Congressman Jason Crow Reacts to Trump Forcing Government Shutdown

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2:55Ben Meiselas:need China trade deal now. Farmers need markets to boost farm economy. As our editor-in-chief, Ron Fulopkowski writes, why can't farmers sell their products, Chuck? Why is that happening? What is your opinion on the bailout by the Trump regime of Argentina? Did you do anything other than beg for this corporate welfare for the farmers? What are you doing, Chuck Grassley? And then meanwhile, you have MAGA Republicans knowing and seeing this economic calamity that they and Donald Trump created, pushing us closer to a shutdown. October 1st would be the day of the shutdown. MAGA Mike Johnson has canceled work on the two critical days before the shutdown.

3:34Ben Meiselas:After Donald Trump has also ordered the Republicans, don't even talk to Democrats, don't have a conversation with them, don't speak to them, yet alone negotiate with them when you actually need Democratic votes to get a budget passed. And while all of that's going on, you've got the MAGA Republicans throwing the red meat at their base. But it's more than that. I mean, they're just outright saying that we're going to prosecute Donald Trump's political enemies, even where a Republican United States attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia said there's no evidence at all to support prosecutions.

4:08Ben Meiselas:But Trump brought in his lackey, his stooge, his personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan, who's got like no experience doing this at all. She's the one who said, you know, there's too much discussion of slavery at the African-American Museum in Washington, D.C. She's now the United States attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. And all on Fox all day was we're going to prosecute James Comey, Donald Trump's former FBI director. This is Greg Stube, MAGA Republican Congress member. Play this clip. Can you tell us about this as a member of the weaponization of the federal government select subcommittee?

4:44well it's about time um americans have waited for this for a long time we we saw the russia collusion hoax the the complete compromise of the deep state that was all under uh comey's leadership i believe because of all those things that we now know they use the intelligence apparatus of our federal government to perpetrate a fraud upon the american people that the trump campaign was colluding and conspiring with russia in my opinion should be charged with treason but Obviously, the DOJ doesn't want to go that far. They found something that they can charge him with. He obviously lied to Congress because he knew either he's lying or McCabe is lying.

5:21And obviously, they have evidence from either communications or something that it's a basis of this grand jury indictment. It is a long time coming where the American people want to see justice of all the brokenness of our federal government over the last decade.

5:35Ben Meiselas:We saw Donald Trump a few weeks back in Alaska having the United States military get on their knees and literally roll out a red carpet for Vladimir Putin as Donald Trump was clapping for him. And then Donald Trump was in the Oval Office showing people photos of himself next to Putin like they were in like a like a relationship, like the honeymoon phase of a relationship. It was really weird. And now Donald Trump saying that he wants to be tough on Putin, although it seems that that basically waffles depending on what the day it is. I think what American people want to see lower prices, they want to be able to afford homes.

6:17Ben Meiselas:They don't want to see American taxpayer dollars bailing out Argentina while the American government is being destroyed by Donald Trump with 90 ,000 square foot ballrooms, destroying the Rose Garden, turning it into Club Rose Garden. UFC matches that Donald Trump's talking about in front of the White House. We just want to we want our health care. Let's bring in Democratic Congress member from Colorado, sixth Jason Crow, Congress member. Good to see you right there. You know, you see American people struggling. You see Trump weaponizing, going after free speech. It seems like it's just one big, giant distraction operation as they inflict suffering and just enrich Donald Trump and make him more billions of dollars, I guess.

7:00Yeah, that's exactly what it has been. I mean, listen, Americans' lives are getting worse in every possible way, right? Inflation continues to go up. Homes continue to get less affordable. The unemployment rate is going up. We are being squeezed everywhere. The tariffs are crushing small businesses, destroying our supply chains. And meanwhile, Trump's issuing meme coins. He is basically renting out the Rose Garden Club, as he now calls it. It used to be the people's garden. That's now a destination for the wealthy and well-connected. Donald Trump's personal wealth is estimated to have gone up almost $2 billion just since he became president in January.

7:42This is corruption at its worst. It is rank corruption. And then on top of it, we see the outright weaponizing of the federal government to silence dissent, to crush free speech and our fundamental freedoms. And by the way, nobody is safe. This is a point I've been making. If you're a Republican, if you're a conservative, you're not safe either. Right. He has crushed dissent when it's come from right wing commentators, Republican members of Congress as well. If you dare speak up against Trump, you are going to incur his wrath, which is why it's important that we stop it now. Right.

