Krystal Ball BATTLES Establishment Democrat

[00:00:00]Part of the reason those of us in the establishment struggled to beat Donald Trump is we were having to defend policies like open borders. Okay. And Trump walked right into that. All right.

[00:00:12]So the notion that there is it's just the establishment that led to Trump losing, I think is is a misplaced fact.

[00:00:20]>> I think the establishment is a big part of the reason why Trump was able to win in 2024. Not just the electoral vote, of course, also the pro popular vote. And uh who you heard from there is Democratic Congressman um Adam Smith. Uh he engaged in a bit of a debate with Crystal Ball from Breaking Points on Breaking Points. And I appreciated the entire debate. They actually debated a whole host of topics including foreign policy. But for the purposes of this discussion, I actually want to focus on what he had to say about the divide within the Democratic party between the establishment Democrats and I guess what for lack of a better description has been referred to as the DSA, you know, faction of the Democratic party. Now, as we know, there are some DSA, Democratic Socialists of America aligned candidates who have been beating incumbent Democrats in some congressional races. Most of it happens in deep blue districts in deep blue states like New York. Uh this is not a phenomenon that we're seeing in the middle of the country. We're seeing it in, you know, Democratic strongholds where corporate Democrats, establishment Democrats, have really failed their voters and they're furious for a number of different reasons. Now, to be fair to Adam Smith, I actually think that he touched on something that I do agree with, not entirely. So, I want to play that moment of the debate for you and then I'll explain. Take a look.

[00:01:50]>> The most important issue that is driving the anti-establishment um feelings in the primaries is two things. Number one, the belief that we have not effectively fought Trump. Okay?

[00:02:03]When you look at what really drives these people, yes, Israel is part of it, but it's also going after you were part of the establishment. How come you didn't beat Trump? Now, I have a complaint here, and that is that a lot of the policies of the DSA and the left, open borders, defund the police, um the idea that you can't possibly spend enough government money, um identity politics, a lot of those things are what gave Trump his power. And part of the reason those of us in the establishment struggled to beat Donald Trump is we were having to defend policies like open borders, okay? and Trump walked right into that. All right. So, the notion that there is it's just the establishment that led to Trump losing, I think is is a misplaced fact.

[00:02:50]>> I don't think it's any surprise that I have, you know, reccalibrated some of my views on some of those social issues that were listed there, including the notion of abolishing police, which I've never been in favor of, uh, but was under the impression that we were supposed to reform, and that didn't happen. And in fact, as much as the left flank of the Democratic party wants to allege that they never called for the abolishing of police, that was definitely something that was being discussed. Whether it was even a possibility of carrying out, that's an entirely different story. But when you brand yourself as the group that wants to do away with police entirely at a time when there was a crime spike, this is in 2021, yeah, it's going to hurt you politically. So, he's not wrong about that. He's not wrong about that. But let's let's take a little trip back to 2024, shall we? Because while I do think that those issues, which honestly are carried out locally, these are not federal policies with the exception of open borders or, you know, Biden's handling of immigration, which I agree was disastrous. Sorry, it just was. And that led to a lot of backlash toward the Democratic party, not just from conservatives, but also longtime Democratic voters. Which is why if you looked at the election results and you compared them in blue cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, you compare the percentage of the vote that was liberal to conservative.

[00:04:24]In 2020, a higher percentage of, you know, higher percentage of people in these cities voted for the Democratic candidate. Fast forward to 2024, that percentage dipped significantly.

[00:04:38]Now, of course, Democrats still enjoyed the majority support in these blue cities, but you could see how these local policies on policing, crime, things like that, uh, had an impact on how voters perceive the Democratic party. And I do think that that bled into federal elections. Okay, but that let's put that aside because I do have a big problem with what Adam Smith is saying here because it appears that he's putting a lot of the onus, a lot of the blame on, you know, the left flank of the Democratic party. But let's talk about the failures of the establishment Democrats. Uh including the fact that Biden, who promised not to run for a second term, did in fact run for a second term and was not qualified to do so because of his mental condition, his his obvious cognitive difficulties due to his age.

