Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi Discusses Fight Against Trump and GOP

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0:53Ben Meiselas:Republicans are having the tables turned on them at the hearings that are taking place on Capitol Hill. Democrats aggressively going on the offense, appealing to the truth, appealing to humanity, appealing to the true values of our constitution against Trump and his ICE Gestapo and his MAGA sycophants and stooges. Let me show you what went down when Democrats turned this hearing by MAGA Republicans, where MAGA Republicans were trying to spread their propaganda. Democrats turned the tables and basically turned this into a pro-democracy hearing. Let me show you what went down when Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett was her time to speak.

1:43Ben Meiselas:Watch what goes down here. Play this clip. It is. It is so hard to sit here sometimes. Because I didn't come to Congress to write laws or to do things that are hurting people. I'm just asking if there's any decency or heart or courage on that side of the aisle. The fact that a woman was killed, she was shot in her head and y 'all are pretending like nothing happened. I remember when Charlie Kirk got killed. Do you? Do you remember what our response was? Our response wasn't to sit there and pretend like it was okay. Is it okay because you have a badge? Because the last time I checked, allegedly no one is above the law.

2:38Can y 'all not just have a little bit of courage and humanity?

2:47A child.

2:56A child has lost her mom.

3:02And y 'all want to pretend that it is okay. I am asking if there is anyone that will stand for the very people that elected us and sent us to Congress. You tell us things like, well, the immigrants are bad. And so we got to get all these bills because the immigrants are the ones that are causing the harm. They're bringing the crime the mayor of Minneapolis told y 'all to get the fuck out yet y 'all are the ones it is it is this administration that is bringing crime to their streets that's what's happening it's the

3:44Ben Meiselas:third incident where somebody has dropped an f-bomb in this committee including the video I'm sorry including the video that we had to watch earlier are your princess ears okay is it Profanity? But you're a House of Representatives. The committee? Are you soft? The House of Representatives. The gentlelady will suspend the... Are we offending your princess ears? Are they that soft? All members will suspend. Well, maybe some of the kids out there. Mr. Chairman, it is the gentlelady. They're killing them. Kids! Then you have Democratic Congress member Jared Moskowitz. Here's what he says about Kristi Noem as he holds up a photo of her as she plays cosplay, puts on her outfits while spewing the venomous, vile regime propaganda.

4:30Ben Meiselas:Play this clip. This is the person. This is the person who, within minutes of the shooting, within minutes of the shooting, went on TV and called it domestic terrorism. What is she hiding her face like her ICE agents now? She can't show her face either. By the way, is this what the$800 billion went to? Every day we see her after there's some new tragedy in Homeland, she's wearing a different outfit with a different hat. I mean, come on, guys, she looks ridiculous. She's not just an embarrassment to the country. She's an embarrassment to you and the president. She deserves to be removed from her job by the president, and if not impeached, not just for her complete failures in Homeland, but her destruction of FEMA.

5:24Ben Meiselas:She's not even running the department. You guys know this. You guys know she's not running Homeland. Your governors and you all, when you need your FEMA money, you don't call Nome, you call Cori. You know she's not running the place. She's a complete and utter embarrassment. By the way, every Homeland Secretary has come in front of this committee. Once a Congress. I'd like to know the date she's coming. When is she coming? When is she coming? By the way, do you know Pam Bondi has not come in front of this committee? Do you know she's the only secretary to not appear in front of a committee yet?

6:07Ben Meiselas:When is she coming? What's the date on the calendar that she's coming? You know what? Let's make it easy. I want to make a motion to subpoena Pam Bondi. Second. Second. Third, fourth, fifth. How much are we going to... The gentleman is not recognized for that motion. However, the chair will advise as to the attorney general coming for as they do routinely. Mr. Chairman, thank you. But where is the attorney general, the only secretary to not appear, okay, in front of a committee? The only one. We're into year two of this Congress, and we've not had the attorney general in front of this committee.

