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0:53

Today on The Daily, Times

0:55

political correspondent, Shane Goldbocker,

0:58

takes us inside the first

1:00

primaries of the twenty twenty

1:03

two midterms. It's

1:06

Friday, March fourth.

1:14

It's weekend update with Colin

1:16

Jones at Michael Sand. If

1:20

you were paying attention to the twenty eighteen midterms

1:23

and maybe even if you weren't,

1:25

you might remember this one particular moment

1:27

on Saturday Night Live. As we said,

1:29

the midterm elections are next week.

1:32

Here with his first impressions of some of the candidates

1:34

is Pete Davidson. Where

1:36

images of various candidates flashed on the

1:38

screen and comedian Pete Davidson

1:41

poked fun at the way they looked.

1:43

This guy's kinda cool. A Dan print

1:45

shop. Oh

1:47

my man. my god. Hold on.

1:51

You made me surprised to hear he's a congressional

1:53

candidate from Texas and not a hitman

1:56

in a porno movie. I'm

2:00

sorry. I know he lost his eye in

2:02

in war or whatever. Whatever.

2:08

Yeah. Alright.

2:09

Davidson was ridiculing a conservative

2:11

candidate from Texas, named Dan Crenshaw,

2:14

a former Navy Seal, who wears an eye patch.

2:18

Welcome back to Outrage this morning after Saturday

2:21

night live, Mocks and American War Hero.

2:23

Left right, independent, everybody is angry

2:25

about this at so rude. And

2:27

they said that I'm not that easily offended,

2:29

but I was like, oh, all of you

2:31

on Saturday Night Live could go straight to

2:33

hell over this. You owe this man

2:35

a produce

2:36

apology. What Jackass

2:38

is, honestly? There was so

2:40

much outrage. Than on the next week's

2:42

episode. I mean this from the bottom

2:45

of my

2:45

heart. It was a poor choice of words.

2:47

The man is a war hero and he deserves

2:49

all the respect in world and Any good

2:51

came with this? Maybe it was that for one

2:53

day, the left and the

2:54

right finally came together to agree on something

2:57

that I'm a dick. You

3:01

think? French

3:04

all was invited on set. TO ACCEPT

3:06

AN APOLOGY FROM DAVIDCEEN. Andrew:

3:10

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING.

3:12

Reporter: THANK YOU FOR MAKING A REPUBLICAN LOOK GOOD.

3:15

Well,

3:15

I just wanted to say for people that

3:17

don't know, the reason you're wearing an eye

3:19

patch right now is that you lost your eye to

3:22

an IED in Afghanistan during your third

3:24

combat

3:24

tour. And I'm sorry. Thank

3:27

you, Pete. I appreciate you saying that. So

3:29

we're good. We're good. Apologies

3:32

accepted. After some joking

3:34

back and forth between the

3:35

two, Crenshaw closed things out by

3:37

looking directly into the camera and

3:39

delivering a message. Seriously. There's a lot

3:41

of lessons to learn here. Not

3:43

just that the left and right can still agree

3:46

on some things, but also this

3:48

Americans can forgive one another.

3:50

We can remember what brings us together as

3:53

a country and still see the good in each

3:55

other. This is veteran today weekend,

3:57

which means that it was a plea for civility

4:00

in politics in an era that's

4:02

been anything but civil, and

4:04

it almost instantly turned crunch off

4:06

into a national household name. It

4:09

was a meteoric rise. For a thirty

4:11

four year old who had virtually

4:13

no national name recognition just a

4:15

few days earlier. Crenshaw

4:17

ended up winning his race, prevailing as

4:19

a conservative, and a purple district

4:22

in and around the Houston suburbs. He

4:24

beat out his Democratic opponent in a year

4:26

that so many other Republican candidates

4:28

lost. It

4:30

was a particularly notable victory in

4:32

a midterm that was defined by a suburban

4:34

revolt against Donald Trump and

4:37

his brand of Republicanism. Crenchaw

4:40

seemed to have found a sweet spot between

4:42

full blown Trumpism and the anti Trump

4:44

wing of the Republican Party. Cwenshaw

4:48

claims to have a great relationship with Trump,

4:50

and he was even given a keynote speech

4:52

at the twenty twenty Republican National

4:54

Convention. But in that speech,

4:57

he famously never mentioned Trump's name,

4:59

which is essentially unheard of.

5:03

But now he absolutely, positively,

5:06

beyond a shout of a doubt, is the most

5:09

arrogant politician I've ever

5:10

seen. In

5:12

a post January six for old as

5:15

more extreme factions that the Republican party

5:17

have started to take hold. And

5:19

as the twenty twenty two midterms, are

5:21

officially underway.

5:23

Crunchyaw has gotten on the wrong side

5:25

of some of the loudest voices on the right.

5:28

Crunchyaw is not dumb Crenshaw

5:30

thinks you're dumb. And

5:32

he's being cast less as a vision for the future

5:35

and more as a symbol for what

5:37

needs nothing

5:38

out. Someone should primary that guy,

5:40

stat. And in

5:42

their fight to do that, the far right

5:45

has found a surprising new structural

5:47

advantage. The once a decade

5:49

redistricting process that has

5:51

just remade districts nationwide.

5:55

And nowhere have congressional seats

5:57

been more transformed than in Texas,

6:00

Dan Crenshaw's home

6:01

state. So that's where

6:03

I set off to.

6:07

We are recording, by the way.

6:10

Excellent. We are driving.

6:13

Just hit a little pothole on freeway.

6:16

Shane, where are we? We

6:19

are north of Houston

6:21

on a toll road that I'm not sure

6:24

my rental car is gonna pay the toll properly.

6:28

So I make that way to Houston, where I meet

6:30

up with daily

6:30

producer, Diana Wynne, who actually

6:33

lives here. And

6:34

Shane, why are you in Houston? Well,

6:37

I've come to Texas because Texas

6:40

is the first state in the country in twenty

6:42

twenty two that's gonna be holding its primaries.

6:44

And It's

6:47

the first state in the country in

6:49

which candidates for the Congress are

6:51

running in their new districts. So

6:54

every unprecedented suburbs are fascinating

6:57

because like so many suburban areas,

6:59

there's been tremendous growth in the last

7:01

decade. And those demographic

7:04

changes have chiefly benefited

7:06

the Democrats. Seats that

7:08

had never been winnable before for the party

7:10

suddenly were competitive, heading

7:13

into the twenty twenty election, the

7:15

Houston maps looked something like this.

7:18

There were three solidly Republican

7:20

seats, three solidly

7:22

Democratic seats, and four

7:24

seats that were more up for grabs.

7:27

So in theory, the democrats in the

7:29

Houston area could have won more

7:31

seats than the Republicans. But

7:33

in redrawing the maps, the Republican

7:36

controlled state legislature did what's

7:38

known as packing. They redrew

7:40

the lines and stuffed as

7:42

many Democratic voters into

7:44

the Democratic districts as possible.

7:48

And the result is that Democrats now

7:50

actually have four safe

7:52

Democratic seats, more than the

7:54

three they had before. But

7:58

the Republicans have seven

8:00

safe seats. And there are absolutely

8:03

zero swing districts left.

