RITCHIE TORRES Talks Zionism, LGBT, The Bronx

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I'm sorry, dude.

You're bummed.

Your consultants told you not to do it.

I like this guy a lot too.

I'm sorry.

I appreciate your time.

Listen,

I don't get to talk to someone in the government that's taking part in these big decisions like this.

Well, only one of 535.

Which one

would like me?

Virginia Fox?

I don't know.

Do you have her number?

I don't have her number.

No.

All right.

Welcome to the Adam Friedland Show.

I'm Adam Friedland.

As always, thank you to our members and our patrons, the people that support our show.

If you'd like to support our show,

there's a link in the description of this video below to become a member, which gives you early access to all of our episodes.

And

there's also a link if you prefer to use Patreon in the description as well.

And as always, guys, there are two additional tiers for those of you who'd like to get your name in the credits.

This week, my guest was Richie Torres from New York's 15th District in the House of Representatives.

I'd heard of Representative Torres, but I...

Before I researched for this episode, I'd never heard of his backstory.

And frankly, it's kind of inspirational.

I mean, he grew up in public housing, you know, single mother, a minimum wage.

You know, he realized he was gay gay in elementary school.

He attempted to take his own life in college.

And he came back from a mental health crisis and became a member of the New York City Council and a member of the United States House of Representatives.

He's the first gay black man in Congress.

I mean,

it's kind of like a movie.

This is like a, I don't know what this is.

It's kind of like it becomes, it's a,

it was unexpected.

Representative Torres

has been referred to as Israel's loudest advocate in the House of Representatives.

And

prior to this interview, I wanted to have a conversation that didn't resemble like a point-counterpoint,

you know, just screaming match like we see online all the time.

I wanted to try and get something different.

And to be honest with you, when I expressed, I became emotional.

And it fell off the rails.

And I wasn't able as an interviewer to get it back on the rails.

I mean, there were like multiple topics that we didn't cover at the end.

It was it was frankly it was exhausting for both of us.

Yeah it felt like it was a gotcha and I'm an activist and

you know this is how this conversation goes nowadays and

and so while I didn't get what I was initially

you know looking for I

I kind of still feel like it's important.

I stand by what I said.

And

even if I'm like being

my voice is high, don't like.

I mean, I think it's important to say what I said in the interview.

And so

I don't know what it is.

I mean, at a certain point, I don't even know if it's an interview, but

I hope you, you know, make of it what you will.

And,

you know, next week we're going to have like really, it's going to be so funny.

But this one, I think, is a, it's going to be a different tone.

And, you know, enjoy.

Ladies and gentlemen, Congressman from New York in the U.S.

House of Representatives, Richie Torres, everyone, make some noise.

I can't.

Hello.

What's going on?

Hello.

Well, I got two issues.

First of all,

your district is Yankee Stadium.

That is one of your

districts.

I represent Yankee Stadium, yeah.

And I asked you how the Yanks were, and you were like, I'm not.

So I love the Yankees, but

I'm not a huge baseball fan.

You just turned it up.

And I'm not going to pretend to be a baseball fan.

What about the zoo?

I love the Bronx Zoo.

Okay.

Botanical gardens.

Do you consider the animals your constituents?

I consider the Bronx Zoo indistinguishable from the United States Congress.

Oh.

Does that crush if you say it to another guy in Congress?

It crushes nowhere because

if I had any comedic talent, I probably wouldn't be in Congress.

What do you mean?

You want to be a state fan?

You know, when I was a kid, I was a fan, not of baseball, but professional wrestling.

Really?

Yeah, I was a huge

fan of the Attitude Era.

The Attitude Era.

So I started watching in 1998.

We had it, Stone Cold Steve, Boston, The Rock.

I thought that was the golden age.

Mankind.

Yeah, so was I.

Yeah, we were all

a huge rock impersonation when I was a kid.

Like,

I used to.

I knew of you as a congressman, but I didn't know your backstory.

And, I mean, goddamn, wow.

I mean, it's an incredibly

inspirational story that you're talking about.

And unlike Joy Santos, I have a true story.

That's your op.

I have no no OnlyFans account, but I do have an actual bypassing.

Did he have an OnlyFans?

Oh, yeah.

In Congress.

I'm not sure if he had it, but certainly it was generating income.

He would have been the first.

Who knows?

I mean, I'm not sure.

He would have been the first account.

I'm not closely following the OnlyFans accounts of every member of Congress.

I can't stand this guy.

No, just.

Do you miss him?

He was pretty funny.

You know, he was

a source of comedic enjoyment.

His tweet right before jail was amazing.

He's like, the curtain closes.

Like,

you know, she walks off stage.

He was a real ham, George.

Yeah, he was real.

Yeah.

But

he was a complete fraud, right?

A total fraud, yeah.

Yeah.

Because he bought like Birken bags with campaign funds.

Well, and also he fabricated every aspect of his biography.

It was not like he told one lie here or there.

It was like the whole story was a complete fabrication.

I feel like in this day and age, that's kind of like

that's in play.

I feel like you could do it.

I've never seen it.

I feel like it's such a chaotic time.

Like, yeah, I went to Harvard Law School, and I used to be the coolest guy in my school, and I'm also Brazilian and Jewish.

What did he say?

No, he said that

his parents were Holocaust survivors.

I like that.

Ukrainian because of the war in Ukraine.

He was also Ukrainian.

And he had, you know, he was his friend who died in the mass shooting in Orlando.

He's amazing.

He incorporated every current event into his life story.

Pathological liars are great.

But he took it all the the way to the freaking to the show.

Although

he inspired me to introduce a bill that has, I think it's the greatest acronym in the history of community college, the Santos Act.

And what was it about?

Stop another non-truthful office seeker.

Santos.

Am I sensing that there's like Santos Act?

That the two of you guys as like young, New York, gay,

like Latino

congressman, he's naturally like your foil.

He's your Darth Vader.

Let's assume like after he was expelled from Congress, I became the most prominent Jew-ish gay Latino congressman from New York.

How's that?

You're Jewish?

No, I'm Jewish.

I'm lying

at Jewish.

Oh, come on.

I wouldn't wish this upon it.

My greatest enemy.

You don't want any part of this, my reviewer.

You never heard this comment?

He's Jew-ish, not Jewish?

Yeah, I've heard a lot of people say that, but you don't, I'm just...

