In short
The MeidasTouch Podcast - Episode Summary: Jennifer Jenkins Challenges MAGA Rep. Randy Fine in Florida
Overview The episode features an in-depth discussion between Ben Meiselas and Jennifer Jenkins, a Democratic candidate for Florida's Sixth Congressional District. The focus is on the controversial remarks made by Congressman Randy Fine, a MAGA Republican, and Jenkins' campaign to unseat him. The conversation highlights Fine's extremist views and Jenkins' commitment to countering these ideologies.
Key Themes and Discussions
Congressman Randy Fine's Controversial Statements
- Racist Comments: Fine made a statement comparing "dogs and Muslims," which prompted widespread condemnation from political leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Congressman Ro Khanna.
- Social Media Activity: Fine's history of social media posts showcases a pattern of racist and hostile rhetoric, including derogatory comments about immigrants and cultural figures.
- Political Extremism: The brothers discuss Fine's alignment with extremist positions and how his behavior has escalated over time.
Jennifer Jenkins' Background and Campaign
- Personal Experience: Jenkins shares her history of opposition to Fine’s tactics, including harassment and intimidation tactics against her personal and professional life.
- Political History: Jenkins previously served on the Brevard County School Board and founded "Educated We Stand," an organization aimed at protecting education from political extremism.
- Motivation to Run: Jenkins expresses her desire to restore decency in politics and hold Fine accountable for his actions. She emphasizes the need for respectful representation in Congress.
The Context of Florida's Political Climate
- Shift in Voter Sentiment: There is a noted trend of voters in Florida distancing themselves from Trump and MAGA politics, particularly in response to Fine's actions.
- Public Reaction: Jenkins discusses how constituents are reacting to Fine's statements, highlighting a collective desire for a representative who embodies dignity and decency rather than division and hostility.
Campaign Strategy and Community Engagement
- Building Support: Jenkins calls for community support, emphasizing the importance of grassroots activism in her campaign.
- Contrast with Fine: She provides a stark contrast between her values and Fine's, underscoring her commitment to the community's well-being and basic decency in representation.
Key Takeaways
- Condemnation of Extremism: The episode stresses the importance of calling out extremist behaviors in politics and the need for accountability.
- Jenkins as a Representative: As a candidate, Jenkins positions herself as a champion for ordinary people, advocating for policies that support everyday concerns like healthcare and education.
- Community Involvement: The brothers encourage their audience to engage with Jenkins' campaign and highlight the significance of civic participation in shaping political landscapes.
Conclusion The episode provides a compelling look at the dynamics of Florida's political scene through the lens of an upcoming congressional race. It highlights the challenges of confronting hate-driven politics and the potential for change through dedicated candidates like Jennifer Jenkins.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VORandy Fine's Controversial Statements
1:30 to 2:33
Understanding the backlash against MAGA Congressman Randy Fine's statements.
“His name is MAGA Republican Congress member Randy Fine.”
Jennifer Jenkins: A Challenging Candidate
2:33 to 6:10
Introduction to Jennifer Jenkins and her campaign against Randy Fine.
“An armed seditionist attacked federal law enforcement today as they were rounding up foreign invaders in Minneapolis.”
Randy Fine's History of Harassment
6:10 to 9:59
Jennifer Jenkins shares her experiences of harassment from Randy Fine.
“I have a very long history, unfortunately, with this man.”
Campaigning Against Extremism
9:59 to 13:20
Jennifer Jenkins discusses her campaign strategy against extremism in politics.
“what i did and that's what started i mean he's always been this way to other people but his attack on you was rooted in that.”
Confronting Randy Fine's Actions
14:01 to 16:04
Learn about Jennifer Jenkins' perspective on Randy Fine's congressional behavior and her campaign.
“He has absolutely no idea what it feels like to live this every single day.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Ben Meiselas:With Venmo Stash, a taco on one hand and ordering a ride in the other means you're stacking cash back. With Venmo Stash, get up to 5 % cash back when you pick a bundle of your favorite brands. Earn more cash when you do more with Stash. Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply. Max$100 cash back per month. See terms at Venmo.me slash stashterms.
0:15Jennifer Jenkins:Some things are just better in person. High fives, hugging your dog, and shopping for Crocs. If you've never been to a Crocs store, you're missing out. Sure, you can find us online, but when you step inside our shop, you'll get it. and your feet will feel fantastic with a fresh pair of classic cloths or cozy slippers or beach ready sandals or even sneakers. Everything's ridiculously comfy and you can even pick out jibbit's charms to personalize your new pair. Go check out your nearest croc store. You deserve that in-person moment.
