detroit and not think you need to talk to a Zeke who a new Arab Detroit. That man not only is organizing Detroit all over the country. So when you think that people are just going to do it just because 33% of Detroit is living below the poverty line. So what is that telling you? You have Rashida Tlaib, who organized the Arab American community that literally voted for Trump. Literally Dearborn voted for Trump. And then you had the black vote that was depressed, meaning just not even interested, saying, fuck it, you know, the government is hurting my pocket.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But she voted for Trump.

[Teslin Figaro]

Dearborn.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, okay, okay. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, you know, they had the 100,000. They had 100,000 people go to the poll. This ain't being talked about enough. 100,000 people went to the polls to say we are uncommitted. Remember Rashida Saleeb literally did a video and said, joe Biden, we ain't fucking with you until there's a ceasefire. We ain't fucking with you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That was during the primary.

[Teslin Figaro]

That was during the primary. Your number one opponent was a Democrat elected official in Michigan that was literally basically telling voters of sort to sit out and had them go to the polls to vote. I am uncommitted. So that same Dearborn, which she represents, she represents Detroit as well. Dearborn voted for Trump. You look at that. You look at the 2, 3% of the black vote they couldn't get out in Detroit. So now you're talking about how you can win Michigan. Those are the things that people are not looking at. And Michigan had a lot of leverage, but he won all swing states, so it wasn't just Michigan, but that's a real problem. You got black people starving in Detroit. You got Dearborn asking for a ceasefire. You got the labor union, and this is how we won Michigan with Bernie Sanders. You got the labor union. They won't strike all last year, the year before that. So those people were pissed. You have the college students who were also pushing, you know, anti war and remove. College debt was an issue. So those four or five constituents in Michigan made the difference on why you lost. So it was a number of things. You know, it's not just one thing over the other. It's a number of things. I know the podcast was important. It is important to have podcasts. It is important to be able to reach 30 million people at one time. But if you're doing that and you're telling organizations like Until Freedom or organization similar, that here go 100,000 and you need to go to seven states and make it work, when you have the Church of God in Christ, then they got 100,000, 200,000 and say, hey, go make it do what it do. It was impossible.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know what I'd like to see? I agree. I think you got to hit them both, right? You got to have a ground game, man. You got to have a mean digital game. I would like to see some of the grassroots activists on the ground. I would like to see them start adapting to social media as well, because I feel like those organizations need it.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, for sure. The partnership, it's not just, you know, one thing. I think a report today said one in every three people get their news from social media. I think it's actually higher than that. So we're not partnering in social media and having that ground game to be, you know, to double it up. It's dead in the water. But you still have to have people knocking on those door. And bottom line, they should have just bought votes at this point, when you got 100 days. Some of these nonprofits that are out here, somebody in Detroit, you could have funded them. You could have. The same way Trump had Kwame Kilpatrick, you know, the same way they had Harry O People. Oh, what Harry O. Doing that make a difference if people looking for pardons and clemencies and all that. Democrats have pardoned far more than Republicans have. I asked Governor Westmore, why are you not talking about? I think it was, what, close to 200,000 people that he pardoned for marijuana. Why are y'all not talking about that? Why is that not something y'all talking about? So when Trump brings a trick trick from Detroit and people on shade room, who's trick trick? Oh, no worries. Detroit, no damn. Well, who trick trick is. So when people see that, they're like, well, shit, I don't know what to believe. That 1 2% of falling off makes a difference. Trump capitalized on the lost man, something I've been talking about for 15 years straight. The hood whisper, the lost man. Men who felt like they were not being heard. People who felt like they were not being understood. Now, again, I'm talking specifically about black people. I'm not talking about this working class because that translates to white working class. I'm talking about black people who felt like they were not being heard were not being understood. And Trump capitalized on that. People ask, oh, why did he use Amber Rose? Well, guess what? She's from where?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Pennsylvania.

[Teslin Figaro]

