As a father of four, I believe there is no one who loves my children more than me. There's no one who loves my children more than my wife. There's no one who cares more about their success and health in life than we do. [00:00:15] Not some government bureaucrat, not some. You look at these jokers down in Congress, it takes them three weeks to pick a speaker. And up until two days ago, they couldn't promote somebody in the military in the United States Senate who earned their new rank. And we're going to put my children's health and [00:00:33] my decisions in their hands for them to make those decisions, for Joe Biden to make those decisions, for me and for my wife. Let me just say this, this is not something I favor. I think it's a very, very dangerous thing to do, [00:00:48] but that's my opinion as a parent, Megan. And I get to make the decisions about my children not anybody else. And every parent out there who's watching tonight, you start to turn over just a little bit of this authority, the authority they're gonna take from you next. You're not gonna like, I'll stand up for parents each and every time. [00:01:07] >> Speaker 2: You can see there that Chris Christie was alone on that particular issue, and he tried to couch it as a parent's rights issue, but it did come up very often. The larger issue around the LGBTQ community, with both Ron DeSantis and Haley unprompted mentioning the topic in their first questions they were asked, [00:01:24] which were not about that topic. And then both of them, in their first response to each other, talking about it. Vivek Ramaswamy, amongst a long line of the conspiracy theories that he supports. He was machine gunning through them, talked about how he thinks that being transgender is a mental health disorder. [00:01:41] And Nikki Haley called trans athlete participation in sports The Women's Issue of Our Time. So clearly, this is something that they are very hyper focused on, I wanna give you an opportunity, Representative Phillips, to respond to this topic. >> Speaker 3: Well, one of the first statements I heard from Nikki Haley is [00:01:59] accusing Ron DeSantis of his don't say gay bill of not going far enough. That's Nikki Haley saying this, you guys, I got to tell you, I just don't get it, I wish I did. I don't understand the lack of compassion, the lack of love, the lack of understanding, the lack of basic human decency. [00:02:16] And the fact you have candidates on the GOP right now who are fighting harder and harder to be more mean spirited than the other, I just don't get it it's appalling. I'm the father of a daughter who's gay, she's extraordinary. I don't know why in the United States of America, we have not moved beyond this and [00:02:34] I'm glad, as Democrats that we lead with love and compassion. I wanna salute one Republican, I think Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, as it relates to trans rights, as to trans young kids playing in sports and whatnot, I think he's doing it better than most. [00:02:49] And I think we should pay attention to those who are actually leading with some principle, but what a sad state of affairs tonight. I can't imagine being a trans person, a gay person, a queer person, watching that GOP debate tonight. I cannot imagine what that must feel like in the 21st century in [00:03:08] the United States of America, to see the Republican Party fight to the bottom of such basic human decency issues. And I got to tell you another thing, when it comes to rights, by the way, I'm gonna point out the truth when I see it. Remember when President Obama and Vice President Biden had the White House and [00:03:26] the House and the Senate for four months and they were elected, and we didn't codify women's reproductive rights into law? These are the mistakes that Democrats have been making for far too damn long, far too long. And look at the consequences. This is a party, by the way, the GOP, that says they're for freedom and [00:03:43] liberty and my goodness, every chance they get, they wanna take it away from people. And why they think government should be involved in a woman's body, why they think a man, for goodness sake, should even have anything to do with it. Wow, that's why I know we will all agree on this Zoom tonight. [00:04:00] Why we are not absolutely destroying Donald Trump in a national election is just astounding after the display I saw on that stage tonight. Anyway, that's why I'm proud to be a Democrat, but boy, do we have to take up our game? And most of all, we got to win. [00:04:16] >> Speaker 2: And to bear in mind also, that Donald Trump has now announced that he is going to be trying to run as a moderate on the topic of abortion, which you referenced there. We'll see about that, but Cenk, I do wanna give you an opportunity to respond to the topic. >> Speaker 4: Yeah, first of all, Donald Trump's a guy who cost us Roe v.Wade. [00:04:33] So the idea that he'd be a moderate on abortion is absurd. And he's only doing that cuz he's a slimy con man after he destroys women's rights to choose. Now, he's gonna pretend that he's a moderate on that issue, but the problem with Democrats a lot of times like Joe Biden, is that they never fight back. [00:04:51] And Joe Biden should be out there pummeling Donald Trump on costing women the right to choose. But I haven't heard one word, I haven't heard one word in that regard. He starts every speech with my Republican friends. Sorry, but I don't have Republican friends. [00:05:06] So it's not to say that we're not gonna deliver for Republican voters, we are. When we raise wages, their wages are gonna go up. When we lower drug prices, their drug prices are gonna go down. But when you talk about Republican politicians, sorry, I'm not with these guys. So right there, John, showed you Chris Christie's good answer, and [00:05:23] it was a good answer. And as a parent, no, I don't want the government or Republican politicians deciding what to do with my kids. Hell, no, no way, under no circumstance. But the other three had horrific, barbaric answers. [00:05:39] And they were all talking about, like, I banned trans people from bathrooms. No, I banned them more, I banned them more, I hate them more. Look, you're the party