00:00And let's also be very clear. The American people are sick and tired of Trumpism. There is a reason why
00:09his poll numbers are going down and down and down.
00:13In my view, in the so-called purple state of Michigan, a tectonic shift took place in American politics. That's
00:22what I believe.
00:23Thank you very much for joining me. And I want to discuss today the extraordinary election that took place in
00:30Michigan yesterday.
00:32And let me begin by congratulating Will Lawrence, Donovan McKinney for their great congressional victories, and of course, Dr. Abdul
00:43El-Sayed for his victory in the Democratic Senate primary.
00:49Last night, in my view, in the so-called purple state of Michigan, a tectonic shift took place in American
00:59politics.
01:00That's what I believe. With an historic voter turnout, the largest voter turnout in Michigan primary history,
01:07The people of that state stood up to an unprecedented onslaught of billionaire money, close to $70 million in ads
01:22coming from super PACs like AIPAC and others.
01:26And despite that onslaught of money, they voted for a progressive candidate who has the guts to take on the
01:34oligarchs and fight for working people and for a sane and moral foreign policy.
01:40And let's be clear. What we saw in Michigan yesterday is absolutely consistent with what we have seen in election
01:51after election, in state after state, all across the country.
01:55We've seen it in Arizona, in New York, in New Jersey, in Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Montana, Colorado, and elsewhere.
02:05The people of America want change. They want real change. They understand that status quo politics and status quo policies
02:19do not work for them, just for the billionaire class.
02:24And what the American people are saying, from coast to coast, is we want a government that represents all of
02:31us, not just the 1%.
02:34And let's also be very clear. The American people are sick and tired of Trumpism.
02:41There is a reason why his poll numbers are going down and down and down.
02:46Because they are disgusted with his authoritarianism, his contempt for the Constitution, his lies, his corruption, his narcissism, and his
02:57terrible and illegal wars.
03:00War on Iran, killing thousands of people, including 18 U.S. servicemen, massive economic turmoil all over the world.
03:08But here's the main point that I want to make today.
03:12As we go forward as progressives, it is not good enough to just be anti-Trump.
03:20Yeah, we've got to lead the effort against this most dangerous president.
03:25But we have got to do more than that.
03:28We need a Democratic Party, which is driven by grassroots activism, by working people, by young people, by people of
03:38color.
03:38And not a party dominated, as is the case now, by a small number of wealthy campaign contributors and their
03:48consultants.
03:50So what you're seeing now all over the country, really, in a very profound historical way,
03:55is a transformation of the Democratic Party from a top-down party to a party where ordinary people are making
04:03the decisions,
04:04selecting the candidates they want to represent them.
04:08So what does all of this mean for the immediate future?
04:11It means that we've got to do everything that we can to make sure that Democrats gain control over the
04:19House and the Senate in this November's election.
04:22We've got to put a check on Trumpism.
04:26But it is not good enough to just check Trumpism.
04:31We need an agenda, an agenda that represents the needs of a struggling working class
04:39and that will improve the lives of ordinary Americans.
04:43So what does that mean?
04:45Let's be very specific about it.
04:47Anybody out there think that our health care system is working?
04:51Nobody does.
04:52Everybody knows it's broken.
04:54Everybody knows it's widely expensive.
04:56It's dysfunctional.
04:57Well, you know what we have got to do as progressives?
05:00When Democrats gain control of the House and Senate, we've got to demand that at the very top of that
05:06agenda
05:08is the reality that we are going to pass Medicare for all
05:12and guarantee health care to every man, woman, and child in this country.
05:16That's what we've got to do.
05:18But we've got to do more than that.
05:20At a time when we have more income and wealth inequality than we've ever had in the history of this
05:26country.
05:26I hope you all know this.
05:27You know, we all studied the Gilded Age.
05:29Remember that when we were in high school and in college?
05:32Rockefeller and Carnegie and Jay Gould and all those zillionaires, you know?
05:37What you've got right now is far more unequal and extreme than existed during the Gilded Age.
05:44So what do we do?
05:45We've got to tackle that income and wealth inequality, the power that the 1% have
05:50by demanding, among other things, that billionaires and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes.
05:58We're the richest country in the history of the world.
06:00But that doesn't mean anything if you've got one guy, Mr. Musk,
06:04who owns more wealth than the bottom half of American households.
06:08All right?
06:09And then when we go forward and we pass legislation,
06:12we've got to understand there are millions of people out there.
06:15Maybe you, working for starvation wages.
06:18So what we've got to do is raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage,
06:24at least 20 bucks an hour, maybe higher,
06:25and make it easier for workers to join unions.
06:29You want to join a union?