8:05

And the impact of that, it's not about

8:08

whether a Republican or Democrat will win particular

8:10

seat. But what type of Republican

8:12

or Democrat will win? Because

8:15

now, the real battles will be fought

8:17

in primary elections. And when

8:19

these battles are only fought in primary elections

8:22

against other candidates from the same

8:24

party, the effect is often

8:26

to move the whole conversation to the left

8:28

or to the right.

8:30

Because that's where the voters and primary elections

8:32

tend to be. There's virtually no

8:34

incentive for candidates to compromise where

8:36

they have almost no chance of losing

8:38

to the other party. And what that

8:40

means for a candidate like Dan Crenshaw who

8:43

by most traditional metrics is a strong

8:45

conservative. It means the only

8:47

real threat he faces is from

8:49

the far right. Now

8:52

that didn't materialize this year, maybe because

8:54

of his national status. To star power,

8:57

no one was able to make a meaningful challenge

8:59

against him. He outraged the closest person

9:01

a hundred to one. But while

9:03

he wasn't directly being threatened, the

9:05

right is agitating against him.

9:08

Just next door, in a neighboring

9:11

district. In a fight that kinda

9:13

became a proxy war over credential. And

9:16

just how far from the new party line,

9:19

the candidate can stray in the post

9:21

January sixth era. And

9:23

that is really what Diana and I

9:26

are in Houston to see. Okay.

9:28

Let's go do it. Alright.

9:43

So

9:47

I live in Houston and this rally

9:50

is at a church that's about a thirty minute

9:52

drive from my apartment. But

9:54

it's also sort of a world away.

9:56

From the center of the city.

9:59

This district that Shane and I are

10:01

currently in is considered to be

10:03

a real Republican stronghold

10:05

Hi. How are you guys? My

10:07

name is Shane. I'm a

10:08

reporter with The New York Times. I

10:11

don't like the paper story, but You

10:12

know,

10:13

do you

10:13

guys

10:13

wanna chat? No.

10:15

Now I like the paper. You

10:16

don't like my

10:16

paper? Alright. Thank you.

10:19

On our way in, Shane and I try to

10:21

catch some of the Valley Goers in front of the

10:23

church.

10:23

I can't hear

10:24

you. Learn the truth, not

10:26

propaganda. What

10:28

did you say? You should learn the truth,

10:30

not the propaganda. But

10:32

they're not all that interested in talking

10:34

with us. So we head inside

10:37

as the program kicks off. AND

10:39

THERE ARE AT LEAST A COUPLE HUNDRED PEOPLE

10:41

THERE AND AFTER A PLLEGED TO

10:43

THE TEXAS

10:44

FLAGUE. I PLLEGENCE TO

10:46

THE TEXAS one state

10:48

under God,

10:50

one, and invisible. Some

10:52

worship and opening remarks.

10:54

God bless Texas Amen.

10:57

Christian Collins himself is the first

10:59

to take the stage. I will

11:01

proudly stand with you to

11:04

stand with president Trump And I'm

11:06

looking forward to seeing him back in the White House

11:08

in twenty twenty four. Am I right?

11:11

He's a far right candidate, and it's very

11:13

clear that this is a far right rally. He

11:15

says that the race is bigger than

11:17

him, is ultimately about Donald Trump

11:19

and getting him back into office.

11:21

But first, it starts with

11:23

taking back Congress. And

11:25

then he acknowledges the role that

11:28

redistricting might play in that.

11:30

And

11:30

the question for this district, congressional

11:33

district eight, It's

11:35

not whether we will like a Republican because

11:38

we will. It's

11:40

what type of Republican. This

11:44

race isn't about me versus the

11:46

other guy or whatever. This

11:48

race is about the people versus

11:50

the Washington establishment.

11:54

It may not be totally clear, but this

11:56

is actually at least indirectly the

11:58

first reference. Of many to come

12:00

to Dan Krunchoff, who just three

12:02

years in, is now himself being

12:04

branded the establishment. Along

12:07

with other mainstream Republicans, like

12:09

the Republican house leader, Kevin McCarthy,

12:11

franchise endorsed Colin's opponent, Morgan

12:14

Littrell, who sort of looks like

12:16

the kind of candidate you would create in a conservative

12:18

fantasy lab. He's another

12:20

former Navy CEO, and his twin

12:22

brother was the basis for the

12:24

movie, Lone Survivor. And

12:26

like Collins, Patrol is a very conservative

12:29

candidate. But Collins is using credentials

12:31

endorsement as an attack line on the trial.

12:34

We do not lead need leaders that are going

12:36

to go along to get along with

12:39

the Washington establishment that

12:42

say conservative things when they're

12:44

running and then go and do just

12:46

the opposite when they get

12:47

elected. But And

12:49

it's not a coincidence that this rally

12:52

isn't even being held in the district. The Collins

12:54

is running in. It's actually in

12:56

the district that Dan Crenshaw is running in.

12:59

Basically, this whole rally has been

13:01

staged to ask voters Do you

13:03

want another crunch on office? I

13:05

wanna thank you. God bless you. God

13:07

bless Texas. God bless America. Thank you,

13:09

guys.

13:14

Hi. My name is Shane. Do you have a moment to

13:16

chat? I'm a reporter with The New York Times

13:18

out here in Texas.

13:19

Tell me your name and and Sherry

13:22

Lindsay.

13:22

Sherry Lindsay. How do you spell it?

13:24

SHARI --

13:25

SHARI. -- we spoke to Sherry Lindsay

13:28

and her husband, Jim. They're in

13:30

their seventies, and they own a couple of businesses

13:32

in the Houston

13:33

area. And they're quite

13:35

familiar with the candidates in this race.

13:37

Morgan Littrell. I know him.

13:40

He's a

13:40

friend of our families. Who

13:41

is? Littrell.

13:42

Yeah. And so Little person. But

13:46

not that he's in the establishment.

13:48

We want them out. Yeah.

13:50

Sherry's concern comes not so much

13:52

from Latrel himself. But

13:54

from the people who are supporting him.

13:56

Who are you thinking of? Grinch

13:58

alpha one. He's teamed up

14:01

with the

14:01

trial. And several others.

14:03

So we we feel like they're more the rhino establishment

14:06

that's been in there, and that's the change that

14:08

we want. We we're tired of

14:10

the of

14:13

the same people getting yeah. Same

14:16

people getting in saying they're gonna do this

14:19

and do it. What?

14:20

I mean, he's been around a while, but Crenshaw

14:23

also.

14:24

When we asked the Lindsay's, what specific

14:26

votes Crenshaw had taken that

14:28

were so worrisome.

14:30

They dug around for a little bit. Well,

14:32

actually,

14:34

gun control for one

14:36

and mention gun control. And this

14:38

came up in a couple of conversations.

14:40

Yeah. In Princeau, he he is an okay

14:42

dude, not my politics.

14:45

Yeah. What what's not your politics about him?

14:48

A

14:48

lot of people call them Moreno, I would have

14:50

to agree. REACH Johnson is an

14:52

eighteen year old college freshman.

14:54

He's just not voting in the way that we,

14:56

as you know, constituents -- Yeah. --

14:58

would want him to vote. What

14:59

are some of the things that you feel like he is

15:01

done or said in terms of his votes that that

15:04

that you disagree with. Specific

15:07

suit.

15:09

I was more well versed on this when it happened. But

15:11

you don't know. Okay.

15:14

I have to say it was was

15:17

it the gun control? It was something

15:20

about constitutional carry that he wasn't

15:23

coming out as strongly as he could about that.

