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The Jim Acosta Show
Congressman Eric Swalwell on Trump/Putin Love-Fest and Iowa's rising democratic star and Senate candidate Josh Turek
00:48:49
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
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B
Acosta show. It's just another day that ends in Y and Trump's assault on democracy in America. In addition to his invasion of Washington, D.C. to distract from Epstein gate, he is meeting with Russian war criminal, I mean, leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska right now. That's right. He's invited Putin, a war criminal, to American soil. And get this. According to the New York Times, the two world leaders stepped off of their planes almost simultaneously at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in anchorage at about 1109am local time. And get this part. Trump really did roll out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin. I don't know if we can show any of this video. I think we have some of it ready to go. But he really did roll out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin. This is, according to the New York Times, Trump, in terms of what he did for Vladimir Putin. A military flyover, a red carpet, a presidential handshake, a private ride with Trump, and the presidential limousine. Trump applauded Vladimir Putin as he approached on the red carpet. Gives a whole new meaning to the expression drill, baby, drill. Meanwhile, it's Ukraine that is getting screwed right now. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine put out a videotape statement on social media pointing out that Russian military strikes are still going on inside Ukraine. And so I'll talk about all of that in just a few moments with Congressman Eric Swalwell. But first, I want to take a look at the future of the Democratic Party. And that might be this person right here, Josh Turek, who is running for the Senate in Iowa against Joni Ernst. That's going to be no small task, Josh. And you have an amazing personal story, I guess. First of all, thanks for coming on the program.
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A
Thanks for having me.
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B
Yeah. And I guess I do want to show the ad a moment, but you have an incredible personal story that is shown in the ad. You were born with spina bifida. You went through multiple surgeries. It gave you an appreciation for healthcare in this country and the kind of work that folks who are in your condition have to go through on a regular basis around this country. Tell us a little bit about that. And then I do want to show the ad, because I, I do think it, it shows a little bit of fire in the Democratic Party right now.
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A
Yeah, sure. Iowa State Representative Josh Turek running for the US Senate to defeat Joni Ernst. As you mentioned, I was born with a condition called spina bifida. I had my first surgery at one day old, and I had 21 of them by the time I was 12, all of which took place at Shriners Hospital Universe, because the only way that my family could afford it, I come from a, from a real working class family and had to overcome a lot of adversity, both on the economic side and certainly on the health care side. And that's what we need. We need people that really have a fundamental understanding and empathy for the common man and really understand the importance of these social safety nets that people like Joni Ernst is gutting into funding just to make tax breaks to billionaires.
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B
Right. I mean, and it was Senator Ernst who got herself into a whole bunch of hot water when she was talking about those cuts to Medicaid in the so called big beautiful bill, of course, lots of other names for it, the big ugly blunder, you name it. But she said, we're all going to die. I mean, that was her remark to people losing Medicaid in this country. And that's, that's a, now a central theme of your campaign.
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A
Yeah, it absolutely is. You know, again, someone that understands the importance of, of, of Medicaid. And actually what maybe a lot of people don't know is the reason why I initially ran was for the state legislature was because when I finished my basketball career, I was working for a company where I was assessing and providing wheelchairs for the disabled. And every single, I was working with people with muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig's disease. Every single day we were dealing with denial rates. 1000% increase since Iowa had privatized its Medicaid system. This was the reason why I ran. And when I joined the Iowa legislature, I said, I don't care what committees you put me on, you have to put me on HHS budget policy. Because I fundamentally understand that how broken, how underfunded the Iowa Medicaid system is, how those impacts are, particularly to individuals with disabilities, the elderly, poor, children. And now she's, she's gone out and said, well, we're all going to die. And, you know, 100,000 Iowans are going to lose their, their Medicaid. We got 1 in 5 Iowans that are on Medicaid. 2 and 5 in the rural communities. 40% of those are poor kids and food assistance, you know, and these are these social safety nets, these bedrock social safety nets that have allowed me to have the success that I've had in my life. This is why I'm running, is because I deserve to once again have senator that cares about the people that is working for Iowans, not just for the donors not for the lobbyists, not for billionaires.
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B
Yeah, and I mean, I pointed this out. I'm sure others have pointed the point of health care is to not die. So that's why we have health care, so we don't die. But, Representative Turk, let's look at your ad and then let's talk about on the other side, because this ad is just lighting it up on social media. A lot of people responding to it. Let's watch.
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C
I was born an underdog. 21 surgeries by the age of 12. Spina bifida caused by my. My dad's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. A kid wearing Goodwill hand me downs with the wrong color lunch ticket. I knew nothing would come easy, but I never doubted my right to the American dream. Sitting in my wheelchair, nine years old, watching the Olympics, I dreamed of winning gold for my country, too. In 2016, I did just that.
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B
Guess who on the left side? Josh Turen, Council Bluffs, Iowa native.
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C
And then I did it again.
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B
Back to back. Gold medals.
