Republicans get NIGHTMARE NEWS in FLORIDA

[0:00] I'm joined now by the Democratic nominee for the governor of Florida, David Jolly. [0:04] Thanks so much for joining me. [0:05] Hey, good to be with you. I appreciate it. [0:07] So I want you to give us some indication right now of what polling is looking like in Florida, [0:12] because I think, you know, since what, 2000, really, Florida has felt very out of reach for Democrats. [0:18] Obviously, this is a different political environment. [0:20] And we're starting to see states that, frankly, a lot of us would view Democrats have no business winning, [0:26] start to feel like they're on the table, whether it's Alaska, whether it's Iowa, whether it's Kansas, whether it's Ohio. [0:34] Florida, I feel like, is in that bucket. [0:36] So can you give some indication of what the polling is looking like for your race in Florida right now? [0:41] Yeah, look, the race for Florida governor is essentially a toss up to maybe a nudge our way. [0:45] Maybe Byron Donald would say a nudge hit his way, but it's essentially a toss up right now. [0:50] And look, evidence of that, it's easy to look at 24, 22 and 20 in Florida. [0:54] But all we got to do is look at the last 20 months, because what's happened in Florida this cycle is the same amount of change we've seen nationally. [1:03] Congressional special elections swimming by 15, 16 points. [1:06] The city of Miami elects a Democratic mayor for the first time in 30 years, and it was 19 points. [1:12] Mar-a-Lago elects a Democratic state representative. [1:15] So over the last 18 months, 20 months, we have seen voters already in Florida saying, look, we're going back to purple. [1:22] The race right now, if the election were tonight, I believe we would win this race, but we've got to hold on for the next four weeks. [1:28] You know, everyone knows in October things get pretty vicious. [1:31] We've got to be able to hold on and make sure our message is out there. [1:34] On the point of Byron Donald, you know, he made some news by being one of the folks who's trying to pull the wool over voters' eyes by distancing himself from Trump now at the 11th hour. [1:46] And he very notably removed Donald Trump's name from his website. [1:50] What do you make of that decision to try and bolster these independent bona fides only five minutes before the election? [1:58] Yeah, well, Byron's trying to win, right? [2:00] He sees the numbers, a historically unpopular president. [2:03] But forget about Trump for a moment. [2:05] It's a reflection, I would argue, of who Byron is, right? [2:08] Someone who rode the coattails of Trump throughout his entire career, including the Republican nomination. [2:14] And then as soon as he got the Republican nomination, he ditched the guy that he called his daddy. [2:19] Byron Donald's called Donald Trump daddy, said he gets an A on the economy, but yet he's running as far away from it as he can from the president and the president's economy. [2:28] He has scrubbed Donald Trump's ID from everywhere. [2:32] But look, at the end of the day, this is a governor's race. [2:35] It's not about the president. I've actually understood that for the past year and a half. [2:39] I focus on housing, health care, education and no data centers. [2:42] I accept that the president is the source of so much division and anxiety and rancor, but I don't litigate the president. [2:49] I litigate economic opportunities for everybody in the state, housing, health care and education. [2:54] Byron's had to be Trump's guy for so long that he's got six weeks to figure out how not to be his guy. [3:00] Look, I think voters are seeing through it. [3:02] So let's talk about Florida specifically. [3:04] What is the main differences between you and Byron Donald's as it would relate to the people of Florida? [3:12] Well, look, very top line, I'd say this. [3:14] Byron Donald's really wants to be governor and I'm willing to be governor. [3:19] And that's very different. [3:20] And I don't say that to be meek. [3:21] I say it because I do think we're a nation that's broken and more divided than ever before. [3:27] And and this, you know, the answer is on the right. [3:29] Byron Donald's Donald Trump is that if we just keep hating each other a little while longer, [3:33] if we just stay divided a little bit more, somehow the economy will improve, housing, health care and education will get better. [3:39] And we know it's not true. [3:41] And so I say that because all of us across the country right now, you know, we often think about politics by thinking about the candidates. [3:48] But this is about the voters right now. [3:50] We're deciding who are we as a country? [3:52] What are we willing to do in this moment? [3:54] For myself, that meant, you know, maybe a bit of the tap on the shoulder from from political history saying, hey, now's the time to get back in the arena. [4:02] But but we tell our kids, when you have a chance to change the world, you take it, whether you're a candidate, a voter, whether you're in business, in the arts, whether you're at home, whether you're a caregiver, whatever it might be. [4:13] And so, sure, that's the top line on policies. [4:16] I'll tell you this. [4:17] I'm a former Republican. [4:18] I was an independent. [4:19] Today, I'm a proud Florida Democrat, not a reluctant one. [4:22] I think we both agree that the private sector should lead, that economic growth is good. [4:27] I accept that. [4:27] I agree with that. [4:28] Where we where we begin to disagree is in the moments where the economy is not working, I accept that government can fill in the gaps. [4:35] They can play partner and backup to the private sector. [4:38] What