3679 - How Colorado Spooked the Establishment; Next DSA Upset? w/ David Sirota, Oliver Larkin

Summary

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The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode 3679: How Colorado Spooked the Establishment; Next DSA Upset?
Host: Emma Vigeland (in for Sam Seder)
Guests: David Sirota (The Lever), Oliver Larkin (DSA Candidate, FL-25)
Date: July 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into two major themes in contemporary American politics: the political shake-up in Colorado’s Democratic primaries and the growing momentum for Democratic Socialist (DSA) candidates across the country, with a spotlight on Oliver Larkin’s surging challenge in Florida's 25th district. Host Emma Vigeland, joined by investigative journalist David Sirota and candidate Oliver Larkin, unpacks progressive upsets, establishment panic, and the underlying tides transforming both major parties.

Key topics include:

• Trump’s ongoing and brazen corruption while in office
• Congressional and gubernatorial upsets in Colorado, signaling a collapse of established norms
• The Democratic Party’s gerontocracy and growing rift with younger, more activist bases
• Challenges to the Democratic establishment from the left, both in policy and organizing style
• The state of Florida Democrats and the DSA’s inroads, detailed by Larkin’s upstart campaign

The tone is incisive, irreverent, and punctuated with moments of both gallows humor and genuine optimism.

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Opening Headlines & Analysis

[00:07–04:55] National Political Roundup

• Emma Vigeland sets the scene: Sam Seder is away, it’s July 2nd, 2026, and the show is broadcasting from Brooklyn.
• Top news highlights:
  • AOC endorses Abdul Al Sayed for Michigan Senate, her first Senate primary endorsement of the cycle.
  • ICE detains 10,000 people in five days under Markwayne Mullin’s “jackbooted” leadership and crackdown on activists protesting ICE facilities, including harsh terrorism sentences.
  • Colorado Gov. Jared Polis fires Democratic Clemency Board members after they publicly opposed his pardon of election denier Tina Peters, raising questions of political retribution.
  • Economic and legal headlines: job numbers slumping, federal judge blocks Trump’s attempted changes to mail-in ballot procedures, and upcoming pollution risks from Trump’s planned July 4th pyrotechnics.

Emma Vigeland [03:11]:
“It’s going to be mostly me for the month of July because Sam is off doing Hollywood things. He’s recovering from the Jaylen Brown trade.”

[04:06–10:45] Trump’s Financial Corruption

• Trump files financial disclosures showing a $2.2 billion gain in 2025, mostly from cryptocurrency pump-and-dump operations, stock trading, real estate, and foreign deals.
• Comparison with past presidential corruption (Bush/Cheney, Biden, Pelosi) used as context.
• Matt Binder: “Probably the first time he’s actually been a billionaire.” [04:55]
• Trump’s unique brand of grift is tied to “prosperity gospel” logic: wealth confers goodness, leadership, and is even spiritualized by his base.

Emma Vigeland [05:42]:
“That’s the skeleton of the Trump con and with his base... Evangelical preachers and televangelists have been conditioning his base to believe that wealth equals goodness... It’s all about submitting yourself to a dear leader.”

• Trump’s largest income category is now cryptocurrency ($1.4B in 2025), including meme coins and questionable foreign investments.

[11:00–12:17] Foreign Influence and Corruption

• Deep dive into Trump’s UAE deals and the use of U.S. financial systems for global money laundering.

Brian [09:29]:
“Crypto being a money laundering technology. That’s how he made all of his money.”

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Establishment Evasions and GOP Cynicism

[12:18–16:14] Republicans Dodge Trump’s Grift

• Elizabeth Vargas (clip): Presses Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-R) on Trump’s $2B presidency.

  • Lawler dodges, shifting to Pelosi, never once naming Trump or criticizing him directly.
  • Brian [14:23]: “He wanted to say billions so bad for Pelosi.”
  • Lawler’s deflection highlights the cowardice within GOP ranks regarding accountability.

• Rep. Nels (clip) brazenly touts personal luxury as a sign of “merit”, dismissing the day-to-day economic struggles of constituents.

Rep. Nels [18:02]:
“Maybe the 60% of America don’t work as hard as I do either. I mean, I don’t know.”

• Panel ridicules this feudal attitude; contrasts with genuine public service (e.g., AOC, Ilhan Omar).
• Highlights how Congressional office has become a fast-track to personal enrichment and hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle.

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Colorado’s Blue State Revolt

Polis, Clemency, and Authoritarian Moves

[22:51–27:48] David Sirota Segment Start – Polis’ Clemency Scandal

• Sirota explains how Gov. Polis fired Democratic Clemency Board members after criticism over pardoning Tina Peters, an election denier, appeasing Trump’s pressure.
• Parallels drawn between Polis’s conduct and Trumpian tactics: suppressing dissent and undermining institutions in a deeply blue state.

David Sirota [23:46]:
“You make a decision, the bully makes a demand, you make a mockery out of your judicial process... I dare say this is quite Trumpish, right?”

• Emma notes the dangerous precedent: “He’s also trying to cover it up and he’s not even going to be in office that much longer.”

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Primary Upsets & Generational Change

[27:48–34:46] Mela Kiros defeats DeGette

• Mela Kiros (DSA) unseats 30-year incumbent Diana DeGette by a decisive 12+ points.
• Kiros’s victory attributed less to DeGette’s votes (mostly progressive) and more to her lack of presence, reliance on seniority, and reliance on corporate money (APAC, Big Tech, pharma).

Mela Kiros [29:45]:
“The reason why we are not seeing legislation like Medicare for All ... is because when corporations and special interests donate to campaigns ... sometimes the return is stalling on legislation...”

• David Sirota frames DeGette’s formula as outdated: “Not be all that present in the community, rely on the power of incumbency, vote a relatively progressive line, and be tough to outflank on the left on votes. But voters eventually wanted an actual fight and generational change.” [31:58]

• This “generational wave” idea is a thread: the Democratic base now demands activism, presence, and sincerity, not just passive progressive voting.

[36:41–38:48] Gonzalez vs. Hickenlooper

• Julie Gonzalez challenges weak incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, nearly toppling him despite running a late campaign with little institutional support.
  • Sirota: “John Hickenlooper was the weakest Democratic Senate nominee in the United States... I think she got in a little too late… another month and this might have been a different race.”

[38:48–41:50] Weiser Defeats Bennet

• State AG Phil Weiser, progressive-leaning but not a “Bernie populist,” defeats sitting Sen. Michael Bennet in the gubernatorial primary with a genuine anti-establishment campaign.
  • Sirota: “Rejection of Bennet is a rejection of an entire way of doing politics... the future of Colorado will not be decided by out of state billionaires.”

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Broader Implications and Anti-Establishment Wave

[42:02–46:31] National Takeaways

• Polis’s toxic brand contributed to establishment failures.

• Sirota: “If it’s happening in Colorado, where voters fortified the Democratic Party establishment for years, it’s a sign it can happen anywhere.”

• The anger now cuts both at the Republican extremes and at Democratic leadership perceived as self-dealing, out-of-touch, or hypocritical.

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Florida’s 25th District: Next DSA Upset?

Introducing Oliver Larkin

[48:21–52:42] Interview Begins

• Oliver Larkin, union organizer and DSA member, is challenging incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz in FL-25 (Palm Beach/Broward/Miami-Dade).
• Larkin positions his campaign as a “positive engagement” for young and independent voters left unserved by a moribund Democratic Party.

Larkin [48:47]:
“Young people are organizing too. We’re just doing it outside the institutions of the Democratic Party that have really let us down... We’re giving them a reason to engage.”

Democratic Failure in Florida

• Larkin faults the FL Democratic Party for “trying to be Republican lite,” noting their retreat from progressive platforms post-2018.
• Moskowitz is identified as a “two-time Ron DeSantis Democrat” and an outright enabler of Republican and corporate power, undermining Democratic turnout.

Larkin [51:00]:
“They [FDP] feel they need to be the exact same as the right... The voters will sniff it out and choose the real thing.”

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Moskowitz: "A Republican in Democrat’s Clothing"

[52:42–58:42] Moskowitz’s Record Dismantled

• Compilation reveals Moskowitz’s support for militarism, dog-whistle politics, SpaceX/Elon Musk connections, and unwavering support for Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
• Larkin also exposes Moskowitz’s personal profiteering, including:
  • Defense and Caterpillar stock purchased before and after relevant foreign policy votes
  • Endorsements and lobbying for right-wing school board and university figures
  • Direct business ties with real estate giants profiting off the housing crisis.

Larkin [57:07]:
“Jared Moskowitz called [the War Powers Resolution] the Ayatollah Protection Act... And then he purchased Lockheed Martin stock as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”

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Momentum for Change & Labor Backing

[58:42–63:41] Union Support and Anti-Establishment Tactics

• Larkin successfully lobbies Florida’s AFL-CIO to withhold their usual incumbent endorsement from Moskowitz.
• Blistering critique of Moskowitz: union-busting, personal enrichment from developer and prison lobbyists, and anti-worker legislation.

Larkin [59:35]:
“How are we having a Democratic member of Congress recommending a private prison executive [for university president]? ...The power of these union members that stood up speaks to a desire among the working class to defeat this Republican in Democrat’s clothing.”

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Can a DSA Candidate Win Here?

[63:42–68:45] The Path Forward

• Emma voices skepticism about poll numbers given South Florida’s wealth, AIPAC money, and real estate influence.