No, but he invented the term.

About you?

I don't know.

He invented the term about himself.

It's just a word with it.

What about him?

When he was confronted, you know, why did you lie about being Jewish?

He said, I never said I was Jewish.

I said I was Jewish.

I would say that I'm uh that I'm I'm but you're actually Jewish yeah unfortunately yeah yeah it's tough yeah I can't quit no I wrote a letter to Bibi and they rejected they don't let you out it's like the mafia you know that

you know how you join is when you're a baby yeah you your parents have a party and then this like old wizard walks in and then he pulls your your uh your diaper off yeah and then your whole family looks at your beautiful baby penis, and then he cuts the part that I guess gives one pleasure later on in life and during sex.

And

then there's like a deli tray there and stuff.

That's how you join the club.

But we've been doing it for a while, though.

I don't know.

I don't mind it.

You really didn't like my crude humor.

I mean, you've endured for thousands of years, so something's going right.

Yeah, yeah, I guess so.

It's definitely the wizard and the baby's penis part.

Yeah, well, yeah.

I know.

I'm being crude with a member of the

legend.

These are important decisions that parents have to be aware of.

You know what's rude is that we're in an era where like talking to someone in the legislative branch is

a privilege because it's so fucking crazy.

Well, the privilege is mine.

You're the one with the massive following and audience.

You were in the New Yorker.

You know how I know that?

Because you told me.

Not because I read the profile.

But you told me you were in the New Yorker.

Congratulations on the profile.

You know, you would be considered young in the United States Congress.

Yeah, I mean, I've only been able to be considered.

My dating profile says I'm congressionally young.

Congressionally young.

And congressionally attractive, just in case you're disappointed.

That gets them action.

Is it a plus?

It's not clear.

It's not clear.

It has to be.

I mean, I work seven days a week, so it has a crowding out effect.

Yeah.

And you're with the worst people on earth.

Wow.

What are you doing here, though?

It must be tough.

Yeah, one of my colleagues said to me that Congress is the best university in the world.

Really?

And because you just have access to some of the brightest minds, you can learn a tremendous amount.

They're the smartest smartest guys?

Yeah.

We certainly have access.

It's like the Sorbonne or something in Congress.

How boring is it like to be in the government sometimes?

What's the most boring part of it?

I mean, I love it.

You love it?

Because of the variety.

You like parliamentary procedures?

I feel like no position has more variety than a House member.

Because one day you get to be local, state, national, and international at the same time.

So one day...

I'm receiving a pothole, a complaint about a pothole on Fordham Road, or pressuring the mayor to crack down on an open-air drug market in the South Bronx.

And the next day...

I'm just ready to

receiving like a briefing from the CIA about rising tensions between the United States and China.

What do you do about the pothole in DC though?

I'm just sorry.

I mean I use my platform to pressure the mayor to solve problems.

Adams.

Yeah.

Can I guess who you were in school growing up?

Sure.

You were like a, were you student government?

No, not student government.

You were like a debate club or?

I was the captain of the law team.

Law team.

Oh, so you wanted to be a lawyer?

Yeah, I had dreams of becoming either a lawyer or a teacher.

So you did mock trial, right?

I did Moot Court.

And mock trial, but I was like a master of Moot Court.

And what did you like?

You liked the Atticus Fidge style, like closing argument.

So that's more, that was mock trial.

Moot court is modeled after the Supreme Court or an appellate court.

So you deliver an argument before a panel of judges.

They interrupt you with questions.

That's less

like a...

No, because it teaches you to think on your feet.

Yeah, it's less theatrical.

But that was your prep for the game.

Yeah.

You went to the show.

It was the first time when I discovered I had a talent for public speaking.

Or I thought I had a talent for public speaking.

Early on, you grew up in a single mother home.

You have a twin brother?

Twin brother.

Identical?

He's biologically older.

I'm temperamentally older.

Identical or no?

Fraternal.

We're fake twins.

That's all right.

Five minutes apart.

I was on a date once with a girl who told me.

The first date, she said, I have an identical twin.

I can't do it.

How about I can't tell her secrets?

She has her brain is connected connected to some other, another one of her.

You can't trust these people.

It's funny when I was a kid.

That's a prejudice of mine.

People would ask me, where's your brother?

I'm like, we're fraternal twins, not Siamese twins.

I don't know his whereabouts at every moment.

But you're good at DC, right?

I'm learning DC.

You're still learning.

Yeah, of course.

I've only been there for three terms.

It's the most complicated legislature on earth.

No one's going to master it in three terms.

The problem with DC is not that it's corrupt.

The problem with DC is that it's stupid.

There's just so much absurdity in D.C.

I thought you said it's the smartest place in the world.

You have access to some of the brightest minds.

So like if you if you want to learn more about artificial intelligence or quantum computing or energy,

you can reach out to some of the best minds.

Yeah, yeah.

You can call any CEO right now.

Not every, but calls up right now.

People generally will take your call.

I'm not calling him now.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Your boys is up.

You said I'm not calling him now.

You have his number.

Well, I don't know.

So

what CEO is your best friend?

What's the best one?

Mention who's my best friend.

How many CEO friends do you have?

I don't have many CEO friends.

Well, well you said you could call anyone on the phone in at any time if I if I if I had a question about like AI policy I probably could get a meeting with a CEO yeah that's true of any member of Congress yeah did you grow up in the district you represent my father's from this from Mot Haven I'm from Throgsnack houses so I grew up in a public housing development in Throg's Neck houses right across the street from what was formerly Trump golf course yeah and I kid you not as the golf course was undergoing construction it unleashed a skunk infestation so I tell people

So I tell people I've been smelling the stench of Donald Trump long before he became president, that he was infested with skunks.

You grew up in New York City.

Born and raised in the Bronx.

Our president is an outer borough New Yorker, effectively.

Yeah, from Queens.

Right.

He wants to present that

he's like Mr.

Goldman Sachs, but really he's a New York City real estate guy.

Is that correct?

He was never respected in the real estate industry.

He was known to rip off his contractors.

He was seen as a joke within the industry.

Yeah, he figured out that if you keep someone in a law suit,

you don't have to pay them, he was more known for his self-promotion and marketing than he was for his actual effectiveness in real estate.

Yeah.

Have you ever, what have your interactions been with the president?

No interactions.

You've never met him.

I have no desire to meet him.