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C
It wouldn't have been possible without the grit that made me shoot a thousand shots every day. And I wouldn't have gotten that far without VA health coverage from my dad's service, free summer lunch programs when my parents were struggling, and the local AEA that made sure that I had access to a good education. When I was a kid, there was a senator from Iowa that made sure that the doors were open for kids like me. Now the senator from Iowa is just closing doors, taking away health care, making it harder for parents to feed their kids, all just to give tax breaks to billionaires.
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D
And her explanation, well, we all are going to die.
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C
Well, I'm tired of Iowans being taken for granted. I wasn't supposed to be able to win a state House seat that Trump won twice, but I campaigned just like I played basketball, Outworking everyone, pushing the hills, crawling the stairs, all just to have a conversation with everyday Iowans. Did not matter the party. We won that first race by just six votes. We won the next one by five points in the reddest seat in Iowa held by a Democrat. Iowans deserve a senator who works for them again. So I'm running for U.S. senate. A whole lot of folks are gonna look at a guy like me and say, man, that is a real long shot. Well, in Iowa, we love an underdog. So if you are ready to push for change, join me.
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B
I gotta tell you, Josh, I've covered a lot of campaigns over the years. I have to say, I think that's one of the. I Think that might be the best political ad I have ever seen in my whole life. That is my praise.
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A
Thank you.
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B
At least the top five. And I've covered I can't tell you how many presidential campaign. And a lot of these ads are terrible. It is a terrific ad. The symbolism, the messaging, it's just terrific. And laying out what's at stake in all of this.
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A
I'll tell you something about the ad.
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B
Please.
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A
Yeah, I really feel, I think that right now there's kind of a national malaise and people are really tired of the divisiveness, they're tired of the cynicism, they're tired of the fear mongering. And I want to do something different and feel something. Certainly I don't look, due to the visible disability or even age. I'm 20 years younger than the average senator is. But I really wanted to lean in on hope and positivity and inspiration and overcoming odds. I know that there's a lot of people out there, Iowans, but Americans that are really, really struggling, they're struggling with the lack of health care, they're struggling to be able to keep food on the table. I understand that in a real way. And I want to give them hope that there's someone out there that is fighting for them and, and not just for donors and, and billionaires.
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B
And you got a hell of a hook shot too. I mean, that was, that was, that was impressive. Go ahead.
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A
I said two gold medals.
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B
Two gold medals. I. And you're not bashful about it. I. That's the other thing I like about it too. You did it once. Not just once, but twice. Yeah.
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A
Hard work. That's the, you know, it's that same high level sports. I think, you know, it literally was the honor in my life. And sports is one of those unifying ideas and I think that's why. Yeah, maybe I come about this in a little bit different way of like, we're all American. We don't have to define ourselves by Republican or Democrats. Like, we just want good people out there. They're going to work hard and, and raise the money. But sports has really taught me the discipline and the work ethic to be able to, to have success in my life. And, and that's how we won. I, I went out there every single day, same way I did with basketball. Crawled the stairs, drug my wheelchair up there was not easy. I was not efficient. But I became very effective because what I found is as soon as I got up to the door, first question they would ask me is how in the world you get up here. Well, I crawled. That's how important your, your vote is. And I would hear over and over and over, you know, I'm not going to vote for every Democrat. I don't like all Democrats, but I like your kind of common sense, prairie populism Democrat.
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B
Well, that was just going to ask you because one of the things that stands out to me in that terrific ad is you won in a Trump district. Yeah. And what is that like? And you were sort of indicating that a few moments ago. How do you win back those voters? Because to me, that is the trick for the Democratic Party. And I'm not sure anybody's really gotten to the special sauce of it yet. Maybe you're onto it.
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A
I hope so. I'll tell a couple of things. One is hard work is Trump won my county by 20 points, won the two communities that I represent by double digits. I was able to win by nearly six points. That was every single day. Going out there and having conversations. Doesn't matter. Not defining people, Republicans, independents. I focused on the kitchen table issues, and that is, you know, a livable wage, raising the minimum wage. Health care, you know, affordable health care, which I can speak to with the credibility. Pharmaceuticals, doing something about Iowa's cancer rate, clean air, clean water, which affects us all, our public schools, our institutions, infrastructure. I went out there and I worked hard, but I also did that without having to betray my bedrock Democratic values. And that's really important. I really fundamentally believe right candidate, right message, right. Right work ethic, and we can win. And I think that my story proves that.
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B
And I guess this is a dose of what the Democratic Party needs. It needs fresh faces. It needs kind of people with outsider backgrounds, very much like yourself. Is that what you're seeing? Is that what you think the party needs?
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A
I'll tell you what I think the party we just need to get back to. We are the party of the people. We are the party of the working class. We are the party for working families, for small farms, for. For the workers. That, that's what we need to get back to. It is, it is economic populism. It's all, you know, when I ran, that's what I focused on, of the Republicans try to move us into divisive issues. We need to focus on. We are here for working families, drive down costs, Affordable health care, affordable housing, a livable wage. These are the things that people care about. What we want from our leaders ultimately doesn't matter, Republican or Democrat. We want people that really care and understand the plights and the issues, what people are going through. People are struggling to keep food on the table and their lights on. They just want someone that really, genuinely cares and is actually going to do the work to solve the problems for people. Let's provide solutions.