• Larkin reinterprets the polling: “We’ve tripled our support in the past month... 30% of voters are undecided... Supporting AIPAC is a losing proposition, even in South Florida.” [64:41]

• Cites Mehlat Kiros’s upset in Colorado as proof of unmeasured momentum, especially once paid media and ground game ramp up.

The New Democratic Coalition

Larkin connects DSA momentum nationwide:

• Young people and the disengaged abandoned by party leaders
• Economic anxiety is front and center: “More Floridians are considering leaving due to the cost of living than at any point in history.” [66:41]
• Polling even among “Zionist voters” shows discontent with Moskowitz’s DeSantis ties
• Asserts: “The attacks on democratic socialism just do not land… what’s scarier is ICE knocking on your door or being priced out of your home.”

Larkin [67:34]:
“You gotta distinguish yourself to let people know you’re taking it seriously... South Florida is ready to elect a democratic socialist.”

Call to Action

• Early voting begins July 11; voter registration closes July 20.
• Audience encouraged to support via a dedicated ActBlue link.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Emma Vigeland [05:42]: “This country is uniquely susceptible to a wealthy person who is a stand-in for Jesus or God... that’s the skeleton of the Trump con.”
• David Sirota [23:46]: “You make a decision to the bully makes a demand... you get criticized for it... and now you’re sort of shutting down debate. Dare I say this is quite Trumpish.”
• Mela Kiros [29:45]: “When corporations donate to campaigns, sometimes the return isn’t favorable legislation, it’s stalling legislation that would help families.”
• Rep. Nels [18:02]: “Maybe the 60% of America don’t work as hard as I do either.”
• Oliver Larkin [57:07]: “He called it the Ayatollah Protection Act... then purchased Lockheed Martin stock as a sitting member on Foreign Affairs.”
• Emma Vigeland [68:45]: “The attacks on democratic socialism just do not land. People want to be able to afford to live in their city without ICE snatching their neighbors.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:07–10:45: National headlines, Trump corruption, and prosperity gospel politics
• 12:18–19:59: GOP establishment dodges, Rep. Nels's elitism, public service cynicism
• 22:51–27:48: David Sirota on Polis’s clemency scandal and authoritarian drift
• 27:48–34:46: Mela Kiros defeats DeGette – the DSA strategy and generational change
• 36:41–38:48: Gonzalez’s near-upset of Hickenlooper
• 38:48–41:50: Phil Weiser’s anti-establishment victory over Bennet
• 42:02–46:31: National implications for DSA and anti-establishment wave
• 48:21–52:42: Oliver Larkin interview: the state of the Florida Democratic Party
• 52:42–58:42: Moskowitz's record: militarism and self-dealing
• 58:42–63:41: Labor support and AFL-CIO non-endorsement
• 63:42–68:45: Polling, DSA momentum in South Florida, and path to victory

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Conclusion

This episode captures a political environment in flux: establishment power is failing to contain a broad-based, generationally-driven push for grassroots, left-populist governance—most visibly in Colorado and emerging even in “difficult” states like Florida. Both the willingness of progressives to challenge incumbents and the inability of old-guard Democrats to adapt are leading to dramatic upsets and new possibilities for political power, with the Democratic Socialists of America at the forefront of this surge.

The parting message: the time for business as usual is over—on the left and the right. The Majority Report and its guests are here for the fight ahead.

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For more information:

• David Sirota’s reporting: The Lever
• Support Oliver Larkin: oliverforcongress.com (look for the special ActBlue link for Majority Report listeners)
• Full episode archives: Majority.FM

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Transcript

[Emma Vigeland]

It is Thursday, July 2, 2026. My name is Emma Vigeland in for Sam Cedar and this is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, usa. On the program today, David Sirota of the Lever will be with us to discuss the Colorado primary results. And later in the show, Oliver Larkin, DSA candidate challenging incumbent Jarrett Moskowitz in Florida's 25th district will be with us. Is this the next DSA upset? We shall see. Also on the program, AOC endorses Abdul Al said for Senate in Michigan a little over a month before the primary, her first Senate endorsement. The cycle ICE arrest surge detaining 10,000 people in five days. Now under Mark Wayne Mullins jackbooted leadership. Several more people have been sentenced on terrorism charges for protesting in front of the Prairieland ICE facility in Texas, including one sentence of 50 years. Colorado Governor Polis fires members of the clemency board who revealed that the board unanimously opposed freeing election denier Tina Peters. US Job creation numbers slumped in June. A federal judge has blocked Trump's directive to the Postal Service to change its delivery of mail in ballots. Trump's Fourth of July pyrotechnics are expected to cause hazardous levels of pollution around the National Mall.

[Brandon]

Worth it.

[Emma Vigeland]

Mitch McConnell was found unconscious in his home.

[Matt Binder]

No, sorry, it wasn't a joke, just

[Emma Vigeland]

a statement of fact. Why are you laughing? Can't turn a turtle on his back.

[Matt Binder]

Well, he's young for a turtle.

[Emma Vigeland]

He is right. Most tortoises would outlive this guy. He was found unconscious in his home. Belly laugh from Brian before his hospitalization.

[Brian]

Get a little sued, Senator?

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes, thank you, Patriot.

[Brian]

You're back on your feet and back in doing the business of the country.

[Emma Vigeland]

Biden's doj, Trump's DOJ rather is suing Virginia and California for regulating automatic weapon sales. The FBI is also directing an insane amount of resources to investigate. You guessed it, Georgia's 2020 election results. Overnight, Russia killed at least 20 people in Kiev. Nearly 50,000 people are unaccounted for as Venezuela's earthquake death toll tops 2,000. And our sanctions regime is just worsening the suffering. And lastly, today marks 1,000 days since the genocide in Gaza began. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome to the show, everybody. It's an M Majority Report Thursday. Hello, Brian. Hello, Matt. It's going to be mostly me for the month of July because Sam is off doing Hollywood things. You know, he's Recovering from the Jaylen Brown trade. Oh, well, we could talk about that at length maybe. I'm seeing some IMS people noticing how my voice sounds weird. I'm sorry.

[Brian]

I was celebrating the Jill and Brown trade last.

[Emma Vigeland]

I like this running bit that I can't stop drinking, apparently. No, I've, I think it's just that July hit and I turn into a pumpkin and Bill came due. Yeah. And I have a head cold probably because I've been socializing and going out in celebration with all this DSA stuff in the entire month of June, plus the Knicks and everything. So I'm slowing down. I'm sorry if I have this vocal fry, but yeah, I've got a bit of a head cold, so. This week, Trump was forced to file his personal financial disclosure forms. The figures that have come out about his corruption are staggering. Trump added around $2.2 billion to his net worth as president in 2025.

[Matt Binder]

Probably the first time he's actually been a billionaire.

[Emma Vigeland]

Exactly, exactly that. This was the grift this time. You guys vote for me and make me a billionaire and keep me out of jail and I'll tell you whatever you want to hear. And once again, Don, the con, he worked on people, he is one of the greatest con artists in the history of the world. Like, he, he's been able to, to just totally lie to the faces of millions and millions of people and just by the force of his personality and weirdness, gotten them on board. And we should not forget all the prosperity gospel stuff involved.

[Matt Binder]

It seems to only work on this country, though. Well, yeah, he deals with the international stage.

[David Sirota]

He can't con anybody.

[Brian]

I mean, he's really cacheted with like the Qatars and stuff like that too.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, and they're conning them.

[David Sirota]

That's like.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right, right.

[Brian]

Selling influence.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's bribery. Like, in terms of population, like this country is uniquely susceptible, susceptible to a very wealthy person who is a stand in for basically like Jesus or God, who you pledge absolute fealty to. And he takes the form of a deity in wealth. And this is like honestly, what evangelical preachers and televangelists have been conditioning his base to believe in for years and years is that wealth equals goodness. And you should submit yourself to a dear leader and even give away your hard earned money. If you can't afford gas money, give it to the pastor and hand it over because that will bring you closer to God. That's like how Trump, that's the skeleton of the Trump con and with his base. So here's Just a staggering chart from the Financial Times. Is this the one I sent in the chat? No, it's okay. The graph in the, in the chat is pretty good, actually. So you can see here, the Financial Times put this together. It was pretty helpful. Oh, this is the same thing. It's just different color scheme. Got it. So Trump made more than 22,000 stock transactions in 2025. And you can see how like that's

[Brian]

about 60 a day. And can you trade every day? I don't know these things, I mean.

[Emma Vigeland]

And then in 20, it looks like he's continuing to make more. And you just compare it even to the first Trump term, which already was corrupt as hell, and it doesn't look as bad. And Biden, I guess in 2022 only made 13 trades. And that was the year he decided

[Matt Binder]

to cash Amtrak trades.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right.

[Matt Binder]

Let's make some money, Jack. Trades are coming back, man.

[Emma Vigeland]

You just wait.

