00:00It's not just a corruption story. It's not just a great grip. This guy is trying to wreck this country,
00:05just as he tried to do on January 6th, where he tried to light democracy on fire and try to
00:10destroy this democracy. We're celebrating the 250th anniversary of the best of the Roman Republic, the best of Greek democracy,
00:19co-equal branches of government, popular sovereignty, and what is supposed to be the rule of law, not the rule
00:27of dominion.
00:29And so I hope it's valiant on all of us, the states.
00:32What you need to get done to make sure that we win the United States Senate, to make sure that
00:37they win that governor's race, to make sure that we celebrate the end of Donald Trump's presidency.
00:49What is the governor from the most un-Trump state in America doing?
00:56And by the way, I'm proud of that status as the governor of the most un-Trump state in the
01:01United States of America.
01:02But I'm here because I have a particular fondness for members of the legislature, because I have to work with
01:07them.
01:08I know a thing or two about how important these races are, and I know a thing or two about
01:13my party, our party, that hasn't focused enough on state races.
01:20You may be old enough to remember, most folks may not have seen it, but in March of 2010, a
01:29guy by the name of Karl Rove, just making sure you're here, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street
01:37Journal, 2010,
01:38said that his focus was not on the presidential, his focus was on state houses all across the United States.
01:47In fact, he created a numeric, he said, if we can win 107 state legislative seats in just 16 states,
01:56we can redistrict over 190 congressional districts and dominate for the next decade.
02:06People didn't pay attention.
02:09They should have.
02:11They didn't win 107.
02:13They won 675.
02:16We got crushed.
02:18Over the course of the next few years, that next decade, we lost over 1,000 state seats.
02:25They get it.
02:27And they got it done.
02:28We were so consumed, Democrats, with, we were talking earlier about the guy or gal, the white horse,
02:35is going to come save the day, just falling in love.
02:39Meanwhile, these guys were walking the line, every day, grinding, working, bottom up, not top down.
02:48That's where democracy is formed.
02:51Bottom up, not top down.
02:53Self-organizing communities.
02:54People like yourselves that haven't given into the cynicism, haven't given into the fear, that show up, not just for
02:59yourselves, but for each other, for the community, for your state,
03:02and our nation and the world we're trying to build.
03:04So let me long-windedly say thank you.
03:07Thank you for not giving in to the cynicism.
03:09Thank you for not giving in to the fear.
03:12Thank you for not falling prey to the anxiety that so many people are feeling right now.
03:16We're polarized.
03:19Feel traumatized by this moment.
03:22This invasive species we have in the White House.
03:28Not many Republicans that disagree with that either.
03:33But you're here, not just for Alex and Sarah, not just for the speaker-in-waiting, but you're here for
03:39each other.
03:40And so I just want to thank you.
03:41And I'm here in that spirit as well.
03:44We're all bound together.
03:45I was just at church.
03:46We're all bound together by a web of mutuality.
03:48Many parts, one body.
03:51You matter.
03:53And we care.
03:54All across this country, people are waking up.
03:57We're stepping up.
03:59We're meeting the moment.
04:01We recognize we have agency.
04:03We're not bystanders in the world.
04:05We can shape the future.
04:06The future is not in front of us.
04:08It's inside of us.
04:09It's decisions, not conditions, that will determine our fate and future.
04:13People are waking up.
04:14And let me give you the scorecard.
04:15Just if you think I'm overstating or exaggerating, there have been dozens and dozens of state legislative races all across
04:24the United States in the last 18 months.
04:26Special elections and regular elections.
04:29And here's the tally.
04:30We have flipped, Democrats, literally have flipped 30 seats from red to blue.
04:38We have not lost one race.
04:40You saw what happened in Virginia.
04:42You saw what happened in New Jersey.
04:44They're going to win.
04:46You have chosen wisely.
04:49But the work is, again, in front of you.
04:52So thank you for everything you've done.
04:54But more importantly, thank you for what you'll do over the course of the next few days.
04:56Because one thing we don't do, we don't run the 90-yard dash.
05:00We can't take anything for granted.
05:03And this is the message I want to leave with you.
05:05Because what we're up against is ruthlessness.
05:10I know a thing or two about it.
05:12I may have been joking about being from the most untrumped state in the country, but I got some receipts.
05:22You may recall, it was last July, I sat there and I said, what was happening in the streets of
05:29Los Angeles was a preview of things to come.
05:32Don't forget, I got a 19-minute phone call from Donald Trump where he read me the riot act.
05:37Next morning, he nationalized, federalized 4,000 Alex National Guard.
05:44First city to happen.
05:46Sent them to Los Angeles.
05:48Then took 700 active-duty Marines.
05:51People forget this.
05:52He did not send the active-duty Marines overseas to the Middle East.
05:56He sent 700 active-duty Marines to the second-largest city in the United States of America.
06:01We said at the time this was a preview of things to come.
06:05Fast forward, a few months later, a guy by the name of Bovino, Greg Bovino, looking as if he just
06:13came off a set in Burbank, California, from some 1930s movie.