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B
Yeah. Affordability is a huge issue right now. And we may just be seeing the beginning of what these tariffs might be doing on that front on a whole host of products. And I have to assume that that's going to be felt in Iowa, places.
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A
Like Iowa, without a doubt. We are an agriculture state. When you're looking at, you know, these wild, chaotic tariffs, that's only going to have negative, seriously deleterious impacts on our ag industry and on commodity prices. I honestly, one of my concerns, and I hear it when I'm out in the rural communities is we could move back into a 1980s style farm crisis.
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B
Yeah. And what about, you know, folks say, ah, you know, Iowa, it's a lost cause for the Democratic Party. And I'm old enough to remember when Barack Obama was competitive in Iowa and you were shown with Tom Harkin there and the famous Tom Harkin, senator from Iowa. And you're in your spot right there. How did Democrats move it back onto their side of the board? Because to me, I think you're going to run into a great deal of, oh, give me, give me a break. There's just, that's just not going to happen anymore.
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A
Well, they would just be fundamentally wrong. Look, we are, we are a common sense state. We are not a red state. We are devoted twice for Obama now, three times for Trump. In Trump's first midterm, we won three of the four congressional races. We nearly won the gubernatorial and there is much more energy now than even in Trump's first midterm. We're only a point and a half from having three of our six statewide elected officials in Iowa. We are a common sense state. And you can see it from winning out here. I'm the Democrat that is representing the reddest district in the, in the state that the right candidate, the right message, the right work ethic and I am a common sense prairie populist Democrat that is going to focus on kitchen table issues. That's how we win in Iowa. And you know, we, I, I could tell you everywhere I go, doesn't matter urban or rule, people are fed up with Joni earns. They're fed up with politicians that are just looking for D.C. for the donors. She's lost touch with Iowans. Iowans deserve to once again like you Said my political hero, Senator Tom Harkin, who was the father of the American with Disabilities act, of getting back to having someone that is going to fight for the people, fight for social and economic justice, fight for social safety nets, health care, housing. That's how we're going to win in Iowa again. That's what I want to do. I want to carry the flag that we had out here for, with Senator Tom Harkin for 30 years.
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B
Yeah, no, I mean, I mean Senator Harkin, you know, he was a legend in that state. He was the, one of the steak fry. Right.
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A
Is that absolutely one of, you know, one of the, the great things for me is, is someone with disabilities in the American with Disabilities act. That was really our Emancipation Proclamation is what provided a on ramp society for me. And to now have a genuine friendship with Senator Harkin, it's really meant the world to me.
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B
Yeah. And how do you deal with the, the Trump issue? Because I'm sure you run into people who, I mean and I, I've been all over this country, been to all 50 states. There is a cultural aspect to his appeal.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And you know, I see in, you're in your ad drinking a beer and, and so on, you know, you look like a guy you could have a beer with.
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A
I enjoy beer.
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B
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. A good Midwestern guy, of course. But I mean, you know what I'm talking about. There's a cultural, I think, attraction to Donald Trump. Yeah. Do you sense that that is fading somewhat, that people are saying this Epstein thing, what's that all about? You know, some of these changes and the tariffs and legislation that they passed, I don't like that either. Is your sense that any of that is cracking?
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A
Yeah, without a doubt. People are waking up out here. I'm seeing Trump signs, Trump flags coming down. People are tired of the naked corruption. They're tired. You know, one thing I will give President Trump credit for is that he actually, I think correctly identified that the status quo was not working for the average. I went for. But this faux populism where 85% of the tax breaks goes to the 1%. This cutting social safety nets, cutting health care, gutting food assistance just to give tax breaks to billionaires. People are now waking up and saying, yeah, he is not looking out for us. He is not. And that's on our job as candidates to say, no, I'm fighting for you. I'm fighting for the middle class. I'm working, I'm working for small businesses. I'm working for the average guy. Just to drive down costs and keep food on the table. We've got to get back to being the party of the people and that's how we win as Democrats in a state here like Iowa.
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B
Well, Josh Turek, really appreciate the time. Best of luck during the campaign. And again, I mean, if I were, I would almost be tempted to not run a different ad the entire time. And you might make history as the only person in a major Senate race to not run any other ads.
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A
Be it'd be a little expensive to run a two minute ad, but it certainly has been affected. I would. I'll say this please, anyone that sees this, we can beat Joni Earns. We legitimately can. Please go to my website, www.turek. you can see the name back here. T. The number four was my basketball number. Iowa Turekfor Iowa.com we're going to need all the support we can get from volunteers to grassroots donors. But if you're ready to push for change and you're ready to see genuine change in this country, please help us out. We can beat Joni Ernst. We can change Iowa and we can change this country.
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B
Yeah. And I noticed that you're starting a sub stack. You're launching that soon. And this interview will be on YouTube later, Apple Podcasts and everywhere else. So you'll be able to see it just about everywhere. Josh. Representative Turek, I should say thanks very much.