6:45Ben Meiselas:How much are we going to weaken Article One of the Constitution while you guys remain in power? I watch you twist yourself into pretzels trying to defend this, running away from previous statements, disagreeing with yourself, trying to defend the crap that's happening. More from Congress Member Moskowitz right here. Let's play it. I want to follow up on my colleague from Colorado who was following up on my question. and you were in here for about 10 minutes, and I tried to subpoena Pam Bondi because she hasn't appeared in front of this committee. She's the only one in the cabinet who has not appeared in the House yet.

7:24Ben Meiselas:And so I was told that's out of order. Before the break, you said that she'd be coming in January at a previous hearing, and now she's coming in February, which is fine. So I printed out the calendar of February, and I just figured, like, while we're here, we could just get it on our calendar. February 11th. She's coming the 11th. That's my understanding. Perfect. Excellent. The 11th. Perfect. So, by the way, since you're on a roll, should I print out the other months so we can know when Nome is coming as well? Because the Homeland Security Secretary has always come at least once in front of Judiciary a term.

7:57Ben Meiselas:So she's not going to come in February. I'll print March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October. All you want. We'll work on getting the appropriate cabinet officials in front of the committee. We've had the Director of the FBI. We will have the Attorney General in, what is that, four weeks. We will do our oversight like we're supposed to do our oversight. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Appreciate it. I didn't expect to get that answer. I was going to go a lot longer. But you just, you just, you saw the calendar and you just spit out the 11th. When Mr. Neguse asked earlier, I knew it was early February.

8:27Ben Meiselas:I just didn't know which day we've been negotiating with, when, when we can make it work. Their schedule, our schedule, when we're in hearings, when you're not shutting down the government. Now I know the key. Now we know it's the 11th. Now I know the key how to get stuff out of you. I just got to whip out a calendar and all of a sudden. Whip out a calendar, put a yellow tie on. Will the general yield? Then we heard from Democratic Congresswoman Ansari. She gave a powerful speech from the House floor and she just said it very clearly. Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller rushed to smear a dead woman, a US citizen, and call her a domestic terrorist.

9:03Ben Meiselas:And Trump went on his social media platform to spread lies about her. What a despicable regime indeed. Play this clip. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with outrage and with grief. Yesterday, not even a full week into the new year, ICE murdered a U.S. citizen, Renee Nicole Good, after shooting her multiple times as she was seemingly attempting to drive away, blocking her from medical care and letting her die while a doctor stood by offering to help. The video of this tragedy is damning. I encourage every American to watch it and make their own judgment. A woman is dead, a child has been left without a parent, a community is shattered, and the American people are left once again demanding answers from an agency that has shown time and time again that it operates without accountability.

10:00What happened to Renee Good in Minneapolis demands a full, independent, and immediate investigation. I represent Arizona's 3rd Congressional District, a diverse and rich community of immigrants. For over a year now, ICE has been terrorizing my constituents. No agency is above the law, yet ICE is now the most well-funded law enforcement agency in the United States, receiving more funding than most militaries around the world, while operating with virtually no meaningful checks and balances. In the immediate aftermath of Renee Good's death, the Trump administration did what it does best. It lied.

10:45Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller rushed to smear a dead woman as a, quote, domestic terrorist, while Donald Trump took to Truth Social to gaslight the American people, asking them to deny their own eyes and accept his version of events instead. this is what authoritarianism looks like. This is what happens when the leader of a nation turns a federal agency into his personal paramilitary force against the civilian population of the United States. Donald Trump has weaponized ICE not to keep communities safe, but to terrorize them.

11:21Ben Meiselas:And then we heard from Democratic Congress member Neguse, and, And, you know, he was saying, look, the Trump regime is now vetoing a clean water bill for the people of Colorado. And the Trump regime every week is taking new retaliatory actions against Colorado. Why? Because Donald Trump wants Colorado to pardon an insurrectionist, a convicted felon who tried to help Donald Trump overthrow the 2020 election. So now he rips away clean water funding, child care services, Medicare services, essential services for the people of Colorado. Let's play this clip. I support this bill for many reasons. I support it for the reasons that were articulated by the sponsor, my colleague from Colorado, Ms.

