August 18, 2024 • 49 mins
Ready for a deep dive into the shifting tides of American politics? We're thrilled to have Dr. Cindy Banyai, a passionate political leader and Fort Myers City Council candidate for Ward 4, join us as we unpack the seismic news of President Biden stepping aside for Kamala Harris's historic nomination. Dr. Banyai gives us a first-hand account of how she learned about this political earthquake while on vacation and breaks down the complex nomination process of the Democratic National Convention. Together, we explore the excitement and mobilization this historic moment has generated, making a compelling case for why staying informed and engaged is more crucial than ever.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome back to Brunch with Brittany.
I'm Brittany Gonzalez and I amso excited about today's episode
.
I have a special guest with mehere today.
I have, I want to say, she'slike my unofficial political
professor, like I go to her whenI want to know about politics
because you know, this girldoesn't know a lot, but she's
trying to learn.
(00:34):
And if you feel that way, thisis the episode for you and this
is the person to get yourinformation from.
I'm telling you you are goingto love her, please.
Welcome Dr Cindy Banyay.
Hey, hey girl.
Hey are gonna love her, pleasewelcome dr cindy banye.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Hey, hey, how's it going?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
oh my gosh thank you so much for coming on.
Of course, my pleasure.
You know I always hit you upwith questions about politics
because I don't know a lot, butI have learned so much since the
first time I came to you forstuff because of you, by the way
.
So, um, if you don't know, dr cCindy Banier, she is an amazing
political leader here in ourSouthwest Florida community.
She's running for a Fort MyersCity Council, ward 4, right,
(01:11):
that's correct?
Yes, so she is running that sheis here in our community.
She's the woman that's alwayslike I've been at rallies with
her for women's rights I'veheard her speak so passionately
about our infrastructure here insouthwest Florida, making sure
that it's safe and that it's uh,you know it's safe and it's a
great for not only just the kidsbut for elderly, which is also
(01:33):
something I never thought about.
Yeah, and, and I want to savethat too for, like, we're going
to get into all of that because,um, what it's so important and,
like I said, I'm learning somuch from you and I was like
when politics is starting to getentertaining again to me.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, it certainly has, the last month especially.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yes a lot has changed .
Okay, I feel like everybody waskind of like shoulders slumped
and like here we go, and I wasstill hoping that everybody
would just kind of like see thebigger picture of everything.
But I wanted to talk to youstarting off, so let's start
with biden stepping aside yeahsacrificing his political
(02:14):
aspirations and then nominatingkamala harris as, uh, the
democratic nominee yeah well.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So let me just say one thing about that.
That's hilarious.
I was on vacation with mychildren when that announcement
came out, you may see.
So like here, right here itsays don't die.
Today I was in the desert.
I was on a mountain with mychildren, had no idea it was
happening until I came down andhad service, because my phone
was like we had no service.
We're camping enjoying wildlife.
(02:42):
Right Came down and it was likeblowing up the phone's, going
crazy because Biden steppedaside.
So it was interesting, exciting.
What's funny also is that I'm adelegate to the Democratic
National Convention.
So now what does that mean?
So, okay, there's a ton of stuffgoing on, so buy this up the
(03:02):
side now.
We have an actual formalprocess in all the parties, but
the democratic party has aprocess through which they
nominate their official nominee,got it, and actually they had a
pre-process that finished today.
So, as of today, yes, kamalaharris's has enough votes to be
the official nominee for theDemocratic Party for president.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I saw that because I thought it was official.
Once.
Everything was like first, allthe money that was being raised,
the people that were rallyingtogether, I was like, well, who
else Did you think it was goingto be her, though, when he
stepped aside?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So no, Well, I was actually very happy that he did
step aside.
I mean I thought he could havewon anyway.
I was concerned that it waslate in the race.
I'm glad that he basically saidyou know, harris is up next,
and people came out in fullforce with her.
She did an amazing thing ofgetting so many people behind
her in like 48 hours.
Yay, because there were a lotof people that wanted to have an
(04:00):
open convention, right.
So that means so the conventionis coming up, august 18th to
the 22nd.
It's coming up and that's whereall of these delegates about
4,000 people from around thecountry go and that's where a
lot of these official thingshappen.
There's going to be speeches.
We just saw the Republican onea couple weeks ago as well.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Oh see, I missed that , but I didn't know that was
going on.
Okay, so now the Democratic onehappened.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yes, Well, the Democratic one is coming, oh,
coming, okay okay, it'scomplicated.
It's so complicated.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
So the.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Democratic is coming.
It was a pre-one.
You did say pre, right.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So we did a pre-vote.
So the delegates did a pre-vote, which was scheduled under if
Biden was the nominee as well.
So they were going to vote tomake sure that they got all of
(04:54):
their paperwork in, essentiallyto get the candidate on the
ballot in Ohio, so that pre-workis all done.
There's going to be nocontentions in the convention.
So we're going to go and we'regoing to have a big rally as we
work to save democracy and electthe first female president.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yes and OK, so that voting happens and or is going
to happen.
But you know it's all in talksand then, you see, I saw that
once he said, maybe a couplecouple hours after Biden stepped
aside, that he was like Inominate Kamala.
There was talks about how therewere a bunch of black women
that got into a Zoom call.
Okay, and to me the story wasthat it started with a thousand,
(05:36):
because Zoom has a max of athousand participants, right?
So then what they did waswhoever was in charge of that,
and I heard there were like some, you know people with deep
pockets, also people who werelike because she was in a
sorority and I don't know whichone, but a lot of women from
that.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I think she's an alpha, kappa, alpha.
She's like the green and pinkone.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So women who were, yeah, I wouldn't know, I
wouldn't know, I wasn't in one,but I was like, okay, now you
know, knowing that women fromsororities stepped in and were
like with pockets becauseobviously they you know, these
are women who are successfulhave gone on to make money and
all of that they get a thousandparticipants.
Then they need more.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
But Zoom maxed out at a thousand.
So, okay, I think that there'sa couple of different stories
going on.
With this one, I know thatthere was a call for white women
that crashed Zoom.
They actually had to raise thelimit and I think that they had
raised the limit for the onewith black women as well, and
they were on the phone with,like, the CEO of Zoom to raise
the limit of it.
Yeah, and there's been a lot ofoutpouring of support.
(06:39):
I mean, I think it surprisedeverybody.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It surprised me.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, it surprised everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Great, I really did not think it was going to move
the needle the way it did, ohyeah, and it has moved the
needle.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
That's what's crazy about it, too, is that Harris is
moving the needle in theDemocratic direction.