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A
No problem.
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B
All right. Good deal.
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A
Thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it, Jim.
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B
You got it. Anytime. Let's stay in touch. I, I can't wait to see how the campaign goes. I think I'm just going to say right now, I think, I think you're going to beat Joni Ernst. I just, I'm just going to say it right now. I'm going to say it right now.
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A
We take a lot of work, but that's, that's what I'm about. I'm going to every corner of the state.
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B
Yeah, I think next year, midterms. Read a lot of surprises. Representative JOSH. I should say. Josh, thanks very much for your time. Appreciate it.
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A
Thank you.
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B
All right. All right. Josh Turek. I want to bring in Congressman Eric Swalwell because I think he is standing by and ready to jump in here Congress. There's Congressman Swallower right there. Good to see you, sir.
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D
Me too. I'm excited about that race, Jim. I'm, I was born in Iowa and I know the state that's right pretty well. And you're absolutely right. Iowa is capable of an upset. In 2018, Democrats won three of the four congressional seats in Iowa today, we have zero. And now we have, on the gubernatorial side, Rob Sand. He's the only statewide elected Democrat in Iowa. He's the auditor.
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B
Right now.
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D
He's running for governor. Terrific, engaging, accessible candidate. Right. Senate field, you have Josh, you have Nathan Sage. You have a lot of, a lot of talent out there. You have another state rep, former minor league baseball player. So there, there's a lot of talent in the field right now. And then another state senator. So it's there, it's a, it's a.
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B
Big, wide open field. And I, I mean, we, I saw the ad that he was running, and I thought, and I said this to him, you might not have hopped on just yet, but it may be the best political ad I think I've ever seen, and I've covered a lot of campaigns, and I don't mean to offend anybody who says my ad was better than that, but it's a damn good.
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D
Ad and it's really moving. It's really moving. And to just see the, the resilience that he's had to endure his whole life. Yeah, that's absolutely right.
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B
Well, how are you? How's everything? I don't know if you noticed this, but Donald Trump has invited a war criminal to the state of Alaska.
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D
Gave him a round of applause, too.
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B
Gave him a round of applause. He literally rolled out the red carpet, which I don't know if that's, that's a throwback to the Soviet Union. I, I think it's just because Trump likes red carpets and gold and, and things like that. But we just have to get your comment on this, Congressman, because, you know, I. This is a WTF moment for me. I'm just going to say right now it is.
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D
He's got the wrong guy there. Remember, the other side of this conflict is Ukraine's leader, Vladimir Zielinski, who was humiliated when he came last to the United States. And, boy, it just shows you who Donald Trump admires. A ruthless dictator and who he detests, which is a warrior for democracy in Zelensky. Look, I, I hope something comes out of this, but, Jim, you and I have been tracking Donald Trump and Putin and Donald Trump's affinity for Russia for a long time. You're not going to make any gains with Vladimir Putin. Yeah, he's going to pick pocket Donald Trump again. And Ukraine and our alliances in the world will only suffer because of it.
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B
Well, and it strikes me to be kind of an espionage bonanza potentially for Vladimir Putin. I mean, why you would Bring the Russians to Alaska. Like, this is beyond me. I just, just, I wonder what, what's going on there in Trump's head. And I, I just, I think you, you nailed it in terms of the Zelensky factor and all of this. This, this goes back to just, I think the very basic issue here, that Zelensky is not at the bargaining table when it comes to the future of his own country.
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D
It must be very, very unsettling for them right now, because who knows what Donald Trump will agree to, right? We could see a readout of this meeting that he has agreed to press Zelensky, you know, to give up all of the gains that Russia has made in the East. And by the way, going into this meeting, it was leaked that Donald Trump has put on the table to give mineral rights to Russia in Alaska. So, you know, God knows, you know, what Vladimir Putin is going to walk away with, you know, in his goodie bag, you know, his swag bag, if you will, from Donald Trump. But, Jim, I still, as I said, I'm rooting for peace here. But I'm not naive, you know, I'm not trying to come lately to these, you know, tactics of Donald Trump. And usually when he has meetings like this, we end up seeing that it's all bluster. We don't get anything out of it. He nurtured this relationship with Kim Jong Un for many, many years of North Korea. They have just as many nuclear capabilities today as they did when he told us that having this meeting could reduce North Korea's nuclear capabilities. So I'm not holding my breath for any progress.
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B
Yeah, yeah. With Trump showering Putin with all this affection, it gives a whole new meaning to drill, baby, drill. But anyway, I do want to ask, Congressman, about what's happening in dc. I get the sense that you're in dc, right?
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D
I'm in the DNC right now, actually. Yes.
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B
Yeah. Trump has invaded Washington, DC with the National Guard and federal agents and so on, and everybody wants safe streets, there's no question about that. The crime has been going down in D.C. and obviously, this is a distraction from Jeffrey Epstein, your sense of it. And I guess I do want to talk about the California component in all of this, because, you know, he tried this in la, it blew up in his face. And now he's trying something similar in D.C. a show of force to kind of distract the public and, and show he's a big, tough guy.