15:25

Yeah.

15:25

But, you know,

15:28

What Reese and the Lindsay's are both referring

15:30

to is the fact that after two

15:32

back to back mass shootings in twenty

15:34

nineteen, including one at

15:36

a Walmart in El Paso that left

15:38

dozens dead. Crenshaw had

15:41

signaled at least some openness to

15:43

red flag laws. Laws

15:45

that would take guns away from people who

15:47

are determined by a judge to be a threat

15:49

to themselves or others. This

15:52

is something that other Republicans also

15:55

said that they might be open to at the time,

15:57

including President Trump. In

16:00

fact, it was his lead. Crenshaw

16:02

said he was following. The

16:04

legislation never ended up going anywhere.

16:06

And Crenshaw maintains an A rating

16:09

from the NRA. But it was

16:11

something that voters were using to point

16:13

at something deeper, a kind of

16:15

knowing suspicion. That crunchaw

16:17

has turned out to be, a rhino,

16:20

Republican and name only. And

16:23

at the rally, The source of that idea

16:25

was pretty easy to trace.

16:28

What we cannot have is

16:31

weak spined Republicans or

16:33

rhinos in office. We also

16:35

need to defeat communist rhinos

16:37

like Crenshaw, Kinsinger,

16:40

and the people they

16:41

support. If you didn't stand for the tens

16:43

of millions of Americans that stand for liberty,

16:45

we will expose you for being a Republican in

16:48

name only, a rhino, and

16:50

possibly even

16:52

recruit someone to run against you. We

16:56

are seeing that promise true, believe me.

16:59

We're exposing Dan Credshaw and

17:01

the other fraud Republicans wrapping

17:04

themselves in president Trump's America

17:06

first message to sneak into office,

17:09

but the voters won't be full. We

17:11

know how to spot a rhino from a mile away.

17:13

You know the old saying? If it looks like a duck,

17:15

looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck,

17:18

That's probably a duck. Well, in

17:20

today's Republican politics, if

17:22

it talks like a rhino, it's friends with

17:24

rhinos and takes money from rhinos, well,

17:26

my friends, what are they? Correct.

17:35

Well, I've I've learned a lot about our

17:37

local guys, our new district, Dan Krunchaw,

17:39

that I didn't know about Dan. And that come in here

17:41

and hear these guys talking about him and I'm like, Wow.

17:44

That's really true, man. I I just he he's

17:46

not you know, he's he's tricked

17:48

us. He he he played he's played the usual

17:50

game of trickery with us. And he's not what he records

17:53

himself to

17:53

be. And now he actually represents us in this district.

17:55

It's shocking. I I mean, actually, it's quite shocking.

17:58

What's shocking about it? With

18:00

Dan, you mean? Dan franchise specifically? That

18:07

that he's that he's not that he's not what he

18:09

purports to be.

18:11

I I don't

18:11

think that he is. Specifically,

18:15

I had a pretty good opinion of

18:18

him in the beginning, but the more I see,

18:20

the more I

18:21

hear, and I'm

18:23

changing that opinion. Really?

18:26

Yes. It was something that was resounded

18:28

by all of the speakers up there. You

18:30

know, if you know it, he's a writer. That's

18:32

what that's what I'm hearing. Yeah.

18:34

Now I can't say that for certain, but it's

18:37

certainly, you know, it's kinda like if it spells

18:39

like a duck, walks like a duck, walks like a

18:41

duck. Wax It's a

18:42

duck. So I'm beginning to think

18:44

it's a duck. Yes.

18:54

But again, no one was really providing

18:56

specifics about what it was that

18:58

made Crenshaw so problematic. As

19:01

Shane said, it was just kind of

19:03

like establishment vibes.

19:06

It was clearly not primarily an issue

19:09

with his politics or his policy

19:11

views, which again are

19:13

quite conservative. My

19:16

name is Shane. How are you? Yeah.

19:18

I just wanted to talk to you about what do you

19:20

mind where you record stuff

19:21

here? We're doing

19:22

a Then we spoke with d Scott. A

19:24

seventy year old realtor who lives

19:26

in the area. What

19:27

do you think of Prince Charles Republican? Is he

19:29

the kind of person you're looking for somebody to emulate

19:32

or not?

19:32

Dan Prince Charles might possibly be a

19:34

rhino. I possibly be a rhino. What

19:36

what about? So

19:39

this will pretty much tell you where I stand.

19:41

I guess, I wanna The first time that

19:43

I heard him say, as

19:46

far as the here we go, the

19:48

election being stolen that has nothing

19:50

to do with that. That was not the case. Just forget

19:53

about it. It would never took place. Blah blah

19:55

blah blah. And there's so much

19:57

evidence coming out that it did take place.

20:00

It's the first time in my life that I've

20:02

not trusted our government, that I've not trusted

20:04

elections, and I am

20:06

just searching to find

20:09

some way to determine who is the best

20:11

to put in office to keep this

20:13

country going forward and still be a great country.

20:16

What he's talking about is Dan Crenshaw's

20:18

stamps on the twenty twenty election. So

20:21

he did initially cast out on the election,

20:23

getting involved in a Texas lawsuit, that

20:26

it asked the Supreme Court to toss out

20:28

the results in a few key swing states

20:30

that Joe Biden had won. But

20:32

when the electoral college did certify the

20:34

results, crunch up back down. And

20:36

he said his party needed to accept them

20:38

and move on, making him one of

20:41

the fewer Republicans willing to do so. And

20:44

he set himself even further apart

20:46

in the aftermath of January sixth by

20:48

saying that members of his own party were

20:50

responsible

20:51

for, quote, hyping up that day.

20:54

Many members of Congress did do that.

20:56

Many commentators did do

20:58

that. Many in the media have been doing

21:00

that. For the last few weeks, saying

21:03

this is our time to fight. And let me tell you something

21:05

very clearly. They've been lying to people.

21:07

They've been lying to millions. They've

21:09

been lying that January six was going to be

21:11

this big solution for election

21:13

integrity. It never was going to be.

21:15

He said there was absolutely no way

21:17

under the constitution.

21:19

That Congress could possibly overturn the election

21:21

results. And they lied to people and they said,

21:23

go fight. Yeah. Go fight because everything's

21:25

on the line. That's what they said. And when people fought

21:29

they became to fight, and then they fought capital

21:31

police and now people are dead. And those

21:33

same members of Congress who called people to

21:35

fight, well, they were nowhere to be found. Because

21:37

it was all fun and games to them. They

21:39

never And most recently, credentials got

21:41

into a number of public disagreements with

21:44

the right wing of his party that is most vocal

21:46

about election fraud. An attack

21:48

that was seen as being directed at the House Freedom

21:50

caucus. But what he has since

21:52

tried to clarify was actually about

21:54

specific members. Calling them

21:57

performance artists and gifters.

22:00

It's this position on the twenty twenty

22:02

election that's made him a number of enemies

22:04

in Washington and in the conservative media.

22:06

And it now seems to be driving the biggest wedge

22:09

between some Republican voters in Dan

22:11

Cointreau, like those

22:13

at this Christian Collins rally. Can

22:15

you tell me about your shirt and what it says?

