Why Iowa Dem Senate candidate has 'no interest' in calls to impeach Trump

[0:00] I don't have to tell you, this state has, we've seen the shift to the right in this state in the last many election cycles. [0:06] I'm wondering, given where the Democratic brand is right now, how hard is it to run as a Democrat statewide in Iowa? [0:12] I don't think we're a red state. I think we're a common sense. [0:15] You don't think you're a red state? [0:15] No, I think, look, I think we're a common sense. Full, full picture. I think people have short memories. [0:21] Pre-Trump, we won six of the seven presidential campaigns, going all the way back to 88. [0:28] This is a state that twice votes for Obama, three times for Trump. We haven't had an influx of new voters either. [0:34] This is a state that in Trump's last midterm, we win three of the four congressional candidates, almost won all four, three points away. [0:41] 30 years, we elect Senator Harkin along with Grassley, side by side. [0:45] And in the last midterm, 2022, which was not a very good year for Democrats, we were only 1.5% away from having three of our six statewide officials being Dems. [0:54] That means your average Iowa voter went to the polls, voted for three R's and three D's. [0:59] So I've said for a whole year, we are a common sense state that has masqueraded as more red than what we actually are. [1:04] So do you think the Democratic brand is in trouble here at all? [1:07] Oh, look, look, I think that, I think that you have to run the right candidate with the right message and the right work ethic and the right political environment. [1:18] That's why I define myself as a common sense pre-populist. [1:22] I think if you're going to go out there and you're going to win in a state like Iowa, you've got to be focusing on economic populism. [1:28] So that's why I've said I'm out there. I'm not focusing on the cultural issues. [1:31] I'm out there laser focused on the issues that apply to all 3.2 million Iowans. [1:35] A livable wage, affordable housing, affordable health care, drinkable water, functioning public schools, addressing corruption. [1:40] If we focus on those issues, we'll be able to win in Iowa. [1:42] What do you say to those Republican voters and independent voters you need to win right now who may say, look, I like Josh Turek, I like his profile and the rest, but I am concerned about a Democratic majority if you were to win. [1:54] What do you say to them? [1:55] The best way to judge future performance is past performance. [1:59] And they can look at me in something that I'm genuinely proud of is that in my time in the Iowa legislature, I've been independently recognized as one of the most bipartisan and one of the most effective members. [2:09] Over 700 times I've voted with Republicans, including on issues like immigration, including issues on taxes, property taxes. [2:17] Trust me, all anybody needs to do is go into my social media feeds. [2:21] They will realize that not all the Democrats love me. [2:23] Yeah, but that's a vote, right? [2:24] Your party will be in power and those people, their politics may be more liberal than yours, perhaps. [2:30] A lot of those people in the Democratic caucus. [2:32] And some of those folks are calling, want to go after Trump. [2:35] What do you say to some voters who may be concerned about what Democrats may do in the majority? [2:41] That with me, you are going to get someone that their political North Star is always going to be not party, not leadership. [2:47] It is always going to be what is best for Iowa, what is best for Iowans, what is best for the middle class that's being hollowed out, what is best for our workers, what is best for small farms, what is best for rural communities. [2:57] I will always do what's best for them. [3:00] I don't care about party leadership. [3:02] I don't care about party direction. [3:03] I'm going to be laser focused on what is best for the people here because too many people in Iowa are hurting and they're hurting unnecessarily because of tariffs, war in Iran, on and on, health care costs. [3:13] Because some of those folks in your party will want to go after Trump. [3:15] They'll call for impeachment. [3:16] I mean, will you resist those calls for Trump impeachment? [3:19] I've said it many times. [3:20] I have no interest in looking backwards. [3:22] I want to look forward. [3:23] What I want to do is every single day go out there and put together policy that is actually going to help the average Iowan. [3:29] When I'm knocking doors here in Iowa, I don't hear people talking to me about impeaching the president. [3:33] I hear a lot of people saying, Josh, I'm working full time. [3:36] My wife is working full time and we can't afford to keep groceries. [3:40] We can't afford to keep food on the table. [3:42] So I want to be laser focused on cost corruption kitchen table issues, providing solutions to people's problems in a bipartisan way through policy. [3:51] That's what I've done in the Iowa legislature. [3:52] That's exactly what they'll get from me in the U.S. Senate. [3:54] There's talks of impeaching Pete Hegseth as defense secretary. [3:57] Would you feel OK about that? [3:59] Might be. [4:00] You might be OK with that. [4:01] We'll see. [4:03] As a senator, I don't have to worry about that just yet. [4:05] That's a question for members of Congress. [4:07] I will do my constitutional duty in the United States Senate to act as judge and jury on this. [4:14] But my North Star on this is I want to look forward, not back. [4:19] And I want to every single day put forth policy and legislation that is actually going to help Iowans because too many Iowans are hurting and suffering and suffering unnecessary. [4:29] Ashley Hinson is trying to position herself as someone who is working in a bipartisan way, has broken from the president on issues like on beef, on calling for the end of the Iran war. [4:41] And, you know, she has done this in recent weeks to try to show her independence. [4:48] Is she independent from the president? [4:50] She's showing some independence. [4:51] Does she deserve credit for it? [4:53] No, because for six years she showed none. [4:56] I mean, she came out and said she wanted to be Donald Trump's best ally in the U.S. Senate. [5:00] She's voted with her party and with leadership 99 percent of the time. [5:04] Is she a maggot Republican in your view? [5:05] I think she has been