“We need to have an affirmative case we’re making. And we need to answer the question that so many millions of Americans are asking, which is, if you’re working hard in this country, can you still earn a good living for yourself and your family?”
Los Angeles, CA — Last night, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a wide-ranging discussion on the future of the Democratic Party, how to combat President Donald Trump’s strategy of fear, and ensuring Los Angeles receives the federal support needed to recover and rebuild following the devastating fires.
View the full interview here.
Key Excerpts:
On Democrats’ path forward:
[…] The corruption will bring [Republicans] down. The cruelty will bring them down. This is not who we are as a country. But in addition to their own self-defeating, internal, ugly politics, the Democratic Party needs to get its act together. We need to have an affirmative case we’re making. And we need to answer the question that so many millions of Americans are asking, which is, if you’re working hard in this country, can you still earn a good living for yourself and your family? We need to be able to answer that central question. I think the key to it is by getting things done again and moving the country forward. We can’t be reliant on them to self-destruct, although they will. We have to offer something positive.
[…] I think actually the path back to power for the Democratic Party is to show that we can get shit done again. This really has to be our focus. We need to be able to build housing quickly and cost effectively. We need to build more hospitals and schools. We need to make it clear that we’re the party of getting things done. They’re clearly the party of tearing things down. And we’ve lost some of that. And I think the chance to respond well to these fires is a real good test case for us. We damn well better pass the test, but we ought to show we can get this done quickly. We can move with urgency.
On the Trump administration’s fear tactic:
I am surprised just how quickly they have created a climate of fear. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but by going after universities, they’re intimidating other universities. By going after certain press organizations, they’re causing others to self-censor. By going after certain law firms, they’re causing other lawyers to not want to take cases if they think it will be retaliated against by the administration. Companies towing a Trumpian line because they’re worried about losing government contracts. I would not have thought it possible to so quickly create that climate of fear. And we have to band together. We have to speak out. We have to push back. We have to show courage. The dictator wannabes – this is part of their playbook, and the only way to defeat it is by standing strong and saying, basically “Screw you, I won’t be intimidated.”
On ensuring Los Angeles receives the support needed to rebuild after the fires:
We will get help. But it is alarming that they’re talking about – for the first time ever – trying to condition relief after a natural disaster on completely unrelated things. But we’re pushing back hard. And in my conversations with my Republican colleagues, I’m reasonably optimistic that they will drop that idea. We just saw some storms hit other parts of the country.
[…] We don’t want to get into a practice where you discriminate on natural disasters, whether hitting red states or blue. We’re all in this together. And I was pleased to see that we’re ahead of schedule with the cleanup. The job is a big job, but the Army Corps is doing remarkable work.
###