0:44Ben Meiselas:We've been following what's going on in Florida as there's a massive trend there of people turning away from Donald Trump and MAGA feeling ultimate betrayal and seeing these MAGA extremist politicians not representing their interests, downright attacking them, acting weird, racist, heinous, bizarre. This is completely embodied in Florida's sixth congressional district where you have a MAGA Republican congress member there who won the special election after Mike Walls went into the Trump regime. A MAGA Republican congressman right now has only been there for a short period of time, but people in Florida do know him, but they definitely don't like what they're seeing right now as they get to know him even more.
1:30Ben Meiselas:His name is MAGA Republican Congress member Randy Fine. In the past 24 hours in Florida, it should be noted as Florida right now is about a negative net seven, negative net eight Trump. I don't think this MAGA Republican guy, Randy Fine, is helping much. He posted, if they force us to choose, The choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one. He says the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one. This is, by the way, who Randy Finits. I mean, this is a despicable, heinous human being who wakes up in the morning, goes on social media and starts posting heinous, racist posts after heinous, racist posts.
2:15Ben Meiselas:Governor Newsom called on him to resign after he made this comment about Muslims atrocious words. Randy resigned now. Congress member Ro Khanna posted. We must call this what it is. Disgusting bigotry. And basically everybody condemned it. But he doubled down and he said, this is just what I say. This is who I am. And it is who he is, because if you look at other posts that he made, you know, following the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preti, Randy Fine posted things like this. An armed seditionist attacked federal law enforcement today as they were rounding up foreign invaders in Minneapolis.
2:50Ben Meiselas:The insurrectionist was put down. Well done. I stand with ICE as they fight these foreign invaders and their treasonous allies. We will not stop until every illegal is deported. or posts like this. Today would be a great day to round up and deport illegals, especially those who liked Bad Bunny's filth. All of them, no exceptions. He went on to then repost made up lyrics that actually were not the lyrics that Bad Bunny sang, but were posted by kind of just right wing propagandists. So he posts fake lyrics and then he goes, you can't say the F word on live TV. Bad Bunny's disgusting halftime show was illegal.
3:38Ben Meiselas:He said these lyrics and all of the other disgusting and pornographic filth in English on live TV. The broadcast would have been pulled down and the fines would have been enormous if it was in English. Puerto Ricans are Americans and we all live by the same rules. We are sending Brendan Carr FCC a letter calling for dramatic action, including fines and broadcast license reviews against the NFL, NBC and Bad Bunny. Lock them up. Nothing says doing your due diligence like posting fake lyrics and then running to your daddy, Donald Trump's FCC, and saying, please, can you stop Bad Bunny? Can you please stop Bad Bunny?
4:19Ben Meiselas:I mean, I can show you this guy does hundreds of posts like this. When he makes TV appearances, I'll just give you the kind of gangsterism masquerading as I don't even know what the hell that spews from his mouth. Here's what this is, a typical interview with Randy Fine. Here play this clip. These ICE agents, the left believes they can do anything they want. And we're just supposed to sit down and take it. It's time for Americans to say enough. And if you get in the way of the government repelling a foreign invasion, you're going to end up just like that lady did yesterday. All right, Florida Congressman Randy Fine.
4:55Ben Meiselas:Great to see you this morning. I wish it was under better circumstances. Me too. She's also been harassing Renee Nicole Good's family since she was murdered. I want to bring in somebody right now who's running against Randy Fine. Her name is Jennifer Jenkins. She served on the Brevard County School Board, beating a Moms of Liberty candidate in a district Donald Trump won by double digits. But Jennifer didn't stop there. She went on to found Educated We Stand, which is a national organization dedicated to protecting families across the country from political extremism and public education. In other words, she took her fight against an extremist candidate and the extremist group Moms for Liberty, her win, and built the template that we now see in Florida and across the country of normalcy reclaiming school boards from extremism and people like Randy Fine, who are manifested in this Moms for Liberty group.
5:55Ben Meiselas:So, you know how to fight extremism, Jennifer, and you were running for Congress in Florida's sixth congressional district. You announced about a week ago, moving over to this congressional race. So talk to us about Randy.