She's closed the gap on.
The polling in all these swingstates moved a point or more.
The polling in all these swingstates moved a point or more and
now is less favorable to Trumpin those areas.
(07:12):
So it's it's pretty good.
It's pretty exciting.
We needed some excitement.
We really did, because I amsuch a fan of Joe Biden.
He's done so many good thingsthe infrastructure bill.
He has been a strong leader,has been a steady hand at the
head of the united states and,however, he's just not somebody
that younger folks were gettingbehind.
Right, he and no one wanted tosee a the battle of the two
(07:36):
oldest candidates again oh mygod, I know, and that was they
just didn't want to see it.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
No, and it did.
It was pitiful next week, whichis why I also think this was
refreshing for Kamala to step in, because now Trump is the old
man at the podium.
They're supposed to debate.
I thought, of course, if you'regoing to be a presidential
candidate, it's mandatory, youhave to debate.
(08:02):
Why is that not mandatory?
Well, nothing's mandatory.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I mean, when you're running for president, they get
to kind of decide how things go.
Like there was a presidentialdebate that was scheduled
between Biden and Trump, right,and Trump pulled out and said,
okay, I'm not going to do thatbecause now she's not the
official nominee.
Now, like I said, as of today,she's had enough votes, she's
the official nominee, right, butwe also think that Trump
(08:29):
doesn't want to face her.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I don't think he does , because I think she will like
run him over.
I really do think verbally andwith just the knowledge that she
has, I think she'll run circlesaround him and of course he
can't look weak, like that'sjust not in his nature.
So that's also why I think thatpeople are so excited, because
it's like, okay, well now, whatcan you say about her?
and then the Montel Williamsstuff with Kamala, like she used
(08:53):
to date him and you know she'sin this like nice satin dress,
looking like a baddie, by theway, I was like I would wear
that outfit and do my hair justlike that, and I'm like you know
they're trying to shame her forthat and I'm like that to me I
love that about her, that shehad those moments in her life.
Like that doesn't take awayfrom her intelligence, from her
(09:14):
experience being an attorneygeneral Right In this, a senator
like you know you don't justget there.
Well, I shouldn't say that, butI do think that she earned her
way there.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You don't just get there.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Well, I shouldn't say that but I do think that she
earned her way there over timeand learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I'll say one of the things that has been very
disappointing for me is how manysexist attacks I've seen on her
, and this was actually evenbefore she became the nominee.
I was seeing memes like verydisgusting memes, trying to say
that she slapped her way to thetop and stuff like that, and I
was just like why is that thedefault when there's a
(09:49):
successful woman?
Why is it not ever that there'sa woman and she's got this
amazing record and she's doneall these amazing things?
Why is it that she's?
You know that she's sleepingher way to the top and it's just
.
It is so disgusting to me and Ikeep seeing these things go
around and I just want to telleverybody stop it.
You look stupid very stupid.
(10:09):
You look stupid, you soundstupid, no, yeah, well, I mean
it is if like that's all you got, that's all you got.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I know and, and, and.
If that's the case, well then,shame those men for being weak
and that's all it took for themto give her an opportunity.
Okay, you know instead of her,if it wasn't her, her expertise,
her experience, and you knowwhat she could do, so, yeah, and
I saw a good flip of thenarrative on that.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
as said, we should stop saying that women slept
their way to the top and saythat men are withholding uh
positions, yup.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yup and positions yes .
Speaker 2 (10:38):
For sexual favors real thing.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Let's not pretend, it doesn't right it's not a you
know, we made that up.
No, we didn't make that up.
I don't think I could speak toone woman that wouldn't um say
that they've been through atleast one experience of that, of
thinking that you know thisopportunity they were going for
was something that just likebased off of mary or based off
of their talent, and and itturns out like no, you're gonna
need to give more than just thatif you want this position.
(11:03):
But that's for another day.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
For sure, now, okay, jd Vance what's his name again
like Jim Bowman.
I mean he's got so many namesnow and then he became like an
author and now he's got a newname.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So see I don't know all I.
The little bit that I've heardof him in the few moments of him
speaking everything I have tolike it takes everything in me
to be like how does not everyonesee that this is horrible for
the whole country?
I mean especially like a womanlike me with no kids, no cats,
but with no kids You're not evena cat lady.
Where am I in this?
(11:39):
What do I do?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But you must live such a sad life.
The opposite, the contrary.
But yeah, if you ask him I'm,what do I do?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
But you must live such a sad life as a the
opposite, the contrary, right.
But yeah, if you ask him, I'mmiserable and my vote shouldn't
be Right and your vote doesn'tcount, right.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, actually, the only thing I have to say about
that is that this is actuallyputting on front street what has
been said behind closed doorsfor a long time, especially
among the far-right evangelicalmovement.
There has been this movement.
There was a vote in Texas tomove back to the household vote,
so that means that you wouldn'tget a vote because you don't
(12:12):
really count as a household, butit would be the one vote for
the household the man, the wifeand all the kids and stuff.
There's this wholeanti-feminism thing, this whole
thing about putting women back.
It's tied into the birthcontrol and the abortion debates
because it's all aboutreturning the public realm to
(12:33):
men.
Yep, according to this very,very narrow interpretation of
Christianity, and it's horrible.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Yeah, it's horrible, and especially Project 2025.
What the hell is this okay,because they're, and then
they're saying that they're,they have no, uh, they're,
they're not affiliated withright now they're like what?
What?
What's project 2025?
Meanwhile, like tens and I'msaying tens of it, it's probably
more, but tens of like the, thepeople who are a part of
(13:03):
project 2025, the, the, whateveris in that, that paperwork.
They used to work for trump.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Right, there were trump Tens of, and it's probably
more, but tens of, like thepeople who are a part of Project
2025, whatever is in thatpaperwork they used to work for
Trump Right.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
There were Trump administration employees yeah,
correct Like tens of them.
This isn't just like one or two, no, right, no, so you know.
So there were so many, and nowTrump's, like I don't know who
these people are, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I least he's smart enough to realize that that's
bad, like it's bad, and becausehere's the thing.
So in Trump's firstpresidential term, nobody
thought he was going to win andso there was no plan.
It was just like, oh my gosh,this guy won and he's kind of a
nut and he's going to do allthis stuff.
And he tried to go in there anddo it, but there were still a
(13:42):
lot of institutional people,people that knew how the
government works, telling themlike, hey, you can't do that,
hey, that's illegal.
What Project 2025 does iseliminates the guesswork and
says, hey, this is what we'regoing to do.