12:17Ben Meiselas:Bober, by the ranking member and by the chairman. I think they have ably explained why this water infrastructure project for southeastern Colorado is so critical, a project 60 years in the making. I support it because, as was noted, there are no cogent issues with this bill, as were purportedly articulated in the veto message from President Trump. far from it. This bill will cost taxpayers virtually nothing, as was referenced, and it makes good on a promise to the people of rural Colorado. I support the bill because I believe that the people of Otero County and Bent County and Crowley County deserve access to clean water, just as every citizen of the great state that I serve and that Ms.

13:17Ben Meiselas:Boebert serves, that Mr. Hurd serves, and my other colleagues in the Colorado congressional delegation deserve. I think what's perhaps missing from this debate, and it's important for us to level with the American people, is why are we here? Why are all, why, despite all of the reasons that this bill makes a whole lot of sense. Why, despite the fact that this bill passed unanimously in the House and in the Senate, Mr. Speaker, why did the president veto this bill? We are here, unfortunately, profoundly, because the president has declared war on our state. In the last 40 days, he has taken step after step to harm the people that I serve and that I represent.

14:19Ben Meiselas:Denying disaster assistance for folks in Rio Blanco County, down south in La Plata County. Freezing child care assistance, food assistance for hungry families across our state, trying to dismantle a scientific institution in my district. and now denying access to clean water to 50 ,000 people in southeastern Colorado. It is unconscionable. And I firmly believe that the House and the Senate, and I'm speaking to my Democratic colleagues, to be clear, that it is important in this moment for members to support this override and ensure that this promise that was made to the people of southeastern Colorado is not impaired, it's not abrogated by the president's retaliation against the state of Colorado.

15:16We cannot let that become the new normal.

15:21Ben Meiselas:Now I want to bring in Democratic Congress member from Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthy. Congress member, it's great to see you. You know, we showed these clips at the beginning of Democrats fighting back. You know, Donald Trump seems to be starting 2026. Ultra fascism, authoritarianism, cover up the Epstein files, distract, talk about invading Greenland, invading the Western Hemisphere. But, you know, look, Democrats have showed you these clips, you know, are responding to the moment, I think, you know, more forcefully than, you know, in a good way. I mean, what do you make of what's going on right now on the Hill?

15:57Well, 100%. I think that Democrats are doing two things. One, obviously, calling out these abuses of power. And certainly what's happened with Venezuela is absolutely outrageous. It is a violation of the War Powers Act. I've actually introduced legislation today with Joaquin Castro to block taxpayer funding of any occupation or running of Venezuela. The second issue, however, is that we also link it back to what's happening at home or what's not happening at home, which is addressing the everyday concerns of working families. I mean, you don't have to look further than the ACA and the tax credits, which expired at year end.

16:40And the fact that, you know, basically health insurance premiums are skyrocketing. Prices are out of control already for so many other staples, whether it's childcare, healthcare, or education. But I think that Donald Trump not addressing what Americans want him to address, which is the affordability of living in the United States, and instead engaging in these reckless military adventures abroad, really presents a stark choice for the American people as to what type of governance they want. Donald Trump's governance or ours? Right.

17:17Ben Meiselas:You just think about the past 48 hours. I mean, seeing the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on ICE, Gestapo, terrorizing communities like the ones you represent in Illinois, what we saw happen in Minneapolis and frankly, in most states across the country, Donald Trump saying$1.5 trillion is what he wants the military budget to be, up from$900 billion, then up from$1 trillion. And it seems that just every social media post, the number gets higher and higher by him. Then you have him saying Greenland, he wants to give an option. Either the people of Greenland take a$10 ,000 or$100 ,000 buyout, like a shareholder in a hostile stock takeover that I guess taxpayers will fund, or else the military option is on the table.