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D
Well, Jim, if we're being honest, there are more criminals in D.C. today than there were back in December. They all, you know, came to town with the guy who had been convicted 34 times for fraud and had a bunch of other cases pending before he was sworn in.
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B
So you have a video to that effect?
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D
As a matter of fact, that's exactly right.
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B
We do show that, actually.
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D
What are you doing here?
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B
What the is up with Washington, D.C. being federalized by Trump?
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D
It's because of. Yeah. Rising crime D.C. he's not wrong. In fact, crime has gone up. There's more criminals in D.C. this guy, recently, he moved into D.C. he had like, 34 felony counts. He had been convicted of a bunch of open cases, bunch of prior bankruptcies. Not the kind of guy you would want living in your neighborhood or around your kids. Oh, and he's, like, connected to the biggest child sex trafficker who's ever lived in this country who was being prosecuted for sex trafficking before he killed himself. This guy just moved into the neighborhood and a real crime wave has taken place at his residence since he got here. So, yeah, I'm worried about crime in D.C. too.
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B
I mean, the, the comic timing there. I have to compliment you, my compliments on that.
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D
But you can only get better, you know, with your comic timing with this guy as president. But it's also, what, it's also comical, though, is where he's, you know, dispatching, you know, the federal troops and federal law enforcement, you know, they're protecting, you know, the Lululemon store in Georgetown. You know, they're on 14th street, right outside, you know, lay dip. I mean, it's like. Give me a. A break. Yeah, but the concern here is that he would expand this, you know, to cities across America. And the only correct reaction is you have to make him react to you rather than constantly reacting to him. And so the D.C. attorney General going to court today and litigating this, that's the right approach. This week in California, there's a trial underway when Governor Newsom, because Governor Newsom sued the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles. So you have to make them react. Otherwise, we're always reacting to them. And I'll also just say, as it relates to ICE and what they're doing in our communities, I have urged a couple attorneys general now to look at their own law enforcement powers. And if you can charge an ICE agent for false imprisonment or battery or assault, you have to do it. And one of them said to me, jim, well, like, they could just remove the case to federal court, and then it becomes more complicated. And I said, well, let them do that. But, like, don't, don't be powerless with, you know, law enforcement authorities that you have. Otherwise, as I said, we're on our heels. And by we, I mean the most vulnerable people in our community.
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B
Yeah, there's no question about it. And, you know, speaking of California, we should just get into this. Governor Newsom announced that California is going to attempt to do a redistricting. It's a bit more complicated process in California to get the voters permission, I believe, to do this. But one would think that Californians are going to show up and vote en masse to make this happen. And it might be five votes for the five seats in Texas that the Republicans want to give Trump down in Texas. I guess your thoughts on all of that? And I guess speaking of, like, show of force, I guess, did Trump send the National Guard to Governor Newsom's event Yesterday or his ICE or somebody? It was.
- [26:47]
D
There were 75 National Guard and ICE officials outside of Newsom's event. But, you know, credit to Governor Newsom because he has state on offense, and that's the playbook he's most comfortable with, is to sue Trump every time he violates the law, you know, to show strength when he's trying to rig district over in Texas. And now this will go to the voters. And, and Jim, I'll just tell your viewers, I came into Congress as a product of independent redistricting. It passed in 2010. I supported it. Most people in my party opposed it, but I thought geography and math were the fairest ways to draw congressional lines. The problem, though, is that since we've done that, other states have really abused their ability to draw congressional lines, like Wisconsin and Florida and Georgia and Alabama and others who have been taken to court. And now Texas. And too often Democrats, we fight these battles with one hand tied behind our back. It's usually the upper hand, and democracy is suffering because of it. So we're going to go to the voters with both hands in this fight, and we're going to tell them that we can't protect the 2 million Californians who lost their health care from the big, brutal bill. We can't protect the thousands of friends and neighbors who have been deported because of Donald Trump's deportation policies. We can't protect the most vulnerable unless we can match what Texas is doing as far as it relates to the midterms.
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B
Yeah. I mean, there's is really no point at this moment to sort of stand on principle and say, well, we just don't believe in redistricting because you're going to Lose five seats. And five seats. I mean, we don't know. We think that, you know, meteor is going to hit Donald Trump next year and he's going to get blown away because of Epstein and the big ugly bill, whatever you want to call it. But we just don't know what we don't know and what tricks he has up his sleeve and so on. So why would you give up five seats at this point, I guess?
- [28:43]
D
And why would you want to look, you know, the day after the election and look at democracy in ashes because we lost the midterms and say, well, you know, at least we protected the independent commission in California. I don't think anyone sees that as the correct outcome. And so, yes, there's five seats that we're going to the voters to. We're going to go to the voters and ask them to approve a new map and I'm going to work like hell in my own district to make sure, you know, we get the turnout that we need. And I know my colleagues across the delegation are going to do the same.
