The Exchanges

Q build anything. The nimbyism, you know, if you cast a shadow, nothing can be built. And then housing prices keep going up. And, you know, if you want to hire a nanny or a teacher, uh, or, you know, if a firefighter moves in, they can't even afford a home in the community that they're servicing. So how did you fix this? And why can't other states not fix it?

A I mean, look, I can't speak to how it's done in California. I'll just tell you in Pennsylvania, The way we start the conversation is by recognizing permits are critically important to economic development and to creating jobs, right? If we, the government, can move at the speed of business, if I can give you as a CEO predictability to know your business is going to be open in six months instead of three years, right, because the permit took too long, then you're going to want to invest here. So we sort of start with the important idea that permits matter. Second, When you come into our state government to get your permit, let's just use building a building as an example, right? We want to get to yes. We still want to protect the environment and public health and public safety, and we do that, but we want to get to yes. So our attitude has shifted. Third, we've got to have that money back guarantee because that money back guarantee holds the bureaucracy accountable. Now, I will tell you that some of this we've done administratively, meaning I've signed executive orders and we've made those changes. But in other things, we worked with the legislature to pass new laws to speed up our permitting. And it hasn't always been easy. Understand I'm a Democrat as governor. I've got a divided legislature. I was the only governor for a while with a divided legislature. Now there's one other…

AI assessment note: “in Pennsylvania, The way we start the conversation is by recognizing permits are critically important”

Q Does the socialist democratic movement worry you, Mondami, and the crew, and how do you think about that in terms of the party dynamics?

A I mean, remember the question you asked me, I don't know, three or four questions ago about, you said, well, yeah, I only agree with 14% of what you agree with, you know, come join the party. Look, my view, Is that we got to have a big tent. And my view is that we've got to have a real debate around different ideas. And just because I might not agree with you on these three things, I might agree with you on something else. Listen, I'm sitting behind my desk here in the governor's office. This is where I negotiate bills and budgets and other things. If I threw everybody out of my office that I didn't agree with a hundred percent of the time, we'd never get anything done. When I sit down across the table from a Republican lawmaker, Say, what are the 10 things you want to accomplish? I tell him the 10 things I want to accomplish, and you know what? We're not going to agree on all 10, but if we agree on three or four, I'd rather focus on those three or four things where we can find common ground than the five, six, seven things where we're just going to disagree, and so I think if you want to make progress, you got to figure out how to create, you know, majorities, whether it's a majority in the legislature to get a bill to my desk, a majority come election time to win an election. You got to find ways to bring people together and find common ground and not just focus exclusively o…

AI assessment note: “Look, my view, Is that we got to have a big tent.”

Q of the Trump presidency, and he started a war. His own Biggest advocates from Megyn Kelly to Tucker Carlson and, you know, people on the fringe, Alex Jones, and everybody in the middle, the comedians who supported him, the podcast diaspora, or the podcast bros, they're all fleeing the ship. They did not want this. So here we are. Why did he do this? Why now? What is your handicapping?

A Well, I'll answer that. I will just say it's yet another broken promise to the people who put him in power. He screwed over the farmers. Who put him in power? He told people he wouldn't slash Medicaid. He cut Medicaid. He told people he'd bring down prices. Prices have skyrocketed because of his tariffs. He, he's got this long string of broken promises. Now, why did he break this particular promise? Yeah, let's, let's, let's examine the record. First, Rubio went out and said he did it because if we didn't move, then Netanyahu was going to move and was going to force our hand. Then they walked it back. He said seven or eight months ago that, um, they destroyed their nuclear capabilities, and then came back seven or eight months later and said, we had to go in because we had to destroy their nuclear capabilities. I don't know. Then they said it was about regime change. Well, great. I mean, we went from like an eighty-something-year-old Ayatollah to a sixty-something-year-old Ayatollah, who by all accounts, um, seems to be far more hard-line. I'd hardly call that successful Regime change. So to me, it is hard to, I think you've seen, I've been trying to be very forthright answering your questions.

AI assessment note: “Now, why did he break this particular promise? Yeah, let's, let's, let's examine the record.”

Q going on for a while, um, these kind of allegations. If we, if we can't rely on honor and norms, is there another proposal here that the kids of, you know, people in office can't make money. Your kids can't make money. If I was running for office, my kids couldn't make money in the free market. How do you, is there any kind of solution you can think of?

A I think it is important. You, you cited Hunter Biden. They went through a legal process. There was an investigation by the Department of Justice. I think there has to be a real look, I say this as a former prosecutor, a real look at some of this stuff, and follow the evidence, follow the law, and if charges are warranted, bring them in. By the way, if charges are not warranted, don't bring them. Do not, um, use the, the rule of law as a tool to go against, you know, political opponents in, in any way. But I think what you've gotta have here are people who are operating with real morality, and you do have to figure out a way to operate within the norms again. I'm unwilling to accept that that is gone. It may be temporarily suspended under Donald Trump, but I'm hopeful that we can find our way back to that. Let me be clear about something else here, that finding our way back to that Is a bipartisan exercise. It's going to require Republicans and Democrats and independents, all demanding when they go to the ballot box that we want to elevate people who are ethical, people who are honest, people who are focused on doing their jobs with integrity, and then when those people are in office, rewarded with the votes of the public and in these positions of public trust to hold them accountable as well.

AI assessment note: “I'm unwilling to accept that that is gone. It may be temporarily suspended”

Q a lot of moderates are like, well, that's confusing. We don't want to have more Mondamis. And that doesn't seem super appealing to a lot of moderates. And the moderates are the ones who flipped this election and they went, the last election, they went with Trump largely. As opposed to going with Kamala. So, handicap for me, what has to happen in the Democratic Party to win in twenty-twenty-eight?