18:11Ben Meiselas:And then Venezuela,$100 billion. It could be maybe even more to subsidize oil companies to go into Venezuela. And they may need to be troops on the ground, boots on the ground to provide those oil companies with the assurances because Trump's propped up an authoritarian. Now, don't get me started. I'm$40 billion in Argentina. Like what the hell is happening to like, that's why I think your piece of legislation is so important. And I think Democrats are on the right political side, but more importantly than that, are on the right moral side because the American people are like, what are you doing?

18:47100%. And my legislation is called the NOVA Act, No Occupation of Venezuela Act. And that's with Joaquin Castro. It's just common sense. And obviously today, the War Powers Act resolution came before the Senate. It actually passed with bipartisan support. I think a similar resolution will come before the House and pass with bipartisan support. Look, I think that it's not just Democrats. It's not just us who are worried about the direction of our country and the way that Donald Trump is ruling our country. It's everybody. And I think that you don't have to be a business that is declaring bankruptcy because of the tariff chaos, or a working family that just lost its health insurance because the premium skyrocketed when the ACA tax credits expired.

19:40We're talking about everybody feeling the pinch of an economy that's not working for them. And when that happens, I think we all have to unite and make sure that we have a government that's accountable to the people that's working for working families, that's trying to uplift them economically, and that abides by the rule of law. And that's not too much to ask, Ben.

20:06Ben Meiselas:You know, and then the way the Trump regime behaves with all of these things, I mean, when they describe Venezuela as a law enforcement operation, it's like Putin referring to invading Ukraine as their special operation when immediately after people see the video of what took place in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Macklingood is shot in the face, she's murdered by this ISAAC. We saw what happened, but anyone in a governance position, though, would say, let an investigation play out. We'll get you all of the facts. We'll be transparent. The Trump regime says that she was a domestic terrorist who used her vehicle as part of an act of terrorism.

20:52Ben Meiselas:It's like, we've all seen the video. What are you talking about? I'm sorry to interrupt. I mean, that is complete, utter nonsense. It's outrageous. And I'm sorry to be emotional about it. But every time I see that video, it makes me so upset because here is this woman who probably was very scared. and wanted to get out of that situation. And instead, an ICE agent stands in front of her windshield and shoots her in the face. And yesterday, last night, I joined with Ayanna Pressley, who's on the oversight committee with me, in her motion for subpoenaing all documents, videos, footage of that particular shooting because in part, we don't trust the Trump administration to properly investigate it, Ben.

21:48And, you know, I think that when there's no accountability, bad things happen and bad things are happening now. And what happened yesterday in Minneapolis was just outrageous, appalling, disgraceful, and un-American.

22:03Ben Meiselas:Look, Democrats seem united right now. I mean, coming back and largely united. What are you seeing on the Republican side of things that may not be obvious to an outside observer? Are you seeing things from your vantage point that you think is unique and perhaps different than, let's say, even what was happening in 2025? Yes, I think that more Republicans, at least privately, express grave concerns about how Donald Trump is running this country. And it materializes into their voting patterns, right? You see this with the Epstein files. You see this with the ACA tax credits where at least four or I think eight Republicans actually yesterday voted with Democrats with regard to a motion to extend the ACA tax credits by three years.

22:57And now you're seeing it with Venezuela. Are they publicly saying what they say privately? No, not for the most part. Some are, but most are not. But I think the longer that we go on, I think that people will start expressing their concerns more publicly and voting accordingly. And we Democrats have to take advantage of that because at the end of the day, we have to make sure that our government, again, is accountable to the people and that Donald Trump is not allowed to kind of recklessly run this country the way he is right now.

23:30Ben Meiselas:Congressman Christian Morthy, we appreciate you joining us always. Come back and appreciate everything you're doing there. Ben, thank you so much. It's an honor. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers.