November 10, 2025. Rep. Crockett Says Dems Could Use Masterclass from Mamdani

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett says Dems could use Masterclass from Zohran Mamdani. Hear more about this story on today's podcast.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is We'll say,
sometimes sometimes he is the luckiest man I know. He
is the Q in the QR code. He goes by
the name of q Ward, the.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Voice that you just heard. I don't want to say
he's wrong.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
I'm not.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Sometimes you have moments and it's like, man, life has
been life in a lot, but right like right now,
right in this moment, right now, if I could stop
thinking about yesterday and stop thinking about tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
I might be So I can't even really, I can't
push back this.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Time, Rams, especially when the QR code's name is Rams
is Jah Indeed, and we need.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
You to stick around. We got a fun show ahead.
We're gonna enjoy ourselves for the most part. At later
on the show going on in entertainment, we're talking about
the Grammy nominations that were announced. Most notably, the nominations
are led by Kendrick Lamar. So we have simultaneously the
longest W and the longest L that we've ever seen.

(01:17):
So we're gonna talk about that for DIALOGU, we're gonna
ask a question, how do you keep a friendship going
with the political opposite of someone who has opposing political
views from you? Q pauses the question, and we felt
like we should have the conversation on the radio, so
you'll hear for the first time between me and him.
To ors clapback, he's gonna be talking about how doctor
Umar is misguided in saying that we shouldn't vote until

(01:40):
we get something. Seems like it would be obvious, But
we're gonna get into the weeds there better do better.
Scott still Arizona is planning a permanent memorial for Charlie
Kirk prior to that, and anti KKK law used to
end black scholarship at UC San Diego. And we're gonna
start to show off with the culture. Jasmin Crockett says
DIMS could use a masterclass from zoron Mom Donnie. But

(02:03):
before we get to all of that, as always, we'd
like to start off with a feel good feature, and
today's feel good feature comes from essence. The Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame has revealed its twenty twenty five
class of inductee, celebrating artists who shaped the sound of
popular music. Among those honored are three icons whose influence
spans generations, Southern hip hop Pioneer's Outcast, groundbreaking Wrap Boop

(02:23):
Salt and Peppa, and early rock trailblazer Trubby Checker Proutcast.
The honor marks a major milestone in his storied career
that changed the direction of hip hop forever. When Big
Boy and Andre three thousand burst onto the scene in
the mid nineties, they shifted the industry's attention southward, putting
Atlanta on the global map. Albums like at Aliens of
Quemini and The Grammy Women Speaker Box Slash the Love
Below cemented their reputation as fearless innovators. Salt and Peppa

(02:47):
received the prestigious Musical Influence Award, a fitting tribute to
a group that kicked down doors for women in hip
hop and beyond with platinum albums Grammy Wins and mainstream
crossover hits like Push It and What a Man. Salt
and Peppa prouf that rap Wasn't just a boys club.
Chubby Checker's induction is one of the Knight's most poignant

(03:08):
poignant moments, Known for his nineteen sixty hit The twist
Checker helped ignite a dance craze that defined an era
and left a permanent mark on rock and roll. His
decades long quest for recognition has been well documented, from
a public plea in Billboard magazine to a letter of
frustration sent directly to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now,

(03:29):
after nearly forty years of eligibility, he's finally getting his flowers.
So a wonderful night. Just a little peak behind the
curtain here. Both Q and I are big fans of Outcasts.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Cue, but we both feel
that Outcast is the best hip hop group of all time.
And yes, that includes considering Nwa Wu Tang, you know,

(03:53):
Mob Deep, Gang Star. Outcast is the best hip hop
group of all time. So to see them get their
flowers makes us exceptionally happy. So, I know I said
something that you might want to weigh in on there
before we get to what's going on in culture, anything that.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
The Southern playlistic, Cadillac music to infinity. How you do
think those needs to be said?

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yes, sir? All right? So Jasmine Crockett, Okay, long time
listeners to the show, well know, Jasmine Crockett makes it
into the culture segment of the QR code often. She
is a woman that we look up to professionally, she
is a friend of ours personally, and her success, we

(04:41):
feel is a shared success among women, among black people,
and especially among black women. And for those groups of people,
wins are often far and far in between, and a
few and far in between, is what I mean to say.
So when she speaks, we like to help amplify her messaging.