06:19They're cutting off.
06:22Sending out private police force.
06:27No identification.
06:29Everybody masked up.
06:31We said at the time that was a preview of things to come.
06:35Meanwhile, we all woke up blurry-eyed and we said, no, that didn't just happen.
06:42You mean the President of the United States made a phone call to the governor of Texas?
06:46And he demanded what?
06:48He told Greg Abbott that he was, quote-unquote, entitled to five seats.
06:55Entitled to five seats for a mid-decade redistricting.
06:59I remember at the time going, come on, that can't be true.
07:02Maybe we should just put out a tweet and say that's so wrong.
07:06In fact, my staff said, well, we already have one.
07:08I said, that's great.
07:10I said, let's send it out.
07:13Not much changed.
07:15I got a call, though, from the speaker or the leader in Texas, legislative leader, said, can you do something
07:21else?
07:22I said, oh, no, no, we're already working on an op-ed.
07:25I said, maybe we'll get it in the New York Times.
07:27And maybe, look, like 100 people will read it.
07:31And he said, well, can you do something more than that?
07:34I'm like, what do you mean?
07:35He goes, well, you know, maybe you can consider this mid-decade redistricting.
07:43And I thought about that.
07:44And I thought about my party, the Democratic Party, particularly thinking back a year ago.
07:50We were so consumed about being right, winning the argument.
07:56Meanwhile, on the other side, they ain't screwing around.
07:59They were consolidating power.
08:02And we recognized we needed to meet the moment.
08:05And we stepped up and we stepped in.
08:08And we moved forward with our own redistricting in the state of California.
08:14We've got to fight, Democrats.
08:16We will lose this country.
08:18We will lose this country.
08:20It's not gotten better.
08:22It has not gotten better.
08:23I remember it, by the way.
08:24If you may have picked up, you know, your newspaper or watched TV last November in California.
08:32California, the morning of the election, this is a few months ago, Donald Trump sent out BORTAC teams.
08:40These are the Border Patrol tactical units, all dressed up, you know, patchy helicopters.
08:45Sent them out election day morning to Dodger Stadium to pre-position everybody before the polls open to send a
08:52message to our diverse communities.
08:53Do not show up and vote.
08:56That same morning he put out on True Social, the election was rigged.
09:01Two days prior, he sent out the Department of Justice to prove that the election was rigged.
09:07A day after the election, he then marched to the Supreme Court to say he had evidence that the election
09:13was rigged.
09:14These guys are not screwing around.
09:17That is a preview of things to come all across the United States.
09:21The reason Donald Trump called Greg Abbott is he knows he's going to lose the November election.
09:28He knows that he will have the land-up president to begin a right.
09:34So he's doing everything to rig it.
09:37And he's just winding up.
09:39You see it on vote by mail.
09:40You see what he's trying to do in Fulton County.
09:42Not try to do.
09:43He took the ballots in Fulton County.
09:47Trying to take the voting rolls.
09:49It was with Jocelyn last night.
09:51You understand this intimately.
09:52Your current Secretary of State.
09:54And that governor in waiting.
09:56And by the way, how lucky are you to have Jocelyn Benson as governor working with the Fulton State leaders.
10:02Last vote.
10:03Serious.
10:05We know her well.
10:07You know her better.
10:09So I'm here in that light.
10:10I'm here in that spirit.
10:11I'm here in that spirit.
10:12Some, you know, with humility.
10:15But also grace.
10:17You know, our founding fathers.
10:18We're celebrating the 250th anniversary.
10:20The best of the Roman Republic.
10:21The best of Greek democracy.
10:24Co-equal branches of government.
10:26Popular sovereignty.
10:27The rule of law.
10:30Not the rule of dawn.
10:33And so I hope it's dawning on everybody what's at stake.
10:35How precious this moment is.
10:38Our way back to the majority.
10:412026.
10:42Not just here.
10:43In the house.
10:44The house is through the fight.
10:46And you guys are fighters.
10:48And so I want to just thank you long-windedly for being here again for yourselves, for each other.
10:54Being here for these remarkable leaders.
10:56And I can wax on about Sarah and all the good work she's doing and continues to advocate for on
11:02housing.
11:02What an extraordinary contribution you have.
11:05That's someone with military experience.
11:07Someone with the kind of patriotism that demonstrates every single day.
11:10And Alex, what a hot shot young speaker and waiting.
11:14Come on.
11:14He's 41 damn years old.
11:16And this guy is a rising star in the country, not just in the states of Michigan.
11:22But let me thank you for your state of mind, your quality of imagination.
11:25And again, thank you for everything you're doing for these two remarkable leaders over the course of the next few
11:30months.
11:30Thank you for doing what you need to get done to make sure that we win the United States Senate,
11:35to make sure that they win that governor's race,
11:37to make sure that we celebrate the end of Donald Trump's presidency as we know it will end your university
11:49trajectory against that gavel this November.
11:51Thank you guys very much for being out here.
11:54And thank you to UAW for all their extraordinary support for our party and our choice.
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