Let's practice it right now.

Feel like he's the worst person on earth.

You don't want to meet him once.

You're in the government, though.

You got to meet the president.

He's the devil.

He's the devil?

Yeah.

You got to say, you've got to have a good burn for the president.

Let's practice.

I'm Trump.

What's up i'm trump

nice to meet you yeah

that's your no you're you just bombed you

like that with some weird smile gonna shake donald trump's hand yeah you have to say like um you're you've you're you're doing like the like the holocaust right now in this country like you're

you have to say like you're ruining this country right now

Like seriously.

Why don't you say something like that?

You're an asshole.

You've said the Marines and...

so on.

Okay, well, we'll practice.

Okay.

Okay, go ahead.

Let's get it.

Let's...

Come on, dude.

Mr.

President.

Yeah.

How are you?

I'm looking forward.

Hopefully you can release those files.

The Epstein?

That's your...

No, come on, dude.

First of all, you guys already lost on Epstein.

You think we lost on Epsom?

You guys lost on the EPS.

He's obviously in the files.

Well, half of the files is your guys, too, right?

So he's a...

No, but half the files is your guys too.

So that's why you guys didn't do this yourself.

My view is release the files and let the dice fall where they may.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

You guys lost on Epstein.

Why do we lose?

His crappy excuse, like everyone, his whole base doesn't really care.

Yeah.

They move done.

What we found is that they actually don't care.

Maggot didn't really care.

Yeah.

You guys really are having a rough one right now.

What's your advice for us?

I don't know.

I mean,

you're one of the guys.

So

I'll tell you what I'm seeing.

Yeah, right?

Please, tell me.

I really wanted to give you your whole story about where you're.

You want me to tell my story?

No, no, no, because I want to talk about this.

Okay.

You clearly don't want to hear my stories.

I've been trying to toss it to your story, which is fucking, that's a Hallmark movie.

We'd open this up like, this guy's a, you're the first

black gay guy to be in the government.

Gay guy.

Gay man to be in the government.

Gay guy is, you can't say that.

To a resp.

First.

First Latino and black gay member of Congress.

First Latino and black state.

It doesn't roll off the tongue, that one.

Yeah.

Too many identities.

Yeah, yeah.

First black president.

Obama crushed it with that one.

Yeah.

First Latino and black English.

Once you have a first black president, everything else becomes less impressive.

How many LGBT members

of Congress are there?

There are quite a few, like more than 10.

More than 10.

Yeah.

And there's 100 Senate.

How many House?

435.

435.

So 535 in total.

Are there any no Republicans, right?

Who are openly LGBTQ?

Oh, you're saying none of them.

You're spilling the tea right now?

Well,

my running joke is the lgbtq caucus is the only caucus that can expand without winning an election we just have to take members out of the closet would you do that as you were in the closet in your life right like what's what are the ethics there it's really interesting because like would i out members

if you see a closet gay republican like advocating for something that yeah is would i out him well it's it's advocate for like taking away gay marriage or something like what What's the rule there?

Because you were in the closet yourself as a young man, and it's a painful thing, I i would imagine yeah no you have to go through the yeah it's a process you found out in middle school uh i realized that i was a gay in middle school when was it titanic leo diCaprio no

i didn't realize at all when i was not leonardo diaprio

what how was it what was it i forget exactly how i realized but you forgot no you don't forget you've got to have a better story you're a politician titanic leonardo i'm not often asked about my coming old story in the rock so why not it's an interesting story right And like you're you're Puerto Rican.

Was it you were afraid of experiencing homophobia in your community?

I grew up in the project, so it's a machismo environment.

And what about in your family?

Was there a, like when did you come out to them?

16.

16.

Yeah.

And was that when you came out?

No, then

I came out gradually over time and then when I ran for office when I was 24, I decided to be out to everyone, to run as an openly LGBTQ candidate.

But that That was back in 2008.

When you were at school and stuff, you didn't tell people that you were gay?

Yeah, I was telling more and more people over time.

I thought you were at an assembly or something like that.

Yes, I was at a debate competition where I said I was a gay American.

So that's

coming out.

Isn't that like a Jim McGreevy moment, though?

Remember, he said as a gay American?

Yeah.

He gave the speech.

That's such a data.

You were a kid coming out of the closet.

Don't diminish that experience.

Yeah, it was back in the day.

No, that's your story.

Why would you say that that was just a debate competition?

It has to be scary.

No, I agree.

It was terrifying.

What led you to do it at debate?

I don't know.

It felt,

it just felt, you know, it's interesting.

Did you see something that you were like...

Yeah, so I was browsing through MySpace

and I ran into the profile of a teacher

who identified as gay.

And it was the first time I

knew of a person in my social universe who was openly LGBTQ.

And so I approached him.

Your social universe, you chilled with your teachers?

Or people in the world I knew, I guess.

You hung out with adults.

Did not socialize my teachers.

Yeah, yeah.

So it was the first adult or person that was openly gay.

Yeah, in my

grew up in a world where no one was openly gay.

Yeah.

And

I just spontaneously came out.

It was the first time I ever had to acknowledge my sexuality to someone.

Do you feel like sharing your story and making it all the way to Congress?

That has to be an inspiration to people that grew up in a place like that.

No?

That must feel good, no?

It does.

So why are you diminishing it it on the show?

I'm diminishing it, but I feel...

You should be proud of that.

I was in the New Yorker yesterday.

I was in the New Yorker as well.

Back in 2016.

Oh, okay.

Well, I was in it yesterday.

So both of us are probably the same.

But you're at a much higher level than I am.

No, you were

2016, you were a birdie dog.

I was.

2016.

So wait, so go back to that, because it's interesting to me.

So like, you had this mental health crisis in college right

and uh did it stem it stemmed from being gay is that what it was uh not only from my i mean i had a sexual identity but i had a severe struggle with depression yeah which began in high school yeah but then became worse in college and i dropped out of college

and at some point even

thought of committing suicide yeah

underwent hospitalization, felt as if the world around me had collapsed.

But then I began

taking an antidepressant, going through psychotherapy, and it just gave me a fighting chance to rebuild my life.

So after

a few years of hospitalization, I rebuilt my life and became the youngest elected official in America's largest city.

I ran for the council, and then ultimately ran for the United States Congress, and here I am.

And it was a few years that you were going through that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so, and what did you do once you got out?