(05:05):
She's often quoted as you know, clapping back or you know,
those sorts of things, but she is so much more
than that. She is a brilliant mind and an eloquent
speaker and an incredible warrior. And I think I speak
for both of us q when I say we're grateful
to live in the time as Jasmin Krocken and get

(05:27):
to witness it happened firsthand. A lot of our heroes
from yesteryear, with notable exceptions. You know, we were men,
you know, I'm talking about the Doctor Kings and you know,
Malcolm X's and that sort of thing. And to see
a woman as prominent as she is getting the spotlight
as often as she does, it feels appropriate. And to

(05:50):
see her winning and being the most vocal facet I
guess or personality in democratic leadership is something that again
is to be revered. So without said, I'd like to
get into the story. This comes from bi in Representative
Jasmincrockett is advising Democrats to take a master class from

(06:13):
zoron Mam Donnie following his stunning victory in the New
York City mayoral election. During an interview with CNNs Laura Coates,
Crockett praised mom Donnie's campaign style, saying the Democratic Party
could learn from his approach to communication and grassroots engagement.
Quote Listen, I don't know that he needs my advice.
He has been a master and frankly, he could do
a master class for all Democrats on communication, unquote, Crockett said.

(06:36):
Crockett pointed to mom Donnie's ability to connect with everyday
people and his focus on working class issues. Quote, whether
you're talking about speaking with passion and heart and just
talking to the working class, not worried about the billionaires,
They're going to be fine. In fact, the better that
the working class does, the better they do. That means

(06:56):
that they've got the employees that they need to make
the profits that they need, and ultimately we are the
ones that spend that money on Unquote. Mom Donnie campaigned
on policies to address New York's affordability crisis, proposing higher
taxes on millionaires, billionaires, and corporations to fund free childcare,
government run grocery stores, and a citywide rent freeze. Crockett said,

(07:16):
Mom Donnie's populous messaging is what resonated with voters. Quote.
I don't think he needs me. What I think is
that our party is going to learn from him. The
Texas congresswoman suggested Democrats organize and communicate more broadly to
reach voters beyond their traditional base. Final quote here, they

(07:36):
need to learn about organizing people on all levels. They
need to learn to talk to everyone, and not just
those double ds or triple d's, which are the people
that always come out. They need to not necessarily give
up on anybody. They need to go to places that
they aren't used to seeing democrats Unquote. I'll offer something
brief first, just because I'm right here. I think she's right.

(08:00):
I mean, she's usually right. But you know, I saw
a short film documentary sort of thing with Bernie Sanders,
and he ventured he wasn't campaign or anything, but he
ventured deep into West Virginia. You and I think of
West Virginia as being like, you know, red state, but

(08:21):
funnily enough, West Virginia was a blue state for a
very very long time, and when Bernie Sanders went there,
he went there to sort of find out why. And
the truth is the reason that West Virginia is now
a red state, reliably red state, is because Republicans had
gone there. And the messaging in this film was that
Democrats had sort of lost their way and sort of

(08:42):
tended to focus on elites and you know, wealthy people,
that sort of thing, and typically that's been sort of
in Republicans wheelhouse. Now that's not to say that the
elites and the you know, the wealthy folks that Democrats
have courted are insignificant, but bearing in mind that working

(09:03):
class people Democrats have typically been for the working class
in this country is something that Mom Donnie showed and
reminded people of what they're doing. The last thing I'll
say is that a lot of his socialist policies they
come straight out of Bernie Sanders playbook. And so for

(09:24):
a lot of us that are excited to see his
success in the race and are looking forward to his
success as mayor in New York. It's sort of validation
that without the influence of the traditional, let's call it
toxic influence of the Democratic Party, the party that blocked

(09:47):
Bernie Sanders ascension, and instead kind of forced to play
where Hillary Clinton had to be the nominee in twenty sixteen,
in a free and fair election where he can run
on his policies, he wins, and so it's a victory
for him, But I think it's also a victory for
the policies, and so I think Jasmine Crockett makes an

(10:08):
excellent point here in that Democrats could learn from him.
Your thoughts here, Q, I.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Think he's the type of person that stokes fear in
traditional Republicans and traditional Democrats. He's really anti the legacy
politics of our country. He's more of a democratic socialist
or has policies that lean more towards a social democracy
than the capitalist non democracy that we have. Right, corporate

(10:41):
control the levers of both parties now, so it is
that lesser of two evils thing that we have to
keep dealing with, and we understand that, right. So it's
important to point that out when we vote, we vote Democrat,
not out of some allegiance to the Democratic Party.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
Some.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
Like the relic like zealot following that Republicans have now
with the Maga movement. No, we just understand one party
has been right at the edge of fascism and authoritarianism
for a long time, and now we're here.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
We understood that before.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
So it wasn't like, yes, Democrats are fantastic, and it
didn't give us everything we want. Black people have kind
of always understood we're not going to get any everything
we want from either party. Ever, so the idea of
voting for the one that causes us less harm was
a survival tactic that just made very, very plain sense.