for six years. [5:07] You do? [5:08] Yeah. [5:08] And I'm someone that's real clear distinction on this. [5:13] Independently recognized as one of the most bipartisan members of the Iowa legislature, including 700 times voting with Republicans. [5:20] She's voted with party 99 percent of the time. [5:23] That is a very, very clear distinction. [5:24] She is the least bipartisan member of the Iowa delegation. [5:28] You can't suddenly, I mean, again, five times voting in favor of the tariffs, seven times voting in favor of the war with Iran. [5:35] This war that has led to gas prices going up here in Iowa more than any other state. [5:39] Diesel prices being at an all-time high as our farmers are out there harvesting their crops [5:43] and leading to an increase in fertilizer prices so much that century farmers are worried about going into foreclosure. [5:51] This is someone that has voted for cuts to health care, food assistance, and Social Security just to give tax breaks to billionaires. [5:57] I mean, can you imagine in a state with a health care crisis and a cancer crisis, [6:00] she's been in favor of $33 million in cancer research funding coming to the state? [6:05] I mean, 119,000 Iowans seeing their health care premiums double or triple? [6:09] Yeah. [6:10] We're only a state of 3.2 million, and yet we've had 842 health care entities close and 160 rural pharmacies. [6:17] You can't look at a single metric that has gone in the right direction in the last two years. [6:21] And that is because of people like Ashley Hinson that has gone up to D.C. to look out for herself and to look out for billionaires. [6:26] I saw this latest ad that you put out, this direct-to-camera ad in which you went up and said that, you know, [6:32] you don't support boys playing in girls sports. [6:36] Why come out with that now in the final days of the campaign that could rub some of your supporters the wrong way? [6:44] Well, one, I've said it multiple times. [6:45] Again, I think I have more credibility to talk about this than almost any other politician in the country. [6:49] But is it a sign that those attacks against you are working? [6:52] Do you have to go direct-to-camera on this? [6:53] There are attacks, and the reality is they're putting $20 million in negative television ads to try to make me appear as somebody that I'm not. [7:01] So I thought it was important that we set the record straight, and I've been clear on this. [7:05] I played professional wheelchair basketball. [7:06] I'm a four-time Paralympian. [7:08] I'm a two-time gold medalist. [7:09] Both my brother and my sister played professional able-bodied basketball. [7:12] I know that there is a fundamental difference between boys and girls. [7:16] And I believe that biological males should not compete in female sports. [7:19] And if that rubs some people in my party the wrong way, look, we're a big party. [7:23] And, you know, you don't have to agree with me on everything, but I can tell you this. [7:25] I'm going to be laser-focused on the issues that I think that people care about. [7:29] A livable wage, affordable housing, affordable health care, drinkable water. [7:32] Again, I'm going to be focused on the issues that apply to all 3.2 million Iowans. [7:35] And as we wrap here, if you win, your first vote will be, who's going to be the next Democratic leader? [7:41] Would you vote for Chuck Schumer? [7:43] I'm going to sit down first. [7:44] I don't know these folks. [7:45] I'm going to sit down with them, and I'm going to say, I'm going to ask them a lot of questions, actually. [7:49] So whoever's deciding to run for leadership, and I have no idea who's even going to decide to run for leadership, [7:54] I want to sit down and have a one-on-one meeting with each of them. [7:56] And I want to say, what are you going to do for Iowa? [7:59] What are you going to do for Iowans? [8:00] What are you going to do for the middle class? [8:02] What are you going to do for our workers? [8:03] What are you going to do for unions? [8:05] What are you going to do for rural communities? [8:07] What are you going to do for farmers? [8:09] And whoever most closely aligns with my prairie populace agenda, the thing that I've been out here talking about for 460 days. [8:16] A livable wage, affordable housing, health care is a human right, affordable pharmaceuticals, addressing the cancer rates, [8:23] drinkable water, functioning public schools, addressing infrastructure, campaign finance reform, [8:27] trying to overturn Citizens United, the Disclose Act, trying to get the dark money out of politics, [8:32] who's in favor of term limits, banning members of Congress from trading stock. [8:36] Whoever most closely aligns with that prairie populace ideology, that's who I'll support for leadership. [8:41] But you know Schumer because he recruited you in this race, right? [8:44] He didn't recruit me. [8:45] He didn't recruit you. [8:46] No, I went there and I said, I'm ready to win Senator Harkin Seepak. [8:50] I got into this race for two reasons. [8:52] One, because I think that we've got too many people that go to D.C. that come from wealth and privilege, [8:56] people like Ashley Henson, I don't think we have enough people from places like Council Plus Iowa [9:01] with lived economic struggle and health care struggle because when you've experienced that [9:05] struggle yourself firsthand, you'll have a different level of empathy, a different level of understanding [9:08] and a different level of fight. [9:10] What we are missing is we are missing fighters for the people, for the people that can't afford [9:14] to make a political donation or can't afford a lobbyist. [9:17] And two, I got into this race because that man that I was sitting on the stage with is my political hero, [9:22] the father of the American with Disabilities Act, this is his seat 12 years later. [9:27] And I believe that it's going to be something beautifully poetic that the man that's coming [9:30] to win his seat back is only there because of the work that he did on the ADA in the Senate. [9:35] And I think that we deserve here in Iowa to have somebody fighting for Iowa and Iowans, [9:40] not somebody like Ashley Henson going up there to enrich herself and look out for billionaires [9:44] and large corporations. [9:45] That's why I ran. [9:46] We'll leave it at that. [9:47] So thanks so much for taking the time. [9:48] I appreciate it. [9:49] Yes.