do I mean? [4:39] The private sector is never going to make sure every child gets educated or that everybody has access to health care or in a state where a homeowner's insurance market is collapsing because of hurricanes. [4:47] We need government to partner to scale up workforce and affordable housing where developers aren't going to do it on their own because there's not enough profit. [4:55] Government steps in and partners with the private sector. [4:58] My approach is very much a Bill Clinton 92 kind of economic theory. [5:02] Let the private sector roar. [5:04] We want to see the continued economic growth. [5:06] But let's accept that what's made America strong and created the most amount of economic opportunity for the responsible social investments we make in housing, health care, education, clean water, clean air, safe communities. [5:17] Byron's living in a party right now that's all about Doge and shutting down those investments that create economic opportunity. [5:24] Right. [5:24] And by the way, not doing it for anybody other than regular people, it's still, you know, the millionaires and billionaires that ultimately feel some benefit from what's happening. [5:37] I mean, Doge in large part was really just meant to tear down the regulators that were regulating Elon Musk's own businesses. [5:43] And so in large part, I mean, even Doge didn't do what Doge was was was there to do. [5:50] Yeah. [5:50] Brian, you know, it's interesting. [5:51] This data center debate. [5:53] I've proposed a one year moratorium for reasons of environmental degradation, public health, economic destabilization. [6:00] A lot of policy reasons, but we're also seeing 75 percent of the state say don't build data centers. [6:08] Yeah. [6:08] Yes. [6:09] Part of that is not in my backyard. [6:10] Part of that is the worry about fragile lands. [6:13] But the bigger piece that's happening here is Byron Donald's Donald Trump. [6:18] A lot of our politicians have been bought off by big tech, big data, the utilities. [6:22] And so what we're really seeing among voters, to your point, is this acknowledgement that I feel like I've lost economic leverage. [6:30] I feel like I've lost political leverage. [6:32] I feel like I'm telling you, politicians, we don't want these. [6:36] And yet you're just telling me that you're that I'm wrong. [6:39] And you're right. [6:40] While you're taking millions of dollars in special interest money to make those special interests richer, [6:45] while I'm worried about the displacement of my own labor and whether or not my kids are going to be safe in an AI world. [6:51] The data centers have become a physical metaphor for the inequality that is growing both in power, but also in the economy. [7:00] And we're watching Donald Trump and Byron Donald telling voters, no, you just sit down over there in your community and we'll tell you what's right. [7:06] We know best. [7:07] That's why it's not working. [7:08] David, there's a question that I often ask folks who are running in otherwise or historically red states. [7:15] And that is, give me some examples of what folks have said to you when you've spoken to Republicans or independents on the campaign trail. [7:24] And I ask this question because, and, you know, for folks who watch my interviews regularly, they'll recognize this statement. [7:32] But, you know, for a lot of Americans out there, and I'm sure Floridians are the exact same way, when you have people who are Republicans, that's a part of their, of their identity. [7:42] You know, their partisan affiliation is just as important as their, as their geography, as their religion, as their ethnicity, whatever it may be. [7:49] And so it's not as easy for regular people to just say, sure, I voted Republican my whole life. [7:54] My family's voted Republican. [7:55] My grandparents have voted Republicans, but I'm just going to willy nilly change my vote to Democrats again. [8:00] It's, it's kind of a part of who they are. [8:04] And so for, for those folks out there in Florida, what, what have your conversations been like with them? [8:10] Yeah, I understand the field has been set because Republicans have drifted so far away from many of the principles that those Republicans subscribe to. [8:18] Right. [8:18] I, I had a Republican, former United States Senator say to me, Hey, I'm never leaving the Republican Party, but this year I'll vote for every Democrat on the ballot. [8:26] And then he said, unless you give me a reason not to. [8:30] And what he meant is just litigate the basics at a time when the Republican Party is litigating crazy. [8:36] And so I talk about housing, healthcare and education. [8:39] I talk about economic growth being a good thing, letting the private sector lead. [8:43] I talk about ending culture wars based on an old school libertarian perspective of just keep government out of your life, out of your doctor's office, out of your bedroom. [8:50] And in the, that left, right spectrum has become a horseshoe where even progressives and old school Republicans kind of can find, you know, affinity on this. [8:59] But I'll tell you really what has created the moment. [9:02] I'm litigating housing, healthcare and education, right? [9:05] I've said it a hundred times already, but understand what Republicans are doing in this moment. [9:10] They're trying to litigate ideology and, and people are intolerant right now of the ideological debate. [9:17] They want solutions and Republicans, if they had solutions, they would have offered them. [9:21] Instead, they're screaming communism, socialism, radicalism, and they're trying to argue trans rights and all these other cultural arguments. [9:29] You