6:11Jennifer Jenkins:How much time do we have? Randy Fine is a piece of shit. I have a very long history, unfortunately, with this man. And that's exactly why I'm running, because these quotes that you've read and these interviews that you showed, these aren't isolated incidents. It's a pattern of his behavior. And patterns don't correct themselves. They just continue to escalate. Randy Fine sent protesters to my home. He emboldened people to make false TCF claims against me, to have private investigators follow me around and make a website saying I was having an affair. And now that he's on this national level, he has had been given permission through silence to spew hate and radicalism.
6:55Jennifer Jenkins:And I refuse to give permission for hate to be normalized from a seat in Congress.
7:02Ben Meiselas:Yeah, I'm going to have to rewind there for a moment because people need to know this history that exists in Florida between what Randy Fine was doing to you as you were fighting this battle against Moms for Liberty. So as I alluded to in my intro, Randy Fine was in the state house there in Florida for a short period of time. He served in the state Senate and the types of things we're seeing at the national level. His behavior in Florida was abhorred. This is who he is. Talk to us, though, about those incidents where he was harassing you, making up that you were having affairs, sending private investigators.
7:39Ben Meiselas:How did that all develop?
7:41Jennifer Jenkins:So when I ran for this seat in 2020, Donald Trump won my district by 17 points, and I ended up unseating the Republican incumbent by almost 10. And that person went on to become the original founder of Moms for Liberty. And Randy Fine and his wife both told me that they supported my campaign because I was pro-masking and COVID mitigation. And when I made that public, when he suddenly became so anti-COVID and mitigation strategies, he took it out on me very, very personally. You know, every single day there were thousands of posts about sending me to prison, calling me a whore, calling me a Jezebel.
8:21Jennifer Jenkins:He literally sent protesters to protest inside of or in front of my small beachside home. They made claims that I was abusing my daughter, where I had to take an investigator to her play date to look underneath her clothes to see if I was burning her body. He encouraged hundreds of protesters to come to the school board meetings continuously. I had received numerous death threats that quoted his social media platforms as a reason as to why they were contacting me. And then most famously, that made national news. He was offended he wasn't invited to a special Olympics fundraiser, called me a whore to multiple elected officials and threatened to take away funding from the Special Olympics and a water mitigation project from one of our local communities.
9:03Jennifer Jenkins:He's radically out of control. He always has been. Unfortunately, he's just never been held accountable. The state of Florida has found probable cause for multiple ethics violations against him, and he's never, ever been held accountable. He was ordered to anger management from a local judge here in Brevard County. He refused to show up again, has never been held accountable. And so I felt like it was my duty to ensure not only for congressional district six to have proper representation, but for the state of Florida to no longer be embarrassed by this man and for people across the nation to have somebody who's bold and strong enough to stand up against him and finally hold him accountable at the ballot box.
9:44Ben Meiselas:And this, that aspect his harassment of you in the ways you described began again because you supported people wearing masks during covid and social distancing and things like that he said to you i support you for doing that thank you you said that you said well he was someone who supported what i did and that's what started i mean he's always been this way to other people but his attack on you was rooted in that. That's where his personalized, everything that he's doing to you starts with you describing what he had said to you.
10:19Jennifer Jenkins:Yeah. Yeah. And that is who he is. He is a walking hypocrisy at all times. He changes his views and beliefs based on how he's going to personally benefit and climb the political ladder. And I'm an educator married to a teacher in Florida. To me, that was just astonishing to watch happening before my eyes. And so I called him out for it. And I'm going to continue to call him out for all of his hypocrisies. Yeah.
10:43Ben Meiselas:I think the background that you gave is so helpful because we understand more about the pathology. I mean, we also saw him, there was that video of him kind of walking around doing the proxy voting when he was in Florida and he just let everything the guy does, he looks like he's breaking the, like he looks very suspicious and everything he's doing, in my opinion, you know, that's just, that's the way he looks. So, so going though, to, you know, to this race now for Florida's sixth congressional district i mean just think about the statements he made recently how are people in the district reacting to him you know saying that that bad bunny you know needs whatever the stuff he said about bad bunny using fake lyrics to attack bad bunny and uh going after alex pretti and renee nicole good i mean you know all calling muslims saying that if it's we have to choose between dogs and Muslims.
11:36Ben Meiselas:I mean, these are just objectively heinous things. Yeah.
11:40Jennifer Jenkins:Yeah. Listen, the people of congressional district six, and quite frankly, the state of Florida are sick and tired of fabricated outrage. They're sick and tired of people who have no respect for other people. I mean, they want a representative who's going to show up in their district, who's going to do the work and who is continuously treating people with dignity. I mean, when you look at Randy Fine, you know, this is a battle not between left and right. I've had conversations with many people on the right in this district already who are ecstatic that I'm jumping into this race because it's about decency versus extremism.