How did you restart your life?

Well, instead of going back to school, I went into politics.

So I was a

housing organizer.

You went to politics for that?

I was a housing organizer for a New York City Council member.

And then I ran for public office myself.

I would have moved to France or something.

I couldn't afford to move to France.

Yeah.

I grew up poor.

You can figure it out.

You get a ticket, you get to France.

I don't know.

Busk.

Do you know a guitar?

No.

You get a guitar, put the,

I don't know.

Obviously, to run for office,

you have to have a call to public service.

You guys all say that.

But like, you have to have an ambition, like, as well.

Right?

It has to be part of it, right?

Like, I want to do...

I think an ambition to make a difference.

Yeah, but

I want to be the president of the United States.

You know, come on.

I have no desire to be president.

Is your ambition purely just to make a difference?

I mean, it's a very abstract term, too.

What's your dream?

My goal is to be the best elected official I can be.

And then let the rest take care of itself that doesn't work for me works for me you could say like i want to like i want to make sure that i mean i would love to be say a better thing like i want to make sure like kids in my neighborhood could like you know have a better life or something

saying the best that you could be is so abstract you could you could vote for anything yeah no i mean i can tell you why i ran into public office what which is what it was really about public housing so so you know

Born and raised in the Bronx, spent most of my life in poverty.

Uh-huh.

And raised by a single mother, he raised three of us on minimum wage, which in the 1990s was $4.25 an hour.

But the most formative experience of my life was growing up in public housing.

And in New York City, there's an institution known as the New York City Housing Authority, NYCHA,

which manages the largest stock of public housing in the country.

It houses about a half a million people.

And it's been so chronically underfunded by the federal government that it has a capital need of $80 billion in counting.

And is that issue something that affects your constituents?

Because you represent the poorest district in the country.

And I represent one of the largest concentrations of public housing in the country.

Yeah.

And so you have like asthmatics who are struggling to breathe in their homes

in the face of.

And you have to have unsafe circumstances as well, right?

Yeah.

I mean, I grew up without heat and hot water,

molded conditions, leaking conditions.

Like these conditions, you know, the living conditions of public housing have become a humanitarian crisis.

And

I think

if NYCHA were a city unto itself, it would be the largest city of low-income black and brown Americans in the United States, and it's the forgotten city of New York.

In representing

the poorest district in America.

One of the smallest districts, too, right?

The most contiguous and compact district, yeah.

And it was even more so before redistricting.

And you have a third of your district lives under the poverty line.

Is that correct?

It's the lowest income district.

About a third of the district is enrolled in SNAP.

70% is enrolled in Medicaid.

About a third are born in other countries.

Is that correct?

Significant immigrant population, yeah.

What is the mandate that you have in DC representing those people?

It's to make government work for the Bronx, to protect critical programs like Medicaid, SNAP.

Medicare, Social Security.

Is that what you carry with you when you're in Congress?

Is that what you consider when you're in a committee hearing or something?

Everything should be centered around the Bronx.

And for me, the Bronx is not only where I live, it's who I am.

Yeah.

I tell my constituents, even when I leave the Bronx for Washington, D.C., the Bronx never leaves me.

The most important lesson my mother taught me is never forget where you came from.

And I'm from the Bronx.

And

I've lived in the Bronx my whole life, and I probably will die in the Bronx.

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Something interesting that's happened in the Bronx is in the last general election, from what I understand, there was the largest swing towards the Republican Party.

One of the largest.

In 2012,

Obama won, Barack Obama won 96% of the vote in New York 15 and the Bronx.

Flash forward to the 2024 election, there's a more than 22-point swing toward Donald Trump.

Why is the Democratic Party losing the most vulnerable people in America then?

What do you attribute that?

Well, the Democratic Party is hemorrhaging support among working-class people of color throughout the country.

Why is that?

You know, Occam's razor holds the simplest explanation is almost always the best.

The simple explanation is inflation and immigration.

We had the highest inflation in more than four decades.

So, if you're paying double or triple the cost for groceries and gasoline, you're going to lash out at those in power, at the establishment.

You say that the incumbency is just bound to lose that election, Biden.

The incumbency is perceived as failing, yes.

Was there a way to win that election against Trump

if inflation is so bad?

Is it impossible to win that election?

The odds were stacked against us because of inflation and the mismanagement of the migrant crisis.

But

if we had the benefit of a full primary process and if we had a stronger general election candidate, maybe we could have won.

But I don't know for sure.

But Donald Trump is a fatally flawed candidate, so maybe we could have won.

You're a member of the least popular Congress probably of our lifetime?

I think we are.

Probably.

We're less popular than colonoscopies.

It sucks, dude.

Yeah, it does suck.

Does it suck to be the least popular?

I think there was polling that said we're more popular than cockroaches, but we're less.

And more popular than

barely more popular than Ebola.

You guys are losing Hamas for sure.

Yeah, well.

You guys are getting crushed by Hamas.

Hamas might be more popular on college campuses than Congress.

Oh, okay.

Okay, anyway.

But I looked at a Gallup poll the other day.

Dude, this is...

I was actually started laughing.

You just have to laugh at this.

You guys are 23 right now.

That's pretty, that's not bad.

Higher than I thought.

That's high.

Yeah.

You guys, what is this?

Oh my God, May 2024, 13?

Means we have room for growth.

13.

That's you and the Republicans.

13.

Well, the institution at large.

13 is you poop your pants in front of the whole school.

February 2024, 12%.

Yeah, so it sounds like what was happening that month?

If Congress were a woman, you probably wouldn't go on a date with her, is that?

Why?

She's unpopular.

I don't know.

No,

she could be like beautiful.

You know, like,

what do you mean?

No, you seem to hate Congress, though.

I'm saying everyone does.

I'm looking at the gallant poll.

Are you part of the 13% that approves?

I think that we have to recognize the runway a little bit and

what got us here maybe.

Yeah, I don't know.

Seeing the Marine Corps

entering the second largest city in America and seeing the most vulnerable people in society just taken away from their children yeah and kidnapped and uh there are there are there are facilities in our country right now surrounded by alligators and stuff there are facilities where there are cages with human beings in them who have not been afforded any due process that and the the sad thing is is that you guys are um you're polling behind Donald Trump right now.

And that's not true.

The Democratic Party has lower approval ratings than

Donald Trump has.

I think the story is more complicated there.