8:20Ben Meiselas:I mean, even if you look at an issue that was one of the top issues Republicans were pushing. We're releasing the Epstein files. We're releasing the Epstein files. They use that and weaponized it against all of their enemies to spread conspiracies about their political enemies. But the political ones like, okay, let's release it, release the files. And then immediately Trump says to his people after telling them that this is an agenda, we want this released. It is a hostile act that this is the exact language, a hostile Act against the Trump administration, if you so much as even support a vote to release the files.

9:00Ben Meiselas:So if they're going there on that issue, there's not a single issue that will ever have any form of intellectual consistency at all. Then you factor in Trump's dictate, do not speak to Democrats, yet alone negotiate. I think this is an important point that the American people need to hear. your Republican colleagues, other than maybe if you see them in the gym or whatever, and they share with you what's really going on behind the scenes, you know, but they don't have the courage to do it publicly. They don't talk about anything because they've been ordered like little children, like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

9:36Ben Meiselas:That's how they act. That's weird. Yeah. There's no consistency to any of it because there's actually no ideology, right? Donald Trump doesn't believe in fiscal conservatism. He doesn't believe in conservative philosophy, doesn't agree, and, you know, liberal, he actually doesn't believe in anything other than his own personal grievances, who he likes or dislikes in any personal, any one day, and his power. That's what he believes in. That is the through line to all of this, right? So that's why I make the point that if you're a fiscal conservative, regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, nobody is safe from his wrath and ire.

10:16And we will continue to see the politics of personal grievance because when a system of rule of law and justice is replaced with power, raw power, personal grievance and corruption, then only Donald Trump and those closest to him are safe and will benefit from it. Nobody else.

10:37Ben Meiselas:Then you talk about some of your colleagues who masqueraded as First Amendment absolutist or free speech absolutist, they changed, they sure changed pretty quickly there. And they're supporting as long as it's speech that supports the regime, they're OK with. But if you're a late night comedian, if you're a talk show host, whoever, if you start criticizing the regime or just even mentioning it in a way that they don't like, I mean, look, I go back to that Jimmy Kimmel monologue. Like I've watched it multiple times and I'm like, wait a minute, like that, that that's what made everybody want to like, you know, on the right side, want to go.

11:16Ben Meiselas:What am I what am I missing here? But you see that pervading everything right now. And and then they you know what pisses me off, though, is then they try to act like Trump didn't do it. Like your colleagues will be like, actually, it's a private business. They're free to do what they want. And Trump will be like, no, no, no, no. I did this. I did this. But then you're calling. No, no, no, you didn't do that. I did. OK, but we then they move on to the next issue. That's like the cycle with everything here. Yeah, it is. I mean, I went to war three times to this country to defend the right of people to say things that I disagree with.

11:53Right. Because there is nothing more important than the ability to speak up against power, to have freedom of speech into dissent. Well, what is more American than dissent? That is literally what our country was based on and how we came to be a nation, dissenting against power and authority. And when we lose that, everybody loses it. And this is the point I've been making for Republicans and independents and unaffiliates and everybody else. This is an attack on all of us, including you. Right. Because if you think you're safe, you are not paying attention to history. And it shows that very, very clearly.

12:29So the other thing we're seeing is the cowardice and the cowing of those who are at the top, who seemingly have the most power and are the most elites. Large law firms, some of our most elite universities, CEOs of media conglomerates, business CEOs going to the Oval Office and bending the knee. Those folks are collapsing and bowing to greed and cowardice in so many ways. Meanwhile, we see profiles of courage of regular everyday Americans who are showing up and protesting, pushing back, putting themselves in between their community and children and federal agents who are refusing to be cow. People like Yeoman Wilder in New Jersey, a Little League baseball coach.

13:15I used to be a Little League baseball coach, so he's a man after my own heart. putting himself physically in between agents that showed up and were harassing his little league players and said, you can't be here. And said he would be willing to give his life to protect those kids. Like there are profiles of courage everywhere. So that's what we need to be looking.

13:33Ben Meiselas:As you mentioned, you served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. You were an army ranger, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 75th Ranger Regiment. And you were awarded the Bronze star medal. So with that as background with Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, who now unlawfully wants to call himself the Secretary of War, but that's a whole other conversation. He's apparently summoned all of the military generals, top commanders, admirals to gather on short notice without a stated reason at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week. People are confused. Generals, admirals are confused. They're going to have to leave where they were working.