- [29:13]
B
Yeah, and what happens with Epstein, do you think, when Congress comes back? Because, I mean, it sounds as though Representative Thomas Massie is now speaking of going on offense. He's apparently going to hold an event with Ro Khanna where they're going to have Epstein survivors, I think, showing up. Trump and Mike Johnson, Speaker Johnson thought they were kicking this can or punting it down the street and it wasn't going to come back. But I mean, it's, it's going to come back in what, two weeks from now? Three weeks.
- [29:41]
D
Let me give you the scuttle in D.C. and I've only been here for a day. I was in my district this week, had a town hall. I heard this morning that the Republican rumor mill is that they're going to cancel that first week of votes that were supposed to be back. So we will have left about 10 days early and possibly take one more week off the calendar. So they're in no hurry, you know, to face the music as it relates to Epstein. And I'm sure that is orders that are coming from the top that delay this as long as possible. And if you really game it out, Jim, there's no bill of consequence that they can pass other than keeping the government open. We have to do that by the end of September. But beyond that, there's really nothing that they would be able to achieve even a majority in their own, you know, incompetent, dysfunctional House where they have a three seat majority and certainly not able to get 60 votes in the Senate, you know, where the filibuster could still stop any progress they want to make there. So it will be a do nothing Congress to define them for the next 15 months.
- [30:52]
B
Yeah, and I, I saw some of your other videos for folks who want to see them. I mean, just go to the congressman's Instagram account. You've been sort of mocking this. Going to the grocery store and saying, where are these prices? And, and, you know, going to the gym and saying, I should be in Congress right now, but I'm working out at the gym. And so on. What, I guess. Why. Let's watch this.
- [31:10]
D
I should be at the Capitol. I should be in a suit instead. Republicans sent us home because they would rather stand up for Donald Trump than release the Epstein files and stand up for victims. We could be at Washington, D.C. lowering your health care costs, lowering your grocery costs and restoring your rights. I should be working right now. Instead, I'm pumping iron at the gym.
- [31:39]
B
Again. The showmanship, it's very strong.
- [31:42]
D
Well, we got to tell a better story, Jim. I know too often we're trying to win a Harvard Law School moot court competition, and it's really just a gut check at the bus stop or a bar room, and we need to get better at doing that.
- [31:56]
B
But I think one, I think one indicator, one barometric pressure indicator that you got that some of this is breaking through. And this is always my indicator for me is that Fox News came after you or Greg Gutfeld came after you or something like that.
- [32:10]
D
Apparently, 135 pounds is not enough to, like, repeat, you know, 14 times. So, yeah, he mocked the, the bench press. And, and Jim, in good fun, I said, well, how about we do a loser goes home match? And if you can bench more than me, I'll leave Congress. And if I bench more than you, you leave your network. And, and he took a hard pass on that.
- [32:34]
B
Have you heard back from him or his people?
- [32:36]
D
No, he's moved on. He's moved on that debate? Yeah, he's moved on.
- [32:40]
B
Yeah. I mean, he, he came after me shortly after I started this. And he was talking about this House plant that I had behind me. I think was one of the first videos I put out there. So I named the House plant after him. And, you know, and I, you know, you just have to have fun with those guys.
- [32:54]
D
I was willing to put like a step, you know, stool next to the bench so he could get up there. I didn't want to make it hard for him, but he didn't want to do it.
- [33:02]
B
Yeah, no, that's true. And it's, what's with, you know, he and Benny, John, there's some of these guys they're obsessed with, like going to the gym and outdoing other guys. And it's, it feels, it reeks of over compensation.
- [33:16]
D
Yes, yes, that's exactly what it is. But I'm going to continue, you know, to drive this narrative that, you know, they are willing to bury these files beneath the earth to protect Donald Trump. I'm going to Long island on Tuesday. I'll be in Nick Lalota's district. I'll be in Melville. I think it's six o'. Clock. Folks can also go to my, @ericswalwell Instagram to sign up. If you're in that area, we can win that congressional seat. John Avlon, your former colleague.
- [33:45]
B
Yeah.
- [33:46]
D
Put it more in play when he ran last cycle. This is somebody who voted for that big, brutal bill, has voted, you know, to support these deportation policies. So I'll be in that district and this will be, I think, my fifth town hall in a district where Republicans are unwilling to hold town halls.
- [34:02]
B
And just to pick out something you were saying a few moments ago and explored a little bit when you were saying that, you know, we have to do better than the Harvard Debate Society or whatever, when you do look at some of the polling numbers, and there was one that I think that just came out recently, Trump's poll numbers are in the toilet right now. They're terrible. He's in the high 30s, maybe low 40s. But Democratic approval is also not very good right now. Can you put your finger on what that is? Is it that they're just too many old guys? Is it that this is just what happens to a party after you lose a big election? You're in the wilderness. Is it Trump, depression? Is it all of those things? Do you have a sense as to. Because you're, you're, you know, hitting them with social media and stuff like that. I think doing the things that need to be done.
