Political Commentator (2:54)

Donald Trump and MAGA are getting a massive rude awakening in Florida where the latest polls show that Donald Trump is underwater and under big multiple red states show that Donald Trump is underwater. Like he's negative 17.2 in Texas. But let's check out Florida right now where Donald Trump is negative 7.5, folks. What was once thought of as a ruby red state, Florida no longer looks to be that way. And you know, we've been covering the state House races in Florida, the mayor's races where there have been major Democratic upsets. And as we head to the midterms, I think the voters in Florida are absolutely at this regime. We can go across all demographics and see people pissed at this despicable Trump regime. I mean, take a look. The Cuban population deported at the highest rate ever when Donald Trump and the magazine, oh, we're not going to go after you. We're just going to go after the criminals. The pro opposition, pro democracy Venezuelan population that thought that Maria Karina Machado would become the leader of Venezuela. They are dismayed and disenchanted as Donald Trump is having the oppressor Delsey Rodriguez run things so Donald Trump can take the oil from Venezuela and use that proceed money to transfer it to a Qatari bank account to help Donald Trump. You talk about tourism in Florida is getting absolutely crushed based on the Canadian and European boycott, which only seems like it's going to expand after the horrific behavior by Donald Trump against Europe and Canada, which is only accelerating and escalating. You look at recent plans by the Trump regime to propose new offshore oil drilling off the coast of Florid, which if you look at the oil spread models could be just a complete and utter disaster in Florida. You take a look at the utility costs, the insurance prices, affordability. Florida is getting absolutely crushed. It's got a completely out of touch. Governor DeSantis who is mocking the east coast right now, which is about to suffer a massive winter storm. That is suffering a massive winter storm, a deadly winter storm. DeSantis is like, well, at least it's 80 degrees here in Florida. Ha ha ha ha ha. It's not funny. We should all be Americans. Desantis not Rooting against areas to die. You realize that it's fortunate that there weren't any hurricanes by Florida this time around this past hurricane season. But FEMA is so woefully underprepared. And every time Florida is hit with serious hurricanes, the country rallies around Florida. We're all Americans. This behavior right here is absolutely despicable. And he's run Florida into the ground. Take a look. Just said. It's so disgusting. Play this clip.

Pia Don Diaz (5:46)

That was a great night.

Florida Supporter/Commentator (5:49)

Yeah, well, well, first just let me say on the, on the weather, because you provided the adequate warnings for people across the country. Just for the record, in Florida this weekend, the average is going to be about 80 degrees. And so we're. It's a great time to be in the free state of Florida. Not just for low taxes and low crime is for that.

Political Commentator (6:09)

Now, when you have these MAGA Republican Congress members like Congressmember Mast go to town halls they frequent, get booed when you see this guy, for example. It seems that all of these MAGA Republican Congress members from Florida actually hate their constituents like Congressmember Mast right here. He says Doge has been so great to the people of Florida. We should have Doge everywhere. This is what he said early on in the Doge process. Doge was a absolute disaster where federal spending actually increased. It gutted our federal government. It destroyed the ability for the government to function. But look at this MAGA Republican from Florida. This is why I believe that there is a chance and a good chance for Florida to, to Florida to turn purple or possibly even blue. Watch Brian Mast here. This MAGA Republican, whatever want to say it here, Play this clip.

Pia Don Diaz (7:00)

Is Doge working? Is it successful so far?

Brian Mast Supporter (7:05)

Doge has been beyond successful. Every American should be thanking President Trump. They should be thanking Elon Musk, the team that they work to put in place, and be begging them to go not just to every federal agency, but say, please, come to a hometown near. Start digging into my federal government, my state government, my local government, my towns, my municipalities, because who knows what you'll find. And we will all be more efficient. We will waste less dollars, there'll be less inflation. This is the goal of all of this, to say, hey, you're the American taxpayer. You deserve to keep that money in your pocket, not have your government wasting it, sending it abroad on these, you know, $15 million in condoms for the Taliban, who is our enemy, not wasting money on things like this. But you keep it and you enjoy your life. It's the work of your hands. Thank you President for doing it.

Political Commentator (7:52)

Congressman BRIAN and here, Brian Mast was getting booed at a recent town hall that he held, or town hall he held several months ago, rather. Here, play this clip.

Florida Supporter/Commentator (8:11)

That's not a godly thing to say in the church.

Political Commentator (8:21)

So now I want to bring in the lead Democratic candidate who's running against Brian Mast, someone who has set all types of fundraising records over this past year. Her name is Pia Don Dia. She was a teacher for years, launched a high school that she was the founder of, graduating 100% of its class at Harlem, New York. She's a white House fellow. She then went into the public policy realm, and she grew up in Jupiter, Florida, in this Congressional district area where she is now going to be running against Brian Mast. She's someone who has always won against all odds, and people think that. And I think that she has a real big chance of flipping this Brian Massey. She raised a million dollars, folks, in the past, in the past year.

