Sarah Rodriguez (11:54)

Yeah, you know, I'm a, I'm a nurse by background. I have spent my entire career in health care. I ran for office because I was so disappointed in the COVID response here in Wisconsin. And as lieutenant governor, I've gone to all 72 counties every year I've been lieutenant governor. And you're right, people are really scared right now about what's happening within healthcare. I've talked to small business owners who are basically not going to be re upping their insurance on the exchange because they simply can't afford the premiums without the tax credit subsidies. And so they're just holding on and crossing their fingers and hoping that they're going to be okay for a year or two and hope the next Congress comes in and fixes this, these things that, that Trump and you know, the Republican like Tom Tiffany here in Wisconsin that they've broken and these costs are just going up exponentially for people, you.

Interviewer (12:48)

Know, and it's especially where Trump has destroyed the people who collect the data. But the thing that it's hard to know is because you always hear, I've heard tons of stories like this. My neighbor was feeling sick and they said, you know what, I'm not going to go, I can't go to that. I can't afford going to the doctor. And so they didn't go. It developed into something and then somebody, you know, in their 40s or 50s dies. And that's directly traceable to this. And when other countries are looking at what's happening here, how cruel and unusual it is that in the United States of America in 2026, frankly, any timeframe, we let people, we let people die instead of giving them access to health care in this country. And then you have Trump and Dr. Oz and RFK Jr doing pull ups and doing weird voice, whatever. And he's out, he's out there, you know, saying it's great, we've, we've saved your health care. And you know, as you're telling me, the people aren't buying them.

Sarah Rodriguez (13:55)

No, they're not. They're not because they can see what their bills are. They can see, they've got eyes, they've got ears, they're able to do math. They know that their healthcare bills are increasing. They know that their premiums have gone up exponentially. I mean, I was an emergency room nurse prior to the Affordable Care act passing. And I still remember this man coming in, single dad, was newly diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He should have been in the hospital and he left. He signed out against medical advice AMA because he said he couldn't afford to miss work. And there was no way that he could afford a hospital stay because he didn't have the insurance to be able to pay for it. And that's where the Republicans, like Trump, Tom, Tiffany here in Wisconsin, they just want to drag us back to that era where people weren't able to afford their medications, were not able to afford a hospital stay. And really, things that could have been solved earlier with a primary care visit with your doctor now become emergencies because they're not able to access the care that they need. Right.

Interviewer (14:59)

And then on top of that, you have the nursing profession under attack as well. Nurses very vocal after Trump won about rfk.

Sarah Rodriguez (15:11)

Yep.

Interviewer (15:13)

Giving lots of warnings. We featured stories of nurses here about what was going to happen. And it just seems like when Trump and this regime is thinking about, like, while other people are thinking about, we'll talk about, you know, your platform going forward for Wisconsin, like, what can I do to help people access health, healthcare, access education, afford homes, do things for the Trump regime. They sit around and they're just like, no, we should do. Let's not call nursing a profession anymore. And let's just make sure that how can we use the Department of Education to screw over nurses? Or, you know, what can we do to hurt the children? Should we take away their lunches? Let's take away their lunch. And you're like, what are you doing? Shouldn't the government be helping and not inflicting pain, but nurses? The profession of nurses is just entirely under attack by this regime.

Sarah Rodriguez (16:03)

Yeah. I mean, I could not believe it when they came out that said nurses were not a profession. I mean, come on. Right? We are able to take care of so many different people across the healthcare system. Anybody who's accessed the healthcare system knows how much nurses care and how much work we do to make sure that people stay healthy. And so it was so rude and honestly, shockingly stupid for them to do this because we already have a nursing shortage. And then to come out and say we're not professionals and that we can't access either loans or dollars to be able to get an advanced education, you're just going to make the whole healthcare system worse.

Interviewer (16:44)

Talk to us about this primary, though it's a crowded field, spoke with some of the other candidates. It's a field rich with qualified fighters, including yourself. And so as you're out there making the pitch to voters, what's your agenda that you think sets you apart?

Sarah Rodriguez (17:05)

So, number one, I think this is going to be a health care election. I think that health care is going to be central to this election. And it is such a complicated space. And to have somebody like myself who has worked within healthcare for decades, I think that's going to be a plus to be able to know which levers we can pull to try to lower costs. Secondly, I'm the only one in that primary field who actually won in a red district. I live in Waukesha county, which is not exactly a bastion of liberalism, and I was able to flip an assembly district from red to blue. We know Wisconsin is one on the margins. And so we are going to have to have somebody in November who can speak to the entire state and make sure we do not have a Republican governor. Because if we get Tom Tiffany as our governor, all that chaos and crazy that's happening in Washington, D.C. that's just going to be trickle right down to Wisconsin. And I know Wisconsinites don't want that. So we've got to be clear, you know, who we're going to be picking. They need to be able to win in November.

Interviewer (18:03)

You know what? I appreciate, you know, something you did recently where you acknowledged that you misspoke on something you just said. I misspoke. I really didn't. You know, and most politicians don't say that. You know, they either double down or they say something, you know, you know, different. You said, I didn't mean that. And you know, you were. The question was framed about administrative warrants, and, you know, your overall view of it. And you gave kind of a technical answer and people said, well, are you embracing this idea of administrative warrants? And I think you understood, like, my own view. And that doesn't mean others have to share my view, but my view on the show is that ICE and Border Patrol, frankly, need to be abolished on their current Constitution. This is not what ICE is supposed to do. This is not what Border Patrol is supposed to do. It needs to. It needs to go. But I think what you were hearing, and I want you can address it, is that people feel this is an existential moment, because it is. And people don't view this as politics as normal. They see a fascist regime out there that is invading states and doing it unconstitutionally. And so, you know, and I think as you're seeing people thinking about governors, it's which governor is going to fight back against the fascism. So can you address that and assure the people, you know, in Wisconsin that you understand the fascist threat and that you're gonna fight back against.

Sarah Rodriguez (19:27)

Against it? Absolutely. I was actually the first primary candidate here in Wisconsin to issue a statement and a plan of how we could proactively defend ourselves against these lawless ICE agents and federal agents. So I called upon the legislature to be able to make sure that they were unmasked, that they wore clear identification, they wore body cameras. They should not be doing raids in places like churches, schools, health care systems, courthouses, any place that. Where people actually need to access services and that they should be able to use. They need a judicial warrant to do arrests. And so, yes, I misspoke. But I just want to be clear about that. And I did this actually before Alex Preddy was killed. I could see that we needed to have a proactive stance in Wisconsin before they came in. And so I just want to be clear about that.

Interviewer (20:23)

And then before we go, where could people learn more about the campaign? And what else do you want to say? We have 6 million subscribers out there who are watching. People in Wisconsin know the work you do as a lieutenant governor. But for those who are being introduced to you for the first time, what's kind of your final message and your pitch to everybody?

Sarah Rodriguez (20:42)

Well, you know, politicians aren't so trusted right now, but nurses are. And I think that this is a way that we can have leadership where we can get more trust in government. Government. If you want to learn more about my campaign, you can go to Sarah S A R A4W I F O R W I dot com, learn more about my stances, my healthcare plan. We're rolling out different initiatives and would love people's support along the way.

Interviewer (21:07)

Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez, we appreciate you, Sharon. Come back and let's. Let's chat more.

Sarah Rodriguez (21:13)

All right, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Interviewer (21:15)

Everybody. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our substack@midasplus.com you'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available@midasplus.com.

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