11/21/25: SEDITION! Trump Threatens Dems, ICE Flees After Lies EXPOSED, GOP PANICS In TN Special Election

26:33Like that's probably true. But if a prosecutor did try, I feel like it would be pretty straightforward that we have not declared, like, declared war on what? Like, boats? Enough to make people sweat. Yeah. Well, yeah, but the argument that they make is that because the boats are carrying drugs and the drugs are intended to give profits back to, that would be used on military equipment. That's literally according. They have no idea that that's true. None. Well, they haven't prosecuted any of the survivors of these strikes haven't been prosecuted for drug trafficking. They're completely making that up.

27:09It's also, it's not true. Like, as Saga and I reported, Venezuela and their diplomats have made clear to the U.S., we don't fund our military but with drugs. We fund it with oil and other minerals. Like, we're very open about the whole reason that you want to, like, bomb us and do regime change is because of the wealth that we have from the oil and the minerals. That's where our money comes from. The fend is under the ground. So if somebody, let's say you kill somebody, and your claim is, well, the profits from those drugs were going back to a military that we're not even at war with. Set that aside.

27:50What military are we even at war with? What terror group is connected to Al-Qaeda? Because you have to have a connection to Al-Qaeda in order for the AUMF to work. Setting that aside, how do you know where those profits are going? you saw a boat leave it looked to you like it was a drug boat and you bombed it you don't know what organization that boat was with whether it was a one-off whether like you don't you don't you don't know like where that money is moving um if you do go arrest those people but like i don't think in a court if a person said well i was worried that this money was going to go to finance ex-terror organization.

28:29Like, okay, which one? So you can't just walk down the street and kill people and say that you thought that the people's money might eventually be used for something that you say is illegal. Like, that's not a permissible reason to execute people. So that's why I think you could actually make the case. I agree with you that in no universe does that ever happen in our country. Ryan, but we got to move to ICE, but my question for you is, do these Senate Dems who are saying don't break the law, have they spoken out about a regime change in Venezuela? Cause a decent number of, a decent number of them have because they're being pressured by progressive, you know, anti-war groups.

29:09They, they, they've, they've been reluctant to, but an increasing number have, have reluctantly and you can see the reluctance in their statements and the, in their comments come out and said, okay, we shouldn't do this. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's a win for progressive anti-war groups. There we go. Put the pressure on. I don't care what's in their heart. No, I don't either. They're in the right things. I appreciate that. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. It was many and many a year ago in a kingdom by the sea. In 1995, my neighbor, Anna Trainor, disappeared from a commune.

29:48It was hard to wrap your head around. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. So no, I am not your guru. And back then, I lied to my parents, I lied to police, I lied to everybody. There were years, Ryder, where I could not say your name. I've decided to go back to my hometown in Northern California, interview my friends, family, talk to police, journalists, whomever I can, to try to find out what actually happened. Isn't it a little bit weird that they obsess over hippies in the woods and not the obvious boyfriend? They have had this case for 30 years. I'll teach you sons of bitches to come around here and my wife.

30:24Boom, boom. This is The Red Weather. Listen to The Red Weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... You can decide who takes home the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards Podcast of the Year by voting at iHeartPodcastAwards.com now through February 22nd. See all the nominees and place your vote at iHeartPodcastAwards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen.

31:03Sign up for a free trial at Audible.com. You know Roald Dahl, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Our new podcast series, The Secret World of Roald Dahl, is a wild journey through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. His job was literally to seduce the wives of powerful Americans. What? And he was really good at it. You probably won't believe it either. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. The guy was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelt's, played poker with Harry Truman, and had a long affair with a congresswoman?

31:42And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock before writing a hit James Bond film. How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever? And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids? The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to The Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, let's talk about some of what's going on in Chicago. Because I followed this story and I suspect a lot of other people did very closely.

32:17There was a woman who was a local activist, Chicago activist against ICE and Border Patrol. And there was an incident that occurred. There was some sort of a vehicle incident that occurred. She ended up shot five times with seven bullet holes in her, which apparently the guy who did it, the CBP agent who did it, was very proud of and was bragging to his buddies about what a great marksman he was. Look at all the holes I put in her body. He texted to some of his buddies. And immediately, the story the government is telling diverges from the emerging facts. facts. Okay. So their initial story is that she crashed into them and they had to protect themselves and that she had a semi-automatic weapon.

33:06And so that's why they were justified in shooting this woman, Chicago resident, five times. American citizen, Chicago resident, known local activist, five times. Okay. So then that's their initial story. When they actually filed charges against her, already the story has changed. Okay, we find out that the place where they said that she was after the accident was not correct. We find out no longer are they mentioning the gun. Previously, they'd said there were all these cars that had blocked them in and they couldn't escape. And that was part of why, you know, they had to defend themselves in this way and they had to fire on her.

33:46Now we just have her and one other guy whose mom, by the way, is out there saying, like, he's not even an activist. He just was literally driving his car in wrong place, wrong time, okay? So the story the government is telling and the story that they are now telling in the indictment totally diverge. Then you have the lawyer for this woman, the one who got shot five times, saying, this is not what happened at all. In fact, we have viewed body camera video that shows they crashed into her. and then they said something provocative. I can't remember what they said like right before the CBP officer fired on her, like take that bitch or something like that, right?