Right? That's a swing state. So you don't have to like his shade room. But that was very strategic. It made sense to have ice where Vezzo, you know, in Detroit, even though in the shade room. Who is he? I don't know. He. It's Detroit. That 1 and 2% made a difference. Why didn't you reach out to Kwame Compatrick? Because he a felon. Is that why you don't think it was important to at least have nothing else? Minimize your enemy. There's two things you do in a campaign. Minimize your enemy, maximize your friends. You didn't even reach out to that man for a conversation. Whether you like what he did in Detroit or not, the man still was elected. His mama was elected. He comes from a very long lineage, you know, of folks in Detroit. And I think that's even. It's worth having the conversation. So Trump was able to appear as if he was one of them, which he was not, by the way. He's a white man who obviously, if a black man could have never gotten away what he got with the fellas. But he was able to appear as if he was. He was able to appear that connection. Why didn't they talk about what Governor Newsom did in California? Removing the gang enhancement, removing the gang in house. You got homies who are literally getting on the yard for the very first time. If you do the crime, do the time, no problem with that. But in California, most people are affiliated with the gang just by based on where you live. So Governor Newsom has passed great legislation that has allowed people to come home, that has allowed people to actually get on the yard for the very first time. I got 10,000 homies right now in LA that will organize for the next governor just based off that one thing. They didn't talk about those things. Envy. Because they sit in this elitist positioning, you know, of. Let's just not talk about that. You know, let's just vote. Let's go high and go low. And Trump was able to capitalize on that, and that made a difference. When you talking about a 10%.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. I think it's hard for them to capitalize on something like the Newsom thing, because it is something that's regulated to California. Like the First Step act was a federal law that people act that he did a phenomenal job of showing, look, I bought this person home and I bought that person home. And like, there was other people on social media that would talk about, ma'am, my people just came home because of the first step back. I actually think the first step back, people don't really credit that enough. They want to talk about stimulus checks and PPP loans, but when you can actually see one of your homies come home from prison, that's a big deal.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah. And we saw what happened in real time, but I just wanted to push back a little bit on how you capitalize against that, how you can capitalize. When you look at what Governor Moore was able to do, the federal. When they took the federal for the marijuana.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. Simple possession marijuana.

[Teslin Figaro]

You show the connection. So, yes, that was federal.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Bigger.

[Teslin Figaro]

Right. But Governor Moore was able to actually utilize that. Without that federal partnership, it wouldn't have happened. So it does trickle down, but the Democrats never connect the dots to show you this is how it actually works. Federal was able to help the state, state was able to help the local, and so on and so forth. So there's ways to do it. They just don't do it. Charlamagne because they feel as if, you know, let's focus on these imaginary voters. Let's spend all this money on white women. Let's spend all this money on.

[Lauren La Rosa]

They're scared to get dirty.

[Teslin Figaro]

Working class. Yeah. And so Trump was able to capitalize on that just enough. Remember, this is about margins in the swing state. So when you got 1 or 2%, that's saying, I'm sitting on the couch. Or 1 or 2%, that's saying I'm going in a different direction. It makes a difference.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, yeah. Especially when you look at the election. I mean, I think what Trump had 76.1 million votes. Harris had 74. And it's just all those margins. She lost by the margins in a lot of those swing states.

[Lauren La Rosa]

So what you think about Trump's cabinet? Like, his choices for his cabinet right now? Because, I mean, these are the people that you're going to have to be.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, I don't think nothing. I think Republicans ran, Democrats ran. Is going to be a dictator. Guess what? They want a dictator. We've been saying this forever. We've been talking about this day of bipartisanship, and let's just get it through Congress. We said Charlamagne. You know, I said it a million times, like with the George Floyd act, reducing college debt, doing executive order. Everybody said, you can't do executive order. Got to go through Congress. Republicans going to change it back. If you get in, they're going to change it back. Guess what? Republicans don't give them about changing it back. They Change back. Roe vs what about change back? A whole bunch of shit. Obamacare and everything else. Democrats refuse to work as a dictator. They want a dictator. Everybody's saying, oh, man, he gonna be a dictator. Right. That's why they want. Oh, yes, he's gonna take migrants out. Yes. That's what they wanted. People to stop saying that online is driving me crazy. Oh, Latinos. Oh, man. Oh, man. Y'all about to see. They want the immigrant people who are legal, who will come on this country legal. They are literally telling you, yes, we don't support illegal immigration. So people that thinking they saying something on social media. Oh, y'all gonna see. No, they want a dictator. Democrats ran on democracy, they ran on dictatorship. I'm gonna be a dictator day one. That's exactly what they want, a dictator. Somebody's gonna push the line. Somebody ain't gonna give damn about what Congress is talking about. Somebody to say, I don't. I don't care what the rules are. I'm gonna do what I want to do. They want a gangster, period.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, I agree with that. I wouldn't say dictator, but they want somebody that don't give a fuck. And it's going to say he said.

[Teslin Figaro]

He was going to be a dictator on day one.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He said that on day one. But I think what they what people mean when they say they just want somebody that's going to say, you know what, as long as things are getting done for the people, I don't care how it gets done. Like Jon Stewart did a great, a great monologue last night and he was just like, Democrats always follow the norms and Republicans don't follow the norms. They going to find those loopholes to.

[Teslin Figaro]

Break the which is kind of like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Dictatorship, though I wouldn't call it dictatorship.

[Teslin Figaro]

All the dictatorship. He said he going to do what he want to do. That's what he damn, what y'all talking about?