22:18

Yes. My shirt says, don't

22:20

blame me. I voted for Trump. And

22:23

and I hear that a lot from people

22:25

that

22:26

it's like, well, I voted. So

22:29

Another person we met at the rally is

22:31

Phil Katy. He's a former airline

22:33

mechanic who told us that he left his job

22:36

after the company announced a vaccine

22:38

mandate. He too was

22:40

angry at Kunchaw for his position on the

22:42

twenty twenty election. don't

22:44

think he really supported any

22:47

kind of revisiting

22:50

of the election, you know. But

22:52

also In your hands, the line with the

22:54

January sixth issue

22:56

also.

22:56

Yeah. January sixth. Katy

22:59

told us that he himself was at the capital

23:01

on that day. Though he says that

23:04

he didn't go inside, but he feels

23:06

crunchy, has betrayed the people who were there.

23:08

Why isn't he fought for the protections to

23:10

get out of jail? Why isn't he speaking

23:13

up? You

23:15

know, why aren't our only

23:17

Republicans standing up for the fraudulent

23:19

elections. We're trying to get them out.

23:22

Just as president Trump is so porting

23:24

candidates to unseat some of

23:26

these other Republicans -- Yeah. -- because

23:29

they've got they they've lost their way. They've

23:32

they've got no spine to stand up and do

23:34

what's right for

23:34

people. Phil

23:37

is right. Donald Trump's

23:39

singular litmus test for who he's

23:41

gonna support in the twenty twenty two

23:44

elections. Is all about whether or not

23:46

they accepted the twenty twenty election

23:48

results. In fact,

23:50

at the end of January, When Trump

23:52

came to Texas and had a rally just outside of

23:54

Houston, he recognized a

23:56

lot of the politicians in the crowd calling

23:59

them out by name, praising them,

24:01

There was just one congressman there who

24:03

Trump noticeably left

24:05

out, Dan Crenshaw.

24:08

And

24:08

I've since been told, that was no accident.

24:11

In the Republican Party today, there's

24:14

really only one fault line that

24:16

counts, and it has nothing to do with

24:18

policy. It's all about the question

24:20

of Donald j Trump, an election

24:23

fraud. And are you with him or

24:25

are you against him? And for

24:27

many, If you're against him, you come down.

24:29

You're a rhino. He does an integration with

24:31

you. What is your sense of Dan French law?

24:34

Reinau, we need to get him out.

24:36

Why? What is your objections? To Dan from Trump.

24:38

He he he's

24:41

for this change. He's all

24:43

for the big, you know, rhinos, the people that

24:45

hate Trump. He's against the people that like

24:48

Trump, like, Marjorie Tania O'Brien, who's

24:50

supposedly here today. So,

24:52

yeah, I'd I'd

24:54

Crenshaw became a traitor to he

24:57

hates Trump. In the kind of political coincidence

24:59

that is rarely an accident, it

25:02

wasn't much of a surprise that one of the

25:04

speakers at the rally In

25:05

fact, the headliner of

25:08

someone that Crenshaw has futed with

25:10

most publicly.

25:11

Well, I will say I love all of

25:14

you too.

25:15

Georgia representative, Marjorie Taylor

25:18

Green. This is really

25:20

excited. Texas

25:22

is such a great state Oh, wow.

25:24

You guys are

25:25

amazing. Absolutely amazing.

25:27

But the French accent has gone so far as to call her

25:29

an idiot. And the understanding was

25:32

that she was one of the people he was referring

25:34

to when he said that the party had been taken

25:36

over by performers artists and

25:38

grifters.

25:40

But the reason why I'm here is for

25:43

a very specific reason.

25:46

It's time to draw a line in the

25:48

sand. Technically, Marjorie

25:51

Taylor Green was there to rally

25:53

support for Christian Collins.

25:55

But it was clear that she wasn't just thinking about

25:58

this one district she was

26:00

talking about remaking the entire Republican

26:02

Party. That whole bush,

26:04

tiny wing of the party needs

26:06

to go.

26:15

And it's okay for us to fight

26:17

out and work out our differences in the GOP

26:19

conference site to oftentimes argue with someone

26:21

you might know named Dan Krinshaw. And

26:27

I sure do not like people

26:29

calling themselves a conservative but

26:32

when they they all they really are

26:34

is a performance artist themselves. I

26:39

like real conservatives, the ones that don't

26:41

say it, but they actually do it. And

26:43

this is why I'm saying, we have

26:45

to draw the line in the sand and

26:47

it's time to embrace the civil war and the

26:49

GOP.

26:59

And so as we're watching all this, I

27:01

see how the incentive structures for politicians

27:04

are changing in real time. Not

27:06

only has Trump's power and influence over the

27:08

Republican Party created this litmus

27:10

test along which Republicans are now dividing,

27:13

or a civil war as Marjorie

27:15

Taylor Green put it. But the redistricting

27:18

process itself

27:19

is reinforcing that. By

27:22

the time all the lines are drawn this year, as

27:24

many as ninety percent of congressional seats

27:27

will only be competitive in the primaries,

27:30

when only the most fervent voters tend

27:32

to turn out and where moderation you

27:34

compromise are often punished.

27:36

Now, that doesn't mean that redistricting

27:39

guarantees that the most extreme candidates

27:41

will win, but it does change the

27:43

parameters of debate. So

27:45

in district eight, Christian Collins has

27:47

centered his race on a support of

27:49

Trump, and he has repeatedly spread the

27:51

falsehood that the twenty twenty election

27:53

was stolen.

27:54

But his opponent, Morgan Littrell,

27:57

the candidate that Dan Crenshaw has endorsed,

28:00

he's also supported that claim.

28:02

All of which begs the question of

28:04

whether it would even be possible for candidate

28:06

to run-in this district with any other point

28:09

of view. And

28:11

all of that made us very eager to talk

28:13

to Dan Crenshaw himself.

28:35

When doctor Pasi Yani at Dana

28:37

Farber Cancer Institute showed how

28:39

the eGFR mutation in lung cancer

28:42

patients switches on cancer growth.

28:44

It led to an FDA approved drug

28:46

that was the first broad application of

28:48

precision medicine in lung cancer. This

28:50

eGFR inhibitor has led the

28:53

way for other active targeted lung cancer

28:55

therapies. Find out more about Dana

28:57

Farber momentum at work at dana farber

28:59

dot org slash stories.

29:04

Hi. I was Hello.

29:06

Yes. I saw you.

29:07

Hi. I'm Shane.

29:07

Nice to meet you. Money in. Hi,

29:10

Cia. Hi, Cia.

29:11

Hi, Cia. Can I get y'all coffee

29:13

or water? So a couple days after

29:15

the rally, and about a week before the primary,

29:18

Diane and I showed up at Congress from Kenshall's

29:20

office. It's just west of downtown

29:22

Houston, which means It's

29:24

not actually in the

29:25

district. He's running it anymore. And

29:28

because the congressman's running late, Sue Walden,

29:30

his political director, gives us a tour of the

29:32

office. And then

29:33

this is our new district. We

29:35

finally got a map.

29:37

Oh, yeah.

29:37

We start in the conference room or there's this

29:39

big map. Of his new district

29:42

on the wall. It's very different. I mean, I wish

29:44

we had the other one up here to show you, but our other

29:46

district, we didn't have this. We came down

29:48

here a little bit more.