34:30Showing a real intent that there was no indication that she had threatened them whatsoever and other various parts of the story fell apart. Then these text messages where he's texting with his buddies and bragging about what he had done here, then those come out. Then the vehicle that was involved in this, the CBP vehicle, they took from Chicago and took it away from the scene, it seeming to conceal the evidence. But they're still persisting in these charges against her that she was a violent threat, etc. Well, now they have just completely and totally dropped the charges. They have dropped the charges against this woman.

35:09And the lawyer is indicating that there was additional body camera and footage that was going to come out and additional text messages coming from this guy who shot at her. So now they're saying she didn't I mean, they're not pressing charge against her at all. And again, they have body camera footage. So if she did something wrong, the government would really be able to prove it. And the government has a lot of advantages in these situations anyway. So it increasingly looks like they just straight up tried to kill this lady. And, you know, allegedly, that's really what it looks like at this point.

35:47If she did nothing wrong that they can charge and they have this video evidence and they're just letting her go. Like, what other conclusion are we supposed to come to here? She was a known local activist. You know, they had it out for her. And there are other instances that we now know where they sort of incited these sorts of accidents that have been caught on video, that have been called out in other trials. So this is a completely, completely insane situation here and I think shows you the level of chaos, lawlessness, and outright violence that communities have been subjected to by these thugs that have been unleashed with our taxpayer dollars on American streets.

36:31There was another story I saw that there was a child predator sting and one of the members was an ICE employee. And when they arrested him, he was like, hey, don't worry, guys, I'm ICE. Like as if that was going to like let him loose or whatever. Yeah, and they were like, don't care. You're arrested anyway, which kudos to them. Yeah, well, how many times did they not arrest someone when they said, don't worry, I'm ICE? You know, that's the other question. Yeah, this is, I mean, it's hard to find a more egregious case than this because they very nearly, and tried to kill the woman. Like you shoot somebody five times and brag about hitting them, putting seven holes in them.

37:07And you're that much of a sociopath that you brag about it. This is another, this is a human being. This is a fellow American. It's hard to get more egregious than that. Yet we are seeing across the country judges just starting to lose it on the Department of Homeland Security and on the prosecutors. you're seeing more and more filings coming out rulings coming out from judges where they are indicating that they have been just flat out straight up lied to now the idea that some police lie is you know judges are familiar with that so imagine what it takes for these judges to be as outraged as they are because they're used to like the little white lies you know from a lot of police officers in the courtroom room this stuff is just completely backwards stuff like uh their car rammed into us and so that's why we either shot at them or beat them or arrested them uh you see the video footage it was DHS that actually rammed into them so many examples of that uh a case that came out yesterday that they were basically you know tapping their brakes so that there would be a car accident so that they could then start on them.

38:30Driving erratically and doing brake checks to try to cause an accident in order to justify use of force. Yeah. Saying that they were hit by a two by four with nails in it. Turned out it was cardboard with nothing in it. Saying that somebody ripped somebody's beard off didn't happen. She was also licensed to conceal carry. So she was perfectly the gun was in her handbag was perfectly legal. Yeah and never And she never did any. She'd never even reached for it. I mean, yeah. And they just invented initially. Remember, it was like this, you know, semi-automatic weapon that she was threatening them with.

39:07And, you know, I mean, they just like Griffin, can you pull up this thread from Aaron Reisland Melnick that has a bunch of the examples here? This is from Judge Ellis, who he describes as the first federal judge to review extensive body cam footage of DHS's actions in Chicago. And she's the one who required them all, including Bovino, to wear body cam footage. And a lot of the lies are not not that it's excusable from like the rank and file either. But quite a number of them come directly from Bovino because he's not only running the operation. He is also on the ground, like doing some of the actions and assaulting, especially some of the protesters.

39:46So he's got a number of the examples here. First, he says she finds DHS repeatedly misled the public. I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here. Um, she said he says that she finds Chief Bovino gave not credible testimony, stating he appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing cute responses or outright lying. On October 28th, DHS claimed days earlier rioters had shot at agents with commercial artillery shell fireworks, forcing agents to deploy tear gas and riot munitions. Oh, it turns out the explosions were DHS's own flashbangs. DHS claimed agents were forced to use riot munitions to disperse an unruly mob.

40:29In fact, the scene was quiet. And then almost immediately and without warning, agents lobbed flashbang grenades, tear gas, pepper balls, stating fuck yeah as they do so. On September 26th, a DHS officer claimed they were forced to deploy riot munitions because protesters were becoming increasingly hostile. In fact, the BWC video shows protesters were simply standing there when agents first deployed any force. DHS claimed an incident on October 3rd showed agents were in danger of being rammed. This is the one Ryan was referring to. In fact, body cam suggests the agent drove erratically and brake checked other motorists in an attempt to force accidents that agents could then use as justification for deploying force.