14:23Ben Meiselas:One of the things, too, that was odd about this story that I'll note as well, and it was broken by Washington Post. It says, in a statement Thursday, Pentagon spokesperson affirmed that Hegseth will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week, but offer no additional details. And here's the chilling part, Congressman McCracken, which I don't think is getting enough attention. They also go, the Pentagon voiced no objections to the Washington Post reporting about the meeting. And we know the dictate that there is a requirement now that reporters determine if there's an objection from the Pentagon about whether you can report on them.

15:06Ben Meiselas:So to me, that disclaimer is chilling. But we'll put that aside for now, though. Just based on your military experience, though, this meeting, what do you make of it? Well, it is chilling and I'm hearing about it. I'm a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee. So I'm hearing about this for the first time this morning as well. And I'm troubled for a couple of big reasons. Number one, Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller and Donald Trump have outright said they're going to try to purge the ranks of the military of people that don't agree with them, that have different thoughts, different politics.

15:41And that is just so un-American and antithetical to our system and dangerous for our system of nonpartisan national security and military personnel. That's number one. Number two, they fired a lot of the senior JAG officers. Let's not forget at the beginning of this year, they started to purge the ranks of these judge advocate generals, these military lawyers whose job it is to apply the law and to advise senior commanders about what's constitutional and what's not. They have purged those folks. In addition to that, they have fired without cause some of our senior, most experienced generals and admirals from our ranks, just because in some cases, because they're people of color, they're black, they're Hispanic, they're women.

16:24They have fired those folks. So that is the context by which this meeting is being called. And then on top of it, as you point out, Ben, this is actually just dangerous for our national security. This is unprecedented. And the reason why we don't have all of our top commanders and generals coming at once is because they are doing important jobs. They are running missions. They're doing operations. They're meeting with foreign militaries. They are around the world protecting our country and protecting Americans. And to pull them all at once to one location poses an extreme risk that a ball is going to be dropped and people are not going to be at the wheel in some place important and poses some extremely, extremely tough questions for me.

17:08Ben Meiselas:You know, before we go, we're seeing a new Quinnipiac poll that came out today that shows that Donald Trump's overall approval now is only 38 percent. His approval on the economy, 39 percent on trade, 39 percent on National Guard into cities, 42 percent on immigration, which is supposed to be his best issue. put that in quotes, 41 % right there. He's a deeply unpopular, failing, plummeting presidency. If this was anybody else, it would be reported that way. But it seems that both in terms of how the Republicans are treating him, they'll say he's never been more popular. And the way corporations and everyone treat this guy, you would think that his approval was 75, 80%.

17:58Ben Meiselas:Americans hate this. We despise what this guy is doing right now and how he's destroying the very fabric of America. Yet these leaders are the ones capitulating, not the people, right? The people are standing up. The corporate leaders, they're failing in such a big way. So what do you make of this moment before we go? Well, one of the things that is keeping me awake at night right now, many things, but one of the things on your point right now is that they're acting in ways that they're not concerned about the election, right? They are doing things that are deeply unpopular. Their approval rating continues to go down.

18:37That is, you know, Republican members of Congress, this administration, and they don't seem to be worried about it, which raises the obvious question, you know, what are they going to do, right? I mean, we already know they're trying to rig the election by redistricting, you know, mid-course, that they are trying to stack the deck in their favor by gerrymandering as many states as possible. We already know that they have defanged the FEC, that the FEC isn't enforcing laws, that they're not actually doing the job to make sure people are abiding by campaign regulations and rules. We know that. What else are they doing or planning to do that allows them not to be worried about their vast unpopularity and the fact that the American people are rejecting what they are doing?

19:25That worries me. And we have to be very diligent and we have to mobilize, frankly. And that's why I am recruiting candidates around the country for a massive surge to push back and to retake districts around this country and to win decisively, because that's what we need to do in this environment.

19:40Ben Meiselas:Talk to us finally about that. You know, I want to leave people with what are we doing versus just what is happening. And talk to us about your efforts, what you're doing to recruit candidates and what that looks like and what the American people can do right now. Yeah. For me, Ben, this is all about the midterms. If we don't win in the midterms and reestablish a check in Congress and retake power, we're in deep trouble as a nation and our democracy is in deep trouble. And we have a very narrow battlefield. We have about 35 seats that we need to flip. These are red seats where people voted for Donald Trump or somebody who supports Donald Trump.

20:19And we need the best possible candidates that can run local campaigns, that can deliver a strong message, that can lead with confidence and win in tough places. So I am relentlessly focused on finding and supporting those candidates so we can win and we can reestablish a bulwark against this runaway presidency.

20:39Ben Meiselas:Congress member Jason Crow, Colorado 6th Congressional District. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Ben. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, add free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.

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