It's an agenda for the farright, for far right fiscal
conservatives, for actuallyextreme libertarianism.
(14:02):
It's that stemmed out of theworld that we've seen in the Tea
Party movement that goes allthe way back to the John Birch
Society actually, where freedom,by the way, is freedom of
property, and that includes theproperty of other humans that
you may own.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Why did I know that was the direction I was going?
We're talking about property.
I already know women areproperty in this.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Women met and enslaved people, black people,
yeah, so it's really and that'swhy the labor stuff is all
wrapped into it, because that'swhere this initially had started
was this idea, this rebellingagainst the concept that I'm a
landowner, so why can't I justput anything on it, take all the
resources and do with whomeveron my land whatever I want?
(14:46):
So I mean, it's actually a lotmore insidious than it is on
face, but it's a plan that hasbeen put in place that is there
to hand over to Trump, so thatthey can have only loyalists in
place and they can put all thesedraconian rules in.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So, and then you just reminded me how Trump had said
you know he's telling Christiansto vote.
I wanted your thoughts on this.
He tells Christians to vote.
Christians, go on and vote.
This is going to be the lasttime you have to vote.
After this, you won't have tovote again.
And now he has gone to explainthat.
But what did you take from that?
When he said that, when hefirst said you're not going to
have to do this again?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
he's telegraphing his dictatorship, right?
That's what it is.
It's like don't, don't worry,you're never gonna have to vote
again.
That's what it sounded like tome same, and he actually kind of
doubled down on it and was likeoh no, but it's gonna be so
great, you'll never have to voteagain yes, that's what he tried
to explain it as that he wassaying I mean, here's the thing
every time somebody tries toexplain what trump meant,
(15:46):
they're usually wrong.
He meant what he said.
Yes, that's why he said itright.
And here's the thing, even withthat subtext of like oh, maybe
you know, I'm gonna be adictator on the first day, ha ha
ha, and don't worry, you're notgonna have to vote again.
It's all plausible deniabilityfor him.
But let's be real about whatthe plan is.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Yeah, and that's what I see that direct.
I'm like he is telling us thatTrump does not say anything,
that he does not want to say andthat he does not mean.
And you know, and him beinglike I mean I just see so many
other things with him has nobodynoticed that he always says
he's the greatest and everythinghe does is the greatest and it
was the best and it was the most.
And even though the numbersdon't show that, does nobody
notice that for every singlesubject, he says that.
(16:27):
Do you know who else does that?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Who?
Kim Jong-un, kim Jong-il.
You know the dynasty in NorthKorea.
That's what they live on,that's what dictators do.
They are the best, they are thegreatest.
You know they tell the story ofthe hole in one that you know
Kim Jong-un got the very firsttime that he picked up a golf
(16:48):
club.
Right, I mean it, but it's,it's a glorification, I mean.
That's what the point is isit's to make it so you don't
believe your eyes anymore.
So you question all of theinformation and you put all of
your stock into the dear leader.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, I see, and I just I, just I see that and that
I'm like you can't be thegreatest at everything, okay, it
couldn't have been the bestevery single time you need to
say admit one time you failed,okay, then maybe I can listen to
everything else you say, but Ihaven't heard that.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yet it's not about you know.
It's not about the truth.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Yeah, it's about perception you're right
perception influence and andhe's got a lot of that.
He, he did.
I think I don't.
I'm glad that I feel like it'sgoing in a different direction
now.
I do think that they're veryconcerned right now with Kamala
jumping in where it's like oh,this is, I think you don't think
they're like kind of.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh yeah, I mean they're.
They're worried because theyhad their Right, they were ready
to run against Biden.
So all they got is like you'rea woman or you're not black.
Look at this photo of Montel.
That was this weekend.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, her not being black and that whole thing.
Like she says, now she's black,apparently she's black.
I couldn't believe he wassaying that in front of nothing
but black people.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
All the black journalists, yeah, uh-huh.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
And so I was so happy with the way they handled him
on that though.
But yeah, he and he just saysit and I'm like nobody's gonna
punch him in the face, but okay,I guess that sounds a little
like.
You know, I don't want to call,I didn't feel like it was
racist, but maybe it is, but Ijust felt like it was ultimately
rude to say that right, I mean,yeah, speculating on anybody's
you know race is not appropriateetiquette.
(18:27):
It's just not like, what are wetalking about here?
You know, and but I could gointo more of that too, because
apparently he used to say, ordeny, his he's got some German
in his blood or something in hisDNA or his family line, and
that his, his family, had deniedit for years.
And there there's Omarosa wasthe one that brought this up
about a book that someone had inhis family wrote and mentioned
(18:49):
that, so anyway, so you know,you could go, they go back that
far, you could see all of thosethings you know.
But okay, so now let's talkabout her, kamala Harris's VP.
Uh, possible candidates, right,and there were several.
There were like I don't knowall of them, but I saw like at
least five or six men and thenone woman, um, and I don't know
a lot about, know all of them,but I saw like at least five or
(19:09):
six men and then one woman, um,and I don't know a lot about a
lot of them, but I did see acouple that I felt really good
about, okay, but just before weget into like one of the
candidates, so I noticed likethere's six maybe majority men
and then one woman, and I reallydon't.
I love that there was a womanthere, but I don't think two
women.
I don't think people are readyfor that.
I am, but I don't.
I love that there was a womanthere, but I don't think two
women.
I don't think people are readyfor that.
(19:31):
I am, but I don't think theworld is ready for two women.
As president and vice president.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I mean, at this point I was kind of like, let's just
go for the moonshot, becausethis is going to freak everybody
out anyway.
Oh, I like that.
That's why I was like, yeah,maybe we'll go.
Gretchen Whitmer was one of theconsidered, for she's the
governor of the state ofMichigan, or Pete Buttigieg, and
he's a gay man.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Oh wait, I've heard of Pete.
He's got nice hair.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
He does have nice hair.
He's secretary oftransportation.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Oh, okay, yeah, I liked what he was saying.
There was a couple interviewshe did and I liked him.
Did you get good vibes from him?
Oh?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
he's great, like he's very great, and he's always
good at holding Trumpaccountable and coming with
facts, and so that's why I likedhim.
I liked him when he was aDemocratic presidential
candidate as well.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah, he was a 2020 candidate.
I actually met his husband,chastain Buttigieg, here in
(20:32):
Naples, so, um, very interesting.
But I mean again, what is goingto make the far right's head
spin more than a black and southAsian woman as a lead on the
ticket and a gay man as herrunning mate?