[DJ Envy]

He ain't gonna play the political game.

[Teslin Figaro]

You ain't gonna play the So I mean that's saying I'm gonna do this and if you don't do it, it's gonna be hell to pay if you don't do it, you know, I'm gonna make sure you don't win. If you don't do it, I'm gonna call you out. We talked about this with Joe Manchin. They let they set up now JOE manchin, Cedars to a Republican We've been talking about this. This has been going on for the last 15 years. This loss was not just what happened in the last 100 days. This has been, at least from my experience, 2007. I can name year over year over year on what happened on how we got and then another thing I want to bring up on this messaging abortion. Democrats ran on reproductive rights and democracy fell right out the gate. You had states like Arizona and Nevada that had abortion on the ballot. So Democrats mindset is let's put abortion on the ballot. And that's going to bring, you know, people so people know get out to vote, go tv. That's how do you get out to vote? Oh, they're going to go to the polls now.

[DJ Envy]

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[Teslin Figaro]

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[Just hilarious]

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[Teslin Figaro]

That abortion's on the ballot. Well, what you did, meatball head, you actually allowed Republican women who were pro choice to actually vote for abortion and still vote for Trump. There's no rule that says if you support pro choice that you won't vote for Trump. So Republican women in Nevada and Arizona literally had the opportunity to bring abortion back and still vote for Trump. So Democrats shot themselves even in the foot. If you were expecting women to go vote for reproductive rights because you gave them an out and then that was was a mistake out the gate. Look at Michigan. Michigan. You can get an abortion in Michigan. So that don't land anywhere. I know people want this idea, especially black voters, because we like to take care of everybody and oh, what about them in Texas? But the average person is voting their personal interest, can't see past their bills. That's it. And if I can get an abortion in Michigan, what matters to me if you get it in Arizona or Nevada or whatever it was. So when you're running on reproductive rights, which I think was a mistake, and just democracy, people didn't give a damn about democracy. We talked about it when I was sitting here in 2018, those first question you asked me out the gate. What do people think about. Say they don't give a damn. It's white folks. White folks don't give a shit about no insurrection. They'll do it again. This is what's been happening in this country 400 years. So the messaging was wrong. Out the gate, we talked about that. Not running on the economy. Not running. But I still think, though, envy, even if she would have ran on all of those things, they still was gonna vote for. They still would have rather voted for Joe Biden. Half dead. Weekend at Bernie's, you know, I don't think so. I don't. They didn't even win Scranton. They didn't even win Scranton. Joe would at least won Scranton.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He would at least won Scranton.

[Teslin Figaro]

Harris lost Scranton.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think Joe would have got like 65 million votes.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Okay, so if what you're saying is true, what was all. Because I felt how you. How you feel now is how I felt in the beginning. And then when I saw all the excitement and the money moving and all of that. What was all of that then?

[DJ Envy]

Why was it Joe just.

[Lauren La Rosa]

I think Joe was win either, but.

[Teslin Figaro]

I didn't think it was gonna win. But he should have held the air.

[DJ Envy]

Joe wouldn't have got close.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

When you got the donor saying, we're not giving you no more money.

[Teslin Figaro]

We didn't have no choice.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, that's right. So let's be clear. They did not have a choice. Cause George was bad. Yeah. They said they didn't have no choice of two things be true at the same time. They had to put Harris in. No doubt about that. I'm not disagreeing with that. But I still don't think they would have voted for it. They just wouldn't. They're just not going to give something that they didn't get first. Did she do the best that she could? Yes. Did she do everything they told her to do? Yes. Did she have 100 days to do it? Yes. This is not about shitting on her. This is about setting up a woman to fail in 100 days to do the damn near impossible. I think Joe Biden should have took that. L. He's the one that said, you know, he was going to run. He's the one that sat up there the entire time. They didn't build the bitch. Let him take the. L don't. Why now are you putting it on.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Bench, by the way?

[Lauren La Rosa]

Yeah, it sounded like they didn't.

[Teslin Figaro]

No, I was with you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

They ain't been like, yeah, because don't.

[Teslin Figaro]

Do that to my bitch.

[Lauren La Rosa]

I thought it was like, the friendly bitch. Don't do that to my bitch.

[DJ Envy]

So can she run again? Would you advise her to run again? No, I think she should run again. You think it's a rap?