[Brian]

I mean, I'm the guy not care about that kind of corruption. Like, oh, you're going to invest in rail infrastructure. Yeah, take a little bite, Joe.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right, exactly. So it's. And when you compare it even like to the open and brazen corruption of the Bush administration like Halliburton, remember that? Remember Dick Cheney's involvement with defense contractors? This is pennies compared to what we're talking about here. In 2024, his disclosure revealed that he made at least $622 million. And that was, you know, when he was just like running for president and was out of office. And then now that he's in office the first year, $2.2 billion added to his net worth. Now 1.4 billion of that 2.2 billion was made from cryptocurrency. Here's an article from Bloomberg that kind of summarizes this. Donald Trump, who reversed his early skepticism of crypto to become one of the industry's biggest boosters, reported more crypto related income last year than any publicly traded U.S. digital asset company earned. The 927 page financial disclosure released Tuesday by the U.S. office of Government Ethics showed Trump generated at least $1.4 billion from crypto ventures, including about, excuse me, $594 million from World Liberty Financial, which he and his sons co founded. Roughly $636 million tied to his meme coin business, and nearly $197 million from an equity sale related to stablecoin Holdco. Crypto was by far the largest source of income disclosed in the filing, which also detailed revenue from hotels, golf resorts and other businesses.

[Brian]

Crypto being A money laundering technology. That's how he made all of his money.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, basically. I mean, these are all pump and dumps.

[Brian]

I mean, there's nothing actually of value being created here. It's just money laundering.

[Emma Vigeland]

And Bloomberg hints at this here. Nearly all of Trump's crypto income came from one time token and equity sales rather than recurring operating earnings, which is exactly right. They got in early, they sold it for a profit, and they got out. By contrast, Coinbase Global Incorporated, the Most profitable, profitable US listed crypto platform, reported $1.26 billion in net income last year under public company accounting standards. Trump's disclosure is self reported and follows different reporting rules. But you can see they're like even Coinbase, that's all ridiculous as well, and there's no value being added. But they're not just an open corruption scheme. They, you know, have to report income and they have to, like, make money. In theory, this was all about the Trump family getting in early and then cashing out. World Liberty Financial. For people that may not remember, the nearly $600 million that he made from that, that is the crypto venture run by his sons as well as the Lutnick sons. And World Liberty Financial was sold a 49% stake. So almost half the company was sold to a firm controlled by the ruler of the United Arab Emirates.

[Brian]

Hmm.

[Emma Vigeland]

You would be shocked to know that the UAE is the country that's most eager to normalize relations with Israel and is the one that's considered to be closest to the United States and is really just a place for wealthy capitalists, global capitalists, to park their money. And then there's the meme coins, where he made $636 million from that. The stablecoin, $197 million from that. That's the holding company associated with the World Liberty Financial, stablecoin. He also made money from his real estate holdings. Tens of millions of dollars from those corrupt legal settlements. $80 million is the estimate. And it could be more than that. So this is a problem, I would hope, for the Republicans, because if Democrats are going to make the case that they're the ones that are going to make your life more affordable, they have a very useful villain in the White House who was literally stealing from everybody. So here's Elizabeth Vargas of News Nation. She had Mike Lawler on. Representative Mike Lawler of New York, who's a Republican, and she gets kind of like visibly frustrated as Lawler tries to skirt around answering her question about Trump making $2 billion in his first year in Office.

[Elizabeth Vargas]

As you know, affordability is the number one issue, Congressman, for Americans right now. A majority of them say they continue to struggle to make ends meet. More than half of Americans say they can't afford to go out for a nice dinner. And in the middle of this affordability Congress, President Trump revealed in mandatory financial disclosure forms that he and his family reaped in $2 billion in his first year in office. The president denies he's cashing in on the presidency, but that number is stunning. More than all the presidents in U.S. history combined. Is that going to make it harder for Republicans like you to argue that he has their affordability first in mind and not his own?

[Mike Lawler]

Look, I've been very clear from my vantage point, being in elected office is a great honor. It is a service. I am one of the few members of Congress that does not trade stocks. I probably have among the lowest net worth of, of any member, and I'm fine with that because I'm not interested in making money off of my constituents or this job. I'm interested in doing the job and serving my constituents. The fact is, when you look at these issues, and housing is just the latest example where I led on this bill with Chairman Hill and Chairman Flood, six of my housing bills are in this package that will become law whether the President signs it or not. And I am deeply focused on the issues that matter to my constituents and how to make it more affordable for them. You know, living in New York, I can tell you one party Democratic rule in New York has not resulted in affordability. Utility rates are up 58%. You didn't answer.

[Elizabeth Vargas]

Yeah, you didn't answer my question. You don't see a problem with the President of the United States making $2 billion in his first year in office?

[Mike Lawler]

As I said, I don't think people should be profiting in office.

[Elizabeth Vargas]

So he shouldn't be profiting.

[Mike Lawler]

Nobody should. Nancy Pelosi shouldn't. She's made, you know, billions upon millions of dollars. I said nobody should.

[Brian]

He wanted to say billions. So bad for Pelosi.

[Emma Vigeland]

I know, but you can't, buddy. You can't. We're talking about another level here.

[Brian]

Different order of magnitude.

[Matt Binder]

Sorry, Mike.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's because I'm smart.

[Elizabeth Vargas]

So he shouldn't be profiting.

[Mike Lawler]

Nobody should. Nancy Pelosi shouldn't. She's made, you know, millions upon millions of dollars. I said nobody should.

[Elizabeth Vargas]

You haven't said his name yet. He said a lot of Democrats names.

[Mike Lawler]

Whether it's the president or, you know, former Speaker Pelosi, nobody should be making millions upon millions of dollars or billions of dollars. Obviously the President has, you know, existing businesses that his sons are operating and they continue to. But the fact is that from my vantage point, I am focused on my constituents and the work that we are doing to deliver for them. Congress.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, wrap it up, wrap it up. He still never said. You never said Trump. You don't say Trump and that's fine by me. Keep the Trump name out of your mouth, Mike. And so he just said the president coward quivering in his little boots. As a contrast, this is another Republican, Representative Nels, who's a bit more honest, I think, about where the Republicans are on this issue of affordability. This is the reality of what Republicans, how they actually feel about public service, what they feel like they were, where they feel they are in the hierarchy of American life. And they're essentially just kind of spitting in voters faces at this point.

[Brian]

And I would just say Nels was previously a cop. So it's not like he made like a whole bunch of money in private industry either before this.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, of course. Right.

[Brian]

I think he's a vet.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, that's why they go to, I mean, truly, that's why they go to Congress to get rich.

[Matt Binder]

Actually, real quick, how do House Republicans

[Emma Vigeland]

make the case that you're fighting for affordability when you go back to your districts?

[Representative Nels]

Affordability?

[Matt Binder]

What are you talking about, affordability?

[Representative Nels]

I'm going tomorrow. I'm going to well over the fourth. I'm going to give me a couple big lobster tails. I'm going to get me some nice ribeyes. I'm going to sit in my backyard with my family, my neighbors, and we're going to be enjoying the 4th, celebrating 250 years, the birthday. We're going to be celebrating the greatest president in my lifetime, Donald J. Trump. Maybe watch some fireworks. Won't be up here. It's going to be too hot, right. And I'm in bed at 11 o'. Clock. I heard the fireworks. Ain't going off till 11 o' clock Eastern on the 4th of July. I probably have to sleep through that riffing. But listen, everybody understands you're going to see a little increase in energy prices because of Iran. I mean, come on, people aren't stupid. You realize that when you have a conflict, Iran. But I think in the end, the short term increase in some of the costs of energy, Gas, gasoline and stuff, is temporary. But President Trump has made it very clear to these companies, don't be gouging, don't price.

[Emma Vigeland]

All right, all right, all Right. Everything is a. Oh, wait, did he say that?

[Oliver Larkin]

There's a.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yes, yes, yes. Okay, I forgot about this part. Keep going.

[Representative Nels]

Price gouging. I mean, energy. What? Oil was at 69 bucks the other day

[Emma Vigeland]

once for the mistress.

[Representative Nels]

So we got to do that. We have to do that. And I think that, that the. The overall and objective is to make sure Iran never has nuclear weapons. So I'm okay with the, with the, with the increase in fuel.

[Matt Binder]

Because you knew it was going to

[Representative Nels]

happen with, obviously with oil and the straight and everything. But it's a temporary. It's a temporary issue.

[Oliver Larkin]

You think 60% of Americans who are

[David Sirota]

living paycheck to paycheck can afford lobster tails and ribeyes and all of that?

[Representative Nels]

Maybe not. Maybe the. Maybe the 60% of America don't work as hard as I do either. I mean, I don't know.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, yeah. I guess it's a meritocracy up there in Congress. That's why the Trump boys are so rich.

[Matt Binder]

Another ad for Talarico.

[Emma Vigeland]

They work so hard at finding the right connect for Coke.

[Brian]

The only thing this guy works hard at is glazing Trump, as the kids say. He's the type of guy who, like, all he does is go to Congress and say, oh, we should change the name from Dulles Airport to Trump Airport, which shouldn't be called Dulles Airport. Those guys are bad.

[Emma Vigeland]

But Nels is like. I mean, they don't call it a job for nothing.

[Brian]

Yeah. And he's like, previously, he's like, oh, yeah, whatever Trump says about to him. So I'm good. He doesn't think for himself. This is not like someone to look up to. This is like, cretin.

[Emma Vigeland]

Gotta say, members of Congress work fewer days out of, like, less than half of the days out of the year. I mean, if you're somebody, a member, I'm not trying. I think that, like, those are workdays in D.C. and I.

[Brandon]

If.