Oh my God, yes, I don't know ifyou could get more woke than
that.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
You know they hate that.
It's not even woke, it's justlike they're qualified and
that's it.
But it does matter.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
They are, but it would.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, they would spin it to that for sure.
Oh, look at what wokeness isdoing.
You know we can't have a womanand a gay, Right, it's too much,
it's a bridge too far.
So were any of the candidatesstill for her VP pick?
So any of them stand out to youwhere you were like oh, it was
Pete then for you, right?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I really, you know I, like I said, been a fan for a
long time.
I think that they're probablygoing to go back to what I would
describe as like a traditionalstrategy with vice presidencies.
What would that?
look like Okay.
So usually when you pick yourvice president, you're picking
somebody who's going to balanceyour not only just your personal
qualities, but it's also aboutstates and where they can go in
(21:42):
and pick up additional votes,and especially swing states and
stuff like that.
So she's California.
California is going to be onlock for the Democrats.
Where is there an opportunityto pick up votes?
So if you get Beshear inKentucky, that would be an
opportunity for him.
He's the governor of Kentucky.
He's a Democrat.
That's a very mixed state aswell.
(22:04):
Would be interesting to getsome votes there.
A lot of people have theirmoney on Shapiro, who is the
governor of Pennsylvania, andPennsylvania is a swing state.
Pennsylvania is in play and hewould be able to bring a very
strong hand to the presidentialcampaign as her vice president.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I definitely want to look into him more Because I was
reading too.
So she doesn't have to make herannouncement for that pick for
the VP pick until August 19th.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Right, that's the Democratic National Convention,
but by all accounts they willlikely make the decision this
weekend.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Right, that's what I was saying.
She was going to do early.
But you know, someone pointedout like why do it earlier?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Like let all of these men go out there and praise you
, girl, you know, because theyhave to go out there and do the
interview I I actually thinkit's because of the ohio ballot
issue, so they have to have theticket on paper for ohio and I
think it's like august 10th isthe deadline I see.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
so I know I think it was the 7th or the 9th.
She's gonna do it a few daysbefore or days before the the 19
.
That's what it was saying.
I do want to introduce, though,because there was one possible
candidate that I did learn alittle bit about and I loved I
had to look into him, becausehe's the one that started the
they're weird.
They're weird calling, you know, the Republicans and Trump's
(23:24):
administration and all of them,Like they're just weird.
And it caught on, which I wasnot expecting either, because
I'm like that's such a smallthing to say.
It's a weird thing to say andfor them to get triggered by it
so badly that it was goingaround.
So we're going to put on ourheadphones and I want you to
hear what he had to say or howthat started.
I should say.
So we'll go into some of thisaudio right here.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
Yes, why do you think she's so much more competitive
in Minnesota than Joe Biden was?
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Well, good morning Jake.
Thanks for having me.
Look, there's a burst of energyout here.
Joe Biden, we've heard itdelivered across the board on so
many issues, but there's a newburst of energy.
I was at a labor rallyyesterday and I've not seen
anything like this for 15 years.
And what you saw out in StCloud yesterday with Donald
Trump and JD Vance is the sameold nonsense just, uh, talking
(24:16):
points and denigrating folks andand I think she's more, you
know, boosted because she'sbringing a positive vision look,
we care about what happens toyour kids, we care about the
environment, we care about jobcreation.
So it's just a whole new vibeto the campaign.
And I think these guys thereisn't going to be a pivot
because they don't have any newplans.
So this is what you're going tosee.
I think Minnesota alwayscompetitive, but we're certainly
(24:38):
going to win.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
So you've gotten some attention this week for calling
Trump and Vance and Republicansin general weird, and I think
that you're the one that setthis tone.
And there's this shift.
The Harris campaign seems to befollowing your lead, echoing
this language.
Why do you think weird is amore effective attack line
against Trump than whatDemocrats have been done
(25:00):
previously, which is argue thathe's he's an existential threat
to democracy.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yeah, and it's an observation on this, and I know,
being a school teacher, I see alot of things.
But my my point on this was ispeople kept talking about look,
donald trump is going to putwomen's lives at risk.
That's 100 true.
Donald trump is potentiallygoing to end constitutional
liberties that we have in votingI.
I do believe all those thingsare a real possibility, but it
gives him way too much power.
(25:26):
Listen to the guy.
He's talking, talking aboutHannibal Lecter and shocking
sharks and just whatever crazything pops into his mind.
And I thought we just gave himway too much credit, and I think
one of the things is is whenyou just ratchet down some of
the you know the scariness orwhatever and just name it what
it is I got to tell you.
My observation on this is haveyou ever seen the guy laugh?
(25:48):
That seems very weird to methat an adult can go through six
and a half years of being inthe public eye.
If he has laughed, it's atsomeone, not with someone.
That is weird behavior.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
I love that.
It's weird behavior.
It is weird behavior, buteverything he was calling it out
for and we can take off ourheadphones real quick, but yeah,
so he's calling them weird andthat's how it started.
But his background is that hewas a teacher.
His parents were teachers.
He comes from education.
He was also in the military.
His parents, he says, taughthim about kindness and caring
(26:20):
and community and those are hisvalues.
So I just really like the wayhe talks about them and he's
like it's just weird that theywant to be in your exam room.
It's weird that they want toyou know, uh, just know be in
your personal life, like that soI really liked him and I felt
like he he's like.
I would like to see him, but Idon't know how, how close he is
(26:40):
in the front running or any ofthat.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Um, I know that he is definitely, you know, in the
front running of it because ofhis capacity to speak like this.
Now, if we go back to thestrategy thing, minnesota is
pretty blue, so he doesn't bringin that strategic side of the
vice presidency pick, but he maybe a better messenger than the
(27:04):
other folks.
We don't know.
It's going to be ultimately upto, you know, harris and her
team and making sure that theyhave a strong ticket.
But I do like what he's sayingand I do agree with the concept
that they're weird and it doestake away the power.
It's something that I'veactually said a lot, even though
(27:26):
, deep down in my heart ofhearts, I am very worried.
Like you know, he is saying aswell, there's, there is actually
really threats, but it'ssomething like project 2025.
That's actually the threat.
So, if we have this huge pushcoming in behind Donald Trump
the dotard right Like you know,he doesn't.
You know he he, you know, throwsketchup around he you know he
(27:49):
says weird things.
He's got a lot of felonies.
He talks randomly about andrambles about stuff all the time
.
He himself is not a threat likethat.
It's what happens to all theinstitutions around him.
That's a threat and I do likethat.