[Teslin Figaro]

Because it's again. We got to stop with I don't know what this obsession we got with federal. I'm going to keep pushing that. Let them have it. Let's talk about especially Republicans now saying, give it to the state if you really want to make real change in your community. I know it's not as sexy. I know it's not as exciting, but it really is at the state level. It really is. At the local level, if you believe in. You want to fund the public schools, you can do at a local level. You say, you know what? I want charter schools. I want to be able to educate our own. You can do that at the local level. Why are we so infatuated with this White House? I don't get it. Why not be in Atlanta, council with 16 other people, in Orlando, with six other people to be able to say, I'm gonna write a check to the black business investment fund, you know, to be able to say, hey, here's some money to go start a business. You can pass reparations at the local level. So I don't understand this obsession that we have with this federal thing. And I'm gonna be honest with you, Lauren. Black women, a lot of times, we get caught up and is wanting to be validated so damn bad. So when the excitement was there, when everybody's like, oh, man, we can do this. We can do this. Black girl mad. We can do this. We can do this. We do this. This validation of needing to be affirmed, needing to say, you are qualified enough, you are good enough. A lot of that played into it. A lot of that played into it. But let's not forget 3,000 black women did a petition and said, joe Biden, keep your ass in. They ignored that and went with the money. To Charlamagne's point, they didn't have a choice.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I agree with you, especially about the state thing. You know, there's something else Trump said. That man landed. And I was. I'm still trying to figure out, how did he land this? Because it's so hard to get people to focus on this. The abortion thing, right? He told them, I wanted to be in the hands of the state. So whenever you would have conversations with people about, you know, abortions on the ballot, they'd be like, no, Trump just wants it to be in the hands of the state. I've never seen a politician convince people on a national level that it's going to be local, and that's fine, and they buy into it.

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, Trump can get anybody to buy in anything he say. I mean, he's a total. Democrats have never been equipped to run against Trump. Let's just name it, you know, let's just say they've never been equipped to run against him. He's too petty, he goes too low. He don't give a damn what y'all talking about.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And he's an entertainer first.

[Teslin Figaro]

Entertainer first. And so they've never been equipped to go against this man. Never. But to your point, Charlamagne, for those that understand the state's rights, and when you go back to Reagan, the reason why black people are against that is because what it does is it disenfranchise, disenfranchise, disenfranchise us even more. So if you're saying, okay, in Oklahoma, you can't get access to health care, but you can get access to health care in California. Very liberal. These are folks that can't just pick up, you know, and go to California to get what they need, don't have the money. So it affects poor people in a, in a very bad way. The state's rights. But conservatives, they like states, Give it to the states, their mindset. If you don't like it, move somewhere else. But not of us. Not enough of us have the resources to just move, you know, to somewhere else to just move where things, you know, may be favorable to you. So as black voters, we're always trying to carry the lease of these and everybody else and think about everybody else. But for. But the reality is, Charlamagne, people are only looking at what's in front of their doorstep. And if I can do XYZ in Michigan, if I can have a successful business with zero regulations. In Atlanta, when Covid happened, when Governor Kemp, you know, a lot of we don't like Governor Kemp, but Atlanta was still. Atlanta was still thriving. Black business was still thriving. Georgia is still thriving. So when people look outside their door, when, remember when Governors DeSantis reduced the gas, when they was talking about, you can't do nothing about the gas when gas was so high, he said, oh, no, I can do something about it. This is why I can talk about state. So when people remember that even though there's more liberal, more Democrat voters in Florida, people remember what affected their pocket. And that Republican governor made a difference. Kemp in Georgia made a Difference was passing out Kemp cards. He did the same thing Trump did when he signed his name, he gave them Kemp cards. People remember that. So you can have a state with a Democrat governor, like North Carolina, but they still went with Trump because they're looking at how does it trickle down. You can have a state that flipped and went blue, but have a Governor Kemp who's a Republican. People like their governors. People don't have to like Texas. You don't have to like Texas and New York. But your money gonna go far in Texas as any felon in Texas, they working in oil fields. 18 an hour, 25 an hour, $30 an hour. That makes a difference. So even if they don't like Republicans, even if they don't like Trump, when you looking at how that affects your money daily, it makes a difference. And that's where they lost as far as really trying to understand, you know, the economic conversation, especially with black people.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What else we got on the list? Because I know you got something on that list.

[Teslin Figaro]

I got a lot on the list. I kind of want to just deal with Michigan quickly because I do have some concern with that. I mentioned Rashida Tlaib and I'm not mad about, you know, how she was able to organize her voters, but I do have some concern for Detroit. I do feel as if Detroit does not have the voice that they should have, that Rashida Salee was able and she should. I think she, she went hard in the paint. She's a Palestinian woman. I expect her to. I have no issue with that. But I do feel like Detroit kind of got crashed out a little bit, that there's not representation. Detroit is one of the blackest cities in the country. And so when you had a few enough that say, you know what, I just don't want to be a part of the process anymore. And that entire conversation was on Gaza. And I know there's a talking point and progressives are going to come in and tell you that the polls say that black people are concerned about Gaza. And yes, we are, we do have, we are very compassionate. But if you ask the average black person, black American, on what they're most concerned about, they're talking about, again, their own front door. They're more concerned about what's happening here over what's happening in geopolitics. So to be able to be a single issue voter, I don't have no problem with Rashida Tlaib, none at all. But when you had three Black women who ran against Rashida Salib in 2022, all three of them combined still didn't have even half of. Rashida Tlaib has. So she has the votes. She has the power. But I feel Detroit is not getting. They're just doing at least being a part of the conversation, and I hope that changes.

[DJ Envy]

What else you got on that list?

[Teslin Figaro]

I think that's it. Unless y'all got something else to go over.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know, I wanted to ask you about Hakeem Jeffries. Hakeem Jeffries said this week that he sees. He says Democrats are set up for a major comeback. You think that's possible?

[Teslin Figaro]

But what's the comeback? Let me. Let me know.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Ain't no comeback.

[Teslin Figaro]

What's the comeback? I ain't never seen that rapper.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I've never seen nothing like this.

[Lauren La Rosa]

That mixtape. But they still do it anyway. And then they don't connect. I don't think so.

[Teslin Figaro]

I don't think. First of all, and I forgot, I want to name a couple of names. Cause a lot of people ain't name their names. I do encourage people to go look at that list. There were two names that kept popping up over and over. Quentin, no disrespect, I've never met him, you know, but he was in charge of the bag. And also Cedric Richmond. Now, you remember when Cedric Richmond came on the Breakfast Club and said, hold him accountable. Remember that? A couple of years I've been.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't even listen to when Cedric made that statement on Breakfast Club and said, hold him accountable if anything doesn't go the way it's supposed to go in the Biden administration. And then he just disappeared.

[Teslin Figaro]

Right?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He left his position. And we didn't even know he left his position. I don't. I ain't even pay Cedric no attention.

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, he literally told Grassroots Organization, if y'all just want the money, just say that. Yeah, we saying that. Whereas. And I'm saying this complete. I didn't ask for no check. Don't want no check. Not interested in no check. I'm just telling you what the people said.

[DJ Envy]

You ain't getting none of the billion.

[Teslin Figaro]

I didn't get none of the billion.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That billion was going around. Was going around.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, but they told black people money don't.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Like. Like, you need money for things. Like, why is that such a. Like a falsehood or something like that?

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, no, they know. They. They got it. It just didn't come to black folks. It didn't go to black media. Got 500,000. Yeah. Roland got his check, too. Rolling, what's happening? Rolling. Can let me hold something. But. But it don't seem strange.

[DJ Envy]

All that money went out and they still were in the negative and still.

[Teslin Figaro]

No, it ain't strange. They do it every year. They've been doing this like this. They do it every year. And it's again, it's not just on the entertainment. These white liberal consultants who run this party, because they do. And then they tell the black folks in charge, the gatekeepers of the gatekeepers to tell them, okay, give them 100,000, give them 150, give it to. They kept lying, saying all the money coming, the money coming. They literally didn't give it to them three weeks until three weeks out. So now you wonder why you lost the black vote.

[DJ Envy]

What are they giving them this money for? So, like for instance, Roland Martin or Reverend Allen, what do they use that money for? The only reason I said that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Because you just said they rolling with advertising.

[DJ Envy]

Advertisers.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes. I don't know what the. I don't know what Reverend I was.

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, brother, now they, they gave. We really naming names. When I gave us the National Action Network. They gave a donation to him.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes. Two donations of a quarter million dollars.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yes. And so that organization is an organization, you know, that works year round, I guess, you know, allegedly for. And I'm not saying that, you know, to be funny, but, you know, for outreach. So. But again, it can't just be on just rev and Al, you know, it's not just on, you know. No, no, I'm glad. No, I'm saying I want to be clear. It can't. You can't just continue to keep spending money just on rev and out, you know, these organizations. Why are you not, again, why are you not connecting with these grassroots organizations who are literally struggling, literally struggling to give them the money so that they can organize year round, you know, in order to keep people engaged and bottom line, by votes. That's what they did with the Latino community. They put in the midterms. They put 30 different community centers in Florida. Wasn't just about voting. They was coming in trying to figure out what they could give healthcare, trying to figure out what resources they could get. Try to figure. You literally took care of the community. That's where that money's supposed to go. Envy. It's not just for advertising. Advertising is important. But it's more than that. You literally are supposed to buy votes, guys. That's how it works. Buy votes.