What is that?

Yeah, so the latest polling from CNN shows that the most important issue to Americans is inflation, the cost of living.

And on the most important issue, Donald Trump is 25 points under water.

And since the November election, there's been a 34-point swing against him.

And that we as Democrats are more trusted on inflation than he is.

That's a huge swing.

Why are you guys not killing him right now?

That is a cherry pick.

Come on.

You know, that's a, that's a, I mean, that's inflation.

Inflation is the most important issue.

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Thank you guys.

And now back to the show with richie tores i hope it's a good part

one thing that is understood is that you're in the house of representatives and you have to run every two years yeah like how long do you have to wait till you just start running for the next one after you after you win an election you you start immediately yeah it's like you're in a constant state of campaigning is uh campaigning and going to fundraisers, doing all this stuff, is that a distraction from the work that you have to do?

It can,

but I feel like if you're effective at governing, then it improves

your ability to get re-elected.

So

if you're a good congressman,

you're going to be popular in your district and you're going to be well-positioned to be re-elected.

Does it suck that you have to fundraise, right?

It sucks.

Fundraising sucks.

Yeah.

And like,

because it's Citizens United, like...

It's nauseated to ask people for money, yeah.

Do you feel like it's eroded people's faith in the institution, right?

I feel like too much money is too much time is spent on fundraising.

Especially if you're a frontline member who has a fiercely contested general election every two years where tens of millions of dollars are spent,

you could be spending more than half your time every week.

At a banquet.

No, or just call time, just dialing for dollars.

You were criticized, I saw, for Blackstone donation, right?

And it's understood that they are the architects of the housing crisis, pretty much.

Yeah, I mean they're

I mean you receive contributions from thousands of people

or employees from all over the place.

You can send it back and say fuck off.

Yeah, I'm not so they're giving you a check just because

I decide issues on the merits.

I don't know what others do, but I decide issues on the merits.

So it's a just-cause check?

Just because.

They're just giving you money just because they think you're nice?

I'm pretty sure that even there are

lefty candidates who have gotten money from people who are employed.

Yeah, rank and file employees, sure.

I figure like if you could maybe if you're like this guy's.

You do know that you know.

This guy's making my constituents' lives worse.

You could be like, fuck you.

I don't want to.

I'm in a safe blue district.

Right?

People should judge me by my record.

So, by the legislation I pass.

I work seven days a week.

I'm visible in my district.

I'm on the ground.

I'm happy to,

if you ever want to take tours of my district, I'm happy to walk you through my districts.

Yeah, I I like to.

I've been to the zoo in Yankee City.

Well, not the actual projects, not the amenities, not the institutions.

Yeah.

I can give you a sense of racially concentrated poverty in a place like the Bronx.

So that's what my question is.

Where do you live?

Which borough?

I live in Brooklyn.

Okay.

Yeah.

And that's my question.

So you might be divorced from the experience of racially concentrated poverty.

But what does that have to do with taking money from blacks?

I just feel like that's a deflection.

Well, I think you can't.

And I don't want to comment.

No, because I don't know.

I don't want to cut, like, an argument right now.

I don't want to argue with that.

If you want to question my ability to represent my district, I'm happy to show you what I do.

I'm happy to bring you to my district.

What I'm calling it to question.

And introduce you to my constituents.

What I'm calling it to question is the institution, right?

I'm calling it to question the system, and you're functioning within a system, right?

I've received contributions from tens of thousands of people.

I can't keep track of every person.

I'm not responsible for every person.

You forgot?

I'm only responsible for what I do.

Okay.

So

you can play the gotcha game, but that's not.

I'm not trying to play the gotcha game.

I think you're used to to like Anderson Cooper 360, and I'm a guy.

I'm from Cometown Podcast.

I'm happy to answer whatever question you have.

Well, yeah, whatever.

Here's a question for you.

I think

you've established yourself as the fiercest champion of the state of Israel in Congress.

I've never described myself in those terms.

I'm pro-Israel, but those are terms.

Well, I think maybe you've been dubbed that.

Yes.

Okay.

Listen, like, I'm a Jewish person.

Like, I have my own opinions on this.

You have your own opinions.

And this is a really frustrating conversation to see people have on the internet.

I don't get an opportunity to talk to talk to someone that's making decisions and supporting these things that are a huge deal to people, right?

One thing that I thought was interesting, and I want to start with you, is that

you described your first trip to Israel in 2015 as a life-changing experience.

And I just wanted just to follow the narrative of like you growing up and your struggles and then going into the government.

Like,

what was that experience like?

And what bred that passion for Israel in you?

Well,

since I grew up poor my whole life, I never had an opportunity to travel abroad.

Yeah.

The first time I ever

went to a foreign country.

So it was life-changing because you went on a trip.

Part of the reason went abroad for the first time.

Life-changing.

But also, you know,

when you experience the complexity of Israel, go to the old city.

What did you see?

Like, what did you witness?

Well, go to the old city.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've been there.

Yad Rashem, which is the Holocaust Museum.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Go to the Masada, where, you know, Jews can commit suicide to escape enslaving.

I hike up Masada.

The Gaza envelope.

Yeah.

Went to Steirot, spoke to the local mayor who said that.

You went to Gaza?

I did not go to Gaza, no.

Would you say Gaza envelope?

No, Gaza Envelope,

which is right on the border with...

It's Israel, but it's right at the border with Gaza.

It's right next to the fence.

It's in the proximity to...

What's at the Gaza envelope?

I've never heard that.

Stay road.

Stay road.

Yeah, with the rockets.

Go ahead.

How far is Stay Road from Gaza?

It's like a mile or something.

Yeah, within a mile.

Yeah.

It's right next to it.

Yeah, striking proximity.

It's a small place.

Yeah.

The whole thing.

I mean, that's why Hamas was able to so easily penetrate on October 7th.

By getting over the fence.

Yeah.

And it's so close.

Yeah.

No, I mean, I just want to know because it seems like it was powerful.

and it seems like it's informed your record.

And

that's what's interesting to me.

It's like your story and how you got here.

And like, I think it's narratively what fascinates me.

Maybe one day you'll give me a chance to tell it.

Why are you annoyed by this question?

I'm kidding.

I'm kidding.

So I spoke to a local mayor of Staywright.

Staywright.

Yeah.