06:30You have the constitutional right, and your boss can't stop you.
06:34What else do we have to do?
06:36Well, just among other things, we've got to end endless wars, you know?
06:41Never forget, please, that when I was a kid, the struggle was against the Vietnam War,
06:48which killed 59,000 Americans in the war, and more when they came back home,
06:54sleeping out on the streets of this country.
06:56All right?
06:57That war was based on a lie.
07:00Based on a lie.
07:02The war in Iraq, which I voted against when I was in Congress, based on a lie.
07:09The war in Iran.
07:10Oh, that Iran is going to have a nuclear weapon tomorrow,
07:13and they're going to attack the United States.
07:15Based on a lie.
07:17So we've got to stop endless wars.
07:20We have to stop excessive military spending.
07:23And we have to stop funding the extremist government of Israel,
07:28which has committed genocidal actions against the Palestinian people.
07:33We've got to stop that.
07:34We're going to start investing in our people, in housing, in education, in health care.
07:39What else does it mean?
07:41It means that we need an agenda,
07:43which creates millions of good-paying union jobs,
07:47by transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel.
07:51I don't have to explain to anybody.
07:52You're all reading about it.
07:53The heat waves existing in Europe, here in the United States.
07:57The drought, the forest fires.
07:59Guess what?
07:59The media may not talk about it.
08:01That's called climate change.
08:02And that's exactly what the climate scientists have been telling us is going to be happening.
08:07I want this country, and I think you want this country,
08:10not to do what Trump does,
08:12which is think that climate change is a hoax,
08:14while the oil companies make millions.
08:16We want to lead the world in transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel
08:21into energy efficiencies and sustainable energy.
08:25We need to build millions of units of affordable housing
08:30so the 20 million households in this country
08:32are not spending half of their limited incomes on housing.
08:35We need to make sure that our young people, young couples,
08:39can own a home when they are young and not when they're middle-aged,
08:43which is the case right now.
08:45We need to create universal and free child care.
08:49And we need to have public colleges and universities that are tuition-free.
08:55Can we do that?
08:56Of course we can do that.
08:57We're the richest country in the history of the world.
08:59But what we need to do is tell the billionaire class they can't have it all.
09:04There's another issue out there that Democrats are going to have to address
09:08when they gain power in the house and the center.
09:10And that is artificial intelligence, AI, and robotics.
09:14And that is a huge issue,
09:16which I don't have the time to get into a great length right now.
09:18But bottom line here is that this is the most transformational technology
09:23in the history of humanity.
09:25It can impact everybody in every way that you can imagine.
09:29And right now, those technologies, robotics, AI,
09:33are being pushed by the wealthiest people in the country,
09:37the Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Ellison, you know, these very, very wealthy guys.
09:43And let me tell you what you already know.
09:45They're not staying up nights worrying about you.
09:47They're pushing these technologies because they want to become even richer and more powerful.
09:52But we've got to say, sorry, ain't the way it's going to be.
09:55We will determine how AI and robotics unfold.
10:01And it's going to unfold to benefit human beings,
10:04not just make the big tech oligarchs even richer.
10:07Let me, last point that I would make is that unless we get a handle
10:13on this money in politics business, there's not much that we're going to be able to do.
10:20Musk, Mr. Musk, the wealthiest guy on earth,
10:23spent $270 million to elect Donald Trump.
10:29Other Republican billionaires put an enormous amount of money.
10:32There were billionaires in the Democratic Party,
10:35not quite as many as in the Republican Party.
10:37They also influenced campaigns in a very significant way.
10:42So we have got to get super PACs out of the political process.
10:49We've got to end Citizens United.
10:51We've got to move to public funding of elections.
10:54My dream, and I think your dream, is creating a vibrant democracy.
10:59One person, one vote.
11:00We debate issues.
11:02Not where you have billionaires or super PACs like AIPAC flooding the airways with lying ads.
11:07So, there is a lot on the table right now.
11:11But let me conclude by giving you some very good news.
11:14And thank many of you for what you're doing in a very difficult moment in modern American history.
11:22Maybe the most difficult that we've ever seen.
11:26Progressives are winning from one end of this country.
11:29The views that we hold, the future that we want to see for this country,
11:33is, I think, being accepted and embraced by more and more Americans.
11:40So, we are making progress.
11:41Yesterday was an extraordinary victory for us.
11:45with Abdul's win, with Donovan's win, with Will's win in Michigan.
11:52It's on, by the way, to Minnesota next week,
11:56where a very strong and good progressive candidate, Peggy Flanagan, is running for the U.S. Senate.
12:02So, let's do what we can to get her elected.
12:05But thank you all very much for what you're doing.
12:08Let's go forward together.
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