You know, talking about howridiculous he is, how ridiculous
(28:09):
the team is, how ridiculous hishair is, how ridiculous his
spray tan is his stance forward?
That he never you know, henever smiles.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
That people who, in one sentence, will say, oh,
we're for law and order, andthen buy a t-shirt with a
mugshot of their presidentialcandidate right like I don't,
this is these things don't makesense, and calling that out, I
think, is a good strategy,that's what he's been doing, and
that's what I don't hear, whatI haven't heard before, which is
(28:39):
why I got so excited about him,because I'm like he's just
saying the things that we allknow, but he's on a platform to
say that and and and and and.
Say it with.
You know, there's no fearbehind it.
No, I don't care what happensto me, it's about the people,
it's about what's best foreverybody, and so whatever comes
with that, but he's thegovernor of Minnesota, yes, so I
(29:02):
really liked him, I liked whathe was saying.
But I'm looking forward to thiswith Kamala Harris.
I'm excited.
I think that I really do think.
If I can predict, I thinkKamala, kamala's going to win.
I don't know who her VP isgoing to be, but I know Kamala's
going to win.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yeah, I do too.
I feel very strong about it.
I feel the energy and I thinkthat we're going to see new
folks coming out.
We're going to get some ofthose young voters back Away
from some of the weak pointsfrom Joe Biden, including on
Gaza, where you know he had beenshedding support from people in
(29:40):
Michigan Muslim Americans andyoung people and voters of color
because they look at thesituation in Israel and Gaza as
apartheid, feeling that if we'regoing to allow that to happen
in another country and stand byan ally that is perpetrating
(30:01):
these type of atrocities youknow how easy is it that to
slide into affecting my lifehere in the United States and I
do understand that.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
I also just keep looking at, like everything that
if we allow Trump to go to toanother, another term,
everything that's going to betaken away, including like he's
still using that rhetoric of,like you know, women can kill
their babies at nine months.
And he says it like that.
You know like it's just so easythat information to be found
and to be educated on to speakcorrectly on it, that that's not
(30:32):
really not the case and ourrights are, you know, on the
line.
As women, you know the immunityfor police that terrifies me.
We've seen that there has to beaccountability there,
absolutely.
You know what happened withSonia Massey.
So they asked Trump about that,did you see, when they asked
him about what his thoughts wereon Sonia Massey?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I did not see his response.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
His response goes you know, I don't know much about
it Is that where she threw thewater and he does a motion where
, like of her throwing theboiling pot of water, which, if
you look at it there, you knowsome people say she did, some
people, depending on what videoyou saw, if she did or if she
didn't.
There was a whole lot more thatwent on, but I found it
interesting that he thought,well, oh, if this is the the
(31:16):
you're talking about, let'sstart with her and automatically
make her seem like she deservedto be shot in the head, in the
face, because she threwallegedly she threw water,
instead of saying, oh, beginningwith, is this the story about
the police officers and they goto her home?
And how do you not know aboutit?
Speaker 2 (31:33):
It's national news for weeks he did, clearly he did
he did right, but he but.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
But I also thought that he wanted to frame her as
the perpetrator and I alsothought it was backhanded to to
just like black people ingeneral, especially in that
setting, to be like I don't knowabout it.
How, what do you mean?
Like knowing that he's lying,you still have to have, I feel
like it was.
It was crazy to not acknowledgethat and pretend like I don't
really know what to talk about.
(31:58):
Yes, you do.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah Well, so I think you were correct earlier when
you said that Trump is alwaysintentional about how he says
and frames these things.
He was absolutely trying to setthat up as, oh, that lady who
did that?
He knew, just like he knewabout Project 2025 and all this
other stuff.
But I think it's also importantto remember that the truth
(32:19):
doesn't matter to Trump.
We already know that he, youknow, he, you know they created
the you know a whole newuniverse of it, because the
point that they make is that thetruth is what they say when
they say it.
So, and you got people that arehooked into that.
So the the point and, by the way, if you want to throw in, like,
why is this a whole thing?
(32:39):
This is a whole psyops thing.
This has been happening in thiscountry at the hands of Russian
operatives and Chineseoperatives.
They are some of the biggestplaces who are producing this
disinformation in the UnitedStates, with the point of
confusing people, yes, andmaking it harder for people to
(32:59):
make a decision because theydon't know what the real
information is, to muddy thewaters and to make it so that
people don't want to votebecause they don't feel like
they have a clear understandingof things.
So Trump plays into that,because voter suppression means
he wins, right, right.
So the more apathy, the moreconfused people are, the less
(33:20):
likely they are to vote and themore likely Trump will win.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yeah, I definitely agree with that.
I see him doing that too, whereI'm like, oh my God, I hear a
lot of people too say I'm notgoing to go vote, it doesn't
matter, and I don't know how toconvince them.
I don't know, I always feellike you're a goner at that
point when you're just like yougave up your vote.
Um, I don't know, what do yousay to people Like have you ever
been able to convince someonewho was like I'm not voting, and
(33:44):
then convince them to just vote, not for your side or other,
just vote?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Yeah, yeah, you do.
I mean, you know.
First of all, I usually saylisten, I understand, I
understand that you don't wantto vote.
I understand the apathy, Iunderstand that you know.
You see the president, and it'susually white guy after white
guy after white guy, and yourlife doesn't really change, no
matter what happens.
What I usually say to folks isdon't worry about the president.
(34:11):
Actually, you know, a lot oftimes I said look at what is
actually happening in yourcommunity, because votes for
city council, votes for countycommission, votes for the state
legislature are actually moreimportant to your everyday life.
So if you're worried about yourstreet flooding and not having
lighting and stuff like that,then you need to look at who's
(34:33):
on city council.
And so usually I talk to peopleabout that.
Like get to know these folks.
These are your neighbors andare they good people?
Are they representative of you?
And that's how you make achange in your community.
You shouldn't be looking at thetop thinking that it's going to
change your life down here.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Well see, you know where I see that, where it's
like people would take.
That for me is like, oh see, itdoesn't matter.
It doesn't matter about upthere, but I do think it does.
It matters in both areaslocally, in your own communities
(35:08):
.
But for me, trump, being apresident, it means I'm going to
lose my rights as a woman.
I am not, I'm not going to havemy own choices on my own, my
own health care, my own umreproductive system, you know,
and, and I think that there'sgoing to be laws that are really
going to make, force me tomaybe possibly be in a situation
where I, you know, end uppregnant, I decide I don't want
it.
Well, now it's not even allowed.
You don't even have a choice.
You have to have this.