A I understand why you're asking that. I, I will answer your question. I don't think anyone should be looking past these midterms, and while I appreciate the confidence you, you have in me and, and, and maybe in the, the broader dynamics here, I think we need to have a national referendum in these midterms on what people see happening In Washington DC, the, the chaos and the corruption that exists there. I think people need to show up in record numbers and vote their concerns. And so I'm not looking past the midterms. I do think it is important that we acknowledge Donald Trump has injected chaos and corruption into everything he touched. And I think it's important for me, for other democratic leaders in this country, To be able to show what calm, competent governance can actually deliver for people. That's what I'm going to be talking about in these midterms as I seek reelection. I think it is important to paint an alternative picture to the chaos Donald Trump has created. One where you can actually grow the economy. You can make our communities safer. We didn't talk about this yet, but we've hired 2000 more police officers invested in community violence prevention, and violent crime is down 12%. Fatal gun violence is down 42% in our commonwealth. Um, we've invested in public education, and by the way, scores are up. Truancy is down. Um, we're moving up on the list. We're about 1…

AI assessment note: “I don't think anyone should be looking past these midterms”

Q equity holdings are growing much better than salaries ever will. And only 40%, only 50% of the country really participates in a meaningful way in equities. The other 40, 50% don't have any exposure to that. So how would you deal with somebody making, you know, a hundred billion dollars, five hundred billion dollars, a trillion dollars and never selling their equity? Or maybe not selling it for 20 years.

A How do you think about that? Let me make sure three points, a Pennsylvania point, then a couple of broader points. One, you cannot have a national economy that works if it's only working for the one percent. And you pointed out in your question the wage disparity and the disparity of income. You have to make sure that there is opportunity for those at all different income levels. And look, as we sit here today, if you're making a million dollars, Versus 50,000 dollars. Take a million dollars. You're gonna be able to buy some stuff that someone at 50,000 dollars can't buy, right? We sort of understand that, but you gotta have opportunity, and you've gotta have a level playing field, and you gotta have a fair shot, and you gotta have a tax system that works in a fair way. So that's sort of .1. .2 is here in Pennsylvania, we've tried to address some of that economic disparity by passing the first ever Working Pennsylvania's tax credit, sort of a state side earned income tax credit. So what we're saying is if you're working, if you're going out and busting your hump, we're going to put some money back in your pocket. About 940,000, almost a million Pennsylvanians are going to qualify for a little over 800 bucks back in their pockets. So that's going to help not only today with rising costs due to a lot of these federal policies, but it's going to put money back in people's pockets,…

AI assessment note: “here in Pennsylvania, we've tried to address some of that economic disparity”

Q was really disheartening to me was that they didn't do the speedrun primary. They didn't do, you know, capsule primary over that July-August period, and gave you a shot, and other people a shot, Pritzker, Buttigieg, whoever, to, to compete for the nomination. Was that a huge mistake for the Democratic Party? And when you look back on it, do you think that might have cost you all the election?

A Well, look, I mean, I actually wrote about this in, in the book I, I recently published, where You know, it, it became clear to me that, um, you know, Joe Biden seeking another term was probably not in the best interest of the party or, or the country, and I spoke to him directly about that and, and bluntly about that. Once he made the decision to drop out with a hundred and whatever days to go, um, you know, there, there were not many opportunities, I think, to have the kind of primary process that you're talking about. I think it is important to look forward Right. And not look backwards. And you said in the last election, Democrats took a shellacking. Actually, you look at 2025, it was the opposite. I mean, the president's party, the Republican Party got beat in New Jersey, got beat in Virginia, got beat here in Pennsylvania, where we won three state Supreme Court seats. So obviously there is a pendulum in and it's swinging back in politics and it's clearly, uh, swinging back. I think what's important is, is that we look forward and I think it's also really important for our party To have, for my party, to have a real debate and to have a real discussion about ideas. What are we for? And what are we willing to fight for? And I realize that process may at times look a little messy. I realize, and I mean this with the utmost respect, it gives folks like you on a podcast or on …

AI assessment note: “I think it is important to look forward Right. And not look backwards.”

Q as somebody who grew up in Brooklyn with lots of Jewish friends and all kinds of different people, just insane to think that Jewish students are being, or any particular group of students being chased by the other students at Columbia University because they're Jewish, and this chaoticness, um, is just heartbreaking, but as a Jewish person and literally experiencing it firsthand, I mean, how are you doing with that?

A Yeah, I appreciate it. Look, we, we should separate this and have two conversations, one about Israel and one about antisemitism, because you kind of blurred both in that question. Let's focus first on antisemitism. I have been very outspoken. About those who are engaging in antisemitism, peddling words that are antisemitic. And importantly, I've been critical of people on the political left and on the political right. And I think antisemitism is a problem in our society and is a problem on the left and it is a problem on the right. And I think it is important that we call it out. We call it out whether we're in an interview, not accusing you by any conversation, call it out when, um, you know, on, on social media. And then we just call it out in our communities, in our daily lives, where we see it. On that, there should be no nuance. We should be able to come together, people who are Jewish, people who are Christian, Muslim, and all agree that hatred, bigotry, in any form, directed at a Jew, a Muslim, Christian, anyone, it has no place. And by the way, it makes us all less safe. And so we have to focus on speaking out against that. No nuance on that. Yeah. On the issue of Israel, the Middle East, and the war in Iran and Gaza, there's a lot of nuance there. I'm happy to answer your questions on that. But I think on the issue of anti-Semitism, we have got to be in a place where …

AI assessment note: “we should separate this and have two conversations, one about Israel and one about antisemitism”