- [34:48]
D
What I hear at these town halls, whether it was my own district this week or when I was in Orange County a couple weeks ago, is that this is not a matter of center left versus far left or even red shirt versus blue shirt. It's just, do you understand the difference between old tactics and new tactics? Old tactics looks like sending an eight page, strongly worded letter to the president, as Senator Schumer did a couple weeks ago. New tactics is what Governor Newsom is doing, or even I would say, you know, Hakeem Jeffries going on the floor and setting the record for the length of time, speaking on the floor to oppose the big, brutal bill. So that applying new tactics or what the Texas Democrats are doing, you know, leaving the state and saying, like, we're willing to, you know, sacrifice time with our families, can find 500 a day because we're up for this fight. So that's really what I'm seeing. So I think as people see us fighting more and, and arguing that we can't afford this, we can't afford it economically and we can't afford it democratically, they're going to join us in the fight.
- [35:54]
B
Yeah. Well, hey, I, I, as always, Congressman, really appreciate the time. Yeah. And, Jim, I wanted to, if there's anything.
- [36:01]
A
Yeah.
- [36:01]
D
The Iowa race. So Josh Turk, terrific candidate. Nathan sage, terrific candidate. J.D. scholten and Zach Walls were the other two that I was.
- [36:09]
B
Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes. I hope I didn't get you. Did I get you in trouble there. I walked into something that you might get in trouble for.
- [36:15]
D
Yeah, no, no, no. That he knows. Josh is great. And I, I think your prediction is going to be correct.
- [36:21]
B
Yeah.
- [36:22]
D
And I'll take it one step further. If we win Iowa, if we beat Joni Ernst, who knows if she even runs, because there's been talk that she might not.
- [36:30]
B
Interesting.
- [36:31]
D
But if we beat Joni Ernst, we will have the majority in the Senate and the majority in the House. That, that is what that will mean. Because I, I see that as meaning we also have won North Carolina, that we also perhaps have won Maine or Texas or some of these other states that are going to be in play. And this was what happened in 2006. Right. You saw, I think, Indiana, states that people said we had no chance competing in, we won. And that was how we ultimately got to 60 senators for president Obama. So you don't, you don't win if you don't play. And those four candidates are going to give us a shot there.
- [37:07]
B
Yeah. And sometimes, you know, these things start with a prairie fire. And, and maybe I was. Is one of those places where we'll, we'll see that get going. But really appreciate the time, as always, Congressman, and keep those videos coming and let us know if you hear from Greg Gutfeld, because, I mean, that would be, you know, I would referee that match.
- [37:25]
D
I'll check back.
- [37:26]
B
I don't think that's going to happen. All right. Good to see you, Congressman. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Eric. Okay. That's Congressman Eric Swalwell of California back in D.C. with D.C. under invasion right now via Donald Trump. Really appreciate everybody tuning in. I might make this an abbreviated show because. Duke, what are you doing down here? Duke has been. Did anybody notice my arm kind of slipping down here a little bit? It's because Duke is right here. You're gonna come up here. You're gonna come up here. Duke, come get the toy. I'm gonna put it right here. He brought me the toy during the show. Are you gonna get it? Are you gonna get it? Can you get it? You gonna get it? No. He's being shy now. Where's Duke? Duke is right here. You want to get the toy? Go get it. See, if I throw. If I throw the ball, he might knock over the whole set here. Yes, I see you. We're gonna get going here in just a sec. Can you give me. I just need five seconds to wrap up the week. I just. And I. And I won't hold folks up because I, you know, it's getting to the end of the week. Appreciate Josh Turek. Appreciate Eric Swalwell. There you go. Go get the ball. Go get the ball. I do want to. Speaking of fetch, maybe we should show that video of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin again. And I guess the safe political thing would be, you know, I. You know, if I could use my Walter Cronkite voice, you know, Donald Trump putting it all on the line here with Vladimir Putin walking the red carpet. Actually, Walter Cronkite would not want to tolerate this either. Uncle Walter knew what it was all about and what a real president was all about. I cannot for the life of me understand how we are watching this right now, that this is the real world that we're watching right now. Donald Trump giving Vladimir Putin the red carpet treatment. Ladies and gentlemen, I was with Donald Trump in Helsinki when he had that summit with Vladimir Putin, and he said he would take the word of the Russian leader, the Russian dict over the. Over the US Intelligence community as to whether the Russians intervened in the 2016 election, which, of course, they did. And Trump never could get over that. And he just kept calling it a hoax because he didn't know what else to do. And we're in the same boat right now. This is another just embarrassing moment for the United States and an embarrassment. Just an embarrassing moment for Donald Trump. Once again, Vladimir Putin is dog walking Donald Trump. He has everything but a leash attached to his head, to his neck. And I'm sorry, when you're the president of the United States. You don't invite war criminals to American soil. And Vladimir Putin is a war criminal. They have kidnapped Ukrainian children, abducted Ukrainian children and, and taken them over to Russia. They have systematically brutalized the civilian population in Ukraine time and again. And he thinks he can negotiate with Vladimir Putin the future of Ukraine. What are they going to do? Come to some sort of agreement