(35:28):
And that scares the crap out ofme, because I purposely have
not had kids, because I don'tfor me, I'm not ready
financially.
I don't want to deal with thatLike I don't.
I would.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
They're messy.
Make your car smell.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
And like I do that, enough for myself, but I have
purposely chosen not to havekids for so many reasons, but
especially financially, like.
So to me, that scares mebecause mistakes happen, things
happen.
But also, again, with thepolice immunity.
That scares me because then Ifeel less safe and even me,
being a latina woman, like I,still would not feel safer
(36:05):
knowing that.
And, um, there's so many others.
And the environment?
He doesn't give a crap aboutthat.
You know, I care about ourenvironment, I care about the
future of it.
So there's just so many.
That's why to me it matters,because he would, depending on
who's president they're going toallow bills, allow, you know,
laws to pass.
Uh, that would, would affect mylife, don't you think?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah.
So this election more thananywhere at any time else
actually.
So, because what we've seen isSupreme court decisions come
down where now presidents havealmost blanket immunity to do
anything as long as it's anofficial act, and that means
that presidents can break thelaw during their presidency.
That's something that was justdecided this summer by the
(36:48):
Supreme Court, by the threejustices that Donald Trump put
in.
So we're actually in a time nowwhere voting for president
matters more than any time else.
But before we used to haveinstitutional protections and
you could always say, well,congress is going to vote on
this and the Senate's going tovote on that, and that will
still be true to a certainextent.
(37:08):
But what we see with Project2025 is actually the president's
expansion of powers, and thecapacity of that to happen is
now the door's wide open.
Essentially, the door is wideopen because the Supreme court
has made that decision onpresidential immunity.
They don't have to follow therules anymore.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
And why would we want that?
Like, why don't?
We don't want that?
So what?
So right there, like you cannotto me, it's like.
That scares me, because yougive someone unlimited power and
no consequences for that.
I mean, what will they do?
There's nothing they can't do,and already they're showing me
they're not in favor of doingthings that matter to me.
(37:48):
It would be good for me.
So that scares the crap out ofme.
But I do want to talk to you,because I bring it down to the
local level too, because, as Iintroduced you, you know you're
here, you're running for FortMyers, ward 4, and that's going
on right now.
Can you tell me about that?
Like, what are?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
you up to.
Okay.
So that campaign is for Ward 4.
So that includes downtown FortMyers River District and then up
McGregor, basically almost toColonial.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
And that little section in between 41 and
McGregor and there's a littlebit.
There's a little bit behind themall and it's going well.
I've been going out knockingdoors in the community.
I actually just sent someChristmas cards so because we
had a Christmas in July partyand we were sending Christmas
cards to voters.
(38:38):
So if you get a randomChristmas card, it's probably
from me, dr Cindy Vanier,because we were trying to find
innovative ways to get peopleexcited about voting and we
thought you know what Peoplemight open a Christmas card yeah
actually no, that doesn't makesense and put a little like a
little gusher in there orstarburst.
So my daughter was actuallydrawing pictures, so some of you
will get, like, hand-drawnpictures from my daughter, evie,
(39:00):
so you're welcome, but, yeah,so this is about, you know,
focusing on the people of FortMyers, because, as we've seen
over this past couple of weeks,some data came out that we're
like the fastest growing smallcity in the country.
We have like 6.3% growthannually, and we have a lot of
people coming here, and that'sreally great.
(39:22):
And what we need to keepfocused on, though, is the
people of Fort Myers, and notjust the tourists, not just the
visitors, not just the snowbirds, Because we keep making policy
that puts these shiny objects upthere.
Right, like, currently, thereis a project going on on
McGregor, right in front of theEdison Estates, and it is
(39:47):
putting some fancy bricks justso happens to be in front of the
mansion of my opponent on thestreet that bears his name.
I'm sure it's just acoincidence, yeah, no, not a
coincidence, it's a priorityissue, right?
So how many times have we shutdown McGregor to put in these
beautification projects?
Mcgregor has been shut down andredone four times in the last
(40:10):
10 years.
Were there other areas of thecity that are being neglected?
I have to walk on the side ofthe road, in a very, very small
road, just to get my daughter toschool in the morning, because
there's no sidewalk there andthere are places that still
don't have lights replaced fromthe hurricane, and we keep
(40:32):
putting the priority on whatlooks good for the tourists, I
see, and that's wrong, that'swrong.
I think.
I think that we need to put thepriority on the people of Fort
Myers.
I think that as we're doingdevelopment, we should
prioritize the residents thatare living there, not bringing
in new people.
That's, by the way,gentrification, that's what that
(40:54):
is.
So if you're not doing that,you get gentrification.
So there is a big push rightnow.
I mean, I think it's great andredevelopment is great and we
see good things happening on theMcGregor, on the Martin Luther
King Corridor, right.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Is that recently?
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, and downtown.
And now there's anotherredevelopment area on US 41 that
actually goes through Ward 4.
So that's your Edison Mall kindof area right, which we need
some attention.
We agree with that.
What we don't want to see is wedon't want to see residents
who've lived there be pushed outbecause the prices and the
rents go too high, and we don'twant to see profiteering
(41:29):
landlords feel like they have tojack up the prices because oh
now it's a nice neighborhood,right, and that's what
gentrification is, and it's apolicy decision.
And what we have right now is alot of good old boys that are on
the city council, that are onthe county commission.
They prioritize developers, sothey want to see high end luxury
(41:52):
development.
We don't have a real emphasison affordable housing.
We don't have an emphasis onattainable housing.
We don't have an emphasis onattainable housing.
We don't have an emphasis onworkforce housing.
So people who are regular folks, who make up, by the way, the
majority of our workers, arepeople who are working in retail
and small shops and hospitalityand stuff like that, which does
(42:13):
not pay.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Well, it does not pay a lot.
You're going to need a few ofthose jobs to make ends meet.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
They're already being pushed out of the city, and
it's not right.
It's not right, it's not goodpolicy, it's not ethical.
Just to say, oh, we want to bea bigger, fancier city, so we're
only going to be putting infancy developments, we're only
going to be prioritized luxuryhousing.
And I know I've talked a lot onthis.
(42:39):
But the other thing that'sreally grinding my gears at the
moment is taking city propertyand giving it to private
companies.
We've seen this on the RiverDistrict this is Ward 4, too a
whole bunch of times.
You know we have theamphitheater downtown right, yes
, okay, it's beautiful I love it.
I love the park there.
It yes, okay, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I love it.
I love the park there.
It's very new.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
It is new A couple years, a few years, something
like that yeah.