(11:38):
Somebody like this wonderful mayor that New York just elected
could really deliver a for the people's style of democracy.
And I think to those who have been in power
for so long, there's a reason they didn't endorse him, right,
A party that was claiming to be anti Trump did

(12:00):
not endorse a candidate that sounded like he was singing
the same song. And I think that's because he threatened
the norms, the legacy and traditional norms of both sides
of the aisle were threatened by someone who's actually showing
up with for the people policy instead of for the system,

(12:20):
or for the corporations or for the capital.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
Legislation. Also the fact that he so Bernie's thing was
he was people funded and people powered. His whole campaign
was people powered, and so you could bet pretty reliably

(12:46):
on what Bernie could say if you are well informed.
If he was asked a question, he could give an
honest answer, and he didn't have to do the political
speak where they kind of shift the conversy. You ask
a direct question and they kind of shift it. They say, well,

(13:07):
you know, let's talk about blah blah blah, and they
kind of dial it. They move the goalposter, whatever, They
reframe the question in a way that they can't answer
it because what they're trying to do is tiptoe around
corporate interests. Right. So Bernie Sanders in twenty sixteen was
very refreshing because he could just say, look, corporate interests
are ruining this country. You know how he would talk

(13:29):
and then he would explain it in very simple terms
because it's truth is it really is kind of that simple.
You know, this is late stage capitalism. Capitalism has created
all of the good things that it can create. At
this point, it can only create monsters, right, So it's
now it's time to shift all of the things we've

(13:49):
accumulated into making life better and fairer and more equitable.
And and we're not just put here to work for
rich people until we die. And I'm sure everybody would
agree with that, even some rich people. So shout out
to u zoronmm Dommie, and shout out for shout out
to Jasmine Crockett for telling it like it is so

(14:11):
all right, uh opinions. So our show's producer, Chris Thompson
sent this to I don't know if he sent this
to our group chat, but he definitely sent this story
to me. Anti KKK law was used to end a
black scholarship at UC San Diego. This is something that

(14:35):
we talked about prior to the election. Remind me the
name of your friend Q, the lady that did the
Fearless Fund. What's her name? Her name is Arian Simone,
Arian Simone, that's right. So she was sued by a

(15:01):
gentleman I forget his name, and it doesn't really you know,
I'm not gonna try and make him famous or anything
and his organization. Uh, and the premise of the lawsuit
was that she was discriminating against I think white men
or something like that, or some somehow he made white men.

(15:24):
He used the language of, you know, the civil rights
protections to protect the people that have always been protected
and indeed need no protection. And so this is something
that we've been watching since back then because this gentleman
whose name escapes me right now, but he's got a
whole company, an organization rather, I should say that does this.

(15:44):
They go after initiatives that are meant to uplift black people,
Hispanic people, handicapped people, women, you know, lgbt quia plus
individuals and tries to marginalized communities thank you, yep. And
he tries to make it to where everybody qualifies for everything,

(16:06):
knowing that that type of framework in a society, in
this society, tends to benefit white men more than everyone else,
which is why all these individual organizations exist to speak
to the issues and the deficiencies that the government has
indeed overlooked or refuses to acknowledge that really do impact

(16:27):
like the material outcomes for these communities. Right. So, AIDS
awareness outreach while it disproportionately affects gay men, and you know,
the effort should be concentrated in that arena. Now it
has to be shared widely. That's not a specific example.
That's just kind of a what is the word I'm

(16:50):
looking for, like an analogy or something that hasn't happened.
I don't want to mislead anyone. So this story is
kind of more of that, where this anti KKK law
was used to end a black scholarship. Black scholarship at
UC San Diego, San Diego. So I'll share this from bin.
A nineteenth century law created to protect black Americans from

(17:14):
racist violence has been invoked to end a scholarship program
meant for black students at the University of California, San Diego.
According to The Washington Post, the Pacific Legal Foundation, a
conservative law firm, I think that's actually his foundation. Oh no,
I don't think it is. Never mind. The Pacific Legal Foundation,
a conservative law firm, successfully argued that the scholarship program

(17:35):
violated the ku Klux Klan Act of eighteen seventy one,
a law passed after the Civil War to shield newly
free black Americans from white supremacist intimidation and discrimination. The
foundation represented represented Kai Peters, a white transfer student who
was ineligible for the scholarship, arguing that the program violated