29:50

Previously, the second congressional district

29:53

was a shape that's pretty hard

29:55

to explain. It's almost like

29:57

it's surrounding Houston. On

29:59

three sides. It snakes

30:01

around the city starting on

30:03

the east to the north and

30:06

to the

30:06

west. And we went down to where we're sitting

30:08

right here is the district. Yeah. And then

30:10

it goes around to the Montrose area,

30:12

Westview Rice, and then

30:15

in it which is very liberal, very democrat.

30:18

And

30:18

it absorbed some of the most liberal neighborhoods

30:20

in Houston So

30:21

it was an interesting district.

30:23

Now the map is actually a lot less

30:26

bizarre looking. It takes in suburbs

30:28

north of the city and the same old parts

30:30

to the east that he represented before.

30:33

For those old liberal neighborhoods have

30:35

been entirely swapped out for

30:37

new more conservative ones. And

30:40

those changes they made Prince Charles

30:42

seat basically safe for Republicans

30:44

for the next decade. What is

30:48

And it's Sue showing us around We

30:50

swapped this other painting on

30:52

the opposite wall, and that

30:55

one really catches our attention. At

30:57

first, it just looks like a scene out of the text

30:59

this revolution.

31:00

Got it. But if you look at the faces there, you'll

31:03

see oh,

31:05

damn crutopia. Yeah.

31:07

But when we look more closely, there's

31:09

more there. It

31:12

is a scene out of the Texas Revolution. Except

31:15

there in the fight is

31:17

Dan Crenshaw.

31:18

Along with a few other notable people.

31:21

Who else is on this? You

31:23

got the trumps. Yeah. That's

31:25

just a friend of ours. Just for the check, miss Hunt.

31:28

I see I see

31:28

patents. Yes, Eric. Isn't it Jared?

31:31

Oh, yeah. That's not Jared. That's

31:33

good junior. Yeah. Basically, what you have

31:35

is this battle scene with

31:37

Dan Crenshaw waving a come and take

31:39

it flag, the Trump's son's

31:42

Donald Junior and Eric Mike

31:44

Pence, all their faces, sort

31:46

of grafted onto the bodies of these various

31:49

Texas revolutionaries. And

31:51

across the way, riding a horse into battle,

31:54

is president Donald j Trump. And

31:57

so, Prince George's relationship

31:59

with Trump It's complicated,

32:02

and I'm getting excited to

32:04

ask him about it. And just then

32:07

he walks in the door. Congressman?

32:09

Hi.

32:10

Hi. Shingold Macher. Hi.

32:12

Thanks for

32:13

making the time. Yeah. You meet you. Hi.

32:15

Hi, Diana. Nice to meet you. And so we

32:17

go into this meeting room. That has

32:19

a big green screen where Crenshaw records

32:21

a lot of his television

32:22

appearances. Do

32:23

you want coffee, Dan, or anything?

32:26

I don't know if he's going.

32:27

Okay. Along the original. We

32:29

sit down. He cracks open a twenty

32:31

four ounce sugar free monster energy drink,

32:34

and we begin. Well, thanks for making

32:36

the time. I really appreciate it. I wanted to sort of

32:38

start back in twenty eighteen when you

32:40

were first running for office

32:42

and you first got elected and you were

32:45

pretty immediately tagged

32:47

as a rising star in the Republican Party,

32:50

the future of the party,

32:52

and I kinda wanna know what you made

32:54

of that. What did you think people meant

32:56

by that at that time? And

32:58

what you represented

33:01

that made you the future

33:03

of the party at that moment?

33:07

It was good. Jeez, I don't know. don't really think

33:09

about that question very often.

33:12

You know, I don't it's all been

33:14

a little bit surreal. The

33:16

the allure has certainly worn off. I'll

33:19

say that much. What

33:21

the future of the Republican Party should should

33:23

be is people who can make better arguments

33:25

on the left. And what

33:28

happens too often is it becomes a contest

33:30

of who hates the left the most. That's

33:32

not persuasive argument. And

33:35

that's what I represented back then. That's what I represent

33:37

now. You know, it's I don't

33:39

think a lot's changed, really. That's

33:41

what got me famous. Right? It was, you know, this

33:43

sort of moments on Saturday night live. And

33:47

that's what I've tried to stick to to

33:49

to the greatest extent possible. I

33:51

wanna just ask you because I think the current conversation

33:54

about where you fit in the Republican Party

33:56

is pretty different today than it was

33:58

in in twenty eighteen. And

34:00

it really seems like the reason revolves

34:02

not about policy positions that you've taken

34:05

or specific votes for the most part,

34:07

but, you know, your relationship to

34:09

to Donald Trump and to sort of the Trump is

34:11

a movement in general. And

34:13

so I I guess as I think about this, there's

34:15

this key moment where you gave that speech in twenty twenty

34:17

at the r and c, and you didn't

34:19

you didn't talk about him at all. Didn't use his name.

34:21

You talked about American Heroes. And

34:23

I wanted to

34:24

know, you know, why

34:26

not? Yeah. You know, it's

34:28

probably good to go to the R and C speech to explain

34:31

this because it is a good example. And

34:34

it's it's an example of the following. There's

34:36

a big difference between Trump and Trump family.

34:39

And the movement around

34:41

that. So I have a good

34:44

relationship with Trump and the Trump family. You know,

34:46

IIII think it's this manufactured division

34:49

that there's some rift between me and and

34:51

Trump. That's just not true. The

34:54

r and and and the RNC speech is a good is a good example

34:57

of this because they tasked me

34:59

with writing a speech about American

35:01

heroes They didn't say write a speech about

35:03

the president. And then the little staffers

35:06

got mad afterwards because

35:08

we didn't talk about the president. Why didn't

35:10

you talk about the president? Because you told us to write

35:12

this speech. Like, there's there's so there's no

35:14

there's no conspiracy

35:15

here. Like, there's no there's no there's no there. It's

35:18

just this this silliness. Can

35:20

I ask you about you said you have great relationship

35:23

with him? Yeah. What is your are you

35:25

guys in in touch or or What is

35:27

yeah. How would you describe your relationship? Right.

35:29

I talked to him recently. I went to the rally here

35:31

in Houston recently. III spoke with

35:33

him on the phone with me and Kevin McCarthy and

35:35

him. A week before that

35:38

had a cordial conversation. He's always hearing

35:40

things. Right? Because, look, I have enemies, of course,

35:42

on the right. That that's that's what you're getting at effectively.

35:45

And

35:46

look, it's that's the establishment that doesn't

35:49

want people like me to rise too quickly.

35:51

And when

35:51

I say the establishment Exactly. That's I'm gonna

35:53

explain that because I I viewed the establishment

35:56

differently than what most people say the establishment

35:58

is. Most people say the establishment is Kevin McCarthy

36:00

and Mitch McConnell and the R and C.

36:02

That's not the establishment. They're

36:04

trying to hang on by a thread. They're

36:06

trying to wrangle cats. Okay? That's that's

36:09

what leadership is is doing. The establishment

36:11

is these sort of wanna be social media

36:13

influencers, these radio hosts, these podcasters.