And he said to me that the majority of his children...

struggle with post-traumatic stress because families like his live under the threat of relentless rocket fire.

And I remember seeing these bus stops doubling as bomb shelters.

You know, I come from the Bronx where people live in fear of bullets and guns, but

we in America do not worry about Canada and Mexico firing rockets into American homes and communities.

You know, we're a country of 330 million people.

We're surrounded by oceans and Israel's a tiny democracy the size of New Jersey.

that's literally surrounded by both state and non-state actors that are intent on wiping it off the map.

So,

you know, I left Israel with an empathy for the unique security situation that Israel faces.

Did you visit the occupied territories while you were there?

I went into the, not Gaza, but I went into the Palestinian Ramallah.

Yeah, Ramallah.

Yeah.

And what did you see when you were there?

We spoke to Palestinians who obviously have a much more critical view of Israel.

And that didn't resonate as much as...

Like, what was your takeaway from hearing?

I'm hearing the mayor's stay wrote his children have PTSD, and then this guy's like

Israel's screwing with me.

Well look, I'm in favor of a two-state solution.

Sure.

I feel like the just outcome lies not in the existence of a Jewish state to the exclusion of a Palestinian state or the existence of a Palestinian state to the exclusion of a Jewish state.

It's the coexistence of both.

So I think I want to see the struggle, both the Israeli and the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.

to be reconciled in the form of a two-state solution.

A big topic nowadays is campus anti-Semitism.

You've spoken out against it.

I just want to know what you identify as the examples of this type of anti-Semitism in elite academic institutions.

Yeah, so there were students at a CUNY halal

where you had a violent, what I thought was an aggressive mob following them to a kosher restaurant in the heart of New York City.

What were they doing, the mob?

What was the mob doing?

Just following them and then barricaded the restaurant and

hurled insults at the patrons and slamming the windows.

You know, much of it is captured in video footage.

You know, harassing people simply for being pro-Israel Jews to me is wrong.

Is there any other examples?

Like,

there's a restaurant.

I mean, it's just like...

All we're hearing about it's campus anti-Semitism, radical, radical...

Like, is there a link between Hamas and the protests?

Like, has is that established there are students who have faced harassment and intimidation because of their beliefs there are students who feel inhibited from expressing their Jewish or Zionist identity because of the atmosphere of intimidation or harassment on college campuses you should speak to those how have they are you denying that there's any campus anti-Semitism or

I well I'll give you an example I know a younger person that went to UCLA and was attacked and is Jewish and was with a group of Jewish people on

at a protest and they were attacked by the Proud Boys

okay that's anti-Semitic that's an anti-Semitic incident no but the Proud Boys were there for Israel they were and those are the guys that did sharp boys are there for Israel yeah

I think the Proud Boys is like white nationalists and white Separatists I'm telling you right now we're anti-Israel but okay listen I'm a I'm like a comedian right like I hate when comedians, especially on the internet, like speak from a position of authority

about

crap that they don't know about.

This is one topic I feel like I can speak on.

On college campus anti-Semitism?

No,

on anti-Semitism.

In general, because you haven't been in college how long?

Probably two decades, right?

I'm telling you, my experience of anti-Semitism the last two years.

But the last two years have felt different in America.

And I don't know if you've been on Twitter recently.

Now a ton of people are questioning the validity of the Holocaust having happened.

Yes.

Can you tell me with a straight face that that's

those are the 18 year old kids at Columbia that are doing that?

The 18-year-old kids at Columbia?

Are they doing those posts about the Holocaust never having existed?

You know who's doing it.

No, we disagree here.

You think that it's the...

Don't put words in my mouth.

It's people on the right.

Let me tell you this.

You're suggesting

you're suggesting there's no one on the far left that denies the Holocaust or downplays the Holocaust.

That's an upstream.

What are you doing moot court right now?

I'm telling you what it's like to be Jewish.

My experience being Jewish people.

But there are other people who are different.

I'm trying to see.

Why is one better than the other?

Why is one more important than the other?

I'm trying to share with you, you're in the government.

I don't get a chance to talk to you.

Of course.

Okay?

I think hatred of Jewish people has exploded in this country.

And I don't think it's...

I think it's because it's of our support of what looks to be an absolute brutality.

And I think that if you...

You think that's a justification for anti-Semitism?

Here's the thing is...

Do you think Israeli government policy is a justification for anti-Semitism?

My view is there's no justification for anti-Semitism.

I think that...

There's zero justification for anti-Semitism.

Okay, you're deflecting again.

I'm not deflecting.

That's my position.

What does it look like to have a flag with a Jewish star and I'm Jewish?

And for kids to be starving right now?

And why is my government...

I don't want to do this fight.

Let's not do like a yelling at each other thing.

I really just, for me, it's...

For me, I had the experience of...

It just sounds like you're justifying anti-Semitism, which making me feel like...

Are you crazy right now?

Okay.

Why would I do that?

You're doing the I'm Hamas thing?

I'm not saying you're not.

It's not a winner.

We'll do a different task.

The Israeli government policy should have no bearing on.

If you have disagreements with the Israeli government, you should voice your criticism of the Israeli government.

But there is no justification for intimidation or harassment against American Jews.

I'm telling you, as a Jew right now, that

we are receiving a lot more hate because of what the people with a flag that has a Jewish star on are doing to other people right now.

And I'm telling you, as a Jewish person,

how painful it is for us to say, and it hurts my stomach to say this, and you're going to say, I disagree, I disagree,

that this is a genocide.

And that hurts to say that a Jew can do that.

It hurts because we grew up with

learning about what hatred is.

We grew up learning about this.

And the same year the state of Israel was established in 1948,

the world saw the Holocaust, and they established standards for what a genocide is.

It was the same year.

And the world said that this shouldn't be a thing that happens.

You know?

And I would just wonder, like,

it doesn't make sense to me.

Like,

what, like,

I don't know.

It doesn't track to me why

there's this fixation with kids at a school that, and two examples of people at a restaurant that there was banging.

Two examples.

I mean, there are

surveys on it.

Give me the.

Read the EDL surveys on it.

It's hard for me to talk about this in public.

I mean,

That's mean.

No, no.

I'm not being mean.

Clearly it's an emotional topic.

All right, I'll share with you what happened.

I'm not.

I lived there.

You intend to be mean, so.

Sir, I lived there when I was 18, and I grew up a Zionist.