(17:57):
his civil rights. Quote we're simply trying to ensure that
promise of equal protection is granted to everyone. Unquote. Jack Brown,
an attorney for the firm, said. Legal scholars say the
lawsuit weaponized a law meant to protect black people to
instead dismantle a program designed to support them. Quote it's
an attack on private efforts to use money to pursue

(18:19):
what you consider a social justice purpose. Unquote. Kara McClellan,
a University of Pennsylvania law professor, said, she goes on
to say they're flipping the purpose of the law on
its base. The decision forces UC San Diego to open
the scholarship to all students, effectively ending its mission to
assist black scholars. Experts say it reflects a broader national

(18:39):
trend of targeting race conscious programs and higher education amid
the Trump administration's roll back at diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Quote it's their spin right that these types of scholarships
are somehow fostering discrimination, when in reality, the intent is
the exact opposite. Unquote, Julie Park, a professor at the
University of Maryland, said in a statement, Okay, so I

(19:01):
want to give you plenty of time here, cue your
reflections and anything else, all shoehorn in at the end.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
This has been an incredibly frustrating thing since its inception. Uh,
and you pointed it out, you know, arian being sued,
institutions of higher learning being sued. All of these practices
and foundations and organizations and scholarships came to be when

(19:30):
black people were being systemically denied access to everything, food, healthcare, education, etc.
And these legal scholars know that, which is why they
say it. And these organizations that are dismantling these programs
know it. And they're using a really strange loophole to

(19:52):
interpret these laws in a way that just take us
back to before these things existed, as if we're in
a post racial society, and they're not even arguing we
no longer need these protections because we may progress. They're
just flipping it completely on its head and saying no, no, no, no,
this stuff is actually racist against white people and successfully

(20:18):
using that position. And I say successfully because they've won
on some of these cases. You know, affirmative action effectively
dismantled DEI across the corporate landscape, done away with the
nefarious and evil tactic being used here to say, well,

(20:42):
if it's equal for everybody, if it's equity for everybody,
then you shouldn't have a program that just helps women,
even though all programs almost help men more. You shouldn't
have a program that just helps people of color, even
though all programs by themselves almost always help white people more.

(21:03):
You shouldn't have a program that you shouldn't. I'm really
waiting because I know it's going to go there. They've
gotten this extreme for them to be a law where
they make it where you shouldn't have ramps for handicap
people in wheelchairs. Like I'm waiting for that ridiculous point
of view to be argued. Right, everyone should have the
same access, so if they can't use the stairs, that's

(21:24):
on them. Like some really mean, vile, evil intentional thing
like that. It seems like those in power want all
the power, all the access, all the resources, and they
know that they're the ones that have the most access
to it already, but they're going to do the pretend
victim thing, the thing they accuse us of to take

(21:46):
things away from people who already don't have much. It's
really the more we talk about it, the more I
go from lighthearted to kind of angry.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
So I'll concede, Yeah, it's really tough. I think that
a lot of these people they look at in order
to because I think I feel like, on some level,
everybody kind of has to get it. Right, Well, these
things tend to happen more in this community than in

(22:14):
this community, and those things tend to happen less in
this community and than that other community. Right, So on
some level, everybody gets it. But by hyper fixating on
individuals as opposed to like systemic data and outcomes for
like groups and populations in this country, By hyper focusing

(22:35):
on the individuals, it allows them some cover to not
only allow their racism to like fester, but to share
racist ideas with people who I believe maybe have an
appetite for that, you know, people that are looking for

(22:57):
an excuse to blame somebody else on why they never
became a rock star, astronaut or a you know, a
millionaire or whatever. Right, and for a lot of people
in this country, white men in particular, I'll say, the
idea of the American Dream. I'm sure it seemed a
lot more realistic for them than it did for the
rest of us. We're just like, look, man, if you

(23:17):
go to the NBA or win the lottery, then that's
really the only way out of here, right Because once
upon a time, I know that that was really a
widely shared sentiment. Nowadays, you know, things have This is
a post Obama society, so things have gotten better, but
we're still looking at the data, and the data has
a long way to go. So when you've been taught
and this is why it's damaging for white men, when

(23:38):
you've been taught that the world is yours and you
know you can achieve the American dream, and billionaires have
been very good at taking it from you and helping
you blame other people for it. Then you're looking for
an excuse to justify your position in the world, and
you're looking for someone to blame, and you know your

(24:00):
fertile ground for people that are weaponizing these anti KKK
laws too, you know, free up more funds away from
really vulnerable communities that need it. So yeah, it's a
it's unfortunate, but you know they're upright now and we