41:10She says all these errors add up. At some point, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe almost anything DHS represents. For example, a top officer testified protesters had shields with nails in them, except there were no nails and mostly it was cardboard. In another incident, DHS officers wrote that protesters had thrown a bike at federal agents. I remember the DHS Twitter account really publicized this one. It's like, oh, my God, look at this violence we're subjected to. In fact, it was the agents themselves that actually took a protester's bike and threw it to the side. In another example that was not backed up by evidence, the head of ICE's ERO's Chicago field office testified a protester had ripped a beard off an agent's face and broken part of ICE's building.

41:56There was zero evidence to back that up. And there are more here, including the use of chat GPT to help fill out a report and create a credible narrative. So just, you know, typically, even though, yes, we all know that cops lie, that it's not anything new. But the level of consistent lies and deception all the way to the top here is so extraordinary that this judge is just like beside herself. How can you trust a word that any of these people say? I mean, we got gaslit on that thing that I was tweeting about the video where they literally pepper sprayed into a car that had a one year old that just had to happen to be driving in the other direction.

42:35American citizens. And they had the gall to be like, we would never pepper spray a child. It's like we can all watch the video. It's in the tweet that you're quote, like it's right there for all of us to see. I don't even know what to say about this. But now they're in Charlotte. They're headed to New Orleans as well with this, you know, reign of terror campaign. a bunch of untrained buffoons who don't know what they're doing and are just out looking for violence, apparently. Well, one of the ways that I look at this and somebody who like I do I do disagree with you guys on the amount of deportations that have to happen.

43:11But what I look at this and I think should be able to happen without people obstructing unduly and all of that. And I think that was going to be a challenge no matter what. But this is causing, I'm genuinely surprised that there hasn't been even more, actually that there haven't been people who have been killed in pretty high numbers. Because this is causing really, this theater is, I think, causing a lot of difficulties that are actually going to make it harder for them at some point to get genuine criminals. That's what they say. They want to start with the worst of the worst. getting people with genuine criminal backgrounds out of the country is going to be a lot harder when your mode of operation is primarily this like really, really theatrical approach where it's like intentionally ginning up clashes and then putting those out on social media, for example.

44:08The temperature is just being raised to crazy high levels. So it's, yeah, I actually think it's amazing that more people have not been seriously hurt. Yeah. I also don't think it's an accident that they, you know, left Chicago in this moment because there were more there was more and more legal scrutiny of their actions. And this Judge Alice had been there were a number of judges that were rebuking them and limiting the scope of what they were able to do. There's also a consent decree in place already in the Chicago area that, you know, provided a few more tools to, you know, for the justice system to work there.

44:50So I think that may be part of why they moved on to other cities, because their use of tear gas had already been reined in. This judge had already ordered Bovino and every other agent to have body cameras on so that you could come out with some this sort of litany of the distance between what they're saying and the fact that the reality was oftentimes the polar opposite of what they were doing and that it was happening in a really systematic way. So, you know, to me, that is probably one of the reasons why they decided to move on. And it's important because it shows that, you know, the legal pushback, it took time.

45:29There was a lot of pain and violence that occurred in the meantime and kids getting, you know, worried about tear gas as they're getting ready for Halloween and all of that. But in the end, it did create, you know, enough pressure that they felt like, OK, we can't do this here the way we want to in the totally lawless, unaccountable, violent way that we want to. So I guess we're going to have to move somewhere else where we don't have those restrictions in place yet. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is you can decide who takes home the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards podcast of the year by voting at iHeartPodcastAwards.com now through February 22nd.

46:07See all the nominees and place your vote at iHeartPodcastAwards.com. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at Audible.com. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. It was many and many a year ago in a kingdom by the sea. In 1995, my neighbor, Anna Trainor, disappeared from a commune. It was hard to wrap your head around. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. So no, I am not your guru.

46:47And back then, I lied to my parents. I lied to police. I lied to everybody. There were years right where I could not say your name. I've decided to go back to my hometown in Northern California, interview my friends, family, talk to police, journalists, whomever I can to try to find out what actually happened. Isn't it a little bit weird that they obsess over hippies in the woods and not the obvious boyfriend? They have had this case for 30 years. I'll teach you sons of a** to come around here and my wife. Boom, boom. This is The Red Weather. Listen to The Red Weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

47:25You know Roald Dahl, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Our new podcast series, The Secret World of Roald Dahl, is a wild journey through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. His job was literally to seduce the wives of powerful Americans. What? And he was really good at it. You probably won't believe it either. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you, the guy was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelt's, played poker with Harry Truman, and had a long affair with a congresswoman?

48:01And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, before writing a hit James Bond film. How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever? And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids? The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to The Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, well, on that note, we're going to move on. We've got here in the lobby. Welcome to the show. We've got Tennessee State Rep.

48:35Justin Pearson. How are you doing, man? I'm doing fantastic. How are you? Welcome. Welcome to the show. What's going on? A little bit of everything. Running for Congress, which is a lot of fun, and meeting people in the district. We also have got a lot going on here in Memphis from Trump's occupation with over 1 ,500 federal agents, National Guard deployment by our governor at Trump's behest, which has had hundreds of people here that's just been proven unconstitutional. And now they're saying it's going to cost$8 million to take them out. So we've got a lot going on in Memphis, but the spirit of people remains strong as we continue to fight things like ICE, which is really devastating our Latino community as well.