Interviewer/Host (9:09)

So I want to bring in Pia Don Diaz, one of those great Democratic candidates who's been breaking fundraising records in Florida's 21st. For a Democrat, you've raised the most Money in Florida's 21st in the. And it's still in a primary stage since 2018. I know P. Is humble, so I'll give some of her background. She founded a high school when you were still in your 20s. And basically everybody from that high school in Harlem, New York, went on to go to college. And you started off as a teacher for four. For four years or so, founded your own school. You were a White House fellow. Then you went on to be involved in public policy later. And you were born and raised in Jupiter. So, you know, it's a natural spot for you to take your leadership and to represent the place you're from. And, you know, lots of big endorsements that you've gotten from Florida's 21st, from Patrick Murphy, who used to represent the area, to Rokhana. I could go down the list, and you've really galvanized people, and some would say you come out of nowhere. But those who know, you know, know that's been Pia her entire life. And so. So I do want to focus on your background because it's a real compelling story. But I just want to talk. Start off with this. Florida's 21st congressional district and Brian Mast. As I showed videos at the beginning, you know, there's this incongruency would be putting it nicely. There's an attack on the district by the guy who's supposed to represent Him. So can you talk through just that aspect of it? Then we'll go into why you decided to run.

Pia Don Diaz (10:41)

Yes, absolutely. So my district where I was born and raised, District 21, has had Brian Mass in the seat since 2016. And I think that there has been a quiet opportunity building here in Florida for a while. And that became very obvious to me, especially as we got into early last year, I went to Brian Mass Town Hall. I was really taken aback by how angry it was and how many people were there. And Brian Mass total inability to address people's concerns. For the last many years, there's been a real growing disconnect with his leadership and the people who elected him to serve, who he should be working for. And I think that we find ourselves now in a political moment where Mass with Trump is not saying, when I want you to jump, how high? It's, is it high enough? And I think that folks in our district are beginning to take wind of this and say, this is not what we signed up for and you're not here to represent us. And so that is really what I want to take on in this election cycle. We have an elected official who even just a few weeks ago was voting to raise health care premiums for constituents in our district, which would have affected 70,000 voters that he himself serves. He's also been silent while ICE has been tearing through our communities without regard for human life. And the list goes on and on. I think he represents the perfect archetype of a Trump supported candidate who has been phoning it in for the last few years and having it pretty easy. And I want to give him a hard, hard run for his money.

Interviewer/Host (12:13)

You know, Florida's 21st is along what's.

Political Commentator (12:16)

Called the Treasure Coast.

Interviewer/Host (12:17)

And I guess when it comes to Congressmember Master Donald Trump, it's basically taking away people's money and wealth and opportunities and hoarding the treasure for themselves. In Washington D.C. or Donald Trump's golden ballrooms or Qatari bank accounts, that seems to be what their priorities. You know, I just wonder as you tour the, as you tour the district and you say to people, you go, okay, here's what the priority is going to be. And you know, here's, here's what Donald Trump's doing. They're like, what is it? Like what they promised, like, affordability. No, no, no, hear me out. Golden ballrooms. And they're going to invade places, take the money. Are they going to give us the money? No, no, no. Qatari bank accounts to help build golden ballrooms for Donald Trump, is it that? And they're going to do great Gatsby parties right in your backyard at Mar a Lago. They're going to rub it in your face, and that's basically it. That's ridiculous. Talk to us about your background. Being a teacher, founding a school, you know, getting the gangs to go away, fighting for your. It's an incredible story. And I'll talk more about your district. But. But people have.

Pia Don Diaz (13:18)

Yes, of course. Well, I studied government in college, and I knew that I wanted to commit my life to public service, especially because my family has been in this district for 40 years. It's where I was born and raised. My dad has been a doctor here for 40 years. My mom started a school for me 30 years ago that my son now attends. And, you know, our family has really lived the American dream. And it's a dream that I can see has been slipping through our fingers, especially for Americans who have been here for generations. I started having that realization when I went to college. So I knew that I wanted to commit my life to public service, to pay forward what I'm so proud that this district and this country has given me. So I became a teacher, and I wanted to focus on teaching in high poverty schools to really understand the challenges that those communities face and figure out how to be a part of the solution.

Interviewer/Host (14:06)

And.

