The Exchanges

Q there a path to resolution? I mean, like you're, you guys are going to be forced to confront the filibuster, which is this critical bulwark that sort of leaves Some sort of attempt at finding common ground out there, but there's a lot of pressure to end it. I think Senator Federman, you said you'd be supportive of ending the filibuster. Is that where we're going to just total tribalism?

A Yeah, let's talk about the filibuster. Let's talk about that. The entire Democratic Party, including myself, we were so wrong about the filibuster. In my cycle in twenty-twenty, every single Democrat identified we have to, we have to eliminate the filibuster. Seems like it makes sense now. And thank God, thank God we had people that stood, ah, there, whether it's Senator Manchin or Senator Sinema, you know, history has vindicated their wisdom to do that thing. And now Democrats, we all wanted to get rid of it in 22. And 20, 25, we love it. And now, it, now, it reforces people to work together with both sides. Now, if you turn the Senate into a smaller version of the House, and majority, majority, right? Now, that would have profound, profound implications for now. So, now, someone that'd be the first person to announce, hey, I was so wrong about that. Oh, that's one of the kinds of hill I would die on now. To defend the filibuster, how important it is to the Senate, but also Senate for the minority rights, whoever that happens to be in that time, you know, that's what's so critical, what the filibuster is to governance here.

AI assessment note: “The entire Democratic Party, including myself, we were so wrong about the filibuster.”

Q think you're very popular there. But I'm curious, do you ever get worried that you might get primaried in the Democratic Party when, when you come up? Because, I mean, the Bernie Sanders wing is powerful. They have a lot of activists. They're very noisy. I mean, do you ever, I mean, I appreciate your Maverick streak in your independence, but do you, how do you think about that risk?

A Well, ah, a seat or a job is, is not, ah, I'm always gonna be, I'm gonna be honest, and I'm always gonna have, ah, you know, my votes or my opinions are gonna be what I happen to believe is, is true. You know, ah, it's not a seat worth trying to maintain if I'm gonna lie or to pretend that things aren't absolutely true. Yeah, absolutely, I can be, be primaried, and there are some Democrats that are, that are angry at me. If they're angry at me for supporting Israel, Yeah, they have at it. If they're angry at me that I think it's wrong to shut down the government, that's fine. Uh, if, if they're angry at me because I, I refuse to call him a Nazi or a fascist or a piece of , I'll never do that. You can hold me in that too. But what's really strange in that the truth is somebody that votes like a 93% of the Democratic line, and if I change my party, there was a lot of palace intrigue that I'm going to change the party, and I'm, I'm never going to do that. And if I did, I could change, you know, I could announce right now, I am changing it right now. My votes aren't going to change my views. I wouldn't vote any differently, things I happen to believe, and, and if, if Democrats run me out of the party, they will be attacking a committed Democrat that votes your line 93% of the time, because we're in a new year time right now, That I think things are more important than trying to, I,…

AI assessment note: “Yeah, absolutely, I can be, be primaried, and there are some Democrats that are, that are angry”

Q for a moment at the start of the show, which is the SAVE Act. 83% of Americans support voter ID for elections. The Senate scheduled to take up the SAVE Act supposedly or potentially this week. Uh, you've said you don't support the SAVE Act in its current form. What do you think needs to be changed? Do you generally agree with the idea of using voter ID for elections?

A Well, the Republicans have never had any, uh, outreach or to engage. You know, they never said, hey, well, can we rework it? Oh, you know, what can we offer? Yeah. And I'll make it, you know, real ID, real, real ID to vote. Keep it simple. You know, so like, yeah, why not? Why not? You know, like, it's like that, that, that would, uh, I, I am not outraged by providing ID to vote. 71% of Democrats are okay with that. 83 of Americans are okay with it. Make it that, then yeah, you know, I'm interested to really to have that conversation. Another thing that they continue to do, they try to smear, uh, voting by mail. That's absolutely safe. And the red states in America, like Florida, Ohio, and others, They rely on it. The more rural a state is, they really use that too. So they've made it this, uh, Christmas, uh, tree of hanging all these, these kinds of boutique and other issues. Now, if you are serious and like, hey, ID to vote. You know, you might bring some actual Democrats on that. I'm not, you know, ah, I refuse the kind of extreme rhetoric about it's not Jim Crow. It is not trying to suppress Americans from voting. It's making it perhaps more secure, um, and they'll have a serious conversation, and that's why I, you know, said I'm unwilling, uh, to support it in its current, current form.