49:19So Representative Pearson, Crystal was basically asking if you could speak a bit to the experience in Memphis of having this massive operation, the massive deportation operation from the federal government and from the administration. If you could go, just tell us a little bit about what that was like in Memphis. Yeah. So being under federal occupation, literally for the deportation of people in our own communities, has been a devastating experience, quite frankly. We are starting to see people being kidnapped after dropping their kids off at school. Most recently, we heard of an incident where ICE actually threw allegedly flash bombs, flash grenades into individuals' homes and separated some twins from their mom and their dad.

50:04And so the trauma of what we are experiencing is severe. And we can't downplay that in any way, shape or form. It's very frustrating to see ICE in partnership with our own local police, in partnership with people who are supposed to be doing the work of serving and protecting our communities that are part of the terrorizing of our communities, particularly for Latino folks in Memphis and Shelby County. We've had over 300 people be kidnapped, deported, displaced. It's causing a labor issue. It's causing an issue of parents not wanting to send their kids to school. And these problems that they said they were going to solve, such as violent crime and things like that.

50:47that they don't care about. It was never about that. And so we, in a lot of cities that are experiencing this, are all having to be eyes wide open to what this is, which is an attack on immigrants, and it is also a weaponization of military against democratically elected officials, particularly in Democratic-led cities and Black-led cities, by this administration. And the harm is going to be lasting. And our governor has said, and even this administration has said, you know, this could go on in perpetuity. Over half a billion dollars has been spent on this already. Billions will likely be spent by the time this is over, and our communities are still going to be left broken, unsafe, harmed, and children traumatized.

51:30So Representative Cohen has been a pretty, correct me if I'm wrong, he's been a pretty well-liked member of Congress in the district over the years. So, like, how are you differentiating yourself? How are you making the case that now is the time that actually his time is up? Yeah, look, Steve. Correct me if I'm wrong. People like him, right? Sure. Personally. Sure. You know, you got to talk to him for more than 10 seconds. And there's new videos out that tell you who he really is. But look, he served for 20 years in Congress, 23, 24 years before that in the state Senate. He has done all that he possibly can do, and he's done the best that he can do.

52:13And we can be grateful for his decades and decades and decades and decades of service while recognizing that we're in a different moment right now. And this moment requires us to participate, to engage, to fight back in a way that he really just does not have the ability to do. Right now, we need to have a new vision. We need to have new energy. We need to have a new direction. And I'm out every single day talking to constituents, talking to voters, and they're saying the same thing. even if they voted for him in the past. They're just saying, you know what, it's time. There is complacency that you can have after you've been in office for so long that you're not able and you don't have the energy to bring the new ideas to fight the way that we need for you to fight in this moment in time.

52:54And he, like so many other people who claim lots of seniority and lots of seniority, like look at where we are. That seniority didn't snap benefits from being cut. That seniority isn't saving access to healthcare. that seniority isn't changing, the things that are important to people in this district, such as the affordability crisis, the need for 44 ,000 affordable housing units, the fact that 38 % of our kids are underneath the poverty line. Those are the issues that I think are becoming much more salient to people. And having someone who's done, you know, pretty much average job isn't going to be what voters want and what constituents are telling me that they want to have as we look ahead.

53:34You know, it's funny when you talk about age and seniority. More than 20 years ago, how old are you? 30. 30. Okay, so you were like nine years old. I was a medical marijuana lobbyist, and Tennessee was one of the states where I worked in. And I just cold called all the members of the legislature trying to find somebody to carry our bill. And Steve Cohen did it. He agreed to do it. But he ended up like using that as one of the things he ran on when he eventually ran for Congress. But, yeah, you were you would have been in like third or fourth grade at that time. So, you know, I think the age, the gerontocracy is certainly, I think, an issue that's resonating with Democrats across the country.

54:20What about on the policy side? I know that you've been kind of a pretty aggressive critic of Israel's genocide. how do you compare your position there to congressman cohen yeah one my predecessor was 93 years old and i voted for her in the primary and then she did unfortunately pass away and i voted for her even though she had died because she was better she was still on the ballot she was still on the ballot and she was better then than even the person was running against her and so i i mean yes i know folks make a whole lot about the age issue but it's just like some people still have the energy, still can do the work, still show up, still can fight, still can serve as a conduit of power and never feel like they deserve to have a position.

55:09They fight for it every single time. They never look down on you. They're never condescending. They're never trying to, you know, make you small to make themselves big. There are people who are older who have run for office who have done that. And that's not what we're seeing in our district in this race and with so many other people who I think are just clinging on to power, not to be of service, but because they believe one reason or another that it is theirs and it doesn't belong to the people. But these seats that we serve in, it's a privilege to serve in. It is not something that anyone owns that you can pass down or to pass to the next person.

55:42It is something that we have to fight for every two years when you're in the House or for the state or in Congress. Look, I will tell you this. I will never support the sending of money across and overseas for the bombing and the killing of people. It's just not something that I'm going to do. I am always frustrated that when I talk about the need for billions of dollars to tackle poverty, to tackle housing affordability, to provide resources to our veteran, because we have the most veterans in our district who are missing hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 20 years that my opponent's been in office.

56:19People look at me like I have three heads. But if you say we need to get some money to a country to bomb and to kill somebody overnight, Democrats and Republicans alike run back to the Capitol to be able to sign off on that. And I won't because we have deeply entrenched social issues right here in our country. I've got people in my district whose houses are sinking into the ground. People and kids, one out of five of our kids in this state are going to bed hungry. 38 % of our kids underneath the poverty line. And you want me to send billions outside of this country? No, I won't do it. And so I don't support what we have been doing with the continual support for the military-industrial-congressional complex.

57:04And it's not something that I'm going to participate in to make billionaires who are profiting off of these wars more money. The money is not going to troops. It's going to these private contractors. And these private contractors are then funding the campaigns of elected officials and folks in Congress. I'm not supporting it. Representative Pearson, can you hear me now? I can't. Okay. Yay. Last question for you. We'd love to have you back and keep track of your campaign as you progress. But we've got also Afton Bain rating to speak with her as well. So it's a big Tennessee day. Yeah, that's great.

57:38That's great. Exactly. Yeah, we're excited to speak with her as well. But I wanted to ask you, Memphis has been the center of some reporting from More Perfect Union and other outlets about the impact of data centers on the community there. And I wondered if you could speak to that and what your position would be with regard to AI in general and specifically data center construction and impact on local communities and electric bills. Yeah, we have to be able to be intentional about the way AI data centers are being built, constructed and the consequences that they have by putting people first. Right now, data centers are popping up in communities without any community input.

58:14And so we're finding that utility rates are skyrocketing. We're finding that people are dealing with noise pollution, just like they are in South Haven where XAI is operating. The consequences of people's water and the water tables and the aquifers being completely depleted for this technology to exist, for billionaires to make more billions of dollars, right? It isn't about your life or my life improving. It's about them making more profits. We aren't seeing substantial benefits to these projects outside of maybe a little bit of the tax money. but our lives ultimately are not improving. And the question we have to ask ourselves is to what extent, right?

58:52What is the end goal here? And a lot of this artificial intelligence and automation is intended to deplete the workforce. And in our district, a lot of people work in warehouses, a lot of people work in jobs that you may not need a four-year education for. And if you have AI, if you have robotics, taking those jobs, we as elected leaders have not come up with a plan for what happens after. So there's an environmental consequence to our air, to our water, to our soil in some cases. And then there's the reality of what is this technology ultimately going to do to our communities. And if we don't have universal basic income, if we don't have the resources to take care of people after they lose their jobs, we are going to be in a very, very, very difficult situation as a country and in communities.

59:33And so this is one of the environmental justice and climate justice is one of the issues that is a priority for our campaign and something I'll focus on in Congress as well. Where can people support you if they're so inclined? Yes, please support us. Go to VoteJustinJay.com. You can sign up to volunteer, to donate, and on social media at Justin J. Pearson. I'm so grateful to y 'all. Great to get to speak with you. Thank you so much for taking the time. Thank you so much. Let's keep going. I appreciate y 'all. Sounds good. All right. To keep the Tennessee flowing here, we've got another guest on the line.

1:00:08Let's bring her in. Hello, hello. Hi. Thanks for having me. Hello, we've got State Rep Afton Bain here on the show. What's going on, Afton? How are you doing today? I'm happy to be here. It's a first-time caller, long-time listener. We love to hear that. A good start. Representative Bain, why don't you just start by telling us a little bit about the district that you're running for and, you know, who your opponent is. And, you know, it's a very Republican district. I understand Trump won it by, what, 20 plus points. Why do you think you may have a shot to pull off a big upset here? Yeah, so I'm state representative Afton Bay and I represent downtown Nashville and been in the Tennessee legislature for two years.

1:00:53This congressional special election came about because Representative Mark Green cashed in on his corporate checks, took a job in Guyana after voting for the big, ugly bill and skipped town and thus catalyzing a special election. It is the last flippable red to blue congressional special election in the entire country. If you all remember, after redistricting in 2020, Nashville, which was a consolidated Democratic district, was cut into three. So this is one of those congressional districts. And it includes the highest voter turnout precincts in Nashville. It includes our purple bellwether county of Montgomery, which is by the Kentucky border, includes Fort Campbell and goes all the way down to the Alabama border.

1:01:31Mark Green, in the aftermath of the redistricting, said, do not do this, it will backfire. And the backfiring is here. It is an R plus 20 district, but our polling in October showed us six points down. And we are shrinking those margins every day, which is why they've dropped$2 million in the race to try to prevent this upset from happening in the South. And this race is competitive for a few reasons. One is just the dissatisfaction from the federal administration that this administration has not delivered on the economic agenda it promised. And two is the momentum is on our side. I'm a candidate who has never taken corporate PAC money, nor will ever, and don't answer to the special interests, as opposed to my opponent, who is a puppet to the puppet masters of the universe and has rubber stamped and only does things when the puppet masters tell him to do it.

1:02:23And the voters are recognizing that. So that's why this district has become suddenly really competitive. So I've always thought that state legislators have a pretty unique city councilors to some degree, too, but they're almost too low down. State leaders have a pretty like unique window into, you know, how how regular people are feeling about everything in general, but also politics in particular in a way that even federal lawmakers, after they've been in Washington for a little bit too long, don't. and that people running for Congress for the first or second time also have kind of an advantage when it comes to, you know, what they're perceiving on the ground.

1:03:05They're just a little bit more alive and awake to it. So what are you, like, what is the national media missing about, like, how people are feeling about the country, the direction of the country right now? And what are we missing, like, as somebody who's been watching this show for a while? I was just pulling my Ryan Grimm book out of my, sorry, I didn't know. Wow, I'm just fangirling right now. Big fans. Which one, Afton? Is it the drug one or is it the squad one? Oh, no way. Oh, it's really right there. We got people. All right. Let's go. It's a good one. It's hotness. Oh, man, I'm so honored.

1:03:46So I've been, I got my start as a community organizer in Tennessee, organizing to expand Medicaid. and then during the 2017 Affordable Care Act and Medicaid cuts, that fight. And I have been someone who's been trying to make health care more affordable in this state for a long time. And I think the paradigm is shifting. And there's a few reasons for that. One is that we've had a Republican trifecta in the state for 15 years, and it is not delivered for the Tennessee people. We are the most dangerous place for workers in the country. We have the highest maternal mortality rate in the country. We have the highest inflationary cost of groceries in the country.

1:04:22And they look around and there's no one else to blame, right? I mean, obviously they blame immigrants, but immigrants are not the reason our grocery prices are high. And I do think that the paradigm is shifting because the Republican trifecta has gotten lethargic. While they've been scapegoating and terrorizing, we have been building and caring for each other. We've been building the organizing muscle we need to actually win this election. And I think the affordability crisis is hitting everyone. I mean, it transcends geographies. It transcends partisanship. I'm someone in the legislature who's fought to end Tennessee's regressive grocery tax by closing corporate tax loopholes.

1:04:58It's something I've been organizing around for the past three years, and I've built a base of people on either side that know that I stand against corporate rule and for the people. So there is a shift, and it is going to happen in Tennessee. And as W.E.B. Du Bois once said, as goes the South, so goes the nation. um afton i'm in charge of uh drama clips and there's a recent clip going around that we wanted to give you a platform to respond to um this you know in our business we call this like chimp clipping when it's clips out of context this felt like an out of context clip but i'll read a little bit of the quote here uh apparently you said i hate the city i hate the tennessee bachelorettes i hate pedal taverns i hate country music i hate all the things that make nashville I hate it.

1:05:40Now, in the audio, to me, it's a little... I mean, the bachelorette part is a little bit fair, isn't it? It's so fair. Sure, sure. We won't make you weigh in on that often. What would you like to say about this clip that's floating around? So I'm going to say something I haven't said, and I think it's funny. I hope my parents don't kill me. But I do not hate country music. I was conceived after a George Strait concert. I personally attacked. But it just shows, the New York Times reported that there's a 48-page dossier of me which includes clips. I had a podcast back in the day called Grits, Girls Raised in the South.

1:06:14And I was lamenting about the things that are wrong with our city, obviously taken out of context, obviously hyperbolic. And I don't feel that way at all. I have spent the past decade of my life pouring blood, sweat, and tears into my city and my state to make it better for working people. And I think it's backfiring. I mean, they really just, they're digging deep. And And clearly they've dug. Yeah, I don't know. They haven't dug far enough, I guess. About a year ago. Oh, sorry. I was just about a year ago, almost exactly. We had Zoran Mamdani on the show and nobody knew who he was at the time.

1:06:51I forget whether Griffin or Ryan gets the credit for that booking. But I remember we were asking him, it was right after the 2024 election, about his pitch. If he was talking to any of those people who swung for Trump in the 2024 election around New York City and some of the boroughs. And he said, in fact, just over the weekend, he had been out talking to people and trying to pitch himself actually to Trump voters, which is something that Democrats were very reluctant to do during the first Trump administration and in the interim time period. So how are you are you finding that when you talk to people who are Republicans, Trump voters, you're able to connect with them on your policy agenda?

1:07:31So as a state legislator, I've worked really hard. We obviously Trump handedly won Tennessee and I've worked really hard to create entry points for people waking up to the fact that they've been scammed by this economic agenda. And it's important right now, especially in the South under authoritarian capture. We have to create entry points to broaden our coalition of people who believe that democracy needs to be restored. And so I think that I do have cross partisan appeal. I will say that my worst enemies do say that I'm likable and authentic and I'll take it. Um, and, you know, for the culture, I've really tried to, obviously, I've got my own politics, but I don't equivocate.

1:08:10And my Republican colleagues in the legislature, you know, they said, even if I don't agree with you, I know where you stand on the issues. And that's where my constituents know I stand. And finally, just the special interest. We're seeing a wave of Democrats in the South that aren't beholden to these corporate entities. And it's extremely popular. And I've been endorsed by End Citizens United. I will fight to end dark money in politics. And that's something that absolutely resonates across party lines. Let me ask you a tactical question here. So some of the thinking from people like me who aren't in the district was like, maybe if people there don't really notice there's an election going on, maybe she can sneak through.

1:08:50Because it's a very typical district, even as I think people can see what a compelling and extraordinary candidate that you are. And so some of us got a little nervous when we saw that Kamala Harris was coming to the district. She's obviously a very polarizing figure and would certainly draw a lot of attention to the race. So I'm curious your view on her coming in, the reason the decision was made to have her come in and what impact do you think that has on the race? Yeah, I mean, I'm grateful for any support from anyone across the country. The South has been historically disinvested in, and I know that uniquely and innately as a Southern organizer.

1:09:32So any support is welcomed. The district does include North Nashville, which is historically Black communities. And so to see the faces of those HBCU students that have never seen a political figure like that in our city, it was really rewarding to see the smiles on their faces. But I'm also someone who has I've never been the political insider. I've never been the chosen party candidate. And so I think in my political career, my trajectory, most people that I've worked with know that. And so if it you know, if my party's not doing the right thing, then I will. You know, I'm not beholden to them in any way.

1:10:09And there are multiple times in the legislature that I voted with my constituents over my own beliefs and biases. So I'm definitely someone that is welcome to community feedback and will represent the interest of our district over that of the party. what are the what are the ads like in the home stretch are they hammering the like i hate the bachelorettes and i hate memphis yeah is that are you like what are you seeing blank at the airwaves and what's your what's your ad like how much how many resources like do you have the resources you need to like compete down the stretch and yes what's the final competition look like yeah so uh the ad they're running um just some background in may we had a massive unprecedented ICE operation with our Tennessee Highway Patrol.

1:10:52They worked clandestinely to pull over 369 community members, of which were my constituents. And prior to that, I'm a social worker. And so I had been conducting a community needs assessment in the most Hispanic part of my district. And they said, we don't feel like our elected officials are doing enough. And we think racial profiling is the number one issue of our concern. So I took that as a mandate. And when I showed up, I decided to monitor their activities in my district. I recorded a video that then Representative Andy Ogles retweeted and called for my arrest. The Department of Homeland Security then retweeted it and called for my arrest.

1:11:28There was an incident in the legislature where someone tried to follow me into the building in a ski mask and gloves. I basically had to go underground for three weeks. And so I say that because that's the video they're promulgating that I'm against law enforcement, which is not true. And they, you know, it's the federal overreach right now that we're seeing. And I find it satirical that people who have lauded small government for so long are suddenly okay with masked federal agents pulling people out of cars in front of their kids for them never to be seen again. So that's the video they're using.

1:12:02It's, although they have chosen some cute photos of me, so I will say I'll hand that to them. That's unusual. Not all bad, yeah. Not all that. Not all that. But what's interesting about this race and then our videos are the first one was on a mechanical bull in Nashville. And it's there's a billionaire on the mechanical bull. And it's like, you know, they get a free ride in Washington. And then all Tennesseans are being thrown off as statistics are being read. And we've got another one dropping in on Monday. The spending has been we've obviously been outnumbered three to one. But I hope the cavalry is coming because this race is super, super tight.

1:12:35the polling on both sides is showing out and that's why they're coming hard for me. But it is a race that's winnable. And I'm just really honored to be the Democratic nominee. And Afton, a few things before we let you go, that'll be important to our audience. And I'll just give them all to you. And you can I have a feeling you're not going to have any trouble fielding these. No APAC or other Israel lobby money opposed the genocide would block future weapons sales to Israel. Yeah, I've been outspoken against, you know, I voted in the Tennessee legislature to ensure no foreign interference in our elections.

1:13:09And I think that it obviously extends to Israel. And I've spoken out numerous times on the House floor against this. So I do have a track record. What's the what would reelection look like? Is this a one and done situation? Like, how do you how do you stay in office if you get in there? Yeah, the mechanics are tough, right? Because the aftermath of unless we can build a coalition of people who will reverse the Medicaid cuts, whoever's in office next year is going to be blamed for the aftermath of this bill that passed in July. And I'm not naive to that. I think what it would take is a cavalry of a cadre of social workers.

1:13:46Right. Because people are going to be disenrolled from Medicare, Medicaid, SSDI. Right. And you're going to have to be be re-enrolling people in these public benefits. Additionally, I think it's going to take a lot of effort to combat the mis and disinformation. Right. And it's going to have to be localized organizing. So we're going to have to have really embedded field staff within these counties. And I'm going to have to go into the lion's den and these rural, you know, county Republican parties and hopefully make my case. Like, you know, I know you're going to probably spend hundreds of millions of dollars to oust me next year, but please give me a chance because I promise, like, even if I even if I'm not agreeing with you, like, I'm happy to have a conversation and I welcome the relationship.

1:14:28right oh okay sorry go Ryan last question Ryan yeah just to Emily's point like what is the thing that works the best with these Trump Trump supporters who are open it's I have I've knocked thousands of doors in Tennessee about and I've spoken to really about really contentious issues and it's creating it's sowing seeds of cognitive dissonance that you don't force down their throats, right? And so I think if we can just continue to highlight how this agenda isn't working and build the entry points, they can come off. But I've said this with my whole chest from day one is that immigrants are not the reason your grocery prices are high.

1:15:13And when they come back with, well, you know, all these questions, it's like, that's not the reason you're struggling. Like, you know, anytime the culture war reaction, it's like, well, is that going to fix I-24, which is our highway? Is that going to build another hospital? Right. And I've been dogged about that. And I hope it's I really hope it's resonating with the district. And as one of my conservative talk show radio host friends, which I go on conservative talk radio said, you know, you're a lot like Trump. I was like, say more, please. You've got great hair. Yeah, great hair. He and he goes, you're authentic.