Do you know who makes the moneyfor that?
Who?
I have no idea.
Luminary Hotel.
Luminary Hotel is a privatecompany.
Oh, luminary Hotel was built onland that was city land that
was supposed to be a park.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
So when it's city land, that means that it's
obviously not meant to be liketo build a hotel on.
It's more like what you said,like a park or what are the city
land, what are they?
What should?
Speaker 2 (43:25):
they be doing with city land?
Well, it should be for publicgood.
So if it's sold for public good, that's OK.
If it's developed for publicuse, that's OK.
There was actually a delay inthe building of the Luminary
Hotel because the family thatgave that property to the city
stopped it and said look, thisis supposed to be a park.
That's why our family gave itto the city.
(43:46):
We do not approve of it beingused and sold to a for-profit
company.
And it got tied up in courts.
And then the developers andtheir big lawyers prevailed.
And now we have a similarsituation going on with the Hall
of the 50 States downtown.
What is that?
So that's next to the Luminary,you know there's like kind of a
big field, yes.
(44:07):
And then there's this oldbuilding there.
That's a historic building.
Okay, they have taken RFPs forthat, and their top rated
proposal from the city staff wasto actually move the historic
building off that property andthen sell it to a private
developer.
And for basically like apittance too.
(44:28):
By the way, what is it?
Wait, what does pittance mean?
Pittance?
Like a small amount, like theywanted $400,000.
Like you can barely even buy ahouse in the city of Fort Myers,
let alone waterfront propertydowntown Fort Myers.
Yeah, I know Right.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
My mouth is too open.
Dropped right now, Right.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Right, because that yeah, and again.
So it goes against the vibethat we've been building in the
city of Fort Myers as a historicdowntown and what you're going
to have is only people who canafford this luxury property be
able to enjoy the waterfront,and it's going to take away that
area.
Because, by the way, anotherthing that's been snuck in is
(45:10):
the redevelopment of the yachtbasin down there again to a
private company.
So that's again city propertyand had been available for boat
flips and people you know wouldbe able to go in there.
It hasn't been in use since thehurricane and now they have
plans and developers ready toput in again another big luxury
development there.
They want to put in somethingthat looks like marina jacks up
(45:33):
in saras, which is a lovelyplace.
However, we are slowly, becauseof the city council, handing
away those public properties toprivate investors with very
little in return for the publicin the city of Fort Myers.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
That's the most important part Very little in
return, if nothing at all,because it's a private company.
They can decide.
You know, this is absolutelynot for the public, this is
every you know, only for highpaying customers or whatever it
may be.
But and then again, for thetourists, or, like you said,
it's just not for the peoplehere living in this community
(46:11):
who should be able to enjoysomething like that, you know,
and is that, would you say thatthat project is already like
written, signed, it's just inthe works, or can that be
stopped?
I mean what and how that?
Speaker 2 (46:21):
sorry, you didn't answer that yeah, how the heck
did this happen in the firstplace?
Well, it happened because wehave people who aren't really
looking out for the interests ofthe people of Fort Myers right
on council can we name names?
Speaker 1 (46:34):
no part of that project?
Speaker 2 (46:35):
um no so these are really difficult things for
regular people to get involvedin as part of it.
So we, you know there arethings like the Lee County, you
know, Historic PreservationSociety.
There's some activists that arelooking at this.
But I mean, you really have tobe diving in on the city council
agenda to be able to see thiskind of stuff, Do they have?
Speaker 1 (46:53):
meetings every month or something.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Yes, they do.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
We could just show up .
Speaker 2 (47:00):
Like, I don't need to buy a ticket, you can just show
up.
No, it's free.
Now, the times aren't alwaysvery accessible because I
believe they start at like 4 pm,so working folks have a hard
time getting to them as well.
And again, you're going to lookat this huge agenda and it's
really hard to understand.
So some of these process theYacht Basin one, I believe, has
been voted on already Again, theone where we gave away the
(47:21):
amphitheater downtown to theLuminary.
That's a done deal.
I believe that the Yacht Basinone has already been voted on.
Now.
The Hall of 50 States one isstill in process.
That will be coming up soon.
You can check out my Facebookpage, my Instagram.
I'm going to try to keepeverybody up to date on that.
It's hard, even for somebodywho's a watcher, for me to keep
(47:41):
up with it because so much ofthis happens and it's very
technical.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
I know it's a lot, but that's why I love that
you're here and that you canhelp at least give us some
direction, because otherwise I'mjust going in circles.
I have have no idea, but I knowit's important and I know that
you're very passionate about ourcommunity.
You really do show up and sheis always at the rallies or
anytime something's going down.
Cindy is there in person, youknow, ready to shout to the, to
(48:07):
the world about this, and that'swhat I love about her.
So learn about Dr Cindy Banyay.
Please follow her on hersocials.
Actually, can you tell themyour socials?
Speaker 2 (48:15):
yeah, so you can check out.
My website is cindybanyecom,that's B-A-N-Y-A-I.
And then you can find me cindyunderscore banye underscore F-L
on Twitter and Cindy Banye CindyLynn Banye for Fort Myers on
Facebook and Dr Cindy Banye onInstagram.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
And I will say because she has her own podcast
and it's about it's politicaland it would keep you at least
informed, especially locally.
So I highly recommend if youcould plug that yeah, absolutely
you can check out.
Speaker 2 (48:43):
Um, there's actually a host of podcasts I do on big
mouth media.
You can see more about that atbigmouthmediaflcom.
We host one called a democratand republican.
Walk intoa bar where we have ademocrat and republican.
We sit down, we talk about it.
We really focus it.
We really focus on local issues, particularly Cape Coral and
Fort Myers.
Speaker 1 (48:59):
Yes, and I've listened to it.
I love it because it's bothsides.
And her partner, who's aRepublican, sean, is great too.
I love his takes, and so Ihighly recommend it.
If you want to learn aboutpolitics and you're like me,
you're like oh, where do I start?
What's going on?
That is a great base to start.
You'll love it.
Check that out, dr.
Speaker 2 (49:21):
Cindy Banyan.
Thank you for joining Friendswith Brittany.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate it.
Welcome back to Brunch with Brittany.
I'm Brittany Gonzalez and I amso excited about today's episode
.
I have a special guest with mehere today.
I have, I want to say, she'slike my unofficial political
professor, like I go to her whenI want to know about politics
because you know, this girldoesn't know a lot, but she's
trying to learn.
(00:34):
And if you feel that way, thisis the episode for you and this
is the person to get yourinformation from.