36:16

It's mostly these folks in the media that

36:19

are that are that are so ingrained

36:21

in the cancel culture of the right. That's

36:24

that's what I'm fighting against. And

36:28

they view me as a threat because I don't I

36:30

don't really toe the line in the way that they

36:32

want. Whatever it is they want, it's it's

36:34

funny because it's hard to it's hard to

36:36

discern what makes them different and who them

36:38

really is. We're all the same. We all believe

36:41

the same things. So it's it's it's this manufactured

36:43

divisions. There's there's

36:46

no policy differences really between

36:48

people who label themselves conservative, people who label

36:50

themselves America

36:51

first, people who label themselves MAGA. But

36:53

there is a big difference now. Right? The

36:55

big difference that really seems to be dividing

36:58

the Republican party as do you say and

37:00

believe that the twenty twenty election was stolen?

37:03

think I think that's less of an issue. I

37:05

mean, it bubbles up every once in a while and we

37:07

get it, you know, questions about it.

37:10

Concerns, but it's it's Look,

37:12

we also do polling. So we got a

37:14

much wider swath of the population, and

37:16

it it does not rank very high. This is not what people

37:18

have asked about over the last year. People

37:21

are much more concerned about inflation than the border

37:23

crisis, things like that. So I

37:25

don't really say it's I I I'm not

37:27

saying I agree that it's inflation in the border

37:29

is bigger issue for voters. I guess

37:32

it's almost become like table

37:34

stakes to be a real Republican

37:36

now. By polling seventy, eighty percent of

37:38

the Republicans and a hundred percent of the people

37:40

I've met out here, think the

37:42

election was stolen. And so I wanted

37:45

to just ask when you talk about speaking

37:47

out about performance artists

37:49

and gifters. When you talk about taking on

37:51

some part of the base of your party, and I wanna

37:53

ask you why because it's

37:55

definitely not the easier pathway.

37:58

And it's definitely not the safer

38:00

political pathway. So why are you doing

38:02

it? I

38:04

don't know. Well, again, IIIII

38:06

have to take a step back and say, this isn't the battle

38:09

that you kinda make it out to be. It's

38:11

it's just so much less dramatic than that.

38:13

When people are pulled to

38:15

take a lot of these things with a grain of salt,

38:18

it has become sort of a reaction. Oh, yeah. I was

38:20

told. Some people mean different things by that.

38:22

Some people mean, well, the media stole it by

38:24

by characterizing Donald Trump in in the

38:26

most nefarious of ways in in a

38:28

way that wasn't honest and true. And so some people

38:30

mean it that way. So

38:32

it kinda depends, and and once you gotta dig

38:34

deeper into into people's opinions, and again,

38:36

is this is this the driving force for them? My

38:40

my polling wouldn't suggest that it

38:41

is. Okay. I know our

38:44

media engagement wouldn't suggest it is.

38:46

It wouldn't suggest that it's this big dramatic

38:48

division the way a lot of people don't think

38:50

it's the division of the Republican Party. think

38:52

that the base of the Republican Party

38:54

thinks the last election was

38:55

stolen. Right. But if I'm on but if but if I'm like,

38:57

hey, guys. I'm not so sure about that. You know,

39:00

I'm still doing okay. So so that

39:02

that's why my my

39:04

conclusion is it's not

39:06

as dramatic of an event or or or

39:08

phenomenon would as as maybe

39:10

some seem to think it is, and why do

39:12

it? Why do I, like, I just I I stick to what's

39:14

defensible. I stick to what I can

39:17

what I can say. In all honesty

39:19

is true if that pisses people off, it pisses

39:21

people off. I'm usually pissing off

39:23

people on the left, but sometimes

39:26

it does have people on the right. So,

39:29

you know, in the end

39:30

in the end, it's truth as the North Star.

39:33

I mean, are there members of Congress that you think

39:35

of as performance artists and gifters?

39:38

There are there are some. I will not name them on a

39:40

New York Times podcast. Or interview,

39:42

but, you know, it's it's pretty clear. I think

39:44

there's some. I just wouldn't characterize the Freedom caucus

39:47

that way. Yeah. Not not as a whole.

39:49

And I I told them that. I think they know that. It

39:51

was just sort of kind

39:53

of munching of words, I think, that occurred.

39:55

In any case, what what I've meant

39:57

by by by grifters and and

39:59

and liars, or

40:02

what I already talked to you about. Right? This sort

40:04

of cabal of establishment that I was talking

40:06

about, who are trying to monetize division

40:08

and outrage on the right. They

40:11

manufacture divisions again by labeling

40:13

people different things. They don't really

40:15

know what the differences are as far as policy

40:17

or what they stand for. They don't really go that

40:19

deep. It's more a matter of

40:21

style. So, I mean, it's

40:24

it happens

40:25

it happens a lot more on the right and the left

40:27

than I think it used to. That's

40:29

that's for sure. I wanna just go back

40:32

to the thing on Trump because you were at the rally

40:34

that was in your district, and he called

40:36

out and recognized a lot of members of Congress.

40:38

Were there, but he didn't recognize you.

40:40

Was there any meaning

40:42

behind

40:43

that? I don't know. I don't

40:45

know. It could be the again, the staffers

40:47

that I talked about because I just talked. He invited

40:49

me to the rally a few days

40:50

before. He also in the Glatford to mention

40:53

quite few other people who were sitting there. I

40:55

don't know if there were other members of Congress that didn't get mentioned.

40:58

Louis Gomer, they they it looks like they

41:00

left him off the list as well. Yeah. The only reason

41:02

he got hit because Trump was looking at his

41:04

saw

41:04

him. Oh, Louie, what's up? I

41:07

don't think too much of it. I I don't

41:09

really care.

41:11

And have you asked for his endorsement in twenty

41:13

twenty two? Or have you not asked

41:15

Trump for your Yeah. I don't even know how

41:17

that works. guess I haven't asked. Yeah.

41:19

We're not even sure who to ask. To be

41:21

honest.

41:23

So the reason we're in Texas is this is the first

41:25

state with midterms and all the

41:27

districts in every state are getting redrawn.

41:29

And the remapping here is I think particularly

41:32

dramatic. Just in the Houston

41:34

area, there were four seats that were competitive

41:36

with the presidential election last cycle. And

41:39

they're none now. You used to have one of them

41:41

now. You don't. And basically,

41:44

with with every single seat being

41:46

wiped away. I wanted to ask you, when

41:48

you get rid of competitive seats, like, what

41:50

is the impact for for

41:52

democracy?

41:54

This is a deeper political science question,

41:56

and it's an interesting one to explore, call

41:58

it jerrymandering, call it whatever you want. I think

42:00

highly politicized districts or highly partisan

42:03

districts, Deep rhetoric or deep blue.

42:07

You can't ignore their contribution to

42:09

some kind of division within the country. I think it

42:11

exists that contribution. However, If

42:14

that were to be the case, then the

42:16

same divisions wouldn't exist in the senate, and

42:18

yet they do, almost in the exact

42:20

same way. Can I push back,

42:22

though, on the the House and Senate

42:24

districts? Because let's go back to

42:26

the the election. Right?

42:29

I think it was a hundred and thirty nine

42:32

members of the House Republican caucus voted

42:34

not to certify the twenty twenty election.

42:37

A majority of your colleagues.

42:40

But it was a small fraction of the senate

42:42

republican caucus that didn't

42:44

vote to certify the

42:45

elections. I don't know the number. Maybe eight,

42:47

nine, not sure that

42:49

everything centers back

42:51

to this certification of the election. I don't

42:53

think it necessarily got because I'm because I'm looking at

42:55

the aggregate over over years. That's

42:57

one example of senators. Look, the

42:59

the senate's always gonna be slower and

43:01

a little less extreme than the house. But

43:04

the the divisions that we've seen throughout our country

43:07

certainly exist in the senate in a pretty in a

43:09

pretty serious way. So that's why that's

43:11

why I'm just saying, like, I'm I'm not saying there's

43:13

no effect from gerrymandering, but think it's

43:15

much, much less than people give credit for.