Pia Don Diaz (14:07)

And I just deeply fell in love with the work on the ground. I felt like there was truly no better place for me to be to understand the problems of poverty and public education than in the trenches. So initially, I thought maybe I'd go to law school or get involved in policy work. But I scrapped those plans because I knew I was exactly where I needed to be. So I taught for a few more years, and then I got the fire under my belly to say, what if I didn't just lead in a classroom? What if I led an entire school? Could I actually change life trajectories for kids living below the poverty on the public dollar? So at the age of 28, I became a high school principal in Harlem, and I started a high school there with just one high school, one hallway, 100 kids, 10 teachers. And every year, we got 100 more kids, 10 more teachers, one more hallway, until we became a fully grown school. And we told families that if they came to this school that they had never heard of, their child would earn admission to college. Now, this was a very big promise to make at the time, knowing that the high school down the street was graduating students from high school for get colle at a 60% rate, 86% of my students live below the poverty line. And we succeeded in getting 100% of them off to college on the public dollar with a million dollars in scholarships. And I'm so proud of what that means for them because year over year, we built that school with blood, sweat and tears. And as the principal, I did everything from hiring teachers to breaking up fights if gangs are waiting for my kids. And four years later, all of them were off to college. The school lives beyond me now, too. So we're on to our sixth graduating class, still serving the same demographic and still getting 100% of them off to college. I feel so strongly that we can do better, and I want to do so much better for kids and families across the entire country because of what I learned in serving the communities that I served in places like Brooklyn and Harlem.

Interviewer/Host (16:01)

It's really just rolling up your sleeves, getting it done, creating generational change and the amount of lives you've impacted. That's why I said, for some people, it's like, like, where did P come from? You know, this is, you know, raising a million dollars in four months, essentially in this race, breaking these fund record fundraising records. And it's like, well, let's take a look at her background. This is what she's been doing the whole time. So let's, let's zoom in, though. Let's zoom in on Florida's 21st congressional district, because, you know, Trump won that district by 58% in 2024. Brian Mast, who you're running against in his reelection, won it with 62% of the vote. And so lots of people, including the Democratic Party, you know, until your surge, viewed that as one of these seats that are like, safe seat, you know, do we devote our resources to this area? You know, similar to people saying, should we devote resources to trying to graduate 100% of people, you know, in an area in Harlem like that? But how, how are you going to kind of overcome that gap? And what are you hearing in the district as, as you tour it now? And you're speaking to not just Democrats, you're speaking to independents, by the way, where Trump's approval among independents is 27 to 29%. And you're speaking with Republicans, so how's that going?

Pia Don Diaz (17:20)

So I think there has been a quiet opportunity building here in Florida for a while. Let me tell you some stats about my district. My district is 40% Republican. We're about 30% Democrat, and we're 30% independent. Brian Mass has been in this seat since 2016. And he has had a real challenge in terms of a campaign that was supported by D.C. by Democrats, Democrats in D.C. in 2018. This district on the Cook county report is R +7. And it surprises most people to know that While we live 20 minutes away from Mar A Lago, which is not in my district, Mar A Lago is in a blue district. And so I think a lot of the feeling around Brian Mass and the permanence of his seat is the sense of permanence you get when anyone has been in their seat for a few years. We see a real path to victory here. And like I mentioned, that town hall was the first indicator of that. I am seeing a persistent, persistent continuation in this last year of Florida showing that we are not deep red without any other options. In April, we won a congressional seat that closed the gap by 23%, having a swing to the left. In September, we won another state Senate seat with a 22% swing. And just in December, we earned a third state Senate. We won a third race, a state Senate seat with another 22% swing. So my view is that it has to be my mission to build a campaign that is ready to meet the moment in November. And I think that we have to do that in two ways. The first way is that I think we have to keep hitting the milestones. We have been, like you mentioned, with fundraising with national endorsements and local endorsements that are on par with the Democratic candidates who are running in the most competitive seats across the country. We've been doing that so far, and we've got to keep it up. And secondly, I think we need to have a real human touch to this campaign. We have been building deep coalition across the district with elected officials, with business leaders, with nonprofit leaders, with public defenders. And we are on track to having 100 house parties by the time that we get to November. We need to make this campaign one that people see and feel and can touch. And I want to bring back that human feel to congressional racism, especially with a message that is going to meet voters. The more voters that I meet on the trail, the more I hear that nowadays they don't see themselves as staunch Democrats or Republicans. They see themselves as an observer about this political process. And they just want candidates who are going to meet their everyday needs, which for us here includes things like lives we can afford, health care we can rely on, Social Security we can depend on and clean water for us all, which is a big issue here in Florida. So we need to be ready to meet the moment with the right coalition and with the right message. So in my view, it's not a one, two punch. It's a one, two, three, four, five punch and we are ready to roll up our sleeves and do the work to make that happen. With 41 weeks to go, where can.

Interviewer/Host (20:17)

People learn more about your campaign and learn more about you?

Pia Don Diaz (20:21)

A great question Ben. You can go to my website which is piaforcongress.com you can also check out our Instagram, our Facebook, send us a message. We would love to talk with you more. As we keep building this campaign, we are building a real coalition that is local, that is statewide and national to flip this red sea blue and we would love to be in conversation with you.

Interviewer/Host (20:42)

Pia Dundia, High School principal, founder of an incredible school, White House fellow running for Florida's 21st congressional district. Great to have you on.

Pia Don Diaz (20:53)

Thank you so much Ben.

Interviewer/Host (20:54)

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