[DJ Envy]

That sounds crazy.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah. Buying votes. When I say that, I mean if you got a nonprofit and you in the hood and I'm and I give you 300,000. And I'm telling you, use that 300,000 throughout the year to do job training. Use that 300,000 throughout the year to do resume building. Use that 300,000 to put people in a better position. Now people can fill it and say, okay. And then that organization has a responsibility to say, this came from the Harris campaign. This came from xyz. This is how we got what we got. And then now people can say, okay. I feel it. Like, with the first step back, they feel it, they can see it, they can touch it. And Republicans have just did a better job with that. It's not that Democrats don't have the receipts. They just don't talk about the receipts. Their messaging has always been poor and raggedy as hell, which is why I left in 2010. So it's not that they don't have the receipts. They just don't talk about. They don't feel they have to. They feel they know it all, and turns out they didn't know shit at all. They knew it all and knew absolutely nothing. They didn't listen to any advice that people gave them. They said they knew what was best. They said, we got this, and turns out you didn't have it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm gonna be honest. I don't know how much it. Well, I take that back. I do know there was a lot of people out there that was giving genuine good advice. But what I realized is the people who was out there giving genuine good advice was the people who were really doing it out of the goodness of their heart. A lot of other people I heard talking, they was really upset they wasn't getting no money, Right? And so a lot of the stuff that they were saying was literally just based off when y'all gonna give me some money. When y'all give me some money. Everybody that I heard actually giving good advice was not getting paid by the campaign, right? And those were the ones who weren't getting listened to.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Why? Why can't though, why you not giving me some money? Be a call sign too, right? Like, if you got enough people saying, we need, we need, we need, it's like, okay, we need to figure out, why do all these people keep saying, we need? Like, that's common sense to me as a politician.

[Teslin Figaro]

Well, you should be paying for it. The goodness of the hard shit is over with. I mean, like, I've done Guinness at heart for a long time, and it basically make you a full time Uber driver. At the end of the day, people got to get paid but yes, people have their own interests on why they were trying to get xyz, and they pissed because they didn't get the money. A lot of these people that you're. That you're talking about, they got paid last time. They weren't saying shit about the streets. But now that they got gate kept now is, oh, man, what's going on? You know, I've never had so many calls and people say, oh, man, we didn't get this. And get that. I'm saying streets bending it. You know, I'm talking about those grassroot organizations. They never were getting the money. So, yes, people have their own special interest on why they're trying to get it. But it's a billion dollars. Pass it out. If we gonna run this scam, this timeshare scam, then let them. Then, yeah, give. Give it out. There's nothing wrong with that as well. So whether they was. It was the goodness of the heart or good advice, because they had an interest, they weren't listening to anybody. Charlamagne. They really do believe that they have all of the answers. Like, literally all of the answers.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

They were so wrong about everything. Like when they had that whole, oh, black men aren't going to show up and vote for the vice president. And, you know, President Obama was out there waving his finger at us. It's like, no, y'all should be focusing on these white women.

[Teslin Figaro]

Right, Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Like those. The ones that haven't shown up the last couple elections, the Latino men, I didn't hear them putting a real emphasis on that either. But the Latino people didn't show up for them. So it was just like, I just saw them make mistake after mistake. Another thing I would say is you had a presidential campaign that had trouble connected with the working class. Right. Because they had a bunch of consultants who got backgrounds with these giant companies. Do you think that they should just bring people on these campaigns that are literally from the grassroots? Because to me, those were the best ideas coming from.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, okay. This is equal to best ideas coming in. Another point. I'm glad you brought that up, Charlamagne, when I. When also a lot of fringe groups, you know, people that were giving them hell online that they ignore that. They say, oh, that's just, you know, oh, that's just them talking. Oh, that's just them talking.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[Teslin Figaro]

Again, minimizing your enemy. So there were groups online that are literally talking to 50,000, 100,000 people every week. You don't have to think that's important. But when you Got groups online saying reparations are not. Sit on the couch, don't do this, don't do that. And you're ignoring that group as a real constituency and you're saying, oh, don't worry about it. They just online. Well, over time, because again, a lot of these people, and they rock with me, they're talking about this year around. See, while you're just talking about this, this last 100 days, they're talking to 100, 150,000 people every week, every week, every, every week. And nobody pick up the phone to say, hey, can I have a meeting with you? Can I at least see what you talking about? Can we at least have some kind of common ground? When Democrats in California threw black folks under the, under the bus, you know, one, reparations, nobody thought it was worth even having a conversation with the folks online that are giving you hell. When you look at people, I'm just going to say, the homie Tariq Nasheed, giving them hell online every day. Nobody think you call and say, hey, y'all did a whole rally on reparations in D.C. let's have a conversation. What can we do to at least hear what you say? So when you do that, that just continues to motivate them to keep saying over and over and over, they ain't fucking with us. And that makes a difference. When you talk about 1 and 2%.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

In these margins, I agree with you wholeheartedly. And I think it's about when you do it to your point earlier, everybody who's thinking about running in 2028, they should start campaigning now, right? Don't wait until the year of the election to start reaching out to these different people. Because then it looks fake, it looks like it's not authentic. It looks like you don't really care. Start making those connections now.

