In short
Interview with Florida Democratic candidate Angie Nixon about her campaign, alleged MAGA/Laura Loomer attacks, and her policy agenda; also critiques corporate influence, for-profit prisons, and Ashley Moody’s alleged corruption.
Guests
Angie Nixon, union/community organizer; Florida state representative; Florida Senate candidate; former union organizer; single mother; ran a grassroots campaign.
Key claims
Laura Loomer targets people of color; Nixon won her primary by 12 points despite being outspent 17:1; DeSantis is “Governor Kittenhill”; Ashley Moody “stole” $10 million meant for Medicaid-related care for low-income kids and was rewarded with federal appointment; for-profit prisons use occupancy quotas and over-policing (e.g., felony theft threshold changes) to profit; technology should regulate to protect jobs; overturn Citizens United and limit donations.
Notable examples
tire change roadside during Jacksonville-to-Miami travel; extending ACA subsidies (440,000 removed from rolls); universal health care citing a Yale study; universal child care costs ($800–$4,500/month); “diapers” felony example; Ron DeSantis immigrant detention “internment camp”; Walmart subsidies tied to public assistance.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOFacing Adversity in Politics
0:46 to 2:50
Angie discusses the challenges she faces in her political career, particularly from opponents.
“But this bullying of marginalized groups by MAGA seems to be all they have left.”
Grassroots Victory Against Odds
2:51 to 5:50
Angie shares her experience of winning her primary election despite significant financial disadvantages.
“But it gets tiring sometimes because all I really want to do is help people, Jennifer.”
Policy Ideas for Florida
5:51 to 8:10
Discussion of Angie’s proposed policies, including healthcare reforms and support for single parents.
“just good old-fashioned grassroots organizing and outworking our opponent.”
Critique of Corporate Influence
8:11 to 11:25
Angie critiques the influence of corporations in politics and the lack of accountability among politicians.
“And then again, I told you I was a single mom, so I'm fully supportive of universal child care.”
Regulating Technology and Protecting Jobs
11:26 to 14:01
Angie emphasizes the need for regulation of technology to protect jobs and maintain economic stability.
“Elon Musk recently was speaking about how he's going to produce all these robots.”
The Call for Campaign Finance Reform
14:01 to 17:35
Discussion on the need to reduce big money influence in politics and the implications of for-profit prisons.
“And yes, I absolutely do believe we need to get rid of big money out of politics.”
The Cycle of Poverty and Crime
17:36 to 21:10
Exploration of how poverty leads to crime and the systemic issues perpetuating this cycle.
“Jennifer, they say, you know what, I'm going to go and get this this free or low cost labor.”
Corruption and Political Collusion
21:11 to 24:09
Allegations against Ashley Moody and the corruption in Florida's political landscape.
“And you talk about the example of the diapers.”
Call to Action for Support
24:10 to 28:01
A rallying cry for listeners to support Angie Nixon's campaign and engage in political activism.
“To put into two political action committees.”
Discussion on Cultural Issues and Representation
28:01 to 31:34
Explore the impact of cultural issues like drag shows and the importance of representation in politics.
“They have great fries here in the state of Florida.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:04All right, joining me on IHIP News is union organizer, state representative and Florida senatorial candidate, Angie Nixon, who, in my opinion, has just been the brightest light these last couple of weeks. Your win is incredible. Miss Nixon, how are you today? I am. I'm good. I'm better. There have been a lot of daggers coming out at me and folks throwing things my way because they're trying to stop us. But they can't stop this people-powered grassroots movement from stopping the corruption and actually putting the power back in the hands of the people. you bring up these daggers that are being thrown at you and these this of course is coming from laura loomer who loves to um uh poke daggers at people of color particularly if we look back to the presidential debate she's the one who put in donald trump's ear the eating the dogs eating the cats um about uh haitian immigrants and of course he thought that was true so then he said it and got elected, but that's another podcast for another day.