And we were told, and our whole community in this country is told, that we have to defend Israel and love Israel.

because it will stop at the Holocaust.

It will stop another Holocaust from happening.

And my parents, my dad was born in 1951.

That was six years after these atrocities.

His friends, parents, he knew these people that had been through this hell, these skeletons.

And

it terrified us.

And the understanding in our community is that we have to defend Israel.

But I lived there and I went to a settlement.

at the end of my year there and I looked down a hill at a Palestinian village and I saw how they lived and I turned back and I looked at the settlement and saw how they lived and people live in a world where they're demeaned and dehumanized and surveilled constantly by people in and this isn't in Gaza by people in SWAT team outfits with with semi-automatic weapons and that's what the world is seeing and you keep telling me that the problem is someone's getting yelled at at a restaurant I'm sorry you're conflating two different issues please just please

me saying this to you right now will hurt people in my own family, okay?

Because this is a very important thing to us.

And the fact that I still fucking care about being Jewish is embarrassing.

I should just be a guy.

But this feels like a stain on our history.

And it feels like it's changed what being Jewish is.

Because what being Jewish is, isn't Israel.

Judaism has existed for 4,000 years.

This is a country for 75 years.

You know, like,

it is the oldest, one of the oldest monotheistic religions.

Anti-Semitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred.

People in my life are going to be mad at me about this,

but I'm saying this because I am Jewish.

You know,

and I don't understand

why you would be.

Look, how you define it.

i i want to i feel like i'm here to be lectured not shut up that's not nice you can't talk that way

why are one set of jews but more important than others no one's saying any

you're what happened you had you went to the beach at the in israel what you went to a restaurant or something yeah

a nice restaurant like

listen never been never never even been to the tel avi pride parade so this is the year 2025 yeah

the world is seeing something that looks terrible, and it's being done in my name.

And I don't know what to do.

But the war began on October 7th.

No, it didn't.

Yes, it did.

You're a dick.

Yes, when Hamas systematically murdered and made.

You can, you know, you want to.

Look, we're going down a rabbit hole.

We fundamentally disagree.

No, no, no, no.

You don't fundamentally disagree.

You're murdered and maimed.

No, you're doing this.

And mutilated and abducted and tortured

by thousands of people.

That's not television.

That's a fact.

That's reality.

You can deny it.

You can downplay it.

You're dying October 7th.

Well, you seem to be denying it.

You're doing the I'm pro October 7th.

You're doing I'm pro-Hamas.

I never said you were pro-Hamas.

You're putting words in my mouth.

It is.

But you seem to be downplaying it.

For the last 17 years, people have been under a blockade where they cannot leave.

If you were born in a place and there's a fence there and there's a guy with a gun on the other side and he says you can't go anywhere, would you like that guy?

If you deem, if you treat people like animals, sometimes they're going to lash out.

Look, I sincerely believe,

maybe I'm wrong,

that if

Palestinians were governed not by a terrorist organization like Hamas and Gaza, but by a regime that was able and willing to make peace with Israel, the situation would be fundamentally different.

The preconditions for this happening are undeniably something that the Israeli government was fully aware of.

Why would Bibi then Yahoo

think October 7th was justified?

No.

Okay, I'm happy you said that.

Are you listening to what I'm saying right now?

I'm listening to what you're saying.

Why would the Israeli government,

Hamas wants to eradicate the Jewish people and the Jewish state?

Is that right?

That's what Hamas has said, yeah.

Okay.

Then why would they directly give Hamas money, literally bags of cash, in suitcases through the Qataris,

nearly, I think, over a billion dollars in cash

during this last 17 years.

That's a fair point.

It's a great question.

If one of those kids at Columbia wrote a $5 check to Hamas, you'd say send them to Gitmo for being a terrorist.

It's a fair point.

Does that make Benjamin Netanyahu a terrorist?

He's supporting terror.

The United States, it seems to me the United States and Israel could have shut off the spigot and did not do so.

I don't know why, but that was a failure.

There's no question.

I think that

what I see is the reason why our government

provides $25 billion

to something that looks this horrific to people.

I think is the same reason

I think it makes it look like the Jews control the government, but really what it is, is the more boring answer.

It's the reason why the government and you guys don't get shit done it's the reason why sandy hook can happen you guys can't do gun reform it's because why can't we do gun reform because because special interest groups can buy influence in our government well which political party is against gun reform the nra has a power it's the republic we allow government our government to be flooded with cash and money and it's What's scary to me is that it looks that people are starting to question the Holocaust ever happening.

How could Jews, maybe they invented the Holocaust?

You're blaming Israel for Holocaust denial?

I'm blaming our government for supporting a genocide.

But it is unfathomable in my heart and it breaks my heart that we could be capable of it.

I think we should move on.

Why is that?

We just fundamentally disagree.

I don't think that...

I think I'm talking to you like

about where I come from and that it feels different, and maybe maybe I have a different perspective.

You have a different perspective.

I know people who have a perspective that's different from yours.

Yeah.

But a much smaller platform than you.

I'm not, I hate this conversation.

I know.

I have it with my family.

It's not something, and I love my family.

If it were up to me, we would not be having this because we're speaking a foreign language.

My family grew up in South Africa, right?

We were like Jews from Eastern Europe that literally we thought we were going to Ellis Island.

My grandma, grandma, all the grannies stayed.

And my parents' whole generation of South African Jews left.

And

when I was a kid, like growing up, I used to write all my like who's my hero essays on Nelson Mandela.

And

he was like a hero of mine, right?

And he was also, you know, in prison.

and you know for terrorism too i don't want to get it you're going to go hamas is what i don't want i'm not debating habas is good.

He was called that and

he went to my synagogue after he got out of prison, Madiba, and

he spoke to all the grandmas who like were still there.

They didn't have to fucking move because black people could vote.

And

he said, tell your kids to come back because we need them to build our country.

I don't know.

I think that

I don't see what's wrong with people being afforded the right to vote.

Do you think that's what Hamas means when it says free Palestine from the river to the sea?

To me, it seems like maybe if there's a recognition that people were cleared off their land in 1948.

But there are those and there are those who

only want a Jewish state, and there are those who only want a Palestinian state.

Then they could fuck off.

And we should be advocating for the coexistence of a Jewish state and a Palestinian state.

I continue to believe that a two-state solution ultimately is the inevitable path forward.