AI assessment note: “I am not outraged by providing ID to vote. 71% of Democrats are okay”

Q What do you think the Democratic Party used to stand for? What does it stand for today, and what do you think it should stand for?

A I, I, honestly, I, I don't know. But what I will say, as I would refer to, to your listeners, is like, Listen to what the people that are running for the Senate as Democrats. Watch what they're saying and doing, and that's becoming more and more anti-Israel, uh, openly hostile to, to Israel. And now, uh, that becomes part of the litmus purity test. I'm not going to take any of their money. Uh, I'm going to denounce That, and, uh, I was the only Democrat that's absolutely Netanyahu just done the right thing to, to break the, uh, that access, uh, there Hezbollah and Hamas, you know, attacking also Houthis as well. So, I mean, so do you know where, what Democrats stand for? See who's running for the Senate, you know, Plantner, the Nazi tattoo guy. Uh, you know, on top of being, uh, an avowed communist, and now said incredibly offensive things about women and sexual assault, um, and now refers to rural people as stupid and racist. And now, so, and now, is that what Democrats want? I guess we'll see that. But, you know, you see in all these different things, also in Michigan, too, a guy that really, as far as I know, has refused to condemn Hamas. And he led the, you know, no, uh, the, the no, uh, what was the, no committed? It's like, forget what that, that stupid thing was called, but it was like, you know, no vote, no vote for, uh, uncommitted, uncommitted, yeah, uncommitted. But,…

AI assessment note: “Watch what they're saying and doing, and that's becoming more and more anti-Israel”

Q Right. Do you think, uh, there's a clear path to getting out of Iran for the United States at this stage? How do you view this exit happening? It seems like the president to some degree is declaring victory, but on the other hand, there seems to be continued activity and push forward here. What's our exit path?

A I, I don't know, but what I will say, what's undeniably been happened. Now, uh, first, why aren't all of the media outlets demanding proof of life for, from the Ayatollah? You know, ever since that first strike back in last month, not a peep, not a peep out of them. I mean, the, the Iranians are doing kind of like weekend at Italia's. You know, like they're just trying to pretend this guy is functional in any, in any way. And now just today, today, you know, they just, they just eliminated, you know, who was effectively the, the de facto leader. You know, I think that's fantastic. Keep doing it for that. So, and without a doubt, they have no capabilities at this point otherwise than to, to fire off a drone at civilians. Add civilians. The Iranians have never done anything other than just attacking civilians. Absolutely. That's a fact. You know, they can't engage in traditional kinds of, of combat. So those cowards, what they do is fire drones to create chaos. You know, they've been effectively neutered, and that's a wonderful thing. And that's also effectively broken the, the proxies. And that's also made the world undeniably more secure. So, and this is not, this is not an, ah, I mean, this war is only three weeks into it. This, whatever you want to call it, whatever the semantics, it's three weeks. This is not like a Ukraine in war. You know, this is three weeks. It, it's not…

AI assessment note: “I, I don't know, but what I will say, what's undeniably been happened.”

Q Do you think that ICE's mandate should be to remove every illegal immigrant from this country, or do you think that they should be going after just one group and leave others and we have to legislate? What's the right way for ICE to operate?

A No, you know, you have the vast majority of Americans secure our border. They've done that without a doubt, and deport every criminal. They're the gun. And now, you know, Pennsylvania, that's our top industry is, is farming agriculture. And constantly, that's their issue. Labor, labor, labor. It's, it's really problematic. You know, targeting Otherwise lawful migrants. I don't think that's what America really wants. And honestly, that's not what America needs. You know, you know, we, they are an important part of our economy and finding a better way to address that. I'm, hey, I'm here for that conversation. My wife was a dreamer. You know, I, I would love to work with the other side. You know, I shouldn't punish a two year old that was brought here, had no idea, uh, at that age. You know, so I think they've made some, you know, important contributions to our nation. I'm a, I'm a pro-democrat, uh, excuse me, I'm a pro-immigration democrat, but I'm also the only democrat to refuse to shut our government down the way that we're at, and now I'm becoming the only very proud supporter of Israel, and I'm the only democrat that's saying destroying a regime, you know, that, like, Iran is a good thing. So,

AI assessment note: “deport every criminal... targeting Otherwise lawful migrants. I don't think that's what America really wants”

Q force folks to kind of contort into these weird positions that don't even make logical sense. Why did we get to this point? What happened that everything had to be Polar. There was never the ability for us to, there's no longer the ability for us to agree on some things while disagreeing on other things. What caused this change in this country, and can we get back from it?

A I, I don't know. Like, part of my party's become so inflexible. What, what I've discovered that, you know, you are not allowed to be a proud, unapologetic standing, uh, with Israel, but it's, it's okay, uh, it's not a big deal if you have a Nazi tattoo on your chest, and you have people in now, in my party now, who are trying to normalize that, or to excuse that. I mean, like, it's, that's, that's, that's kind of where we are. And, and now I know what's toxic as a Democrat to disagree with, but for me, Those are, I think, our core values, you know, the kinds of values in Israel, kinds of the core value that we have always used to say, never, ever shut our government down. That's always wrong. You're going to punish, uh, union members. You're going to punish, you know, everyday Americans. Now here we're doing those same things. Uh, and now I think our border, for example, I think secure our border, deport all the criminals, but now never, ever have the kind of tragedies like we had in Minneapolis. That's not what anyone really voted for, any of them supports. So, you know, if I'm more popular than Republicans, I don't really know, but, uh, but I also, that I, I treat everyone with respect, and I don't refer to Republicans or members of MAGA. They're not Nazis. They're not fascists. They're not trying to destroy our country. Uh, no. I know and I love many, many people that, that …

AI assessment note: “I, I don't know. Like, part of my party's become so inflexible.”

Q But just to focus on ICE, I mean, ICE's actions in Minnesota, where do you think ICE should be doing immigration enforcement and how versus what do you think they shouldn't have been doing?

A Yeah, for me, you know, hey, I was, I was the Democratic lead on Lake and Riley bill, because that was a serious bill. They, you know, Katie Britt called me up and saying, hey, what do you think? And I'm like, yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah, let's, let's work together on it. That, that's a serious, that's a serious effort. Uh, and now, I led that, and enough Democrats broke cloture on that. That's why it's a law in America right now. You know, I like to think that my credentials on Board of Security as a Democrat is platinum, you know, uh, and I even, I voted for Noam, one of the few Democrats that her, I met with her, treated her with respect, and, you know, refused to use the kind of sexist and gross terms like Ice Barbie and those kinds of things. Refused to do that. She absolutely lost the plot. I called for her to resign. She became a Mayorkas. I was a Democrat calling out that Mayorkas was a disaster, without a doubt. You know, we cannot, this is unsustainable, and this is damaging our nation and making it impossible to deliver an American dream for any migrants at that point.

AI assessment note: “I like to think that my credentials on Board of Security as a Democrat is platinum”

Q Trump, were unduly influenced by Netanyahu and by the Israeli lobbyists in the United States. You know, maybe you can address that point. You've taken money from AIPAC, and I know that you've kind of been, that's been brought up before, but how do you react to the argument that many are making that Israel has undue influence on our politics and our, um, our kind of, uh, global actions?

A Well, that, that plays into the, to the anti-Semitism and the tropes, and it's like pulling all the strings, and they're behind. It's just, that's just part of the growth. It's become more and more acceptable as a Democrat to say these things, you know, and it's like, like, Tucker Carlson and, and Fuentes and these, these people, you know, like, no one claims them. No one claims them. You know, I promise you, no one, at least I sit around wondering what those are the kind of visuals and their opinions on Israel or anything at that point. Same parts of my party as well, too. Now, if you, if you want to normalize that a Nazi tattoo is kind of like a one-off, it's no, not a big deal, or if you think Israel engaged in a genocide, you know, how ignorant that is to the, actually what Defines a genocide is, is, um, the exact opposite. They were in a just war, you know, and now remember where it started, and remember what Hamas continued to do. Send everybody home, and there, they would be the end of this. So, so that's, that's part of this, and now how anti-Semitism, out of control, out of control, you know, on our college campuses, and as well in In the world, even in San Jose, you know, a Jew was beaten just having dinner. You know, you have people driving, crashing into synagogue, kind of like tree of life, but thankfully he was immediately killed by the security. They had security…

AI assessment note: “Well, that, that plays into the, to the anti-Semitism and the tropes”

Q One of the clear rising themes right now in this country going into the midterms and probably going into 28 for the presidential election cycle is the massive wealth inequality in this country. Do you think we have massive wealth inequality? And is it, you know, can you identify the origin? Where is this coming from?

A I, I don't, I don't really know. Uh, but I, I don't hate billionaires. I don't make them the problem. And now that with Democrats, we love billionaires. If we're supporting our, we're supporting our causes or there's, they're underwriting, you know, things that are near and dear to us. In fact, we actually have a billionaire as a democratic governor, you know, that doesn't mean he's an oligarch and trying to destroy America, you know? So like, it's about trying to be more honest and stop attacking each other and, Find what we can agree on now, but we live in the kinds of attention economy and just You know, saying outlandish thing and making, you know, crazy statements, you know, yeah, that drives the clicks, but that's not governments.

AI assessment note: “I don't really know. Uh, but I, I don't hate billionaires.”

Q this is becoming, I think, a big national issue that the majority of U.S. farmers lost money last year, if not for the federal government providing support payments, crop insurance, and Would have been one-time bailouts. Do you think we have a path to fixing agriculture in this country? And how do we get farmers back on track where they can earn a living without requiring checks from the government?

A Farming is such a hard job. I absolutely revere American farms, especially in Pennsylvania ones. Their job, you know, quite literally feeds us. I fully support all of their efforts. You know, I was deeply troubled by many of those tariffs. And also, the ones that I talked to, labor, labor, labor has made that very, very difficult. I, you know, we should celebrate and support Farmers, because I know, because I've visited enough farms to see how hard, back-breaking labor it is to just deliver food to your table. So, that's part, that's part of it, and that's kind of connected to things. Thankfully, we have the kinds of abundance in our nation for our food, and now why, um, that's why, uh, That's part of the immigration conversation. That's part of the tariffs and that wherever like that. So, so the kinds of things that are hurting a lot of the people that are just almost form a uniformly red parts of my state.

AI assessment note: “Farming is such a hard job. I absolutely revere American farms”

Q the activities, uh, the commercial oil activities through the Strait, NATO allies have largely said no. Do you think that we're looking at the end of The NATO alliance. What does this speak to for the future of both America's leadership with the, in the West, and this alliance that has kind of created a great power center that's created balance in the world? I mean, is NATO at risk?

A I'm proud to be an American, and, and I believe, you know, we are a force of good in the world, and I don't, truly don't understand why they don't want to join us to, to reopen the straits, but If you consume oil, that makes it part of your, your problem, and that makes you part of your responsibility to join us. So we've done the hard work at this point, and the horror of 10 seven was born by the Israelis too. Now they've done the appropriate thing to, to destroy the proxies and to hold them fully accountable. And now why the world can't rally around this to just Do that. Now, I do believe we will be successful with or without their help, but remind people that it's been three weeks, and now for a nation that's ninety million, that used to be this fearsome force of military in the entire region, just been pulverized into irrelevance, other than just creating kinds of chaos, firing a drone there. And now they can't, they can't even fight with honor. You know, they, they attack civilians. They've massacred their own, you know, there, there would be more uprising because they're terrified because they've had the witnesses they've killed up to 35,000 of them, uh, last time. So, they've been held accountable. As an American, hold them accountable, and that's a good thing.

AI assessment note: “I don't, truly don't understand why they don't want to join us”

Q So the American people, I think, are extremely frustrated with both parties. It's great to see you guys come together. Um, but what are you going to do to bring back some balance between the branches of the government? Because this does not seem to be going in Um, the right direction for anybody but the people in this room, which is to say the top 10% of our society.

A Well, I mean, for me, if you, you referenced inflation is soaring. Well, just recently, that's primarily driven by energy prices right now. Now, why are those energy prices high? Well, because the president decided to hold Iran accountable. And now, I'm the only Democrat that actually agrees with that. That was not, that was not a radical idea for a Democrats. Every single person running for president as a Democrat said, we must never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb, and now we have the opportunity to hold them accountable. Why? That's why I continue to vote against these War Powers Act now, too. So for inflation, yes, now absolutely no one thinks five dollars a gallon is great. But if you allow Iran to become nuclear, you know, that's gonna seem quaint, you know, if five dollars a gallon holding it up too. So what's driving this economic conversation overall right now? So for me, I think what's most important now, uh, turn everything as a partisan thing, and that's the danger where if we despise Trump more than we are concerned about Iran becoming a nuclear power. That will have profound implications for not just in that region, but also for a global stage for right now. That's the difficulty moving forward now. I've said this in the podcast of, you know, for All In, I, you know, who's the leader's party? I'm like, that's TDS, a hundred percent. You know, our party is def…

AI assessment note: “if you, you referenced inflation is soaring. Well, just recently, that's primarily driven by energy”