43:17

Look at them. Voters are self sorting into

43:19

these districts too. Right? Like, Inter Houston is

43:21

all democratic and excerpts are, like,

43:24

more public than they used to be. But I do think

43:26

people running statewide who have to say they can city

43:28

suburbs and suburbs are behaving

43:31

differently. I mean, you agree to that

43:33

the districts are making some difference. But I do think

43:35

I just wanna push back on that idea that it's not,

43:37

that it's entirely the same. The senate the senate's I

43:40

mean, the senate's different. But the senate's different for some

43:42

of those

43:42

reasons. Pretty close. I mean, I'm just I'm just getting to

43:44

the the the main point being that there's

43:46

a lot of reasons for the

43:48

the sorting of America into left

43:50

and right divisions. Look it's

43:53

it is the urban world divide. Suburbia

43:55

has become the swing districts of America.

43:58

The urban centers are unattainable for

44:00

Republicans the rural districts are unattainable

44:03

for Democrats. So that's that's self sorting has happened

44:05

over the years. Social media has

44:07

probably had a much greater role than any of

44:09

these factors. As far as the

44:11

just the the the seething anger that

44:13

Americans feel for each other. So,

44:16

you know, if I were to place one culprit

44:18

on that, I would I would probably go with

44:20

social media. Jerry Mandarin's been around forever.

44:22

You're never gonna get rid of political redistricting

44:25

because there's not really a better option. You're not gonna

44:27

have some formula. I mean, it's just it

44:29

it it is what we have. So we

44:31

spent a lot of time complaining about it. I mean,

44:33

I was kinda laughed when when left

44:36

wing Twitter would always would always post under

44:38

an any comment I made. They would

44:40

post a picture of my district as if this

44:42

was proof that I was somehow corrupt because

44:44

my district has shaped funny. Mhmm. It's

44:46

like I didn't draw it. III

44:48

got into this job, you know, last year,

44:50

and you guys are hammering me for this. And

44:52

also, what is it about the shape of a district

44:55

that makes it corrupt? Really?

44:57

I mean, really, nobody thinks that through that

44:59

next step. And I just kind of find it funny

45:01

as as as sort of a philosophical

45:04

slash political science

45:05

question.

45:05

Yeah. Why? And it's just that in academic

45:07

terms, why? And nobody can really answer that.

45:09

I mean, my old district was very ethnically balanced,

45:12

looked a lot like Texas looks. And

45:15

and and and now my district doesn't look very

45:17

manageable at all. Now my new district looks like a

45:19

pond. My old one looked like a river running around

45:21

Houston. What is your new disk look like? Like

45:23

a pond. Like, it's, you know, it's just a normal

45:25

looking shape. And so that

45:27

that's not there's nothing wrong with

45:29

that. But it's also not competitive, whereas my old

45:31

district was. Now the

45:33

the real question, with with your new district, with the

45:35

fact that it's not competitive, it is

45:37

potentially competitive.

45:39

It's just only competitive potentially in a

45:41

Republican

45:41

primary. Right? There's basically no chance

45:44

you're gonna lose your seat to a Democrat -- Yep.

45:46

-- in the next ten years. And while

45:48

you might not said there was much of a change, you would have lost

45:50

your Democrat in your old seat. It was at least

45:52

conceivably possible. Yeah. I

45:54

mean, what do you think it does? For

45:57

you personally that you can only

45:59

be challenged from the right --

46:01

Mhmm. -- and then what does it mean for your party

46:03

that so many people can only be challenged

46:05

from the extremes in their parties. It

46:08

changes nothing for me. Absolutely

46:10

nothing. And I'd be really interested to see what your

46:12

findings are in about a year or two. Because

46:14

the only way for you to met this this will be

46:17

the answer really because now that we've gone through this redistricting

46:19

process and we've we've seen this great sorting

46:21

throughout the country to to right and

46:23

and left. Districts. So

46:25

what you'll be able to then assess is

46:27

that the members who went from a

46:30

from a purple district like mine to a

46:32

deep blue or a deep

46:33

red, you'll be able to assess if

46:35

their behavior radically changed. But

46:37

the, you know, the formal title also

46:39

is representative. Right?

46:41

So, like, are you going to represent

46:43

your district? So the math is that your old district

46:46

was one and half percent

46:48

Trump districted in twenty twenty. Basically

46:50

the equivalent of North Carolina. Your new district

46:53

is twenty twenty three

46:55

percentage points for Trump, somewhere

46:57

between Utah and Alabama. So

47:01

if you're going to be a representative, should

47:03

you be changing, should you

47:05

be considering changing,

47:07

listening to these new constituents?

47:10

I again, I I default to.

47:12

I think it's much deeper than that. I don't think you're gonna

47:15

see a lot of formally moderate members

47:17

turn into radical leftist

47:19

or radical right wingers. I just

47:21

don't think you're gonna see that. You're certainly not gonna

47:23

see it with me. And

47:26

not that I was ever moderate. That's kind of the

47:28

big joke. Right? It's just that I just don't

47:30

yell and scream real loud. And so, well, you

47:32

must be moderate. No. I just I take a tone.

47:34

That doesn't turn people off. Should try it.

47:37

You know, it works quite

47:39

well. That ain't gonna change, and

47:41

I'm not a robot. That just puts his

47:43

and Alex's finger, puts it up to the wind and and sees

47:46

which way it's going and and then votes accordingly.

47:48

That's that's not why he elected me. He elected

47:50

me. Because I said I

47:52

stand for these sets of principles and I will

47:54

make judgments accordingly. That's

47:56

why he elected me for my problem solving

47:58

capability, for my moral framework

48:01

for the that's what I ran

48:02

on. Yeah. When I

48:03

when I when I at the Christian Collins rally

48:05

over the weekend that was attended by Marjorie

48:07

Taylor Greene and Madison Hawthorne in a slew

48:09

of other people that have been critical of you.

48:12

You know, you came up a lot, not just not just

48:14

on stage, which I presume you've seen from

48:16

from the clips from from Marjorie Taylor Green

48:18

and others. But among

48:21

the voters and the thing

48:23

that they said in one person at the end really

48:26

struck me because so many people called

48:28

you a rhino, and I'm sure you know this.

48:30

But the person at the end of the

48:32

the night that we talked to said,

48:35

he came in and he thought positively if you I

48:37

don't know if he'd voted for you before you may not have been in

48:39

your district, but he said, look, from one eye, hearing

48:41

he's a rhino. I hearing it all day. And if

48:43

it's, you know, talks like a duck and quacks

48:46

like a duck and, you know, maybe it's a duck.

48:48

And so, I guess, he's a rhino. And

48:51

so with these people with megaphones in your party

48:53

calling you a rhino, what does that

48:55

what does that do as you're running? I mean, you face

48:58

really token opposition this year. I think you've outraged

49:01

anybody by hundred to one. But

49:03

what does that do over time for person

49:05

who just a couple years ago was a

49:08

future of the Republican Party figure

49:10

that's not the kind of labeled that that

49:12

those people

49:12

get. Yeah.