[Teslin Figaro]

But let me ask you a question.

[DJ Envy]

Do you think it should be that, like Charlamagne said, or do you think we should take a page out of Canada's book and out of France's book, where it's like, there's a cap, there's a specific time limit, you know what I mean? Because people get fatigued, and after a while, people are like, f all this ish, you know what I mean? Do you feel like we should go more into that? Because now it's almost like big bank take little bank.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You mean as far as campaigning is concerned. Oh, should there be shorter campaigns?

[DJ Envy]

Should there be shorter campaign? Because, you know, in Canada, they have a specific time limit, whether it's three months or A certain amount of money that has to.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, it has changed. It used to be six months, one year, two years. Congress has to run every two years. The minute they get in office, they're campaigning and trying to raise money. So no, we are in a year around. Donald Trump has changed this and will forever be changed. This is a year around effort year round, resources year round. That's why I do my training, push the line, nonpartisan training year round, getting people in position. That's what Project 2025 is all about. People can think it's fake or not fake, but that's all about putting people in position, putting people at the commissioner level, putting people at the state level, putting people at stake if they're not investing year around. If you're, if you're going to bring plies into the game, then plies partner with somebody like myself or somebody like somebody else to help bring this noise year round. Because what happens is the day after the election, you go, you go back to talking about what you're talking about before and now you got to start the machine all over again.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Said nothing from the car since the election.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Well, he did say he had woke up. Remember, he said he missed the election night, but he woke up and saw. He did say that after.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But since then, I ain't seen him pl talking about Starbucks and women feet. I ain't seen him talking about.

[Teslin Figaro]

And that. That's that. Man, I love PL. I ran for office in 2011 in Orlando. First person I reached out to was plies. I talked to his manager. He said, you know, plies don't do politics. He not in politics. So to see him doing this now and reached out to him again since then, by the way, reached out to his manager to say, why don't you help me get these people trained? You have a voice. Get these people trained. 2011 said, man, come on, let's do something with the hundred years, the 100 years record that he got. Let's do something about mass incarceration in Florida. So when I watch him doing that every day, nonstop, it's heartbreaking to me because we do need our entertainers, but we need them to. I don't expect them to do the work year round. Entertainers like getting applauses. And see, this work is about getting booze. This work is not about applausing. They only want to be. No disrespect, but entertainers like responding to the applause. So the minute you start booing them, the minute you start saying, I don't like you, what we saw With Ice Cube, when he took a chance and went out there and talked about, you know, the state of black America, and people started booing him. And we ain't seen Ice Cube since either. So you know that. And people.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You gotta be able to take that.

[Teslin Figaro]

Smoke they can't take. And then they say, oh, I don't blame Cube for leaving, but I do, though. I love it when he leave.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No, I love being. I love being in the trenches.

[Teslin Figaro]

I like it. I blame you, though, because, homie, you done set up here and got it. I done reached out to Cube, too. You got everybody excited. I don't expect you to do the work year round, but partner with people that can, because we need. We need people like that. Gloria, come talk to your homegirl. Like Glorilla need people in her ear, too, to know she got a hell of a story. Why. Why are we not connecting her with people that actually know her story? Sexy Red. Oh, we don't need Sexy Red. Yes, we do. She a whole dumb move. Maybe y'all don't know how to talk to her, but she can go partner with some of the homies that. Not even on the list at all. Not even on a voter list. When you bring 10,000 people into the fold, 15,000 people in the fold is not even on anybody's list that nobody's read. That's how you win these elections. That's why Trump was able to make that difference on people who were not engaged at all. But in order to do that, you have to do it year round. You cannot do it. No. 90 days before the campaign, it's never going to work.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Tez, I agree with you. I think what we're saying is. Because I think that's what people think. People think that entertainers are the leaders. They're the generals. They're not. They're the soldiers.

[Teslin Figaro]

Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you want them to be the soldiers, to go organize the people to bring them back to the actual general, the people that actually do the work.