(24:24):
have to watch it as it happens, it's really sad.
Speaking of which better do better, Scott Still, Arizona plans
permanent memorial for Charlie Kirk. All Right, I'm going to
do some reading here, and I'm going to do my

(24:45):
best not to offer too much in the way of opinions,
because I think once you offer opinions, I obviously have
to offer opinions, but about any specific individuals. I just
want to read the facts, and I think the facts

(25:06):
speak for themselves. But once you start offering opinions about
an individual or what they stood for that sort of stuff,
I think that people tend to get emotional. And you know,
the hope with this show. We don't make this show
just to tell a certain group of people what they
want to hear. We recognize that we have people that
listen to the show that don't agree with what we say,
don't agree with any of it, but in the in

(25:29):
their listening, we recognize there's an opportunity. And so in
order to make sure that people don't get too emotional,
we're just going to read this factually before we offer anything. Okay,
So this is from Fox ten Phoenix out of Scottsdale,
Arizona plans to create a memorial for the late conservative
activist Charlie Kirk are advancing in Scottsdale, a city council

(25:49):
member said on Friday. Scott Scottsdale City Councilman Adam Quasman
said on November seventh that the memorial will honor the
late Scottsdale resident and national conservative voice whose impact extended
far beyond political lines. That was a quote, by the way.
Kirk was killed on September tenth while speaking with college
students at Utah Valley University. He's aligned sorry. His alleged assassin,

(26:12):
Tyler Robinson, was arrested late the next day while Kirk's
body was flown back on Air Force two to Arizona.
Kirk founded the Phoenix based nonprofit Turning Point USA, which
has since grown by the hundreds on college campuses following
his death. Quote, Charlie Kirk was a man of conviction, courage,
and community unquote, Kwansman said. Quasman said sorry. He goes

(26:33):
on to say, quote he embodied the spirit of seventy
six and inspired countless young people to speak up for
their beliefs, get back to their communities, and never shy
away from difficult conversations about faith, family, and freedom. It's
only fitting that Scottsdale, the community he called home, will
now serve as the home of a lasting memorial to
his legacy. Unquote. The memorial, Quasman said, will reflect Kirk's

(26:57):
commitment to civic engagement and education, providing a space for
reflection and dialogue. Okay, so that sounds nice, right, So
what I want to do is read a little bit
of Charlie Kirk. I promise it's a little bit. There
is a lot that we had to leave on the
table here. This was our longest segment to put together

(27:20):
because we had to just whittle it down. But I
will read some of the things that Charlie Kirk has said,
and I promise we're not taking anything out of context,
and you'll see it once. You'll see a theme. If
you're unfamiliar with Charlie Kirka, that's been something that's come
up a lot. A lot of people don't know who
didn't know who Charlie Kirk was, and they may have
heard about him since he died. But these are actual quotes.

(27:40):
We're not mischaracterizing him. And of course you're welcome to
go and find any of these quotes get more content.
All this sorts that we're not trying to misrepresent this person.
We think that knowing who he is, depending on your morality,
you will decide whether or not a memorial is appropriate
or inappropriate. Okay, again, there's no opinion here. We're just
going to read it as it is. Okay. Quote from

(28:01):
Charlie Kirk. I'm sorry. If I see a black pilot,
I'm going to be like boy, I hope he's qualified.
Here's another quote. The single woman issue is one of
the biggest issues facing a civilization. Having children is more
important than having a good career. More younger women need
to get married at a younger age and start having kids.

(28:25):
Here's another quote. We made a huge mistake when we
passed the Civil Rights Act in the nineteen sixties. Here's
another quote on the southern border. The Great Replacement strategy
is a strategy to replace white rural Americans with something different.
Just so you know that. If you don't know have

(28:47):
context for that, you can look up the Great Replacement theory. Again,
I don't want to offer you anything, but it's in short,
it's sort of a race based conspiracy theory that there's
a concerted effort to replace white people. It originated in
France and kind of took root in the far right
in this country, which the far right is group that
Charlie Kirk is widely associated with. Next quote, If I'm

(29:10):
dealing with somebody in customer service who's a moronic black woman,
I wonder is she there because of her excellence or
is she there because of affirmative action? He said on
January of twenty twenty four. Here's another quote. If we
would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and
Sheila Jackson Lee and Katanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks,

(29:33):
we would have been called racists. Now they're coming out
and they're saying it for us. You do not have
the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.
You had to go and steal a white person slot
to go be taken somewhat seriously. He said that on
his show July thirteenth of twenty twenty three. So that's

(29:55):
the facts, with no opinion. Do with it what you will,
and we'll back after this