where Ukraine has to give up some of its territory in order to have peace with Vladimir Putin? And they're not even at the negotiating table. It's a slap in the face to the Ukrainian people. It's a slap in the face to Volodymyr Zelensky. And, and Eric Swalwell made this point just a few moments ago, and he's absolutely right. Draw the contrast between the way Donald Trump and J.D. vance berated Volodymyr Zelensky just treated him like dirt when he came to the Oval Office. This is somebody who's been at war for years now, defending his country, and the way he is just lavishing attention on Vladimir Putin, just showering him with all the trappings of the presidency. And, and one has to think there's somebody in Putin's entourage who is just bugging the place, like all get out, you know, you know, the, the Russians, they, they missed no opportunity to, to conduct espionage. And this has to be another situation. And Donald Trump has invited the Russians to do so via this trip. And so, you know, the question that I leave everybody with is. Is. Is a pretty similar question to what I tend to leave folks with on just about an everyday basis. And that is, what is going on with Donald Trump? What is going on with Donald Trump? Why is it that just about every turn he sides with the Russian dictator? You know, there's, there's, there's been reporting that Trump may give up some of Alaska's natural resources and as part of this Ukrainian farce negotiation. Excuse me, what. Are there any Republicans in Congress who are going to say, oh, hell no, it's Vladimir Putin. He's in Alaska. What the hell is going on? This goes way beyond Donald Trump. Remember when he stepped into North Korean soil and everybody said, oh, Donald Trump's in North Korea. Wow, look at that. He has a dictator fetish, folks. He loves dictators. I asked him about it once at a summit. I believe it was in Japan.
- [43:14]
D
What's.
- [43:14]
B
What's with you and the dictators? He didn't have a good answer. He loves Kim Jong Un. He loves Vladimir Putin. Apparently, he loves Xi Jinping. Is there a dictate? Apparently, as a Part of the, the run up to this summit in Alaska, he was praising the dictator from Belarus who's been shunned by every American president going back years. What is it with Donald Trump and these dictators? I'll tell you what it is. It's pretty obvious. Look at the way he's acting right now here in the United States. Look what he did this past week in Washington, D.C. look what he did in Los Angeles just a few short weeks ago. He is, it's monkey see, monkey do. He hangs out with these dictators and then he wants to be a dictator. He sees the way the dictators behave in other countries without very, very much pushback. And he wants that same kind of situation here in the United States. He wants to rule over this country like a king, like an emperor with all that gold crap all over the Oval Office. It looks like the Kremlin. It looks like he's transformed the Oval Office into something inside the Kremlin with all that crappy fake gold stuff everywhere. And so every day, little by little, he's becoming like our Vladimir Putin. And so it's no surprise that he invited him over to Alaska. It's like the pilot fish and the shark. It's like the little dog and the big dog. I mean, it's pathetic. Earth to Trump. We don't want to be ruled over by a dictator and a Putin like dictator, no less. Something to think about.
- [45:19]
D
Maybe.
- [45:19]
B
Poor. Pour out some Stoli this evening and, and smoke that one over. But my thanks to Josh Turek. He's got a hell of a race ahead of him. As, as Congressman Swalwell pointed out, Turek has some other Democratic opponents that he has to contend with. But I did, I did find that that ad was just so extraordinary that I had to bring on Representative Turek to hear from him. Really appreciate his time and I think his journey, his life story has been very inspiring and it's something I think the voters have of I, we're going to take a hard look at. Also want to thank Congressman Eric Swalwell, who's also lighting it up on social media and I think showing Democrats a little bit of what needs to be done here moving forward. And thanks to all of you for another great week. Really appreciate everybody tuning in. Thanks for all your comments. Saw them coming in during the show. My, my trusty executive producer, Matt Hoy was putting them up on screen throughout the program. But really appreciate all the support that you give this show. I, I see the comments. I try to respond to as many of them and not just here on Substack, but also on YouTube. If you're watching this on YouTube, thank you for, for picking it up on YouTube and subscribing there. If you, if you happen to catch it on YouTube, go ahead and subscribe. Become a subscriber and join the conversation. You join the conversation on both platforms. And if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, I got a great note from somebody earlier today, very nice lady who said she listens on Apple Podcasts and that she gave a very nice review on Apple Podcasts. And that means a lot to me as well, because I do think that this is a great program to listen to in the car, too. And, you know, if you're driving around and you got some time to kill and you want to listen to some dad jokes and some astute political commentary, you come to the right place. Doggone it. But my goodness, what is going on in Alaska? I mean, we should call Matt, we should call this episode Drill, Baby, Drill. Because I, you know, I gotta tell you, folks, when I look at the way Donald Trump treats Vladimir Putin, there are no other words that come to mind. It just, it just reminds me of Sarah Palin's infamous words, drill, baby, drill. And with that, I'll close out the week. Thanks, everybody, for watching. Really appreciate it. Still reporting. There it is. Drill, baby, drill, baby. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Stay safe, everybody. Have a great weekend. I'll see you next week. Take care.