1:14But this bullying of marginalized groups by MAGA seems to be all they have left. It's the only thing they have is to scare people that in Florida, that somehow you should not be elected. Yeah, for sure. And I want to be clear, it's not just Laura Loomer. It was also some other folks. There have been a ton of people in my inbox who have been commenting on the way that I speak, with my draw, my use of y 'all. But it's been tough. And what's frustrating is that I've had to deal with it my entire life. It's become so normalized for Black women, especially to deal with the racism and the microaggressions even from people within our party.
2:07And I know, though, as you stated, They are grasping at straws. This is all they can do is really just evoke fear and hatred and division because they have failed on policy positions. Right. They have actually caused more harm than good in this country. It's speaking explicitly to the Trump administration and the Ashley Moody's of the world. And so it's been tough, but I'm working to navigate it. And I'm so happy that people have been calling and texting and in my inbox and tagging and just really feeding into me. That meant a lot. But it gets tiring sometimes because all I really want to do is help people, Jennifer.
2:56I just want to help people. I think the exhaustion is ubiquitous everywhere right now. But I think particularly among black women, the fatigue is at an all time high since the loss of Kamala Harris. And I want you to know that my audience, I've been talking about you the last couple of days and they've been saying, well, we want to hear this woman speak. And I want you to know that I have a Southern draw too. And so does my co-host, Pumps. And I love it. But what I love most about you, Angie, is that you beat your primary opponent by 12 points while getting outspent 17 to 1. 17 to 1. And I love, I love this people power.
3:44And that is, that is impressive as all get out. How did you pull that off? 17 to 1. Was it the Southern draw and the y 'all? It was the Southern draw and the Southern charm. And Jennifer, I want to say it's so interesting just being a Southerner. I couldn't tell you had a draw. It's just that you sound like a regular, like you're speaking regularly without any dialect or anything. But we were in a grassroots organizing campaign. I was a former community. I was a former union organizer. I'm a current community organizer. And also I was a single mom for 12 years. And so one thing about single mamas, especially single parents, we know how to make a dollar stretch.
4:28And clearly I was able to make one million dollars stretch to 18 million to 17, 18 million. And so we actually we just worked hard. We outworked our primary opponent. We were everywhere. I mean, there was one instance where I was traveling from Jacksonville to Miami and I had to be there at a certain time. and my tires split. This was after my AC and my van, my family van, which we are using for my campaign van, went out. And so I took my car, which is a 2006 Honda Pilot that I got off Facebook Marketplace because I am a regular everyday person, right? And so it split and I could not wait for roadside assistance.
5:16And I just took out the jack and figured out how to lower the tire, the spare tire from the bottom. And I changed the tire. Granted, I knew how to change tires already. So parents, make sure you teach your children how to change tires in case a tire splits or blows on the side of the road. But people saw that. We put it up on social media because I wanted people to know how hard I'm working to represent them and how I won't let anything stop me. And so that's how we were able to win, just good old-fashioned grassroots organizing and outworking our opponent. All right, so you outworked them, but you got to have great ideas.
5:59And we are seeing all over the country a lot of people like you, like Abdul El-Sayed, like Zoran Mamdani, who are not taking corporate money. And there seems to be a big appetite in the electorate for Democrats who want to go back to being the party of FDR instead of the party that services corporations, the same corporations that are exploiting our wages. So tell me about your ideas for the people of Florida, because I've heard Governor Kittenhills. That's what I call Ron DeSantis. And he is chock full of bad ideas. You know, he wears a little heel to elevate a little bit. So I call him Governor Kittenhill.
6:39And he is chock full of bad ideas, this man. So tell me what your ideas are for the state of Florida and how you can impact and make change in the country. Of course. And so I have traveled all across the state from the Panhandle down to the Florida Keys, literally did that in one day. And I've talked to tens of thousands of Floridians. And one of the things is that people are one emergency away from losing it all, one actual health emergency away from losing it all. And Ashley Moody actually voted to end the ACA subsidies here in our country. And that knocked off nearly 440 ,000 people off of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare rolls here in the state of Florida.
7:28And so I want to extend ACA subsidies day one, file legislation to extend the subsidies to drive down those costs so those people can jump back on the marketplace and so that private insurance rates can go down as well because they went up, they skyrocketed after these subsidies ended. And then I also want to push for universal health care. A recent Yale study came out that stated that we would save as a government, as a federal government, we would save a trillion dollars annually if we were to take part in universal health care. We're already paying the cost, even while folks are paying for deductibles and co-pays and things like that.
8:11And then again, I told you I was a single mom, so I'm fully supportive of universal child care. There are parents that are paying anywhere from$800 to$4 ,500 a month for their child to go to an early childhood education facility. So for every$1 the government puts into child care, they get it$3 back into the economy because parents get to work. And then their children get to have a strong foundation. And so that is what I want to push as well. And also making sure that I am proof positive of what happens when government does the right thing. Again, being a single mom, I was 24. I'm sorry, I was 28, 29 when I purchased my first home.
8:51But I was able to purchase my home on a twenty eight thousand dollar a year salary. I was working for the state, even though I had a graduate, not a graduate degree. I had a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, but I received down payment assistance and closing costs from the federal government that trickled down to the state to the local government and that allowed first time homebuyers to have those programs. These are the same programs that Donald Trump got rid of or, you know, cut back with this big BS bill. And so that's one of the reasons I want to repeal those bills. And so I just want to put forth common sense policies to make sure people aren't working so hard and struggling.
9:34Right. Like if you're going to work hard, you shouldn't struggle. The government should work for us and not against us. And that's these are the types of policies, common sense policies that I'm putting forth. So right now, let's get to the nut cutting here, Angie. I think right now we have some people in our party, in the Democratic Party, that are interested in servicing corporations, that want to preserve this idea, this post-Citizens United Democratic Party that preserves the servicing of corporations, where our politicians, from my vantage point, appear corrupted or easily corruptible. And one of these people would be the Senate minority leader, Chuckles, as I call him.
10:20As you can see, I have nicknames for everybody, Chuck Schumer. And I find it very disappointing. Number one, his fight against this fascist takeover has just been lackluster at best. But secondly, that he takes money from the same entities that are also funding MAGA fascism. I see this as a direct conflict of interest in being a politician that is a representative of the people. And I think why the reason why we're seeing people like you and others win by 12 points and despite getting outspent by 17 to 1 is because what I just described here is being seen everywhere. We are tired of politicians making backdoor deals with corporations.
11:12And I feel like these corporations in this next turn of Congress after these midterms is going to be one of the most consequential ones because I think that they are planning to come after our wages with all of the AI stuff. Elon Musk recently was speaking about how he's going to produce all these robots. there's going to be like five, there's going to be a billion of them and the robots are going to produce robots and they can do one robot can do the job of five humans. And I thought, well, oh, so now they're coming after our wages, not just they want the wages. It's not enough. How important do you see if you get into the Senate regulating these techno fascists that have bent the knee to Trump that have very nefarious plans for their companies and our workforce?
12:00Jennifer, it definitely has to be regulated, heavily regulated. I am a millennial, an older millennial, okay? I grew up watching Terminator and Minority Report and Enemy of the State, so I know how this goes, right? I'm also a Black woman, and I know how over-policing goes as well. And so we need to make sure that we are regulating these industries. Like, I believe we don't need to really have flock cameras right now because I have witnessed and seen where there are bad cops that are using them to stalk their ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends. And we also need to make sure that people have jobs, right, when it comes to what you just stated in regards to this technology designed to get rid of all these jobs.
12:52I believe technology should help enhance jobs, make jobs more for people, more efficient and effective, not just get rid of them. And you have to think about it. They really don't want workers if they can. Like they want to get rid of us. We see it with a lot of the self-checkout lines and that type of stuff. And I mean, like, think about it. They're making us work to purchase our own groceries. reason we don't even get a discount, right? And so, I mean, we have to make sure that there are some common sense regulations that are put in place to make sure that we aren't going to basically destroy our economy, because it's going to destroy our economy.
13:39If we wind up getting rid of all these jobs, can you imagine the stress and strain that's going to be on the government. And I know folks are going to say, oh, well, that's what philanthropy is for. We shouldn't need philanthropy. People should be able to work good, decent paying jobs. But right now what we're seeing is a lot of wealth being hoarded at the top. And yes, I absolutely do believe we need to get rid of big money out of politics. I honestly believe we also need to overturn Citizens United as well as lower the threshold that people can donate. A billionaire should have the same amount of political influence as a school janitor has on an election.
14:22And so $500 to$1 ,000 max is all folks should be able to pay into a campaign. And these PACs, I really wish there were no PACs allowed. Can you imagine the type of individuals that would be in office if that was the case and those were those policies were were implemented. I mean, we would see more teachers. We would see more nurses. We would see more custodians and bus drivers actually being lawmakers because big money would be out of politics and people would just really have to run off ideas and not money that is pushing disinformation and division right now. You had a moment, I can't remember what news channel you were on, but I thought it was just incredible.
15:11And the journalist asked you, do you want to abolish prisons? And you very brilliantly, immediately just stayed right on point. You said, I want to abolish for profit prisons. And talking about these things and bringing them to the discourse, I think is so important because we have a system in our country where everything is a grift. Everything is a shakedown, even incarceration, which then pauses communities to be over police because there's an incentive to lock people up. It sent a chill down my spine when I heard some of these people that are benefiting from ISIS, immoral and corrupt detainment of immigrants or people they perceive as immigrants.
15:59A lot of them, you know, might even be citizens, but they're doing absolutely no investigation or due process into that. That they see this as an opportunity to profit off of human suffering. And my husband's a criminal defense attorney. And a lot of people in our prison systems are nonviolent offenders. You have, you know, people that have had some weed on them or had a drug problem. A lot of them have major addiction problems. And when you said that, it really spoke to me because the for profit prison system just fundamentally, if people would step back from it, is so fundamentally immoral. that people are making money and exploiting crimes that were committed.
16:43Let's say they are violent crimes. And I believe violent criminals, you know, prison is the best place for violent, you know, sex offenders, et cetera. Exactly. But we have people making money off of some, off of crimes. It's really insane. And I'm so glad you bring this stuff up because everything in the United States is a shakedown for the very, very few, the healthcare system, et cetera. So will you speak to this? Because this is why I think candidates like you are winning uphill. I think that people are sick to death of this shit. Yeah. And so, exactly. And it's such a grift, as you stated.
17:28It's such a shakedown. And I'm going to use that term. So you're going to hear me use that in interviews now. I like the shakedown term. Do it. But, I mean, it's because, again, they want to make these big profits instead of paying people who are not incarcerated actual living wages. Jennifer, they say, you know what, I'm going to go and get this this free or low cost labor. and that's why, like, that is why they pad the campaign coffers of these people and they demand that some of these politicians enact policies that allow for the proliferation of for-profit prisons. I mean, they go into occupancy quotas, Jennifer.
18:14It's terrible. Occupancy quotas. How can a company say, hey, government, state government, I will run your prison if you guarantee me that these beds remain 98, 99 % full. So what are they going to do? They are going to enhance penalties. They are going to over-police in certain areas and profile people so that they can arrest them. And here in the state of Florida, we have seen the enhancement of so many penalties, And I mean little penalties. They made it so that it is now a felony in the state of Florida. If you steal over$40 worth of a product or something from someone's porch, thinking about Amazon packages, a box of diapers costs like$50.
19:01And if you can imagine if a struggling parent takes a box of diapers that they see off of a porch, if they get caught, They are now going to be charged with a felony and could potentially be in jail for some years, making some companies that chose not to pay them a living wage in the first place where they wouldn't have had to steal diapers in the first place. Right now, they can actually like use their labor at a very reduced rate. And so it's just this cycle. And then when I'm thinking about how Ron DeSantis did this really gross political stunt when he was running for governor and, you know, created a modern day internment camp, basically, designed to allow for the kidnapping and the trafficking of our immigrant neighbors and friends and throwing them in cages.
19:59many of them were here the right way on paperwork and they still got detained. But these contracts to keep those detention centers running are some of the same vendors who run some of the for-profit prisons, right? They got no bid contracts because they were the campaign donors of Donald Trump, of Ron DeSantis, of Ashley Moody. And it is, it's a shakedown. We see the shakedown left and right. Like you talked about it. And I mean, I'm thinking about the shakedown when it came to the$14 million reflection pool, the shakedown when it comes to the billion dollar ballroom that they're building. Right.
20:44Like they are fleecing the taxpayers. That's our money. And they say, oh, we don't have enough money for for health care. We don't have enough money to make sure teachers have a living wage. We don't have enough money for this and that. But they do because we can't ever dance in that ballroom, right? Like they do. No, it is all a shakedown. But you bring up something I think is really important. You talk about poverty and poverty causing crime. And you talk about the example of the diapers. And I can see Fox News clipping that up. And, you know, Angie Nixon was on Crazy White Liberal Lady podcast.
21:24They're talking about stealing diapers. Say hi to the Fox producers. They watch all the time. But this is a really important point. And this is why Republican propaganda and Fox News propaganda is so successful. So they make people poor. How do they make people poor? Let's take Walmart, for example. Oh, my gosh. Walmart is so rich that they are like six, five or six heirs. They're all in the top 25 of the Forbes 500. And if you put them all together as one, all their wealth together as one. I mean, they're just it's crazy. but they pay people such shitty wages that then these walmart workers have no choice but to go get on snap right or medicare medicaid so we subsidize these billionaires that have a you know a fleet of jets a fleet of yachts uh private museums all this all over the place so we subsidize these billionaires not only by not that tax lupos but also not paying their workers a livable wage.
22:25And so when people live in these conditions, desperate people do desperate things. But here's here's what Republicans do. They say only poor people, you know, look at these poor people. And if you can throw in, you know, black or immigrant to that, then that really feeds this fire. But they keep the large portion of the electorate in this state of desperation all the time and then have the audacity to say they're moochers wanting free stuff when the people who want free stuff are the freaking billionaires. They feel so entitled that they shouldn't have to pay taxes and they get all of this corporate, I mean, government welfare with all their subsidies.
23:06And I think you just bring up such a good point about the way poor people are treated in this country and we have to have solutions for everybody to live a life with dignity so i want to move on to let's bash your opponent ashley moody you're not going to get out of here with that without us muddying her up a bit so like most people in the maga world your opponent is completely corrupt tell my listeners about her corruption uh and bring us up to speed on all of this she's a thief mic drop like she's a thief she allowed for the theft of 10 million dollars from low-income kids from medically needed kids that were supposed to go towards their medicaid and instead ronda santis called her up james umire called her up they colluded all three of all three of them colluded to divert and steal 10 million dollars designed towards going towards Medicaid for these kids and instead use it for political reasons, right?
24:16To put into two political action committees. And her reward was a United States sentencing. She was appointed to become a United States Senator. And James Ullmeyer, who was the chief of staff for Ron DeSantis at the time, his reward was to become the attorney general, which is what Ashley Moody was. And so she's a thief and she is really grasping at straws and just really trying to call and label me everything, but does not want to acknowledge the fact that she stole this$10 million. She allowed this$10 million to be stolen. And so she's very disrespectful. But, you know, I know she's scared. You know, when people you know how people are scared and and lying, their voice gets high pitched and screechy.
25:04That's how she talks in those interviews. And so it's a sight to see, but we're going to we're going to whoop her. I look forward to her calling me senator in November. And Jennifer, I really want to go back to what you said about like the welfare portion. And we can come back to Ashley Moody. But, you know, also Walmart, they get subsidies for employing people on governmental assistance. And so there's a lot of companies that get tax breaks because of that. And so it's like this vicious cycle, this grift. And so we need to end those types of subsidies for them to make sure that they are, in fact, paying people living wages.
25:44I'm sorry. That's all I wanted to say. No, I'm so glad that you circled back on that because it's such an important point that there's a shakedown within the shakedown. Yeah, it's just it's trickle down shakedown, Angie. I mean, it's just it's crazy. But the fact this is so Ashley Moody's corruption and her stealing is perfect for MAGA. It's perfect. They're going to wear a Christian cross and Christian signal and then accuse you of virtue signaling. And then they're going to weaponize their faith against the people in their electorate. Do the exact opposite of what that cross is supposed to mean.
26:20Exactly. Around their neck and steal money from kids. Kids. Babies. That is perfect. That is exactly who MAGA is. They show us all the time. I always say that they are an anti-family death cult because their policies, the deregulating, we got killer blueberries out there now. We got people dropping dead of measles. They refuse to acknowledge the warming of the planet. All of these things lead to deaths. All of their policies lead to deaths. And I am just so, you are such a shining star right now in this midterm. And I want every single listener of mine, they are going to come after her. They're already calling her all the names that's already out there.
27:03And they're going to get worse and it's going to get louder. Angie Nixon needs our support in Florida. I want everybody to go to her website and give her a small dollar donation. If you can afford more, give her more. But I'm sure there's areas where they can give time. Tell my listeners how they can find you, how they can support you, and how we can amplify your campaign. Yeah, for sure. So folks can follow me on social media at Angie for Florida, Angie for FL. They can go to my website, AngieNixon.com, A-N-G-I-E-N-I-X-O-N.com. And I'm just asking people to just have my bag, just stick up for me.
27:39You know, right now there are people, they're coming after me because of my past driving record. And they're also coming after me in regards to drag shows. You know, I took my daughter to Hamburger Mary's when she was 10 years old in Jacksonville, Florida. And Hamburger Mary's is just like a performance. They have great fries here in the state of Florida. Some of them may have closed up great fries and things like that. And, you know, I understand how MAGA and Republicans try to divide us and keep our attention off of what really, truly concerns folks a lot and what would impact our quality of life.
28:20like making sure we have access to universal health care, making sure people have access to quality public schools. And so it's very upsetting. And I just need people to have my back. You know, I am not. Let me jump in. Let me ask you a question real quick about this drag show business. I've read extensively about the Epstein files. I'm sure you have too. How many drag queens? How many drag queens were in there? I don't think there were any. I don't think there were any. I don't think they're rainy. And you know what? My boys are grown now, but I've always had a lot of friends in the LGBTQ plus community.
28:56And I would rather take my kids to a drag show than a MAGA rally around all of those Epstein apologists any day and twice on Sunday. To me, that makes you even more worthy of a vote, teaching your child acceptance, tolerance, culture, art, diversity. This is all they have. That's all they have. Angie took her kid to a drag show. you take your kid to go vote for Donald Trump, who's in the center of the Epstein files, and for this Ashley Moody, who steals money from kids. I mean, give me a break. We have got to keep exposing these people. Yeah, for sure. For sure. And again, it was Hamburger Mary's.
29:33I invite folks to go eat. They have great hamburgers. They had great hamburgers and great French fries. And again, was the drag show good? It was good. And they were, it reminded me of Hairspray and Mrs. Doubtfire and even some of the Tyler Perry movies and things like that. And so it was totally taken out of context what they're doing. But, you know, again, the right wing machine is going to do everything they can to attack us and take our eyes off the fact that we deserve health care. We deserve access to quality public schools. And so they know that I have a winning message and I've been fighting for hardworking Floridians across the state of Florida.
30:12And they are afraid of me going to Washington, D.C. to hold them accountable to all the chaos and corruption that they have been doing. And so I am ready. I really believe that hardworking everyday people should get to shape what our communities look like and what our economies look like. And that's what I'm going to continue to fight for, not these culture wars. And Angie Nixon, I would just like to say this, too. Drag queens have kitchen table issues, too, and they deserve representation, too. and I'm happy to be in a party that is not triggered by books by drag queens by flags with rainbows on them this is more of a tell as to who they are than who we are because we fight for everybody and leave no one behind and you do that more than anything and you guys they are coming after her the racism is off the chart it is it is a stain on this country and the best thing that we can do is support this fabulous candidate that we have.
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31:08And you're so brave to run. And I just admire you completely in your entire story. So Angie, thank you so much for coming on. I want all of my listeners to go support you and I wish you the best of luck. Thank you so much, Jennifer.
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We are joined by the fabulous Rep. Angie Nixon to fire back at the disgusting racist attacks she has faced since winning her seat.
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