[00:05:30]And then uh the Democratic party with three months out decides to anoint Kla Harris who paraded around in her campaign with the likes of neocon Republican Liz Cheney. I ain't voting for that. There's nothing that would get me to vote for any Democrat, any candidate who uplifts Liz Cheney. I don't care that Liz Cheney did the right thing when it came to January 6th. That was one good thing that she did allegedly. Okay, but I'm sorry. Liz Cheny's entire political career was a disaster of epic proportions for this country. She was one of the architects for the Iraq war and has always cheerled devastating wars that have hurt our country. That's what Kla Harris did. So, I need the establishment Democrats to take a lot more responsibility for their own behavior.

[00:06:26]And yeah, they've done a terrible job fighting Trump. When we talk about fighting Trump, we mean prevent some of these policies from even passing. We're not talking about doing your little show hearings. We don't care about your tweets.

[00:06:44]Do something effective. And they've failed time and time again.

[00:06:49]I mean, there was a literal conversation about like, just don't respond to anything Trump is doing in his second term, Democrats. just let him hang himself and then and then we'll be good for the midterms, which is true. That is a strategy, but voters are sick of it and they see it for what it is. By the way, um while he's pretending like, oh, these culture war issues really hurt us.

[00:07:11]Get a load of how much of a hypocrite he is. Take a look at this.

[00:07:14]>> Most of your argument against the DSA thus far, I think you could characterize as an electability argument. You think >> No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:07:20]It's bad policy. Okay. So, >> I I don't I don't think having unlimited immigration is sustainable. I don't think so.

[00:07:29]>> Getting rid of the criminal justice system is a smart way to govern. It's not just electability. So, here's here's a question I have for you. So, back in 2018, you worked together with Primila Gyipol on a bill to abolish ICE, which is a a key demand.

[00:07:42]>> Yeah. I I worked with her on a Here's what the bill did. Okay. It's a story.

[00:07:47]>> Here's we have an we have an article here from the Seattle Times, your local paper. US Repli Smith aim to abolish ICE, restructure immigration enforcement. Exactly. You were one of the Democrats actually who was in office when you voted for.

[00:08:01]>> Can I tell you what this actually does so we can have an intelligence?

[00:08:04]>> Of course. Yeah. Well, number one, do you still do you still support this?

[00:08:08]>> Let me tell you what it does. Do you still support?

[00:08:10]>> But that doesn't help anything because what is this? Can I can I >> Yeah, of course. But first, do you still support it? You can explain more in detail what it is.

[00:08:17]>> Let me tell you what it is.

[00:08:18]>> Okay.

[00:08:19]>> Okay.

[00:08:20]>> Yes.

[00:08:20]>> When we created the Department of Homeland Security, we took immigration enforcement away from the Justice Department and we put it into DHS and created ICE.

[00:08:31]>> Correct.

[00:08:32]>> What this does is it puts immigration enforcement back at the Justice Department >> and gets rid of ICE.

[00:08:39]>> Right. Well, it it gets rid Yeah. No, but >> that's my position, too.

[00:08:44]>> We're We're on the same page here.

[00:08:46]>> Then why would you have abolish ICE in the title of your legislation, which makes it seem like you're doing away with ICE and any immigration enforcement that comes along with it. He knows that.

[00:08:59]like he played into the very politics that he's now bitching about and claiming lost elections for Democrats, which by the way, I think is true, but you're part of the problem.

[00:09:13]Adam Smith, corporate Democrats, establishment Democrats are happy to dive into culture war issues to avoid having to discuss or debate questions of war and peace or economic policies.

[00:09:27]That's what mainstream Democrats do. And he just got caught. I love it when someone who is participating in a debate, as Crystal Ball did here, is actually prepared and knows the politician's record.

[00:09:41]Don't complain about the very behavior you yourself engaged in. And be clear about what your policy is actually trying to accomplish. So if you have a problem with abolishing police, abolishing ICE I or the policies and how they're going to hurt the Democratic party, then don't play into them. But he did play into them because at that time he thought these are the kinds of culture related issues that will bode well for us so we can avoid talking about other things.

[00:10:08]That's the reality of the situation.

[00:10:10]>> Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true.

[00:10:14]But it does keep you updated on our live shows.