1:15:48And people know that I'm the same person I was in fifth grade that I am as a legislator, that I will be as your congresswoman and you know where I'm going to stand on that. And just briefly, hearing President Trump mention my name was probably the highlight of this campaign. And I thought he was going to be like, Ivanka's way cuter than Afton Bain, blah, blah, blah. She's not a real blonde. But no, he said went the historical conventional route, which was I'm a left-wing lunatic. So that's, yeah. Thank you. Pretty standard issue fair from there. Anyone else got any final questions? Well, I was going to say, if anybody wants to be part of that cavalry coming in here, help you get across the finish line, where can they where can they support you?

1:16:32And I guess I was curious, you know, as I think early voting has started, what indications are you getting there real quick? It's so close. And trust me, I'm a jaded electoral organizer, as I've been. One must imagine Sisyphus happy, right, as he's rolling the boulder up the hill in a state like Tennessee. We are so close. And it's going to come down to turnout in Nashville. And it's going to come down to sporadic voters who historically don't vote but need to be excited. So if you're in Nashville, please, please, please check your voter registration. See if you're registered to vote in the 7th Congressional District.

1:17:06Aftonforcongress.com. We've got phone banking. It is, I want to say, 12 days until Election Day. And I just, I don't know. I've been really jaded. And this is the first time that I've been excited. And we are I think we're inspiring a country. And I'm just really honored to be the nominee at this moment in time in American and Southern political history. Amazing. Well, and the podcast is Grits. That's the podcast.

1:17:33The podcast is Breaking Points. Thank you, Afton. And people can we'll put the link in the description of the video if people want to learn more about you. And thank you. And good luck. All right. See you on the other end. you got it always great to have a breaking points viewer on I love it when people are starstruck by Ryan I was walking around the DNC with Ryan was an experience that's funny well in other words she has no chance nobody who is a fan of this show things are changing Ryan things are changing times are changing she's got I mean it's a tough district very tough district But you can see why people are excited about it.

1:18:17I mean, she's very impressive. Like, she knows what she is all about, not afraid to say it. Like, very excellent candidate. So it'll be interesting to see. If she's able to pull it off, it would be, oh, my God, it would be insane, you know? I mean, also, there are parts of Nashville that are just, like, overrun by tourist garbage. I assume that's what she means. It's absolutely true. Yes. Oh, yeah. Who in Nashville would disagree with that? True Nashville. I mean, that would be like New Yorkers being offended by like saying that Times Square sucks, you know, like, no, the true New Yorkers would be like, yeah, we avoid it like the fucking plague.

1:18:55Obviously, you know, watch out. I think a lot of I love I love the M &M store. The M &M store. There's a there's a Raising Cane's there that is apocalyptic. The Virgil's in Times Square is fun. Yeah. So I don't know. Speak for yourself. I've been there with my kids a number of times, and it was hellish every single instance. I've been on Bachelorette pedal pubs. Wow. Oh, my. I've done the worst nightmare. You are the problem. Enemy number one. You are the problem. Not by choice. Not by choice. Not by choice. I didn't even know what a pedal pub was, but now that you say it, I understand what it is.

1:19:34You like bike and drink, right? Yeah. You don't really bike. I mean, they have pedals, but you're not really pedaling. You're not even pedaling. Wow. Yeah, but the Austinization of Nashville is not just complete, but even on another level. Yeah. And it's become this like sort of corporate. It's very like Atlanta coded now, like a very heavy, you know, like a lot of people who are from New York and Los Angeles now in Nashville. I mean, I when I lived in Kentucky, I spent a decent amount of time in Tennessee, not just in Nashville, actually around the state. And it truly is actually one of my favorite states.

1:20:09It's natural beauty wise. It's extraordinary. And Nashville is like, I mean, it's fun and kitschy or whatever. But yeah, I could see being annoyed if you are actually from there by the bachelorettes and some of that stuff. So fair enough. And again, I got to say, I think she was being sarcastic. You know, this is another podcaster and coming up in power. So, you know, we can't always we can't talk about old clips and people transform. They're new. I do kind of want to listen to her podcast, though. I bet it was good. Yeah. I bet it was good she's got it man I bet it was she and the I've had it ladies they need to hang out I was gonna say that would go hard that would go hard it would go so hard I'm definitely gonna I'm gonna hit Jennifer up after this and be like I've got someone you need to have on alright on that note we are going to head over to the second half of the show where we've got a bunch more news and AMA questions to talk about of course that's breakingpoints.com if you want to sign up and get the full show.

1:21:09Anything else before we head out? Nope. All right. See you guys on the other side. Bye. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. In 1995, my neighbor, Anna Traynor, disappeared from a commune. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. No, I am not your guru. Back then, I lied to everybody. They have had this case for 30 years. I'm going back to my hometown to uncover the truth. Listen to The Red Weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Adventures of Curiosity Cove podcast, when peanut butter disappears from school, Ella, Scout, and Layla launch a full detective mission.

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