49:14

I

49:14

mean, I don't really care. I just don't really

49:17

care. know, it's it's it's

49:19

chirping. It's chirping from, you know,

49:23

from the fringe and it's sad.

49:25

It's sad. Right? Like this part because I see what you

49:28

what you just described. I see it. It's on social media.

49:30

I see it with people. Well, they said you're

49:32

a rhino. Why? I don't

49:34

know. Well, then maybe maybe don't

49:36

take it at face value then. If if they can't

49:38

even come up with a single example, the

49:40

quickest way to a conservative's heart is to call someone

49:42

other conservative or

49:43

rhino. That's the click bait.

49:45

Explain that. That's that's fascinating. Well,

49:48

conservatives have a natural a

49:51

natural concern about big government, a natural

49:53

concern about people betraying them from

49:55

their own side. And so they're very susceptible

49:58

to these kind of arguments. You

50:00

know, we move the fact that we even have a word for

50:02

it, you know. Like, the democrats just don't.

50:04

They don't they don't deal in this the

50:06

the way the way the right does. And so

50:09

Look, do I care? No, not really. And

50:11

look, I wish I wish more regular

50:14

voters, like the guy you talked about who supported

50:16

me one second and then the next second didn't because,

50:19

you know, we heard something. He's not sure what, but he

50:21

heard something. I I wish they would discern

50:23

I wish they would understand that that's the

50:25

game, the trick being played on them. You

50:27

started by saying you got into politics

50:29

because you believe in making better arguments

50:31

that can better

50:32

persuade. People to the Republican

50:34

side.

50:35

And I guess, I wanted to know with these new districts

50:39

whether there are any house candidates who are

50:41

Republican in Texas who have to care about that.

50:43

Like, you don't have to care about that

50:45

your district doesn't sharpen your arguments anymore.

50:47

You don't need to sharpen your

50:48

arguments. To persuade the left. Yeah.

50:51

It's true. It's kinda sad, isn't it? I

50:54

still will because it's all I care about. And

50:56

look, if that doesn't win out,

50:58

then the Republican Party's doomed. But it

51:00

but that philosophy needs to win out. This

51:03

idea that winning means persuading

51:05

that fighting means persuading,

51:08

not just fighting for your own fundraising and fighting

51:10

for the attention of the

51:11

base. You know, if that philosophy loses

51:13

out, then there's no hope. I

51:15

think Americans have to wake up to the fact that

51:17

primaries matter. If

51:20

if I I get getting your

51:22

full from plenty of democrats that think AOCs

51:24

and embarrassment to their party. Okay.

51:28

Well, like, how many people voted

51:30

in that primary? When she unseated cowley,

51:32

how many like, nobody. You know, I mean,

51:34

it's it get involved in your primaries. The

51:37

same goes for both sides. So it's

51:40

it's important. There's there

51:42

are differences in people and and honesty

51:44

and integrity and experience. And

51:47

you you can't just can't just assume

51:50

that the best person's gonna come out of a

51:51

primary. Thank

51:56

you. You've been super generous for the time. Thank

51:59

you. And nice to meet you person. Of course.

52:01

Absolutely.

52:02

And I would love to

52:07

Thanks, Wolff. There's another big story that we're

52:09

following tonight. Results are coming in

52:12

from the Texas Prime Aerys. This

52:14

is the first big contest of the twenty twenty

52:16

two election year testing the influence

52:18

of former president Trump on the Republican

52:21

Party as On Tuesday night, Texas

52:23

held the first primaries of twenty twenty two.

52:26

And as expected, Dan Crenshaw

52:28

won. Big, drawing nearly

52:30

seventy five percent of the vote.

52:31

The bastion of conservatism that is

52:34

Montgomery County -- Mhmm. --

52:36

the successor Kevin Brady in congressional

52:38

district eight I was surprised by Littrell.

52:41

He's up above fifty percent white right now.

52:43

Morgan Littrell won his race too, with

52:45

more than twice as many votes. As Christian

52:47

Collins. Both were decisive

52:50

wins for the so called establishment wing

52:52

of the Republican Party and quickly

52:54

touted signs that even in the redness

52:57

of

52:57

districts. Voters won't necessarily go

52:59

with the most right wing candidates.

53:04

But of course, Donald Trump didn't endorse neither

53:06

of those races. And in

53:08

all thirty three races that he did, the

53:10

Texas Republicans he backed, one,

53:13

or are on track to do so. There

53:15

were also some signs that it can be

53:18

perilous to cross Trump. Take

53:20

Van Taylor. He's a two term incumbent

53:22

congressman from up in Dallas, who,

53:24

just like Dan Crenshaw, had his formally

53:27

competitive seat completely transformed

53:29

into a Republican stronghold to redistricting.

53:33

His opponents this year in the primary pounded

53:35

him for voting to confirm the twenty twenty

53:37

election results and for voting to create

53:40

the January sixth Commission. Ben

53:42

Taylor was forced into a runoff, which

53:44

is a rare outcome for an incumbent. In

53:47

the days since, a personal scandal

53:49

forced him to withdraw from the race. Now,

53:52

the seat's gonna go to the other leading candidate,

53:55

a Republican who centered his campaign

53:57

on election fraud. And attacking Van

54:00

Taylor for the votes he took. I

54:05

spoke with Crenshaw's team yesterday, they

54:07

told me they're hoping the results out of Texas

54:10

will help quote, shut up

54:12

the congressman's critics. At

54:14

the same time, right wing political

54:16

operators in the area have told me they're

54:18

already working to find someone

54:21

who can put up a meaningful fight against Grinchaw

54:24

in twenty twenty four.

54:41

We'll be right back.

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FX is under the banner of heaven, is

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by John Crackauer Andrew Garfield

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stars as a detective investigating a

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so, he unners buried truths about

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the origins of the LDS religion,

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which leads him to question his own faith as a

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devout Mormon. FX is under the banner

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of heaven, an original series, all

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new Thursdays, only on Hulu.

55:16

Here's what else you need to another

55:18

day. On Thursday, Russian

55:20

forces laid siege to urban

55:22

areas of across Southern Ukraine, striking

55:25

apartment buildings, pharmacies, and

55:28

a hospital as they continue

55:30

to target civilian populations In

55:33

the day's most alarming development, Russian

55:36

forces shelled a nuclear power

55:38

complex in the city of Zafarija.

55:41

Triggering a dangerous fire at

55:43

the plan. But

55:46

Russian troops made little progress

55:48

in overtaking the capital of Kiev.

55:51

Where a miles long convoy of

55:53

soldiers and equipment remained

55:55

stalled about eighteen miles

55:57

outside the city. Intelevised

56:08

remarks Russian President Vladimir

56:10

Putin rejected claims that

56:12

his military was faring poorly

56:14

in Ukraine. Saying that

56:17

the war was proceeding, quote,

56:19

strictly according to schedule.

56:30

Today's episode was produced

56:32

by Diana Wynn and Rachel Quester.

56:35

It was edited by Lisa Tobe,

56:38

contains original music by Dan

56:40

Powell and Mary Inlazano, and

56:42

was engineered by Chris

56:43

Wood. Our theme music

56:45

is by Jim Runberg and Ben Landfrig

56:48

of Wonderley.

57:00

That's it for the daily. I'm Michael

57:02

O'Borrow. See you on

57:04

Monday.