Peggy Flanagan Discusses Important Senate Race in Minnesota

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Speaker 9 MAGA Republican leaders in the House, the Senate, and Trump's cabinet, they're spiraling out of control right now.

Speaker 9 Following the news that unemployment has ticked up to 4.4% and it looks like it's heading towards 5% and getting higher, when you look at specific industry sectors, manufacturing, construction, we're seeing jobs being lost.

Speaker 9 And didn't Donald Trump say, I'm going to do a manufacturing boom? We're seeing basically recession, even kind of great recessionary indicators in those sectors. More on that in a moment.

Speaker 9 Let's just see how these MAGA Republicans are reacting to it. They're trying to ignore it.
Surprise, surprise. And instead, they are saying things like this.

Speaker 9 Here's what Pete Sessions, MAGA Republican from Texas, has to say when he has this very creepy discussion about the Epstein file resolution. Play this clip.

Speaker 10 Trove of information that will be gone through.

Speaker 11 And Congressman, you did mention Ghelane Maxwell, who's convicted sex trafficker and sex

Speaker 11 abuser.

Speaker 11 The NBC is reporting that her prison emails show she is much, quote, happier at this minimum security Texas facility that she was moved to. There are reports of special treatment at that.

Speaker 11 She was moved after speaking with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Are you investigating that? Does that concern you in any way?

Speaker 10 Well, let me just say this straight up. Anybody that's in Texas is happier.

Speaker 1 But one would one would hope a sexual trafficker would not be treated that way, sir.

Speaker 4 Well, that what?

Speaker 9 Seriously?

Speaker 5 What?

Speaker 9 Then you have maga republican congressmember buddy carter play this clip that's pushed for these files to be released and and now we're seeing it kind of backfire in their face what do you make of all this well this is nothing more than a distraction i've said that from the very beginning there what okay maybe jd vance you want to talk about health care what's what's your view about uh extending the aca subsidies let's play this clip What do we do to address health care prices and premium prices and so on and so forth?

Speaker 15 What does that look like? Is it a reconciliation plan? Walk us through what happened.

Speaker 16 So, what's so crazy about this, Matt, is right before the government shut down, we had a meeting with Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer in the Oval Office.

Speaker 15 This is where they get president of the house. This is where the MAGA hats.

Speaker 16 Yeah, this is no, no, not just that, but the president whispers to one of his personal assistants, they're all very good people, and she kind of runs off.

Speaker 16 I think to myself immediately, oh, what the hell have I gotten myself into?

Speaker 16 And she comes back with two Trump 2028 hats.

Speaker 9 But What about the economy JD? Okay, tell me about the economy. Let's play the clip.

Speaker 16 And even though we've made incredible progress, we understand that there's a lot more work to do. And the thing that I'd ask for the American people is a little bit of patience.

Speaker 9 A little bit of patience from the people who said in 24 hours they were going to bring down prices.

Speaker 9 Yuri workers, your year is coming in 2027 and 2028. And finally, just what about foreign policy, Caroline Levitt?

Speaker 9 What do you want to tell? What do you want to tell us here? Play this clip.

Speaker 17 The president went, the Syrian president came in and President Trump sprayed perfume all over him.

Speaker 12 And I just wondered, like, did he smell?

Speaker 12 No,

Speaker 13 let me tell you, that happens all the time, not just with the Syrian president, but I've seen it with other foreign leaders. I've seen it with members of our cabinet myself.

Speaker 5 He sprays cologne and a perfume.

Speaker 12 Yes, he's just showing off his wonderful scents.

Speaker 5 What?

Speaker 9 He's spraying people with cologne and perfume when they go in the Oval Office. That's what's happening when foreign leaders.

Speaker 9 I want to bring in Minnesota's 50th Lieutenant Governor,

Speaker 9 Peggy Flanagan, who's running for Senate right there. I don't want to normalize any of that behavior.
And I think that corporate media has tried to acclimate us.

Speaker 9 that all of these things, it's politics as usual. And

Speaker 9 that's what to expect. A lot of what you're campaigning about is just stop it.
We focus on workers and real issues that actually matter. So what do you make of that?

Speaker 18 Well, first of all,

Speaker 18 it is a hot mess.

Speaker 18 And I think, you know, this is what happens when our leaders, our leaders prioritize corporate interests over, you know, all of all of us in real time. They're like, just wait.

Speaker 18 This year we're going to take care of all the billionaires.

Speaker 18 And then maybe next year, we're going to focus on the things that you need to keep food on the table and pay the rent and maybe, I don't know, take a vacation someday.

Speaker 18 But it just shows how incredibly disconnected they are from the lives of real Americans and frankly, that they just don't care.

Speaker 18 You know, spraying perfume in the Oval Office versus cutting off food security for millions of Americans. Like, that's a choice, y'all.

Speaker 9 Peggy, you're running for the Senate seat, the Democratic Party in Minnesota.

Speaker 9 I don't want people to sleep on how important the race is in Minnesota. It ain't a sleepy state.
And so I want people to be focused on that.

Speaker 9 At a national level, too, I want to show people this video because you see a lot of progressive Democrats making a very powerful statement in the past 24 hours. Let me just show this.
Let's play it.

Speaker 5 Hi, I'm Elizabeth Warren. It's Senator Red Markey.
I'm Senator Chris Murphy. Chris Van Holland.
Senator Jeff Berkeley. Martin Heinrich here.

Speaker 5 I'm proud to endorse Peggy Flanagan for Minnesota's open United States Senate seat. We need courage in Washington.
And Peggy Flanagan will bring it.

Speaker 10 Peggy Flanagan will bring it.

Speaker 5 Time and time again, she's proved that she has the backbone and the guts to meet this moment.

Speaker 19 As an organizer, a mom, and the lieutenant governor of Minnesota, she has delivered on the fights that matter.

Speaker 9 And Peggy, I'll show the full video too. I just, I wanted to get your reaction to it because it's a great video.

Speaker 9 But how important is this race?

Speaker 18 I mean, I think this race is incredibly important to the future of our country and the future of our party. It really is the choice that is facing all of us.

Speaker 18 Do we want more corporate Democrats who are going to play to the status quo and nibble around the edges? Or do we want progressive fighters with a track record of getting things done?

Speaker 18 I think people want us to be bold, audacious, and defiant in this moment. And we need to make sure that people can afford the lives that they want to live.
And that's what this entire race is about.

Speaker 18 And I have to tell you, I am so honored and humbled to have those progressive champions endorsing my campaign because they are on the front lines every single day and they know what it takes.

Speaker 18 And so to know that they'd like me to join them in the fight is a real honor.

Speaker 9 And that follows a big endorsement the prior week by Senator Bernie Sanders. And he and I had a great conversation over the weekend about artificial intelligence.

Speaker 9 And, you know, as Senator Sanders has said, the most important issues are often the ones that are being least discussed on the media, but are being discussed by the people.

Speaker 9 And so now we're hearing affordability, but let's make it clear that this can't just be a catchphrase. These are people's lives.

Speaker 9 And explain to us what the people in Minnesota are feeling like under this Trump regime, where it's not just promises made and promises betrayed.

Speaker 9 It seems like it's an affirmative assault on the American dream and tearing away and ripping away people's jobs and their health care and just their way of living.

Speaker 18 I mean, what I'm hearing in Minnesota, and we've been doing hundreds of events

Speaker 18 across the state

Speaker 18 in all different communities, and the same things are coming up over and over again. It is the cost of living and healthcare in particular.

Speaker 18 And so, this is a place where I'm very clear that we need to get rid of prior authorization so that some dude behind a desk doesn't get to decide whether or not you get the life-saving health care that you need.

Speaker 18 And worse yet, a robot or AI making that decision.

Speaker 18 But ultimately, you know, when I'm talking to folks who say that their deductible is $15,000 a year and that they just paid $600 to go to a five-minute med check appointment with their doctor, that's completely unsustainable.

Speaker 18 And that is happening right now. So as they are looking to next year, they're like, maybe we just have to to cross our fingers and hope for the best and not pay for insurance.

Speaker 18 That's outrageous. I think we need to go big.
And that means fighting for things like universal health care. We need Medicare for all.
It's been time.

Speaker 18 We need a $17

Speaker 18 minimum wage so that we can catch up and keep up. Those are fights that I've helped lead in Minnesota in raising the minimum wage.

Speaker 18 Things like paid family and medical leave that will go into effect here in Minnesota in January. Those are the big fights that people want us to fight on their behalf.

Speaker 18 And I think so often we find Democrats who are fighting from a defensive crouch or like, what's the fight that we think we could win instead of what are the things that people actually need and deserve?

Speaker 18 And I think that's.

Speaker 18 all about the fact that we've got big corporations who are playing in our politics.

Speaker 18 And it's why I've decided not to take corporate PAC money because I think it's pretty dishonest to say that I'm going to, you know, hold big pharma accountable to lower the cost of prescription drugs while accepting a check from them at the same time.

Speaker 18 People are smarter than that. And that, I think, is what this choice is all about and the future of our party overall.

Speaker 9 You know, what I've loved about your political career, your campaign, and the people who endorsed you, especially Bernie Sanders, is when Senator Sanders goes across the country, yes, he delivers really powerful, awesome speeches, but there's a portion of it where he just takes questions and listens and says, all right, tell me what you're going through.

Speaker 9 And you can learn so much about the experience when you actually listen to what people are saying. And to your point, when the Democratic Party gets a little count, a little bit would be the...

Speaker 9 operative word that shouldn't be there, though, when they get cowardly on these issues like universal health care and making sure everybody gets health care and fighting for people and giving people education and saying, yeah, tax the rich more.

Speaker 9 How do you pay for it? By taxing the the rich more. Let's start by making the rich pay their fair share and then tax them more.
And then, you know what?

Speaker 9 We probably shouldn't have a trillion dollar military budget.

Speaker 9 How about we can still lead the world and history of mankind with a $600 billion military budget and we could take 400 billion of that dollars that would otherwise go to maybe killing people abroad.

Speaker 9 And we can focus on saving the lives of Americans. It actually

Speaker 9 is from a defensive posture, but you would both be doing the right thing and you would be winning elections.

Speaker 9 That's the craziest part to me, that these are actually winning issues and they're the right issues to be focused on.

Speaker 18 That's exactly right. And it's what people are telling us.
And I think that piece about listening, that is one of the most powerful tools in our toolbox. People just want to be heard.

Speaker 18 And when we're doing these events, of course, there's a lot of Democrats who are coming, but there's also a lot of people who are like, I don't identify with any political party, but I'm super freaked out right now.

Speaker 18 So I want to know what I can do. And then we have Republicans who are coming too who say, I don't agree with you on everything, but I know you're a tough cookie.

Speaker 18 And in Minnesota, calling someone a tough cookie is a, is a real compliment.

Speaker 18 But I'll just say that, like people just want to be heard and they want to know that someone is in their corner and fighting for them.

Speaker 18 And I grew up thinking that the bottom could fall out at any moment.

Speaker 18 And there are so many people who feel that way right now and not enough folks in Washington, D.C., and certainly not in the Senate who

Speaker 18 what that's like.

Speaker 18 I think we would be in a very different position and lifting up the things that you were just talking about, making sure that the wealthiest folks pay their fair share and that corporate tax rates

Speaker 18 are not less than what a middle-income family is paying right now. Those are the fights that people want us to fight.
And I'm all in. I'm ready.

Speaker 9 Where can people find out more about the campaign?

Speaker 18 Folks can visit peggyflanagan.com and we'd love to have you join Team Peggy along with these great senators who've endorsed us so far.

Speaker 9 Peggy Flanagan running for Senate in Minnesota, the 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Great to have you.

Speaker 18 Thanks so much.

Speaker 9 Everybody, hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers.

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