That is my.

It's stupid.

There were a thousand Jews who were murdered before the establishment of Israel.

Like half a century before the establishment of Israel.

Half as.

A thousand Jews.

Yeah, they were killing each other.

Jews and Palestinians.

Yeah.

Lebron massacre.

It doesn't make sense to me.

In 2025.

The only point was there was violence against Jews before the establishment of the state of Israel.

There was violence against Palestinians.

And there was an ethnic cleansing in 1948.

I mean the Hebron massacre.

What are you talking about right now?

You're in the government?

Listen, I just want to say that you're just wanting to argue.

Wait, I'm sorry, you're not familiar with the Hebron massacre in 1929?

Wait, you're saying that that justifies an entire ethnic cleansing in 1948?

Israel was est.

Whoa, this is such a...

This is even a good argument.

Hold up.

Israel.

What are you talking about?

I didn't realize we were debating.

I don't want to do it, but you're saying that.

The Jewish state was established by international law, right?

The UN passed a resolution

that recognized the establishment of a Jewish state.

And there were a number of Arab countries, including Egypt, that declared war on Israel.

It was the War of Independence.

Israel won the war.

The Palestinians didn't declare war on them.

There were just people that were living there.

And they were kicked off their land.

By the way,

there were 300,000 Jews that were ethnically cleansed in the Arab world.

Do you know that?

No, there were Jews.

You know how many Jews there are?

Not by the Palestinians.

I'm not talking about the Palestinians.

I'm talking about the broader Arab world.

So, why do the Palestinians have to bear the responsibility of the Algerians kicking the Jews out?

You can relate to the people.

Why do the Palestinians bear the responsibility of Egypt invading ourselves?

It's been a state for 77 years.

Bro, it's so depressing what you're saying.

You're proposing to undo an established state?

No.

I know people that live there.

I have family that live there.

I don't think that they should leave.

What are you proposing?

I'm proposing a democracy.

I'm proposing

an extensive demographic study study of what was taken and what was lost, extensive reparations for what was taken, and a truth and reconciliation process

where we could end this shit.

What we're seeing right now is that members of the Israeli government are talking about clearing that shit out, and Trump, our president, is talking about putting a fucking jet ski museum there.

And you're...

That's the reality right now.

It's the far right, yes.

The far right.

What the far right?

I'm talking about the government and the generals that are in charge of Israel.

The Bengavirs, the Smoltrages of the world, that's a view of

the cabinet.

Yes, and I reject them.

That's what Hamas is saying they want to do to Israel.

I'm sorry.

I mean,

Hamas murdered thousands of people, so there's no.

So, what does that mean?

That Hamas is a terrorist organization for murdering innocent children and civilians.

How many civilians have been killed in this war?

The war is a tragedy, but 90% of them have been...

But

90% of them have been

killed.

You're suggesting that they've killed journalists.

They've killed journalists.

People have been killed in a war.

It's been a tragedy.

They've killed people waiting for aid.

But you're suggesting that

it is the policy of the Israeli government to murder civilians, and that's...

That is a notion that I reject.

You got it like, listen, man, you got to be like a human being about this.

People who are dying in the war, which to me is a tragedy, because war is a tragedy.

Do you feel in your heart that this is what you're doing, what you're saying is right?

If Hamas, if you remove Hamas, I don't actually think that.

I told you what I believe.

Don't tell me what I believe.

I've told you what I believe.

Why would you believe that?

Because there are people who see the world differently.

I know it's a shock to you, but there are people who see the world differently from you.

But why do you.

I know that's a shock to you.

Like,

it seems a little bit like the humanitarian crisis has deteriorated.

I don't want to be disrespectful like this.

You've been at various points.

In what capacity?

You've just been hostile.

In what capacity?

It's fine.

It's just been a gotcha interview.

I think that

my conscience is clear, especially as...

someone that's lived there and seen it and loved people that live there.

And

this sucks.

I really didn't want to do this.

And I think that you saw it as gotcha.

This is what people are talking about right now.

Well not in not in the South Bronx.

People are not talking about Israel.

People are talking about

how to put food on the table and pay people.

Maybe in your world that's what people are talking about.

But in my world, people are struggling.

Yeah.

Then why, if people are struggling in your world, are you paying $25 billion?

We have a $7 trillion budget in the federal government.

Yeah.

Less than...

So it's not that much money?

Less than 1%.

So it's a little money went to Israel.

In the grand scheme of the federal budget?

Yes, it's minuscule.

I'm sorry, dude.

You're bummed.

Your consultants told you not to do it.

I like this guy a lot, too.

I hate this.

This is so embarrassing.

I don't have anything to hide.

I'm willing to go anywhere.

No, man.

I'm sorry.

I appreciate your time.

Listen,

having this opportunity for me

is a big deal.

I don't get to talk to someone in the government that's taking part in these big decisions like this.

Well, I'm only one of 535.

Well, I'll talk to another one.

Which one

would like me?

Virginia Fox?

I don't know.

Do you have her number?

I don't have her number.

No.

All right.

I appreciate it.

I feel like you're mad at me or something.

I got to get a big laugh?

Look,

it's like Hyman Roth from The Godfather 2.

He said, this is the life we've chosen.

So,

you know, I know what I signed up for.

Is this what happens?

This has been a terrible, I've been doing a terrible job.

I'm rambling about Israel and being a Jew and the Holocaust.

It's the most embarrassing stuff to talk about in public.

I feel like everyone, every Jewish American, has a right.

should have a right to be who they are,

to wear a kipah, to display a Star of David, to be proudly proudly and visibly Jewish without fear of harassment or intimidation or violence.

Well, I mean, the freedom to be who we are is like fundamental for all of us.

Well, I think that

from where I'm sitting, Israel might be a threat to that.

And you know, you have that view, but others have a different view.

Why are we still having this interview?

This is exhausting.

I'm sweating.

We could end the interview.

I'm just trying to find a button to shake your hand, dude.

I don't want to fucking do this.

We We could have talked about so much other shit.

No, I think you had an agenda to speak about this.

I really did.

You didn't have an agenda.

I really didn't.

It's your number one topic.

It's not my number one topic.

It's just not.

It is yours.

It's not my number one topic.

What I saw.

I was not elected on Israel.

You don't get elected in the South Province in the North Island.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad or like you.

No, but I just don't think you know what you're talking about.

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