of hate, let's be honest about it. So do most Americans agree with them? No, in fact, on that bathroom bill, [00:05:55] over two thirds of Americans were on the side of transgender rights. The great overwhelming majority of the country does not agree with the Republican hate mongers. But yet the Democrats don't seem to be able to fight back effectively or [00:06:13] sometimes at all. So we've got to change that dynamic. Have you ever seen Joe Biden this animated about this issue or even any issue or even taking on Republicans? So look at Vivek Ramaswamy or Ramaslimy, just calling being transgender mental health disorder. [00:06:30] Brother, you got a mental health disorder, and that disorder is not being able to tell the truth. You are the most fake, plastic, inauthentic person I have ever seen. Donald Trump was wrong about the election, I'm running, and I wanna kiss Donald Trump's ass. [00:06:46] Donald Trump's right about everything, so why are you running against him? Okay, look, you see me saying harsh things about Joe Biden, you know why? I'm in a race against him, I think he's gonna lose to Donald Trump, I'm positive. So we need someone else to run against Donald Trump. Vivek Ramaswamy doesn't look like he's in the race against Donald Trump at all, [00:07:03] he looks like he's in the race to help Donald Trump. And by pushing hateful agendas like that, unfortunately, he is. So they don't say gay bill, it's monstrous. I met a dad in Florida who's gay and has two kids, they couldn't put their picture up on the yearbook because it [00:07:21] had a rainbow flag behind them in their house when they took the picture. And his daughter couldn't write an essay about her dad, because she had to talk about the fact that he's gay because it came up in terms of his partner. [00:07:38] And the teachers are scared to death that the action is going to be taken against them if they allow that girl to write that essay. This is disgusting, it's hate, and we have to fight back. We can't just sit here and go, yeah, you wanna pass those bills? [00:07:54] And they did, they passed dozens of bills in those states. So we need Democrats who don't mind fighting Republicans, it's not too much to ask for, Marianne. >> Speaker 5: We need to do more than fight back. We need to remind Americans what this country is supposed to be about. [00:08:12] You know our declaration of independence? Abraham Lincoln said it is an eternal rebuke to forces of tyranny and oppression. To him, that was the whole purpose of the Civil War. The principle is that all men are created equal. All men have inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, [00:08:30] and governments are instituted to secure those rights. That's the point of transgender Americans, they're American. God creates everybody, everybody makes their own choices, that's supposed to be what America is about. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness means, in today's language, [00:08:47] self-actualization. People should be able to do whatever they wanna do, fly as high as they want, soar, spread their wings, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. And that's why transgenders must be protected. One of the first things I would do as president is confer special protection [00:09:03] status on transgender Americans, because I am concerned they are a targeted group. As Martin Luther King said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. But we're not going to beat the Republicans just by fighting back and we need to fight back in places. [00:09:20] Like I said before, the left needs a spine, but at the same time, we're going to win by reminding America of what's possible. We have been trained to limit our political imaginations. We've been trained to farm out our best most critical thinking, and [00:09:35] that's why we can offer to the American people, and this is how we will win. In 2024, your life could be better. You could have universal health care. You could have a guaranteed living wage. You could have subsidized childcare. You could have a Department of Peace. We could end America's drug war. [00:09:51] We could have a Department of Children and Youths. We could have a mass mobilization to move from a dirty economy to a clean economy, things could be better. That's how we are going to win in 2024. Franklin Roosevelt said that we would not have to worry about a fascist takeover [00:10:08] in this country as long as democracy delivered on its promises. That's why we have the fascists so close to the door they should never have gotten so close to the door. And when people say it to the Cenk and Dean and myself, how could you be doing this? Don't you know the fascists are at the door? [00:10:24] We're doing this because the fascists are at the door. And all that Joe Biden is saying is, let me finish the job. That's no alternative to fascism, the alternative to fascism is an agenda that says, your life could be so much better. Let's return to the basic principle. Let's return to government of the people, by the people, and for [00:10:42] the people, repudiating overreach by corporate interests that have created this matrix of corporate tyranny. That's what the Democratic Party should stand for, the unequivocal, unabashed advocacy for the working people of the United States. That's what we should be doing, not just fighting them, but creating something [00:11:00] new that really does harken back to the original principles that reminds people what is possible in this country, what is the ideal of this country. Not just in the sense of what it gives you in terms of your rights, but in terms of all of our responsibilities to protect and [00:11:17] to expand this extraordinary possibility that anyone should be able to thrive. And that means everyone in the world, but it certainly means everyone in the United States. Including transgender, including no matter what your color, no matter what your sex, no matter what your sexuality, your gender, your religion, [00:11:34] that's the point of the thing. And when people are re-inspired by that, that's when we will have a shot, and that's when we will course correct this nation. >> Speaker 3: Nicely said, here, here. >> Great. >> Speaker 5: Thank you.