12:14Jennifer Jenkins:And I'm running because I feel like Congress has forgotten who they work for. And most especially Randy Fine has forgotten who he works for and who it's supposed to protect. I truly believe that public service should make people feel safer in their communities, not smaller. And they should be using their platforms to deliver to the people, not to continuously demean them. And the people of Congressional District 6 are absolutely sick and tired of this nonsense.
12:42Ben Meiselas:You know, and the people of the six, his nonsense also manifests and I think attacks on people of the six, whether it's ripping away their health care, higher energy prices, you know, higher prices in general. And then the gaslighting, you know, where he goes, you know, you should just be grateful and happy that I'm there for you. Just shut up. And he's an abusive person to the he's an abusive person to the people in his life, in my opinion. and he's abusive to the district. Yeah.
13:14Jennifer Jenkins:Yeah. Yeah. You know, Congressional District 6 deserves a representative who truly understands what's happening right now in Florida. I, again, I'm an educator. I'm married to a middle school teacher in the lowest paid state in the country. I don't know the last time I put a dollar in my savings account. I've had two jobs since I graduated from college. I even did Instacart to deliver groceries to my neighbors to make ends meet. I know what it feels like to stretch my paycheck. I know what it feels like to see the rising costs of groceries and utilities and homeowners insurance eating away at my monthly budget.
13:49Jennifer Jenkins:And Congressional District 6 deserves a leader who works for the people in that district, not for the donors that are funding their campaigns. And Randy Fine lives in a multimillion dollar home on the ocean. He has absolutely no idea what it feels like to live this every single day. And so when he looks at people in the eye and tells them everything is okay, we all know that it's just absolutely not true.
14:11Ben Meiselas:You know, as my brother found out, I was doing this interview right now, and he goes wild to have the most horrific person as your opponent in a congressional race. And so I think that's how a lot of people feel about Randy Fine. So before we go, though, where can people learn more about your campaign? And what's your final message to our 6 million subscribers out there?
14:31Jennifer Jenkins:Yeah, oh, please. I mean, if you are disgusted by what you're seeing in Washington, every day. Randy Fine is legitimately the most hateful and vile member of Congress currently that we have. And so we need to cut the cancer out when we can. And I truly know that we can do this. I've done it before. We're going to do it again. So please visit us at Jenkins4FL.com. Contribute if you can. We need all hands on deck. And listen, Randy is shaking in his boots. He is currently calling Tallahassee every single day trying to stop them from redistricting the congressional map because he knows it's going to impact him negatively.
15:04Jennifer Jenkins:And he's really, really scared he's going to lose this race.
15:08Ben Meiselas:That's so fascinating. I was going to cut the interview there, but I want to learn. I want to know more about that. So he wants to, one of the people saying, don't do the Trump gerrymander that Trump wants to do in Florida is Randy Fine, because he worries that dilutes his district. So he's actually out there pushing against Trump's plan to gerrymander Florida.
15:29Jennifer Jenkins:Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, Randy doesn't even get along with people in his own party. DeSantis has said he repels people. He called him a squish. That was my favorite one. And so, you know, he knows that the legislature and the governor are going to be working against him because they don't support him. He's not a loyalist in their eyes. He's far right extreme, but he does it to benefit himself, not the party overall. And so, yeah, they're absolutely going to take seats. I'm sorry, numbers from his district in order to ensure seats for other members of Congress.
15:59Ben Meiselas:Jennifer Jenkins running for Florida's 6th Congressional District. Thanks so much for joining us.
16:04Jennifer Jenkins:Thank you for having me.
16:05Ben Meiselas: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, ad-free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.
16:26Jennifer Jenkins:Rinse knows that greatness takes time, but so does laundry. So Rinse will take your laundry and hand deliver it to your door expertly cleaned. And you can take the time pursuing your passions. Time once spent sorting and waiting, folding and queuing, now spent challenging and innovating and pushing your way to greatness. So pick up the Irish flute or those calligraphy pens or that daunting Beef Wellington recipe card and leave the laundry to us. Rinse. It's time to be great.
From the publisher
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump’s MAGA bff Congressman Randy Fine in Florida finally getting exposed with national attention making awful statement and Meiselas speaks with Democratic candidate Jennifer Jenkins who is challenging him for the Sixth Congressional District Seat in Florida.
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