[Teslin Figaro]

Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And y'all can have the mic. We ain't trying to take the mic from you. Like, we get it. Get the mic, but pass it on to people that are really, really, really trying to do it. I will do the heavy lifting. The organizer will do the heavy lifting. Our platforms are never going to be as big, you know, as a Cube or a Glorilla or a Sexy Red. And I don't want to encourage, discourage them to get out, because that's also what's happening, because now they didn't put their Cloud on the line. And then now you got entertain. Like, I'm not getting in that shit again, man. Fuck that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, yeah. Especially when the candidate loses.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, when the candidate loses. Exactly, exactly. Because you don't put them in position to make it seem like, oh, all we got to do is have Beyonce get up and talk and it's all. And now you got her. Look, like you said, it's on people calling her out, people. And that's not on her. It's not on Beyonce, it's not on these. But you do need people to get people to the stands. But it's on. It's the year around organizers that they just refuse to do. So I want our entertainers to stay in the game. I just want you to partner with organizers that really actually give a damn about this work, because we really do, you know, year round. And we don't have enough killer mics, in my opinion.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Tell them how to connect with you and your push the line movement.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yes. Push the line politics until something happens. And thank you guys for supporting that. When we did, I guess was two years ago when I came to Breakfast Club, we had over 300 people. You know, they came to Atlanta on their own dime to learn how to be candidates, to learn how to be operatives, to learn how to be organized. It's a nonpartisan training that I created. These people flew from all over LA, Dallas, Houston, New York in the room, you know, 300 people. That's why when people tell me, don't nobody want to do this, they're not interested. That's not true. Jade was there in the background. She came to the train and came all the way from D.C. these people were outside at 6am in the morning in the rain to learn how to do this. They want the training. They want to know how can I change on the local level. But we just don't have enough support to get around it. So I'm asking people to text, push the line. All caps, push the line to 66866. And I'm trying to get partners, guys. I'm trying to. People over 50 cities have said, can you bring the training here? But I can.

[Lauren La Rosa]

I'm teaching people the training. How to organize, how to organize if.

[Teslin Figaro]

You want to be a candidate, if you want to be an operative, if you want to be an organizer, whatever it is you want to do. I believe my training is one of the best. And the reason why is because it truly is a military mindset. It truly is cutting through all the. I've been to all the Trainers I've been to Congressional Black Caucus training, White House training, Yale women's school, law school. I've been to them all. And all of them sell a bunch of. Respectfully, you know, they come in and tell you, you know, you're going to have a stab. You're going to have this or that. My train is really designed to tell you, no, Lauren, it's really just going to be you with $20. How can we, you know, move from that? So people are hungry. They want the information. I'm trying to get people to partner to help me do more of it, because I can't just do it, you know, myself out of my own pocket. I can't. I don't want to charge people. People don't have the money to pay for it. So we're just trying to, you know, keep building up that momentum and hopefully be able to do so.

[Lauren La Rosa]

Any people that text to join and you also looking for.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah, I need. Char, write me a check. Oh, yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What you need? What you need? I'll make a donation right now. What you need?

[Teslin Figaro]

I know. Charlamagne. Y'all pass a big. Yeah, let's give 150,000. We can go through.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's a lot now, but I got. We. We can help get you there. Now.

[Teslin Figaro]

50 people got $1,000.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's the holiday season.

[Teslin Figaro]

Yeah. And I do want to say that also Wisconsin. I don't know if y'all notice. Largest black male incarceration in the country. The highest black femicide rate. Yes. More black women are murdered in Wisconsin than anywhere. They didn't give any money to Milwaukee at all. So now you're expecting you. That's what you were expecting. And also, Wisconsin is one of the most. The least diverse state in the country. So now you're going to run a former state attorney in Wisconsin, where black men are locked up more than you know. This is true. Whether you like it, we got to deal with what it really is. They weren't trying to hear any of that. They shitted on with Wisconsin. They shitted on Milwaukee. They used to do Hip Hop week there every year. They don't have the budget to do that anymore. They were trying to bring Tesla. How can we come down, get out the vote? They couldn't get $2,500 together to say, let's get the vote out. They went to the white voters in Wisconsin. So these are the kind of things, guys, that we just have to put on the table. I know people say, tez, move on. Just deal with it. No we have to call this shit out, guys, because if we continue to mismanage this money, then we're not, you know, actually getting the help, you know, that we need. And it's critically important.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If I text, push the line to this number. That still work? All right. Text, push the line to 6, 6, 6. No, 6, 686-6. Text, push the line to 668-6 6. To join Tez's email list for Push the line.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[Teslin Figaro]

Thank you.

[DJ Envy]

We appreciate you for joining us.

[Teslin Figaro]

Thank you for letting me go through my list.

[DJ Envy]

That's all good. It's Tez and Figaro. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.

[Teslin Figaro]

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[DJ Envy]

With new deals added every day.

[Teslin Figaro]

Save on HomeGoods to deck their hauls.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

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[Teslin Figaro]

Like slippers to mistle their toes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Shop great deals on Amazon.

[Teslin Figaro]

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