James Talarico on the Rage Economy, Billionaires and Flipping Texas

The Daily35:42

English auto-captions · YouTube edition

James Talarico says the “rage economy” rewards posts that provoke anger.

In a 2017 study, William Brady and colleagues analysed 563,312 tweets about gun control, same-sex marriage and climate change. Words counted as both moral and emotional, such as “hate”, were associated with roughly 20% more retweets per additional word, after adjustment for other language and message features. The estimated increases were 19%, 17% and 24% across the three topics.

The pattern was not simply “anger always spreads”. Positive moral emotion predicted sharing about same-sex marriage; negative moral emotion predicted sharing about climate change. These were observations of Twitter messages and retweets, rather than an experiment showing that today’s platforms cause anger or change votes.

Original research

Full transcript

From the New York Times, I'm [music]

Michael Bubaro. This is the daily. In

bright red, Texas, James Telerico is

trying to [music] become the first

Democrat to be elected to the United

States Senate in nearly 40 years [music]

in what's become by far the most

expensive and ferocious campaign of this

year's midterm elections. Today we speak

[music] with Telerico about the kind of

race he's running, the highly personal

campaign against [music] him, and what

he wants Democrats to do if they take

back control of Congress. It's [music]

Tuesday, October 20th.

>> Hey there.

>> Hey, how are you?

>> Good. Can you hear me?

>> I can. Can you hear me?

>> I can. Thank you for joining us,

Representative James Telerico. Welcome

to the Daily. Oh, thank you for having

me.

>> My pleasure. I know you just emerged

from a really nasty flu, arguably the

most famous flu in modern campaign

history.

>> Flu gate. Yeah.

>> So, I know you have a lot of campaigning

to make up for, so it means a lot that

you found the time for us. I just want

to get out of the way. We asked your

opponent, Ken Paxton, the Republican

attorney general in Texas, for an

interview as well. And so far, we

haven't locked anything down. So, stay

tuned. I want to explain, Representative

why we're talking to you at this

specific moment in this midterm campaign

about two weeks out from election day.

And that's because what's become clear

in our coverage on the show and really

across Times coverage is that a good

number of disillusioned Republican

voters are upset enough with President

Trump that they are unusually open to

voting for Democrats in this election,

even in very red states. And nowhere is

that dynamic we've been talking about on

more vivid display than your race in

Texas. This is a state that President

Trump won in 2024 by 14 points and where

you have nevertheless been leading in

the polls now for weeks. Which is why I

think it's safe to say you've become the

Democrat that Republicans fear the most

in these midterms. they are throwing an

extraordinarily expensive and ferocious

campaign against you. So between those

two polls of being the rare Democrat who

might flip Texas for the first time in

decades and this really aggressive

campaign by Republicans to make sure

that never happens, how does it feel to

be the guy in the middle of all of that

right now?

>> Well, we are still very much the

underdogs. We're going up against the

most corrupt politician in Texas who is

backed by the most powerful man in the

world and the richest man in the world.

Both the president and Elon Musk are

backing our opponent Ken Paxton. And so,

uh, we are the underdogs until the last

vote is counted. And you're exactly

right. They have already poured $200

million into this race. They spend it on

attack ads against me, making me look as

scary as possible. And it's because Elon

Musk is trying to buy his own personal

US senator. But I really do believe that

on November 3rd, our state is going to

send the world's first trillionaire a

very clear message that Texas is not for

sale.

>> I want to talk about what has unfolded

over the past couple of days and weeks

as all this money and muscle has been

thrown at you because it's quite

singular. I mean, just over the past

week, Republicans have claimed back to

the famous flu, you were checked into an

Ohio mental institution, basically that

you that you went crazy. And no less

than the vice president of the United

States, JD Vance,

>> has doubled down on a claim, if I can

distill his remarks, that you are a

pervert

>> with a problematic online search

history. I mean, campaigns have always

been full of personal attacks. They've

always been negative. But

>> yeah,

>> how do you interpret this quite extreme

version of that?

>> Yeah, I mean I think this is an example

of what I call the rage economy.

Conspiracy theorists can post anything

they want online. Politicians can say

anything they want online. The poster

gets clicks. We all get angry on both

sides and no one's life gets any better.

And so it's tragic because I think so

many of us go to these platforms because

we are searching for connection and

instead we fall into this broken

business model that leaves us lonelier.

Uh it leaves us more disconnected than

when we hopped on the platform in the

first place. So I know I'm kind of the

latest example of this, but it's really

a systemic problem that's hurting all of

us, not just me and and my campaign.

>> Well, I want to describe very briefly

because I think it will help get us to

the story of who you really are. what

this money and Musk behind a tremendous

amount of it is being used to say about

you.

>> James Telerico [music] is weird.

>> Very weird.

>> Defending Trans Texas Texans is

something we have to do every day.

>> That you are woke, that you are overly

focused on social issues.

>> Terrio supported using taxpayer dollars

for sex change surgeries on young

children

>> like trans rights

>> and even said denying your child's

gender identity is abusive. Modern

science obviously recognizes that there

[music] are many more than two

biological sexes. In fact, there are

six.

>> To the trans kids watching at home, I

just want to say I love you.

>> That your Christianity is woowoo [music]

and leftwing [laughter]

out of the mainstream.

>> Radical liberal James Terico for they

them,

>> not you,

>> Texas.

>> And that you're not really a moderate at

all and you're not right for Texas. And

so let's ask you, you know, who you

actually are and where you came from and

how it brought you to this moment and to

this campaign for US Senate.

>> Yeah. And I think a lot of these attack

ads are off topic because what we're all

concerned about here in Texas is the

rising cost of living. The fact that no

matter how hard we work, no matter how

much we stretch and save and sacrifice,

those ends never seem to meet. And it's

because this system, this economic

system and this political system have

been rigged against us. I first

experienced this broken system

personally. Before I was ever a a

politician or a candidate, I was a

public school teacher and I taught sixth

grade language arts at Roads Middle

School, home of the Fight and Wildcats

on the west side of of San Antonio. The

west side is this beautiful historic

neighborhood. It's also one of the

poorest zip codes in the entire state of

Texas.

>> This was when you were in Teach for

America.

>> That's right. And it was in 2011, right

after our state legislature in Texas cut

more than $5 billion from public

education in our state. And so I saw the

impacts of those cuts firsthand. I saw

how decisions made in the halls of power

hurt flesh and blood human beings.

>> How did it hurt?

>> Yeah. At one point I had 45 students in

one classroom and there weren't enough

desks

>> for all those kids. Yeah. Very large.

And it was after lunch. So you can

imagine middle schoolers after lunch in

a giant packed classroom. It was just

chaos. And and I had kids because there

weren't enough desks sitting on the air

conditioning unit.

>> Wow.

>> I remember distinctly thinking this is

the wealthiest country in the world and

we've got children sitting on the air

conditioning unit. and and that was a um

a radicalizing experience for me. And

then when a seat in that very same

legislature that had cut those $5

billion opened up in my hometown of

Round Rock, Texas, I threw my hat in the

ring. I was 28 years old. I had never

run for office before. I was a a

Democrat running in a Trump district.

And I was told by, [snorts] you know,

the powers that be in the Democratic

party that that race was a lost cause

and I shouldn't waste my time on it.

They told me I was a little too young. I

was I didn't have the money, didn't have

the political connections to to win a

race like that. But, you know, we ran an

aggressive, at times unorthodox campaign

that that brought people together. Uh we

practiced a politics of unity. And on

election night, we flipped that district

with 51% of the vote. And now I'm in my

fourth term in the Texas House.

>> Well, I want to talk a little bit about

what happens to you in the legislature.

You have a reputation for working

closely with Republicans on a number of

pieces of legislation. Despite that,

your Republican colleagues redraw the

legislative maps and basically take a

seat that's purple and a little bit

Trump and make it quite Republican and

very hard to imagine you winning and

essentially you get redistricted out of

your seat. And I do wonder what that

meant to you. Was that at all

radicalizing? I certainly saw how broken

this political system is. And the fact

that politicians are allowed to draw

their own lines is just insane. And it's

no wonder we have these, you know, crazy

looking districts that are designed and

manufactured to guarantee a certain

outcome,

>> right? Democrats do it as well.

>> Well, yeah. I mean, this is not an issue

of party. This is an issue of power. And

so, I I experienced that firsthand. I

ended up running in the district next

door. It was actually the district I

grew up in. So, it was a little bit of a

a homecoming. And I was able to walk

back on that floor at the beginning of

the next legislative session. And I I

wanted to do that cuz I wanted to prove

that I would still be in the legislature

still fighting. And we were able to do

that.

>> Well, can I pause you for a second

because I think it's interesting what

happens in this new district, this bluer

district. When you're in that seat,

which you do prevail on, as you just

said, you describe yourself as a proud

progressive. You describe yourself as

working against Republican extremism.

This is after 2021. And you make

statements that feel more liberal about

there being six sexes. This is when you

describe God as as non-binary.

What motivated that? Was it tied to the

fact that you that you were suddenly in

a bluer district or was it something

else? Yeah. I don't think I changed. I

think Republicans at the state capital

changed. So they changed. Yes. So, you

know, when I first got elected in 2018,

I was part of a group of 12 Democrats

who flipped Republican districts. And

so, all of that suddenly put pressure on

the Republican party in Texas to use a

little more common sense, to work across

the aisle. The culture war stuff was

really at a minimum. And then after

that, the 2021 session, uh, which is

when I got redistricted out. Those

sessions really saw a rise in that

Republican extremism. This is when the

extreme abortion ban was passed in

Texas. This is when they passed

permitless carry, which allows anyone to

carry a weapon without having to have a

permit. Uh, this is when they removed

Dr. King and Frederick Douglas from the

civics curriculum in Texas, the book

banning. So, I was put in a position

where I had to fight back against that

extremism. So, you mentioned some of my

comments on gender or on issues

affecting trans people. It's not like I

ran for the legislature to talk about

these things. Again, if you go back to

my first session, I wanted to talk about

public education, which is why I ran in

the first place. I want to talk about

healthcare, which I have a personal

experience with as a type 1 diabetic.

And so now it's kind of ironic that

they're clipping these things to make it

sound like I'm the one who was was

talking about this when in reality it

was the Republican extremists at the

capital who were obsessed with talking

about trans issues, obsessed with

talking about people's private parts. U

that wasn't me, that was them that

changed.

>> I think I understand the point you're

making, which is that you felt forced to

defend a group of people in the moment

that you did. And I I the only reason

I'm asking this is because you have

since said some of those things the

quote you used missed the mark or were

were cringey and I'm just trying to

understand in that moment why you took

up the mantle that you did. And my

suspicion is that it probably is some

combination of of what was happening in

a legislature but also perhaps in the

broader culture. We're talking about

post 2020 when the Democratic Party writ

large is grappling with what it means in

their estimation to defend certain

groups and did it ever go too far?

>> Yeah, I mean that may have happened in

the Democratic party at large. I'm not

really um you know

>> did it go too far in your case

>> plugged into to what happened what

happens nationally with the Democratic

party. All I can tell you is what

happens in Texas and in Texas these

bills are not theoretical.

>> These bills are actually hurting my

constituents. The extreme abortion ban

means that women and girls in my

legislative district can't get access to

life-saving healthcare. These bills

targeting LGBTQ people have real

ramifications in our state, especially

when they're written to be overly broad.

I'm all for if we want to figure out

when it's appropriate for a trans

athlete to play in a sport. That's a

policy discussion that we should have

and a an issue we should solve. But the

bill that they were trying to to pass,

the bill they ultimately did pass, was a

blanket ban in all cases. It treated

te-ball the same as varsity baseball.

And and it's because their goal was to

score political points off of the backs

of of a a very small, vulnerable group

of people in our state. And so, you

know, my values haven't changed, but I

was put in a position because of the

rise in Republican extremism to to

defend my constituents. Uh, that's

that's my job and it's exactly what I'm

going to do in the US Senate on behalf

of all 31 million Texans.

>> Got it. And I don't want you to think

I'm harping on this unnecessarily.

>> I was drawn to your own comments later

on suggesting that you had felt at times

you had taken this to places that you

looking back were less comfortable with.

And it it reminded me a little bit of

somebody you're seeking to be in office

with, Alexandria Accaziocortez, who has

assessed this period of time and what

Democrats said and did in it as woke

one. And she says it was crazy. And I'm

just trying to assess whether you

subscribe to that view in your own case,

not, you know, on behalf of an entire

party, but some of the words you use,

some of the things you said, obviously

in defense of the people you just

described.

>> Yeah. I don't regret standing up for my

constituents. I would do it again. I

think what I've regretted is kind of how

I phrased certain things because it

obscured the point I was trying to make.

You know, I've said a lot of things in

the state legislature over the course of

four terms. I've been in marathon

hearings that last 24 hours. So, there

there's a lot that said and and when you

pull out maybe the most inarticulate of

those things to make an attack at, you

know, I certainly regret not, you know,

articulating my position more clearly,

more in a more straightforward way to

say what I actually mean. And that's

going to be true, you know, probably for

my entire time in public service. I'm

not a perfect person. None of us are.

And so I'm gonna, you know, always keep

trying to improve how I talk about

things so that I'm getting my point

across.

I wasn't making a large point about

American politics or or the Democratic

Party. I'll leave those to the pundits

and the commentators.

All I was trying to say is that I've

said things imperfectly and I'm going

[music] to keep working on trying to

communicate more clearly and

effectively.

>> [music]

>> We'll be right back.

So, I want to spend some time with your

specific and unique appeal to moderate

and to Republican voters. In Times

polling, we found that you're favored by

9% of Republicans and 11% of Trump

voters. That's quite high. And I want to

understand why you think that has been

the case. Why do you think that you have

been such an appealing candidate to both

Democrats and to Republicans in this era

when that just doesn't really happen

anymore?

>> Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, the

media tends to think of politics and

describe politics on a leftto spectrum,

and that's how we've talked about

politics for decades now. Uh, so I

understand that temptation. And in fact,

I I when I first ran for office, I

thought of it as left versus right. That

was how I understood politics. I think

it's how a lot of people still think

about politics. But after being in this

for four terms now, I've been in the

kind of the belly of the beast in the

lion's den in the middle of this broken

system. And I've I've now come to see

politics as not left versus right, but

top versus bottom. And those were the

first words out of my mouth when I

launched this campaign in September of

last year. And what I mean by that is

the people at the top, the Elon Musks of

the world, the Rupert Murdochs of the

world, the wealthy people who also

control our traditional media and social

media, they spend so much time

making us angry um getting us to see

each other as the enemies because our

unity is a threat to their wealth and

their power. And they're trying to keep

us from realizing that there is far more

that unites us than divides us because

they know once we recognize that we're

going to come together across party and

race and gender and religion and culture

to take power back for ourselves. And I

really think that's what you're seeing

in Texas as we speak.

>> Well, let's get specific in your

campaign. What in your mind and based on

your conversations with voters on a

policy level is most connecting in this

bipartisan way? I mean, where everywhere

I go across the state, I hear from

Texans who are drowning in this economy

and who can't afford the basics. And so,

I think these corrupt tariffs that are

raising prices in the checkout line are

top of mind. I think the this new

corrupt war in the Middle East that is

driving up gas and diesel prices at the

pump is top of mind. I've said before

that we have an affordability

[clears throat] crisis because we have a

corruption crisis. And so I think these

recent developments I think are the kind

of the straw that broke the camel's

back. People's wages have been stagnant

for five decades now. Work has not been

rewarded. And now these recent price

spikes have left people across the

political spectrum fed up. And they are

ready for change. Not incremental change

but wholesale change and systemic

change.

>> Well, let's talk about specifically what

you would do about that. the wholesale

change that you are talking a lot about

that is appealing to a fair number of

Republican voters and Democratic voters.

>> You're talking a lot about billionaires.

What would you do in this campaign? And

what has been resonating about changing

that system?

>> Yeah. I mean, the reason the richest man

in the world and and his super PACs are

spending $200 million to defeat me is

because they know I don't take corporate

pack money. Never have, never will. And

they know that I'm running on systemic

political reform, banning corporate

packs and super PACs so billionaires

can't buy our elections. Banning members

of Congress from trading stocks and

enriching themselves while they're in

office. Overturning Citizens United and

getting this big money out of our

politics. I'm also running on banning

gerrymandering uh in in every state in

the union, red states and blue states

alike, so we can have free and fair

elections again. And I'm also talking

about term limits. Uh I've already

pledged to only serve two terms in the

US Senate. Uh and I want to make that

true for every senator. Uh I want to

make that uh true for every member of

Congress that they are in this to serve

and then they should make room for

someone else uh to to have the

opportunity to serve. These are the kind

of systemic reforms that I think could

rebuild a government of by and for the

people instead of what we have now which

is a government of by and for the

billionaires. Those are ambitious and

those seem like long-term programs of of

political reform. I'm curious what your

approach is to something very specific

and real and short-term, gas prices. How

are you going to lower gas prices?

>> Well, I've already laid out a plan to

suspend the federal gas tax and the

federal diesel tax, uh, which would

immediately drop the price of gas by 18

cents a gallon for Texans. Uh, and it

would save those who use diesel about

$200 a year. Now, that's a stop gap

measure. The only thing that's going to

really lower these prices is ending this

disastrous war in Iran. And so I think

we got to end this this military

disaster.

>> What What would you do to end this war?

I mean, and and do you think current

senators have done enough?

>> No. I mean, I think we need checks and

balances back in our government. I think

the legislative branch has to reassert

its authority here. I mean, Congress in

our constitution is the one that can and

should declare war. And so the War

Powers Act, I mean, this is there are

levers that are at at our disposal to

rein in these uh overreaches by the

executive branch. And this is this war

in Iran is a is a perfect example of

that. So I I think what we desperately

need is is to restore those checks and

balances and check the overreaches of

the executive branch. I'm curious if I

can go back to economic policy, how your

agenda is landing in a state where low

taxes, limited government, pro business

policies have been the tradition and

they've been, you know, fairly popular.

Among the things you have campaigned on

are raising the minimum wage, adopting

universal childare, cancelling medical

debt, higher taxes on billionaires. that

would seem potentially like a riskier

element of a platform that seeks to

appeal to a state of such moderation.

>> Well, I mean, if you're still stuck in a

left versus right framework, then

moderation makes sense. But I think when

you're thinking in a vertical framework,

it's easy to understand how so many

working people, so many farmers and

ranchers, so many small business owners

are just fed up with a rigged system

that only benefits the wealthiest people

and the biggest corporations in the

world. And I think a lot of people in

Texas think that is pretty common sense.

That that's not extreme. That is middle

of the road. And so, you know, I think

what I'm advocating for is is something

that can help unrig this system that has

been hurting so many of us across the

state, across the country. And I will

say the systemic reforms I talked about

earlier, you described them as

long-term. I think if we abolish the

filibuster, those reforms don't have to

be long term. M and you and you do wish

to abolish the filibuster.

>> I do. I do. I I think the majority

should be able to govern in this

country. The filibuster is not in our

constitution. It's a Jim Crow relic and

it has prevented us from making

necessary progress in this country.

>> Just to explain, you want the Senate to

be able to legislate through 51 votes

majority of the body, not 60, not be

blocked by filibuster, which the other

side would tell you, Republican side,

they have not done because they fear

what Democrats would do with it. But

you're saying you're not worried what

Republicans might turn around and do

with it if it changes.

>> I believe the majority should be able to

govern. I think voters deserve to see

the results of their vote whether I

agree with it or not. I mean, what's

happening right now is because of the

filibuster and then because of the

systemic corruption,

>> we are we gridlock. Yeah. And nothing is

changing. And so the people of this

country are are swinging wildly between

the two parties because nothing happens

no matter who they elect. And I will

just say if the choice for a lot of

people in Texas, if the choice is status

quo and a demagogue, they're going to

choose a demagogue. They're going to

choose what's going to maybe bring some

change. And and I'd rather create a

system where we can actually deliver

that change without, you know,

emboldening demagogues in our politics.

And I think the filibuster is the

primary obstacle uh to being able to

deliver that progress. Hm. [snorts]

You're asking a lot of Republicans to

vote for you. And so I am curious, have

you voted for a Republican?

>> Most likely in in the nonpartisan races

for school board and city council, I

have certainly voted for Republicans.

>> But for Congress, for Senate,

>> no. Uh I don't think I've voted for a

Republican in a partisan race uh in

Texas. Uh, and that's [clears throat]

because in, you know, in my lifetime, at

least since I've been old enough to

vote, we have really seen extremism grip

the Republican party in our state. You

know, the days of George W. Bush or

George HW Bush were gone by the time I

was voting in our state. And that's, I

think, exactly why so many

conservatives, small C conservatives,

are joining this movement of ours. uh

we've been endorsed by 20 I think it's

actually more than 20 now current and

former Republican officials across the

state

>> uh because they see that one party rule

always leads to extremism and corruption

and that's certainly happened in Texas

with Republican one party rule but I I

also I think it it probably happens I've

never lived in a one party blue state

but I think you can see in one party

blue states a lack of delivering for

working people a lack of responsiveness

so I I that one party rule in Texas over

over three decades since I was in

kindergarten has really led to an

extremism and a corruption that I've

I've voted against and worked against my

entire time in in public service.

>> I wonder how much when we talk about

your appeal in this race to Republicans,

you think your character and biography

is at the core of that appeal. When I

think about your success in this race,

especially with Republicans, I think

about your fluency with religion,

specifically with with Christianity and

the prominence it plays in your

campaign. It feels like over the past 15

to 20 years, Republicans have laid claim

to Christianity. I mean, there's a

Christian right. There's not really a

Christian left. Do you think Democrats

have been too reluctant to do what

you're doing, which is to appeal to

voters on faith-based grounds? I I mean

I think candidates in both parties

should show up as they are. They should

be themselves and they should share

their why. And if that's faith like it

is for me, then candidates should talk

about it. From what I can sense is that

a lot of Democrats have felt

uncomfortable talking about faith.

>> And and I think the mistake that people

in my party have made is that they they

confuse the separation of church and

state with a separation of faith and

politics. We want people to bring their

faiths, their moralities, their ethics,

their worldview, their philosophies to

our politics. We want a politics that is

spiritually rooted, rooted in something

deeper than partisanship, than red team

versus blue team. We want our politics

to be rooted in timeless values. And and

I'm not saying it has to be sectarian

Christianity. I I hope it's more than

that. I hope it's people from all

different traditions coming together to

have a rich conversation about how our

politics should reflect our our shared

values. That's the distinction I think

we have to remember. The separation of

church and state should never be

mistaken for a separation of faith and

politics. Jimmy Carter, Dr. King,

Dorothy Day, Mr. Rogers, all these

people brought their faith to their

their service. And I think that we need

more of that in this country, not less

of it. Do you think that if you win this

race, it will, speaking of faith,

speaking of character, it will have been

because of the contrast with your

opponent Ken Paxton on the question of

character, on the question of morality,

or do you think it will be because of

the contrast in terms of of policy? I

>> I'm not sure what the difference is

between those two things. M you know I I

think our policies are a reflection of

our morality and I think the corruption

that I talk about in this campaign is

deeper than just illegal corruption. I'm

also talking about a deeper corruption.

I mean the the rotting of of something

from within. And we've seen that in

every part of American life in our

politics, our government, in our

churches, we've seen it in business, in

our economy. There is something deeply

broken in this country and I hope that

our little campaign in Texas can be a

part of a much larger movement toward

spiritual renewal and fighting that

corruption at its root. So yes, I I hope

this campaign in our state is a part of

something much bigger. On the subject of

what it would look like if you become a

Democratic senator from Texas and if

Democrats do win the Senate back, you'll

become part of a system that you that

you've characterized multiple times in

this conversation as broken. And so I

want to ask you how you're going to

navigate that. Let's say Democrats have

a slim majority. That seems like the the

likely scenario if they were to flip the

Senate. And I imagine you'll suddenly be

in the middle of fierce debates among

Democrats over what the Democratic

majority should be focused on. And I do

want to understand what you think that

mandate will be if if your colleagues in

the Democratic party want to suddenly

impeach the president or a member of the

cabinet. Is that what you think your

mandate is? Is there someone in the

cabinet you want to see impeached? Or is

that not at all what you want this to be

about?

>> Well, my mandate, if we're successful in

this race, will be to take on corruption

and lower costs. Uh those are the two

things we've been talking about every

day on the campaign trail are the two

things that we have heard from voters

across this state. And so, you know, I

want us uh in the United States Senate,

hopefully on a bipartisan basis, not

just Democrats, to do those two things.

We should tackle the corruption in our

system, whether we see it in the

executive branch, in the legislative

branch, in the judicial branch, and then

we should after we're able to clean up

that corruption, start delivering for

working people. Um, when we unrig this

economy, when we unrig this political

system, that will allow us to actually

get this economy back on track so that

people who work hard can get ahead.

>> That might sound to some people like

impeach and then legislate.

>> Well, again, I as a state lawmaker, I

sat in an impeachment hearing. It's

ironically against the person I'm

running I'm running against. Yes. Um,

>> and I characterized it at the time, this

is long before the Senate race against

Kim Paxton. I characterized it as the

most important vote

>> that I was going to cast as a lawmaker

because we were voting to remove a

dulyeleed public official from office,

which is a a major thing to consider.

And I I carefully evaluated the evidence

in that trial. I read every document

line by line. And I joined with

Republicans on the other side of the

aisle who saw the same thing I saw. And

we came to the same conclusion that this

man is unfit for public office. and I

did my duty in that impeachment uh vote

and and if an impeachment vote comes up

in the US Senate, if I'm a part of an

impeachment trial, I will carefully

evaluate the evidence and I will vote

accordingly. Um but I'm certainly not

going to not going to prejudge an

impeachment trial uh on a podcast.

>> Understood. But do you think President

Trump is central to the corruption

problem you're talking about? I I mean

I'm c I certainly think that we've seen

unprecedented corruption in this

administration and I think it angers

people in both political parties

including some of the president's

strongest supporters. Again, people in

Texas, including people in my family,

voted for President Trump in 2024

because they thought he was going to

lower costs.

>> They thought he was going to drain the

swamp. They thought he was going to end

the wars. They thought he was going to

release the Epstein files. But more than

a year into this administration,

everything is more expensive because of

these corrupt tariffs. The swamp is

bigger than it's ever been before

because of this corruption that you're

talking about. We have a new corrupt war

in the Middle East and the Epstein files

have still not been fully released. So,

there's a lot of disillusionment in our

state, including among the president's

core supporters.

>> I have a final question for you as I

know you have to go to a rally.

>> Yeah.

>> Um there's a lot going on. Let's say

everything I've just been describing in

these scenarios doesn't come to pass.

You do not win in November and Senator

Elect Paxton, despite all the scandals

that have trailed him, goes to

Washington. Texas stays red. Democrats

don't take the Senate. What will it say

to you that Democrats couldn't win in

this political environment when the

president is this unpopular? And what

would it say that you couldn't win

Texas? Well, it'll mean that we have a

lot more work to do in Texas and the

work will continue long after this

campaign. Whether we're successful or

not, we are part of a a relay race of

Texans who have been fighting for the

promise of this state. And even if we're

not successful in this election, that

work will continue and hopefully we'll

learn lessons from from this campaign,

lessons on what to do and maybe lessons

on what not to do. and uh and I'll be

proud to have played that role uh in

this much longer and larger movement.

>> Will it have meant though that money

ultimately conquered the momentum that

we are seeing the Democrats have in

these red states?

>> Big money is powerful and I'm not going

to sugarcoat it, but my faith teaches me

that it is nothing compared to people

power. And when we put our faith in our

neighbors, in our collective ability to

make change, that will one day pay off.

It may not happen tomorrow. It may not

happen on November 3rd, may not happen

in our lifetimes, but faith means living

a larger story. And so, we're going to

keep running that relay race, and we'll

pass it off to the folks who come after

us, and one day we will win. [music]

>> [music]

>> Well, Representative Hillary Co, thank

you for your time. Appreciate it very

much. Good luck with [music] your rally.

>> Thank you. Appreciate you.

>> We'll be right back.

Here's [music]

what else you need [music] another day.

France's government ordered curfews in

some towns and neighborhoods on Monday

night as it tried to reassert control

after the country's worst [music] riots

and looting in decades. Amid widespread

criticism of the government's handling

of the riots, France's interior minister

said he had offered his resignation

[music] to President Emanuel Macron, but

that it had not been accepted.

Meanwhile, [music] the violence quickly

became a political issue. With months to

go before a presidential election,

France's right-wing party national rally

sought to portray the violence as

[music] the failure of its left-wing

rivals, especially France Unbowed, a

party whose presidential candidate has

supported [music] the protests. Those

protests began as peaceful

demonstrations over school conditions

and the cost of living, but descended

[music]

into scenes of masked agitators

attacking government buildings [music]

and breaking into stores.

Today's [music] episode was produced by

Diana Win, Lexi DL, and Eric Krupky. It

was edited by Rachel [music] Quester and

Paige Cowed, fact checked by Susan Lee,

contains music by Marian Lozano and Dan

Powell, and was engineered [music] by

Chris Wood. Our theme music is by

Wonderly. Special thanks to Lauren

McGahi.

[music]

That's it for the daily. I'm Michael

[music] Borrow. See you tomorrow.