know, Brian, in our race, Byron Donalds went up on the air with, let's call it 5 million or more dollars in a, in a commercial buy attacking me for defending the trans community. [9:39] As he did that, our numbers went up, not because it's actually an issue necessarily that a majority of the state cares about. [9:47] But what they saw in Byron Donalds was a candidate who was so far removed from the real issues about housing, healthcare and education. [9:54] And Byron saw that too. [9:55] And so, you know what he did? [9:56] They took the ad down. [9:58] They haven't run it in over a month, but instead what they're doing is they're sending postcards to Republicans saying, hide your kids from David Jolly, because they're still trying to scare the Republican voters back into coming into the fold while I'm trying to talk about solutions. [10:13] But that's created this moment. [10:15] Republican leaders are litigating crazy while I'm litigating solutions. [10:18] And it's why this race is a toss up. [10:21] Yeah. [10:21] And, and by the way, that, that has been a tried and true tactic for the right, for my entire life, whether it's migrant caravans, whether it's, you know, [10:28] gay people going into bathrooms, I mean, it's, it's always a culture war issue. [10:31] And it always just so just so happens to pop up in September, October of an election year. [10:35] And I think after they were so successful at doing that in 2024 and making that the issue of of the entire campaign cycle, [10:43] only to bring about Republic full control of government by Republicans who actually weren't interested in, in, in solving any of the problems that you're talking about. [10:51] I think people are realizing, okay, fool me one, shame on me. [10:55] I want to finish off with this. [10:56] There has been a lot of talk about Latino voters. [11:00] I think, especially with the ways in which Republicans were able to redraw the maps in Florida, which is to gerrymander on top of an existing gerrymander. [11:08] They assume that the Latino realignment, you know, look, every demographic group moved right, but especially Latinos. [11:15] They assume that that Latino realignment in 2024 was going to be permanent. [11:19] What are you seeing now from the Latino community and, and, and, you know, in light of the fact that they've kind of redrawn these maps, assuming that they owned these voters? [11:29] Sure. [11:30] Everyone understands cruelty and broken promises. [11:33] This is no longer about border security. [11:35] When you take a baby from a mom's arm or you grab the dad who's been on the job site for 12 years, you disappear him from his family, put him in a cage in alligator Alcatraz, or when you revoke TPS and people say, oh, I didn't think you meant my TPS. [11:48] I thought you meant another community. [11:49] When you go through Doral in Miami and as one Venezuelan leader told me, it's like a hunting field. [11:55] You have kids afraid to go to school because they're not sure they're going to see their parents. [11:58] I was with a Haitian community last night and they said Thursday is deportation day. [12:04] Look, cruelty and broken promises is a universal understanding. [12:10] This is not about border security anymore. [12:12] This is about attacking communities and disrupting not only our state's economy, but disrupting a way of life and disrupting families and separating families. [12:21] And so as a result, what we've seen is if you look at New Jersey and Virginia last year and their governor's races, Hispanic precincts, though certainly not monolithic, the ones we could measure move towards Democratic candidates by 30 points. [12:35] In Florida, we're seeing swings by 20 or 25. [12:38] You know, we lag the national trend because we have an oversampling of Cuban Americans. [12:42] Republicans and the politics in South Florida when it comes to socialism and authoritarianism are very sensitive and they should be. [12:49] But I would argue, look, if we ever had someone supporting socialism or communism, it's this president supporting Delcy. [12:55] Or it's this president suggesting he's going to hand out $5,000 checks. [12:59] Or this president is suggesting he'll prop up the Cuban regime by letting Americans invest in the hospitality industry in Cuba. [13:05] So not only have they drifted away on policy, but they've shown who they are, rule, rule leaders who are impacting a specific community. [13:14] This isn't about fighting crime. [13:15] I say something every day. [13:17] Our governor and our president, they're not fighting crime. [13:19] They're fighting a community. [13:20] And it's wrong. [13:21] We can be a state that's tough on crime and we should be, whether you were born here, immigrated here, whether you're a dirty politician. [13:27] But we shouldn't fight communities. [13:29] We should lift up every community. [13:31] David, for those who are watching right now and want to support your campaign, where can they go? [13:34] DavidJolly.com allows you to support us financially. [13:38] But I also ask for this. [13:40] Look, we need voters. [13:41] Everybody has a sphere of influence, whether it's on social media, the workplace. [13:46] Reach out to your folks. [13:47] Please go on social media. [13:48] Say there's this governor's race. [13:49] Consider being a part of it, voting for David Jolly and Gwen Grant. [13:53] Awesome. [13:53] We'll leave it there. [13:54] David, just want to thank you for bringing some degree of common sense and sanity to what is otherwise a pretty volatile political environment. [14:05] Right here. [14:06] So I appreciate you taking the time today. [14:08] Best of luck in the campaign trail. [14:10] Thank you, bye.