[Emma Vigeland]

If this guy is just going back to his district and the rest of those days he's doing constituent services. I mean, I'll eat my hat, but, like, there are members like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who has a great constituent services office, Ilhan Omar, who are doing that, who are going back to their district and are doing work in that area, but he's not doing that. He's not doing that. I mean, this is how they view public service so cynically. And I think that's part of what's been so refreshing about Mamdani as a man of the people. And people seeing that in action, how governing doesn't just need to be a way for people to enrich themselves or to get prestige or to move up. There can actually be public service that's involved here. And that is the contrast, I think. But the Democrats, many of them eschewed that opportunity by refusing to endorse and embrace Mamdani. But this is where we could be if the party was much more oriented towards that kind of politics.

[Brian]

Does Christian Gillibrand have a leg to stand on when it comes to talking about cryptocurrency?

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, or corruption. Her son just graduated college and out the gate, what? He got a $30 million investment from one of the companies that she's supposed to be in charge of regulating.

[Brian]

That's merit.

[Emma Vigeland]

So leave our party. Get the hell out. You are creating a condition where fascism is on the rise with your hypocrisy and with your inability to confront the very corrupting influences that are also influencing you.

[Brian]

I would also point out on the other side of the aisle, it's nice to see Glenn Greenwald focus on the corruption of Trump. I think he's a. He can do good rhetorical attacks on it. Be nice to emphasize the crypto part of that a little bit more. Yeah, but, you know, take what we can get.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's funny. In a moment, we're going to be talking to David Sirota, and that moment is coming up soon because we have no ads today. I guess I'm that much of a loose cannon. The ad people heard how I'm speaking today and how awful it sounds, and they were like, jesus, we don't want that associated with our.

[David Sirota]

Gonna make ZocDoc.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, right. Our product. So we'll be talking to David Sirota in just a moment. Be right back. We are back, and we are joined now by the great David Sirota, friend of the show, phenomenal journalist, founder and editor of the Lever, based in Denver. David, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

[David Sirota]

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

[Emma Vigeland]

Of course. Good to see you. And good to talk to you when we have a lot of good news to unpack out of Colorado with these results. But before we get there, I wanted to talk to you about some news that we got this morning about Jared Polis, who is the governor of Colorado, obviously a favorite of the abundance crowd. He just fired two Democratic members of Colorado's Clemency Advisory Board. These were. They were previously public defenders. They're lawyers in Colorado, and they were a part of this board that determines Whether or not people should be granted clemency and they resign. They wrote an op ed, basically, I think it was in the Denver Post, revealing that the board had unanimously opposed freeing this election denier, Tina Peters, and Polis did it anyway. Take us through that news and what you're hearing in Colorado this morning.

[David Sirota]

Right. So Jared Polis made this controversial, to say the least, decision to pardon, free Tina Peters, overturning essentially an entire judicial process and doing so under intensifying rhetorical threats from the Trump administration. And these folks essentially whose job it is is to make recommendations about clemency. These folks had criticized this decision, and Polis apparently didn't appreciate the criticism and is trying to shut down the discourse by firing them. Now it's his prerogative to fire them. That's his power, just like it's his power to issue the clemency to Tina Peters. But I think it's kind of like the icing on the cake here. You make a decision to the bully makes a demand for you to make a mockery out of your judicial process. You do that, you get criticized for it. People on the inside of your administration whose whole job is expertise on this particular set of issues say, hey, this wasn't a great decision, and now you're sort of shutting down debate. Dare I say that this is quite Trumpish, right? This is very, very Trumpy.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, it's on Trump's behalf, so you might as well steal his moves. Right?

[David Sirota]

Exactly, Exactly. And the thing is, is like, look, I'm not even gonna. I mean, I guess it's worth reminding us that Colorado is a very blue state. So doing this in a blue state kind of adds insult to injury. But even if you separate out the politics of Colorado, I think it really sets a genuinely dangerous precedent that if a president starts threatening governors with retribution on behalf of their political allies, threatening in a way that demands a state invalidate its judicial process.

[Representative Nels]

Right.

[David Sirota]

The idea that doing that will mollify the bully is ridiculous. What we know about bullies is you cannot negotiate with them, you shouldn't try to negotiate with them. And in fact, giving them what they want, I would argue as a good chance of emboldening them. You have said, hey, the next time you want something, just do the same thing.

[Emma Vigeland]

You can see how you can be, like, collaborative behind the scenes, like how Zoran Mamdani was able to appeal to Trump by talking about New York City zoning, maybe find that pet issue. But in terms of, like, core issues of justice and clemency and governance. Governance, you know, Zoran never gave an inch to Trump on that front. And it's such a stark contrast with Polis, who didn't just bend over backwards to appease Trump. He retaliated against people for speaking out about the honest dealings or their honest perception on that board of how he capitulated to him. He's also trying to cover it up and he's not even going to be in office that much longer.

[David Sirota]

Yeah, well, it seems to me this is a little bit about legacy or really a lot about legacy where it's like maybe if the presumption is the public's memory is five minutes long, right? Like we forget our whole world every five or ten minutes that the more there is criticism, the more it potentially means that the Tina Peters situation becomes Jared Polis legacy. I think the political problem for Jared Polis, if he's worried about his legacy, is firing the people on your clemency board for criticizing you actually makes it a bigger story. Right. It takes what was a one day op ed and now makes it not only to Jared Polis capitulate to Trump with the pardon, with the clemency. Now he's like shutting down criticism of it. Like, it is not a great way to go out.

[Emma Vigeland]

I would agree with you. I would agree with you. All right, well, let's turn to the positive news here. So Mila Kiros defeated Diana to get the final numbers are in and it's what, like 12, 13 points? It was not close at all. Milott was a phenomenal candidate the cycle. I interviewed her quite a bit because I just really believed in her candidacy. She hits on some like she's a former lawyer so she can argue in that way. But she's also DSA and like was fired from her law firm and then became a barista after that because she wrote a post criticizing the suppression of speech of students who were protesting the genocide. So she has just so many different, like I think, skills and talents as a politician. And she was on Chris Hayes's show last night and Hayes asked her about why she decided to run against Diana DeGette. Now, there were a lot of Democrats, establishment Democrats, waiting in the wings for Diana DeGette to just retire. Mela Kiro said, I'm not waiting, I'm going to primary her. And Hayes is asking why she chose to do so. And this is what Kiro said last night on Ms. Now,

[Mike Lawler]

you talked about the money that had flowed into the incumbent.

[Oliver Larkin]

I ended up, you know, one thing

[Mike Lawler]

that I noted and I've covered her for A long time she's been in Congress. She voted against the Iraq war. She was a member of the Progressive Caucus.

[Representative Nels]

She's not.

[Mike Lawler]

I wouldn't. She's not really a conservative Democrat. She's been a pretty progressive Democrat. Look at her voting record. What was it about her record that I think some people and I think she herself probably looked at and said, hey, I'm a pretty progressive member of Congress that you found so intolerable you wanted to unseat her?

[Mela Kiros]

You know, it's not the congresswoman herself. It's the campaign finance system that has incentivized members of Congress like Diana Deget to take millions of dollars from big pharma, big energy and oil defense contractors. At the end of the day, the reason why we are not seeing legislation like Medicare for All and universal childcare and an arms embargo on Israel passed despite a super majority of support from the voters of this party is because when corporations and special interests donate to campaigns, it's not that they're going to get an immediate return with legislation that is favored for them. Sometimes the return that they get is stalling on legislation that would actually make a meaningful difference for families. And so at the end of the day, the only way we can trust that the Congress members are actually fighting for that kind of legislation is to not be taking money from the very corporations and special interests that do not want to see that kind of legislation from. In fact, the National Nurses United policy director said as much about the Congresswoman's co sponsorship of Medicare for All while also taking money from the very health insurance companies that would be legislated out of existence. We can't trust that that kind of donations coming in for Congress members isn't going to result in some kind of return. And sometimes that return is that we're not actually going to get anything done.

[Emma Vigeland]

That was a perfect answer. And the way she framed it about it's absolutely accurate. There are so many co sponsors of Medicare for All. I mean, in the Senate, Kamala Harris was a co sponsor of Medicare for All, but she doesn't support Medicare for All. It's a way to have like a kind of a cheap win on your resume or even your voting record. It's also about the absence of what you're of a lack of fight on a variety of different issues that she mentions there. I found Chris's use of the word intolerable to be a little odd because anybody has the right to run if they choose to. And the voters in Denver decided that yes, she was A lot more tolerable than Diana DeGette, who, frankly, from my understanding, David. Yeah, she has. She's a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She voted against the Iraq war. But the issue has large, more largely been about her kind of relying on seniority and not being a very active member of Congress at all.

[David Sirota]

Yeah, I mean, look, to understand Diana DeGette's political formula, it was very simple, very straightforward, and it worked for 30 years. And her formula was to not be all that present in the community, to rely on the power of incumbency to get reelected and more specifically, to vote a relatively progressive line and with the assurance that it would be difficult for any candidate, any prospective challenger, to. To get to her proverbial left to grab onto an issue and say, you voted the wrong way on this. I'm running my whole campaign against this. We have seen campaigns like that where a candidate, I mean, I worked for Ned Lamont when he ran against Joe Lieberman. And the centerpiece of that campaign was Joe Lieberman's explicit votes for the Iraq war. And Ned Lamont won his primary. Joe Lieberman ended up running as an independent. The point being that we've gotten used to campaigns where a candidate casts a set of bad votes and the campaigns become about those votes. Deget, I think for a long time deftly avoided that trap by having a decent voting record. But I think what Malot said is also true. That the lack of presence in the community, the lack of a perception that the votes are followed by an actual effort, actual fighting for the stated ideals, that perception, I think, became, is real. It became powerful in Denver, in our community here. But I also think, like, we can get one level simpler here. There is a generational change element to this that just. It's not a very sexy topic. It's not a very hard to understand topic. It's hard to kind of pontificate about it because it's so simple. But like, Diana DeGette had been there for three, 30 years, which is essentially, it's pretty ridiculous. And at a time of generational demands for change and a generation younger generations feeling completely underrepresented, all of these things came together to deliver the results that Denver delivered.

[Emma Vigeland]

And remember when David Hogg was kicked out of the DNC because he wanted to address this very core question about gerontocracy and seniority? It was mostly about that it was less ideological. I mean, I'm sure it was about corporate money, too. They wish they were having that fight right now. They wish that they were having the fight with what? On David Hogg's terms? It's now on DSA's terms. Bitch.

[David Sirota]

That's right. And look, I think that again, the generational wave here is really important. And I should mention Diana DeGette. I think when she finally woke up to the fact that this was gonna be a race, she made exactly the most out of touch, wrong last minute decision, which her final pitch to voters here was, I've been in Congress so long, I'm going to be the chairperson of the relevant committee that deals with Medicare for all and so don't vote me out. Which underneath that argument is I've been here for so long and I haven't done the thing that I promise I now will do, which is underscoring the idea that she'd been there too long.

[Mela Kiros]

Right.

[Emma Vigeland]

Exactly right. Let's turn then to Gonzalez vs. Hickenlooper. She gave him a bit of a scare. Now, Gonzalez was a former DSA member. She left DSA prior to challenging Hickenlooper. And you know, that meant that she kind of had to build her name recognition up from the ground up without an organizing infrastructure behind her. She made the calculation that having the DSA back her statewide would be more of a negative for her because it's not just in Denver, a really core blue, deep blue area like Melot, where Mehlat was running. It's going to maybe be a little bit touchy outside of urban centers. But she got really close without that. And you have to wonder if she had some infrastructure behind her, if that would have been able to put her over the top. What's your assessment about that race and how, you know, Hickenlooper got a bit of a scare here.

[David Sirota]

So my assessment is actually a little different. My view is that John Hickenlooper was the weakest Democratic Senate nominee in the United States, the most easy to defeat. And I think a lot of people spent a lot of time looking and trying to encourage people to get into that race. Colorado has an extremely extraordinarily, really top down, wait your turn, rule following norms, following Democratic Party culture. And voters have for a very long time, up until perhaps now, have rewarded that. And so a candidate did not emerge and Julie Gonzalez got in. In my view, I'm glad she ran. She's a great legislator, she's a great person. But I think she got in a little too late. She was in getting in so late she wasn't able to raise enough resources quickly enough to allow the campaign to simmer and reach the boiling point. If There had been another few weeks, another month, this might have been a completely different race.

[Emma Vigeland]

Maillotte's been running for over a year, for example.

[David Sirota]

Exactly, exactly. And so John Hickenlooper was the most vulnerable member of the Senate, having voted more for Trump nominees than any other Democrat based on their state's voting electorate. Democratic our state is. And John Hickenlooper is now the most lucky Democratic nominee in the United States. I want to be very clear. It is a complete and total embarrassment for the state of Colorado and for the Democratic electorate to have renominated this person who has basically nothing to offer campaigns on. Basically nothing, has voted more for Trump nominees than any Democrat in a similar state. It is an embarrassment to the political class of this state. It is a huge missed opportunity. And it is the kind of missed opportunity that everyone in progressive and Democratic politics in this state should feel somewhat ashamed of.

[Emma Vigeland]

There's going to be another opportunity in 2028 though, right when Bennett's term ends. So I guess that's also a way to tie in Michael Bennett's historic loss to Weiser in the primary for governor. How do you. This pair of senators in Colorado just, you know, got a pretty resounding rebuke. Even though Hickenlooper is going to be the nominee. He had a real scare. And Bennett was just rejected in a primary. He still has a year and a half left in his term. But rejected in the primary for governor.

[David Sirota]

Yeah. So that was, to my mind, the other marquee race in this state, Phil Weiser versus Michael Bennett. And Bill Weiser ran a genuinely anti establishment campaign. I want to be clear, Phil Weiser is a, is progressive. Phil Weiser is, I wouldn't call him a Bernie style progressive populist, but he is a progressive and he certainly was cast and in the progressive, anti establishment lane in that race against Michael Bennett. I also want to be clear that I think Michael Bennett, to distinguish him from John Hickenlooper, at least talks about issues like healthcare, economic inequality as distinct from John Hickenlooper. They're not exactly the same. But I do think Michael, the rejection of Michael Bennett is a big, big deal, especially in Colorado where these kinds of things almost never happen. Michael Bennett was an appointed senator, was promising to appoint his. His successors. It was a campaign essentially run out of a big money super PAC with out of state billionaires. So he ran an incredibly establishment aligned campaign. And Phil Weiser, I think, maximized his candidacy as the anti establishment choice. And I think a lot of voters, I said this on social media this was, I think, less or as much a rejection or maybe even lesser rejection of one particular senator than an entire way of doing politics, than a rejection of the entire elite system of how politics works in this state. And I think Phil Weiser on election night, claiming the mandate, this is very important, claiming an election mandate, of saying explicitly the future of Colorado will not be decided by out of state billionaires. What's great about that is to create is for the gubernatorial nominee to frame the election as a rejection of oligarchy. And I think that's what it was. And what happens to Michael Bennett in the future if he runs for Senate again? I very much expect a primary challenge to him. If he runs again, I think the race has essentially upended that race. Phil Weiser winning has upended the entire state of politics at the statewide level in Colorado.

[Emma Vigeland]

And that begs the question, how much of this is not just a rejection that we're seeing nationally of the Democratic establishment? How much of it is a rejection of. Yes, that. But also Jared Polis.

[David Sirota]

Oh, I think that was absolutely a part of this. And to be clear, both Michael Bennett and Phil Weiser seriously criticized the governor for that decision. I mean, at one point, Michael Bennett was saying. Because Michael Bennett was saying he's going to appoint the senator if he won the gubernatorial race. If I remember correctly, Michael Bennett was like, there's one person who I'm not appointing. It's Jared Polis. Right. So Jared Polis is essentially politically Persona non grata here, out of step completely with the state. And I want to go back to this point, which is that I think I have lived in Colorado for 20 years, 19 plus, technically, 20 very soon now. I have never seen the state, the electorate of this state, so resoundingly reject the top down, wait your turn. Establishment politics of this state's Democratic Party. I just, I can't overstate how much of a contrast this is. And clearly it's part of a national wave. But the thing is, what I'm getting at is if it's happening in a place like Colorado, where voters have so consistently voted to fortify the Democratic Party establishment and have taken orders from the Democratic Party establishment, if it's happening here, it is a sign that it can happen absolutely anywhere.

[Emma Vigeland]

That would be a great segue to our next guest because we're gonna have Oliver Larkin on from Florida. But I did have one more question for you, because when you talk about the wait your turn. Politics, you know, part of why Mela Quiros was able to win this primary was because of, as you say, you know, her accurately framing Diana deget as not being very present in the district, as well as with all of this outside money coming in, including APAC shell money or pro Israel money, including pro big tech money that was spending on her behalf.

[Brian]

Half.

[Emma Vigeland]

How much of deget's lack of presence. And perhaps you could extend this to both Hickenlooper and Bennett here. Maybe that's not fair. Maybe we'll just keep it on DeGette. How much of DeGet's lack of presence in the community do you think also informs her inability to keep up with, like, the wave of we don't want this blood money from the genocide anymore? And also data centers are unanimously, like, unpopular across partisan. People are pissed off. How much of that was her not being in her district and just not knowing what her own voters wanted?

[David Sirota]

Yeah, and I would extend that to John Hickenlooper as well.

[Mike Lawler]

So you're right.

[David Sirota]

Yeah, you can't. The money, the establishment power and the lack of presence all go together. Essentially. People like them, they get comfortable assuming that they can simply buy their way out of whatever political problems are happening at home, not worrying that if they get out of step on this or that issue, that they won't simply be able to just overwhelm an election with money. And honestly, in the past, that hasn't been an illogical bet. Like, it's an immoral bet, but it's not like, illogical. Right. I think now what we're seeing is that the anger, and let's be specific here and precise, we have never, in my lifetime, at least if you look at polls, we have never lived through a period in which the Democratic electorate, the average liberal voter, is this explicitly angry, not just at the Republicans, but at their own party's leaders? So this is a totally new reality that we're in where the old formulas do not work. So, yes, if you're relying on the old formula, hey, I'll just be able to get my donors to give me a ton of money and buy the election for me if I ever get in trouble back at home. Okay, if that no longer works, then suddenly being out of step with your district on this or that issue, you can't just cure that with money because people are tuned in and they are pissed off and they are motivated, truly.

[Emma Vigeland]

Last question. This is from a viewer. Rural left, he said, would you ask David if Bennett's former job as a public school superintendent of Denver affected his primary governor or Bennett just didn't have the same name recognition as a state official.

[David Sirota]

Yeah, look, Phil Weiser on the campaign trail, I think was much more aligned, I think, with the teachers union, the education community because of some of the things that Michael Bennett did in the Denver school district. I mean, those memories die hard. Those are long memories that I think people in Denver remember. I mean, remember. Look at the results, specifically in Denver, where Michael Bennett was the school superintendent in a very tumultuous tenure. Phil. However, the margins that he racked up in Denver are extremely big, and I do think it's connected in part to that issue.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, David Sirota, the Lever is one of the essential publications right now calling out corruption in our government as well as just like great political journalism across the board. We will put a link to that wherever people are listening to this or watching this. And Majority fm, David Sirota, my friend, great to see you. Thanks so much for. Thank you.

[David Sirota]

Thanks so much for having me, Emma. Appreciate it.

[Emma Vigeland]

Of course. All right, guys, quick break. And when we come back, we are going to be joined by Oliver Larkin, who is running in Florida's 25th congressional district. Could this be the next DSA upset? We shall see. We are back. And we are joined now by Oliver Larkin, activist, union organizer and Democratic socialist who is challenging incumbent Jared Moskowitz in Florida's 25th congressional district. Oliver, welcome to the show.

[Oliver Larkin]

Thanks so much for having me on, Emma.

[Emma Vigeland]

Of course, it's been a long time coming and you're gaining some momentum right now as people start realizing that democratic socialism isn't that scary. Tell us about what you're hearing from people in this district in Florida's 25th. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about the district as well and how young people are starting to get engaged in this race in particular.

[Oliver Larkin]

Yeah. This is a coastal South Florida district. After redistricting, we now include Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade Counties, from the coastline from Miami beach all the way up to Delray Beach. And people are really excited. I think ever since I started campaigning. I announced a year ago yesterday would go to these indivisible protests. It was right on the heels of Zoran Mamdani winning the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. And people were so excited by that and really seeing some hope and optimism. And I remember going to these protests and rallies last year, and I was oftentimes the youngest person there. And people would ask me, where are the young people? Where are the young people? And as a longtime member of the Democratic Socialists of America, I've been a Broward DSA member for years and joined the organization in 2020. I would tell these indivisible rally goers like, like young people are organizing too. We're just doing it outside of the confines of the institutions of the Democratic Party that have really let us down, especially in states like Florida. And so I was at a Miami Beach Dems town hall last week and was asked about running as a Democratic socialist in South Florida. And I said, look, we're in a closed primary state. Young people are overwhelmingly registering as independents. They're rejecting the two party system. But what we're giving them a reason to do is positively engage in the Democratic Party process. Not dissimilar to what we've seen with Mayor Mamdani, with Dariel Issa and Claire in New York City, with Chris Raab in Philadelphia, with Melat Kiros in Colorado. And it's really essential if we're going to make the Democratic Party one that can endure and sustain itself and get back to competitiveness statewide and places like Florida.

[Emma Vigeland]

I love how you're appealing to their desire to get more registered Democrats. I mean, this is how you actually build power is that you have to set up like a situation where people go like, what's in it for me? The Democratic establishment in the area, what's in it for me?

[Jared Moskowitz]

What?

[Emma Vigeland]

I mean, we've railed against the Florida Democratic Party for quite a while on this show how they've abdicated their responsibility to this state. What's your assessment of why the Florida Democratic Party has collapsed and been really such a total failure for the entire 21st century?

[Oliver Larkin]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's collapsed and failed because it feels like it has to be Republican light. I mean, we went from nominating a Bernie Sanders endorsed Medicare for all supporting nominee for governor in 2018 and Andrew Gillum who came within a percentage point of beating Ron DeSantis. And then four years later we're nominating a former Republican in Charlie Crist who gets blown out by 20 points. I'm running to represent Broward Palm beach in Miami Dade county, the highest Democratic voter registration counties in the state of Florida. And I'm running against someone in the person of Jared Moskowitz, who's positively identifying himself as a two time Ron DeSantis Democrat, two time appointee, the first Democrat in Congress to join Doge, the only Florida Democrat to vote for the Lake and Riley Act. And I really lay the responsibility at representatives like Jared Moskowitz's feet for being so involved in depressing Democratic base turnout by pretending to be a Republican. And I think that that preconception that the Florida Democratic Party needs to cater to the right has just depressed turnout. And voters are going to choose the real thing. I mean, they can sniff it out. When we passed a $15 minimum wage amendment in 2020 with over 60% of the vote, the Florida Democratic Party couldn't even fully embrace and associate itself with that fight. So I think they've just failed to have the courage to really provide a strong contrast, and they feel like they need to be the exact same. Also, as a union organizer, I mean, the FDP has busted its staff union. They've really gone after workers and, you know, made it an inhospitable climate in which to organize. And Florida's already, you know, tough terrain, and the Democratic Party in the state hasn't made it any easier. So we're providing a real alternative to that.

[Emma Vigeland]

Let's now that you mentioned Jared Moskowitz and his horrific record of capitulating to the Republicans. I mean, he was the first Democrat to join the Doge caucus before even the new term had started at the end of 2024, he saw Trump one, he said, please, sir, let me be a part of this. Me and Mr. Elon Musk, I want to destroy the federal government as well. Your YouTube channel put together this compilation of this guy. We should also mention one of the most supportive members of Congress in terms of Israel's genocide. And there that'll be apparent in this video. I'm sure it will be. Here is Jared Moskowitz and some of his lowlife rights.

[Jared Moskowitz]

An offensive action the United States pledges to defend makes an offensive action the United States pledges. No, I don't support cuts to the agency, and I don't support defunding. If Israel makes an offensive action, the United States pledges to defend Israel. And so if that, if that's what the Trump doctrine is on that, I think that would be satisfactory. That if Israel decides to go make a strike, that the United States will pledge to defend Israel from any Iranian response. So the Iran Revolutionary Guard should be deemed a terrorist organization. That's all that they do. Quite frankly, there's no reason why that hasn't been named. This has come up previously before.

[Matt Binder]

Would you be happy with Elon Musk or Rupert Murdoch owning TikTok?

[Jared Moskowitz]

Well, it's better than China. It's unacceptable for Iran to get a nuclear weapon. We all say that it's unacceptable. But what are we willing to do about that? I think maybe more joint military exercises in the Middle East, I think showing maybe the Iranian regime the military capabilities we have in the Middle east by doing maybe some weapons tests out there. They need to understand what we're willing to do, and then we do the diplomacy. When I went to go work for Ron DeSantis for two and a half years, I led the entire Covid response for the state of Florida. When I think we got Covid. Right. More than any the other 49 states. Listen, it is as bad as it can be, but it is not a concentration camp.

[Matt Binder]

I would like.

[Emma Vigeland]

Oh, my God. Okay, okay. I think we get some of the gist, truly. If you had taken the, like the indicator that he was a Democrat out and I didn't know anything about Jared Moskowitz, I would think that was a compilation of like a. A standard Republican like Mike Lawler. Yeah, yeah.

[Oliver Larkin]

Well, someone who Jared Moskowitz loves to appear alongside in media. I mean, the number of times that he's appeared with Mike Lawler, I would be very interested, in fact, if he's willing to endorse the Democratic nominee that's running to flip that seat in New York. 17. I've been in communication with Fe Philip Staley, who I know has been on the program and really ran a strong campaign speaking out for Palestinian self determination and against this US Military aid that we provide unconditionally to Israel. No, Jared Moskowitz is. I think he's had a D next to his name because he's run in Broward county and his. You know, he just got picked when he was 25 years old to run for political office. His late father was an enormously influential lobbyist and Democratic Party power player. So this is someone who's had a glide path for 20 years in office and feels like he has license to really do whatever he wants and not be accountable to any Democratic voters because he's never really had a competitive primary until now.

[Emma Vigeland]

Matt's pulling this up here. Here they are working together. This is the.

[Brian]

This is January of this year. A press release from Mike Lawler. Lawler Moskowitz introduced bill to US Funding for UN Agencies that illegally expel Israel.

[Jared Moskowitz]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigeland]

Jared Moskowitz is a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus. We made fun of them very recently because these are just a bunch of centrists like Josh Gottheimer. And mostly when you look at this caucus, we saw there were 22 Democrats that joined in voting against Rashida Tlaib's resolution to attempt to curb Israel's actions in Lebanon of ethnic cleansing. And Moskowitz and the rest of that crew, the problem Solvers Centrists, of course, curiously, they all are the ones that signed the letter about how we love capitalism and we hate socialists. Like they all were the ones that were supporting Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign in Lebanon. Moskowitz was one of them.

[Oliver Larkin]

Yeah, and I think it's directly tied. You know, this has come up a few times. We talk about Elon Musk.

[Matt Binder]

Musk.

[Oliver Larkin]

He's taken the $10,000 corporate pack check from SpaceX. We talk about Josh Gottheimer. He's gotten the corporate or the leadership pact check from Josh gottheimer. And as he's supported and him and gottheimer came out opposed to the Ro Khan and Thomas Massie War Powers Resolution. Jared Moskowitz called it the Ayatollah Protection Act. I don't think it was a coincidence that he purchased Lockheed Martin stock four times as a sitting member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And then, and Trump launches these illegal strikes with Jared Moskowitz's permission slip and Lockheed Martin hits an all time high on the stock market the Monday after the strikes and he's continued to purchase defense stocks. So someone who's literally, you know, he's talking about what we're capable of, I guess we're capable of murdering schoolchildren in Iran, in a girls school in Minob. And Jared Moskowitz is personally profiting from it. Not dissimilar to the way that he's profiting from the apartheid, what I would call Jim Crow in Palestine. I mean when this vote came up in the U.S. senate and 40 out of 47 Senate Democrats opposed the sale of Caterpillar equipment when Donald Trump was having his trade war with China and had Liberation Day, quote unquote. On April 7, 2025, Jared Moskowitz purchased Caterpillar stock which has returned 175% in the time since he purchased it. So you know, just a really disgusting like not only the ideological kind of antagonism towards any kind of like, like human rights based framework that the United States and our members of Congress should be supporting, but also someone who's literally making money off of this. It's just so foul and contemptible and I think it's why voters are going to be ready to reject it on August 18th.

[Emma Vigeland]

Caterpillar manufactures the militarized bulldozers that have been paving over Palestinian bodies to hide evidence in Gaza and also are critically used to bulldoze homes in the west bank for Israel's ethnic cleansing and that part of the world. Now yesterday I read this article in the Miami Herald about you that you were able to convince Florida's AFL cio, the largest federation of labor unions in the state, to not endorse one sitting Democratic member of Congress. They endorse every other incumbent Democrat except Jared Moskowitz. What do you, what did you say to these labor leaders to convince them that. That they haven't. They're just not endorsing in this race so far is what it seems like. But to at the very least not endorse Jared Moskowitz as the only incumbent Democrat who they couldn't get behind.

[Oliver Larkin]

Yeah. The day started at five o' clock in the morning. My campaign manager and I drove up to Orlando to the AFL CIO Committee on Political Education convention where they discuss their endorsements. And we had a fact sheet, we had actually a multi page fact sheet because there's a lot that Jared Moskowitz has done opposed to the labor movement. Anytime that a delegate would step out of the room where they were deliberating and hearing from candidates, Jared Moskowitz didn't bother to show up there, by the way. Of course he didn't. But we were on our feet for about 10 hours and just any time that a delegate had two or three minutes, they were stepping out for a water break or a smoke break, you know, Tell them. Did you know that Jared Moskowitz endorsed a Moms for Liberty School Board candidate who was a Ron DeSantis appointee to the Broward County School Board? Someone in the person of Tori Alston, who's now president of Broward College, which is at an impasse in contract negotiations with United Faculty of Florida, I mean, the UFF and, you know, Florida Education association staff, you know, they're really on the front lines of, you know, DeSantis attack on freedom of speech, on, you know, the book bans on gender identity and sexual orientation, you know, being expressed in schools. Also with these 287 agreements that, you know, in Florida, it looks very differently than, you know, Illinois or California where you've got ICE agents or Minneapolis, you know, descending down into the state. We just have these deputized local municipal police forces and even campus police that are doing ICE's mass detention and deportation for them. You know, Jared Moskowitz personally recommended, wrote the letter of recommendation for Adam Hasner, a former Florida House Republican majority leader and executive vice president of the GEO Group Private Prison Corporation, which is headquartered in our district in Boca Raton. Jared Moskowitz recommended this person to become president of Florida Atlantic University, the largest public university in our district. How Are we having a Democratic member of Congress recommending a private prison executive? Toledo University? I mean, it makes me so mad. And I know as well the, you know, the students and faculty feel the same way. So we just had a number of delegates. You know, whether it was my brothers and sisters in cwa, I organized my workplace with the News Guild Communication Workers of America back in 2018. You know, we had members talking about the power of possibly electing one of their own, you know, of the labor movement to Congress, the AFGE workers, the Social Security workers that have had, you know, a reduction in force order of 8,000 Social Security workers at a time when we have a rapidly aging population and more and more people are relying on these benefits. I mean, the Doge effort has just been so detrimental. But it's, you know, but one piece of a much larger, you know, how are you going to take the corporate PAC checks from management and then say you're on the side of the workers. The association of Builders and Contractors, which is, you know, part of the housing unaffordability in Florida. Jared Moskowitz not only, you know, privately consulted and made millions of dollars from Lennar Homes, which if you go on their open secrets, their top three beneficiaries are Jared Moskowitz, Jared Moskowitz's pack, and the National Republican Congressional Committee. I mean, this guy is just, he's a Republican. He's a Republican in Democrats clothing. And I find it very ironic that, you know, the Josh Gottheimers and Jared Moskowitz of the world that want to define what the Democratic Party is supposed to be. They really want it to be just another Republican Party, you know, that's dressed up maybe in more acceptable language. But it's ultimately, you know, this is why people are so disengaged, because they see no difference. And I think the real power of these union members that stood up the rank and file and defeated this resolution really speaks to a desire among the working class, among the trade union movement in Florida, which is so under the thumb. I mean, we had horrible anti union legislation once again passed in the recent Florida legislative session to raise the recertification standards. And you know, we need a fighting labor movement and we need allies in Congress that are going to go beyond the pro act and talk about, you know, restoring public sector workers right to strike, you know, secondary solidarity strikes, boycotts, you know, these are all attacks on our freedom of speech when we don't have this, when the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of protest, and that's what we're standing up for Oliver.

[Emma Vigeland]

So all of this, I mean, look, someone wrote in Eli from Jersey when he said Jim Crow in Palestine. I could hear the Kill bill siren coming from. From Emma. Because, I mean, you're saying a lot of stuff that I completely agree with. But, you know, you mentioned Boca Raton is in your district. I'm a little familiar with this area of Florida. Really wealthy people, lot of Zionists, a lot of big money, a lot of real estate development money. You know, I. You're down in polling, but it's also like, anything's possible right now, given the fact that I'm not sure polling is picking up on the depressed turnout for centrist Democrats as well as, like, an influx of voters that aren't traditionally engaged in the electorate. Like, that's the case for your candidacy. But why do you feel you can overcome some of the larger polling gaps that we're seeing in terms of, like a DSA candidate versus a establishment Democrat?

[Oliver Larkin]

Yeah, I think Mehlak Kiros is a great example because I believe she was at 7% in the polls about two and a half months ago. We are seven weeks out from our election right now, so just under two months. And we've tripled our support in the polling in the past month. I was at 7% last month. Jared Moskowitz, his campaign put out a poll just the other day that had me at 19%. I've taken seven out of every nine new voters that have made up their minds since they ran the same poll last month. And he's got a very hard ceiling right around 50%. So 30% of voters are undecided. He's got 50, I've got 20. And this is a race that's completely up for grabs. We've made these gains without spending, really a dollar yet on our paid media advertising, which we had a fantastic virtual rally on Monday headlined by Hassan Piker and AFACWA President Sarah Nelson. And we had Assemblymember Claire Valdez on the stream, and we raised about $60,000, a little over $60,000 in one day. And we saw over $10,000 come in in the final hour of the quarter after the race in Colorado was called. So, you know, things are moving very quickly and people are so disengaged from politics. By and large, not everyone is a junkie like us. But in our district, you know, specifically on the. On what AIPAC would say is a third rail that we just can't touch. We've done polling in the general election as well as the primary election. And in this new district, 86% of Democratic primary voters want to condition or cease military aid to Israel. It's an even half. 50% want to condition it to international law, and 36% want to cease aid. And 68% of general election voters want the same thing. More than two thirds. This is Republicans, Independents, and Democrats. So, you know, supporting the AIPAC line is. It's a losing proposition. And we talk about this being a 9010 issue all across the country. South Florida is, you know, maybe a little bit different, but it's not that different. People still have the same concerns about the rising cost of living. Florida Atlantic University did a poll last fall that found that more than half of Floridians are considering leaving the state due to the cost of living crisis. We're now seeing, you know, population decline in Miami Dade county because no one can afford housing. So there are more proximate concerns than, you know, what people feel about Israel and Palestine. You know, for even Zionist voters, like, they still don't like that Jared Moskowitz was appointed twice by Governor DeSantis and that he's proudly touting that. So, you know, I think there's maybe a little bit that's been overblown to make South Florida. You know, South Florida has long been a punching bag for the rest of the country. But we have working class people here, too. We have people struggling with the economy and cost of living here too. And, you know, we all deserve this kind of representation that we're seeing so inspire people all across the country. And that's exactly what I think our campaign is poised to deliver and make a lot of gains in these final 48 days.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, you're walking the walk by wearing a full suit in South Florida in July, bro. Do you go outside like that?

[Oliver Larkin]

Yeah, I do. I actually got a lot of comments about this at the last no Kings rally, which if you. We've got it somewhere on our feed where I was saying in the full suit, and people tell me, dress down. But I said, you gotta distinguish yourself to let people know you're taking it seriously. Take it seriously, seriously. And I said, south Florida is ready to elect a democratic socialist like Zoran Mamdani. And it was like, cheers. People are so ready for this. And the attacks of democratic socialism just do not land. People are more concerned about ICE going door to door and kidnapping their neighbors or, you know, being priced out of living in South Florida. That's. That's scarier than what I keep finding is people, you know, really look to Senator Sanders and Representative Ocasio Cortez and now Mayor Mamdani is the standard bearers for the kind of Democratic Party they want to see. And you know, the path that we see to being competitive in all 50 states, which, you know, that 50 state strategy is one that Democrats abandoned in 2024. They campaigned in seven different states and, you know, lost all of them. We need to broaden our horizons. And I think that's, that's part of why it's so important to support campaigns like ours in South Florida.

[Emma Vigeland]

Absolutely. Alex writes in I donated to $25 to Oliver recently, which is a good way for me to ask, where can people support your campaign? How can people support your campaign? When does early voting start, by the way? Because I know primary day is August 18th.

[Brian]

Yes.

[Oliver Larkin]

Yeah. So people can visit our website, www.oliverforcongress.com. we're also going to have a special Act Blue link for the Majority Report audience that you'll be able to find. So, yeah, we can, we can let you know how much, how much the audience raises early voting. So we've got ballots being mailed out on July 9th. They're going to begin hitting mailboxes from July 11th to July 13th. So that's going to be the vote by mail, our voter registration deadline to become a registered Democrat. Because Florida is a closed primary state, you must be a registered member of the Democratic Party. Again, this is DSA broadening the tent and bringing people into the fold. That is, that is July 20, 29 days before our election. And then we're going to have a period of early voting in person from August 8th to August 16th. Right before that, August 18th primary.

[Emma Vigeland]

Okay, well, we will put a link to all of that and the special link for the Majority Report audience, which, by the way, like more campaigns should do this because I think it gets, you know, the audience or the community excited and then they can see how much they've raised. So let's be Hasan Piker

[Mike Lawler]

then we

[Oliver Larkin]

are going on the air tomorrow.

[Emma Vigeland]

So that is a, that is a David and Goliath situation here. That's not gonna happen. But, but maybe our audience can surprise me. We shall see. Oliver Larkin. We'll put a link to all of that down below wherever people are listening to or watching this. And we already have a Californian resistance, says Emma, donating again today to Oliver.

[Brian]

So just, folks, just hold on. Don't go donate in the generic place. We got this special little.

[Emma Vigeland]

The competition is what's most important here.

[Brian]

This is really what we care about. I mean, Oliver's great and everything.

[Emma Vigeland]

Yeah, who cares? So the link is secure.actblue.com donate ofcmajorityreport but we'll have the link, obviously, so people can check it out. Oliver, thanks so much for your time today. I really appreciate it.

[Oliver Larkin]

Thanks so much for having me on.

[Emma Vigeland]

All right, with that, folks, we are going to wrap up the free part of this program and head into the not free, but the fun part. That's what we call it, the fun half. We're gonna head in there. We'll be joined by Brandon and Binder. But, Matt, what is happening on Left Reckoning and with the Jacobin show?

[Brian]

Yeah, Left Reckoning, we had a guest talking about Columbia, but we also went deep into. Actually, I forget,

[Emma Vigeland]

it's too hot in here.

[Mike Lawler]

I know.

[Brian]

I was just thinking, gosh, I'm starting to sweat through the shirt.

[Emma Vigeland]

It's a great time to have a cold.

[Brian]

But yeah, we got a Jacobin show actually tomorrow with Harvey Kay talking about, you know, American mythology and patriotism and 4th of July and all that whole stuff. And I also, we also talk a little bit about that before I share a Herman Melville quote that's kind of long about America.

[Oliver Larkin]

Melville long?

[Brian]

Yeah, it's a little bit of a longer passage, but I decided to say that. So that'll be tomorrow on the jackman show at 3 o' clock east eastern time. And yeah, there'll be a Sunday show for Left Reckoning patrons on Sunday.

[Emma Vigeland]

All right. And we have Brandon. Hello, Brandon.

[Brandon]

Hello, Emma.

[Jared Moskowitz]

Hello.

[Emma Vigeland]

What's happening on the Discourse?

[Brandon]

Oh, we're just chugging along on our way to 25,000 subscribers over on YouTube.

[Emma Vigeland]

And 10,000.

[Brandon]

I know. Oh, the biggest channel to have ever done it is what they call it. And 10,000 over on Twitch. And so I would definitely recommend heading over to the Discourse with Brandon over on either platform, where we will be, I think, this week finishing up our retrospective on Jesse Lee Peterson's early 90s or early to mid-90s talk show where he was debating, I guess you could call it Black Hebrew, Israelites, nice. About the nature of the white man, about the nature of America, all the hits.

[Emma Vigeland]

I'm so glad you continue to be on the Jesse Lee Peterson Beat, one of our favorites, I would say, from back in the day. But he's still kicking.

[Brandon]

I guess he's been doing it for a long time. You have to admire that. Like, I hope I'm still on my bullshit 30, 40 years in the future.

[Emma Vigeland]

I know, I know. Exactly right. Hello, Mapinder oh, you're muted. Not now, not yet.

[Brian]

I'll send you a prompt there.

[Emma Vigeland]

Shadow band.

[Brian]

You see that in the top right? Bender?

[Emma Vigeland]

Not yet.

[Jared Moskowitz]

Check out the shirt.

[Emma Vigeland]

How about check out Leftist Mafia tonight? Still not working.

[Brian]

Yeah, it's still seeing the mute sign in the top right. I'm not sure we'll.

[Emma Vigeland]

Okay, well, check out Leftist Mafia tonight. And of course, all of Mapinder's other great work. We're going to troubleshoot this, but we'll head into the fun half now. It's still not working, buddy. We'll head into the fun half if you join themjorityreport.com you want to support this show, Keep us resilient. Not as reliant on ads. That would be great. And you can IM the show. See you in the fun half.

[Matt Binder]

Okay, Emma, please.

[Emma Vigeland]

Well, I just. I feel that my voice is sorely lacking on the majority report.

[Matt Binder]

Wait. Whoa. Look, Sam is unpopular. I do deserve a vacation at Disney World, so. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome Emma to the show.

[Emma Vigeland]

It is Thursday.

[Oliver Larkin]

I think you need to take over for Sam.

[Mela Kiros]

Yes, please.

[Matt Binder]

I'm going to pause you right there. Wait, what? You can't encourage Emma to live like this. And I'll tell you why. Someone offered a tour, sushi and poker with boys. Tour, sushi and poker with who was offered a tour, sushi and poker with the boys. What? Tour, sushi and poker had Tim's upset. Tour, sushi and bulker with tooth boys was offered with twerk sushi, and that's what we call biz. Twerk, sushi and bulker. Or two boys.

[Emma Vigeland]

Right. Twerk sushi and we're gonna get demonetized.

[Matt Binder]

I just think that what you did to T pool was mean.

[Emma Vigeland]

Free speech.

[Matt Binder]

That's not what we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about it because I think you're responsible.

[Emma Vigeland]

I probably am in a certain way. But let's get to the meltdown here.

[Matt Binder]

Sushi and poker with the boys. Oh, my God.

[Brian]

Wow.

[Matt Binder]

Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my mind. Someone's offered a tour. Yeah. Sushi and poker, boys. Sushi and poker. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid Think I'm like a kid I think I'm like a little kid Think I'm like a little kid had this debate 7,000 times. A little kid Think I'm like a little kid Think I'm like a dick I'm losing my mind.

[Oliver Larkin]

Some people just don't understand.

[Matt Binder]

So I'm not trying to be a dick right now, but, like, I absolutely think the US should be providing me with a wife and kids.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's not what we're talking about here, all right?

[Matt Binder]

It's not a fun job.

[David Sirota]

A tour.

[Matt Binder]

That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Real thing. Willie Walker. That's a real thing. That's real thing. That's a real thing. That's real thing.

[Elizabeth Vargas]

Real thing.

[Matt Binder]

That's a real thing. That's real offered. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Rogan has done it again. Offered work. That's a real thing. Oh, I think he might be blowing it out of proportion. Real thing. Boys offered a twerk. That's a real thing. Poker. Let's go. Joey Tour. Sushi and poker. Take it easy. Sushi and poker. Things have really gotten out of hand. Sushi and poker with the boys. Sushi. You don't have a clue as to what's going on live YouTube.

[Emma Vigeland]

Sam has tw the weight of the

[Matt Binder]

world on his shoulders.

[Emma Vigeland]

Sam doesn't want to do this show anymore.

[Matt Binder]

Anymore.

[Emma Vigeland]

It was so much easier when the majority report was just. Just. You happy?

[Matt Binder]

Let's change the subject.

[Representative Nels]

Rangers and Nicks are doing great now.

[Brian]

Shut up.

[Emma Vigeland]

Don't want people saying reckless things on your program.

[Matt Binder]

That's one of the most difficult parts about this show.

[Emma Vigeland]

This is the pro killing podcast.

[Matt Binder]

I'm thinking maybe it's time to bury the hatchet.

[Emma Vigeland]

Left his best trump.

[Jared Moskowitz]

Violet Tour.

[Matt Binder]

Don't be foolish and don't tweet at me. And don't the way Emma has cucked all of these people.

[Brian]

Love it.

[Emma Vigeland]

That's where my heart is. So I wrote my honor thesis about it.

[Matt Binder]

Oh, she wrote an honest thesis.

[Emma Vigeland]

I guess I should hand the main

[Matt Binder]

mic to you now. You are to the right of me on foreign policy.

[Emma Vigeland]

We already fund Israel, dude. Are you against us?

[Matt Binder]

That's a tougher question.

[Representative Nels]

I have an answer to.

[Matt Binder]

Incredible theme song.

[Emma Vigeland]

Hi, Bumbler.

[Matt Binder]

Emma Vinland. Absolutely one of my favorite people, actually. Not just in the game, like, period.