I'm telling you you are goingto love her, please.
Welcome Dr Cindy Banyay.
Hey, hey girl.
Hey are gonna love her, pleasewelcome dr cindy banye.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Hey, hey, how's it going?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
oh my gosh thank you so much for coming on.
Of course, my pleasure.
You know I always hit you upwith questions about politics
because I don't know a lot, butI have learned so much since the
first time I came to you forstuff because of you, by the way
.
So, um, if you don't know, dr cCindy Banier, she is an amazing
political leader here in ourSouthwest Florida community.
She's running for a Fort MyersCity Council, ward 4, right,
(01:11):
that's correct?
Yes, so she is running that sheis here in our community.
She's the woman that's alwayslike I've been at rallies with
her for women's rights I'veheard her speak so passionately
about our infrastructure here insouthwest Florida, making sure
that it's safe and that it's uh,you know it's safe and it's a
great for not only just the kidsbut for elderly, which is also
(01:33):
something I never thought about.
Yeah, and, and I want to savethat too for, like, we're going
to get into all of that because,um, what it's so important and,
like I said, I'm learning somuch from you and I was like
when politics is starting to getentertaining again to me.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, it certainly has, the last month especially.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yes a lot has changed .
Okay, I feel like everybody waskind of like shoulders slumped
and like here we go, and I wasstill hoping that everybody
would just kind of like see thebigger picture of everything.
But I wanted to talk to youstarting off, so let's start
with biden stepping aside yeahsacrificing his political
(02:14):
aspirations and then nominatingkamala harris as, uh, the
democratic nominee yeah well.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So let me just say one thing about that.
That's hilarious.
I was on vacation with mychildren when that announcement
came out, you may see.
So like here, right here itsays don't die.
Today I was in the desert.
I was on a mountain with mychildren, had no idea it was
happening until I came down andhad service, because my phone
was like we had no service.
We're camping enjoying wildlife.
(02:42):
Right Came down and it was likeblowing up the phone's, going
crazy because Biden steppedaside.
So it was interesting, exciting.
What's funny also is that I'm adelegate to the Democratic
National Convention.
So now what does that mean?
So, okay, there's a ton of stuffgoing on, so buy this up the
(03:02):
side now.
We have an actual formalprocess in all the parties, but
the democratic party has aprocess through which they
nominate their official nominee,got it, and actually they had a
pre-process that finished today.
So, as of today, yes, kamalaharris's has enough votes to be
the official nominee for theDemocratic Party for president.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I saw that because I thought it was official.
Once.
Everything was like first, allthe money that was being raised,
the people that were rallyingtogether, I was like, well, who
else Did you think it was goingto be her, though, when he
stepped aside?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So no, Well, I was actually very happy that he did
step aside.
I mean I thought he could havewon anyway.
I was concerned that it waslate in the race.
I'm glad that he basically saidyou know, harris is up next,
and people came out in fullforce with her.
She did an amazing thing ofgetting so many people behind
her in like 48 hours.
Yay, because there were a lotof people that wanted to have an
(04:00):
open convention, right.
So that means so the conventionis coming up, august 18th to
the 22nd.
It's coming up and that's whereall of these delegates about
4,000 people from around thecountry go and that's where a
lot of these official thingshappen.
There's going to be speeches.
We just saw the Republican onea couple weeks ago as well.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Oh see, I missed that , but I didn't know that was
going on.
Okay, so now the Democratic onehappened.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yes, Well, the Democratic one is coming, oh,
coming, okay okay, it'scomplicated.
It's so complicated.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
So the.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Democratic is coming.
It was a pre-one.
You did say pre, right.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So we did a pre-vote.
So the delegates did a pre-vote, which was scheduled under if
Biden was the nominee as well.
So they were going to vote tomake sure that they got all of
(04:54):
their paperwork in, essentiallyto get the candidate on the
ballot in Ohio, so that pre-workis all done.
There's going to be nocontentions in the convention.
So we're going to go and we'regoing to have a big rally as we
work to save democracy and electthe first female president.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yes and OK, so that voting happens and or is going
to happen.
But you know it's all in talksand then, you see, I saw that
once he said, maybe a couplecouple hours after Biden stepped
aside, that he was like Inominate Kamala.
There was talks about how therewere a bunch of black women
that got into a Zoom call.
Okay, and to me the story wasthat it started with a thousand,
(05:36):
because Zoom has a max of athousand participants, right?
So then what they did waswhoever was in charge of that,
and I heard there were like some, you know people with deep
pockets, also people who werelike because she was in a
sorority and I don't know whichone, but a lot of women from
that.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I think she's an alpha, kappa, alpha.
She's like the green and pinkone.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So women who were, yeah, I wouldn't know, I
wouldn't know, I wasn't in one,but I was like, okay, now you
know, knowing that women fromsororities stepped in and were
like with pockets becauseobviously they you know, these
are women who are successfulhave gone on to make money and
all of that they get a thousandparticipants.
Then they need more.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
But Zoom maxed out at a thousand.
So, okay, I think that there'sa couple of different stories
going on.
With this one, I know thatthere was a call for white women
that crashed Zoom.
They actually had to raise thelimit and I think that they had
raised the limit for the onewith black women as well, and
they were on the phone with,like, the CEO of Zoom to raise
the limit of it.
Yeah, and there's been a lot ofoutpouring of support.
(06:39):
I mean, I think it surprisedeverybody.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It surprised me.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, it surprised everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Great, I really did not think it was going to move
the needle the way it did, ohyeah, and it has moved the
needle.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
That's what's crazy about it, too, is that Harris is
moving the needle in theDemocratic direction.
She's closed the gap on.
The polling in all these swingstates moved a point or more.
The polling in all these swingstates moved a point or more and
now is less favorable to Trumpin those areas.
(07:12):
So it's it's pretty good.
It's pretty exciting.
We needed some excitement.
We really did, because I amsuch a fan of Joe Biden.
He's done so many good thingsthe infrastructure bill.
He has been a strong leader,has been a steady hand at the
head of the united states and,however, he's just not somebody
that younger folks were gettingbehind.
Right, he and no one wanted tosee a the battle of the two
(07:36):
oldest candidates again oh mygod, I know, and that was they
just didn't want to see it.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
No, and it did.
It was pitiful next week, whichis why I also think this was
refreshing for Kamala to step in, because now Trump is the old
man at the podium.
They're supposed to debate.
I thought, of course, if you'regoing to be a presidential
candidate, it's mandatory, youhave to debate.
(08:02):
Why is that not mandatory?
Well, nothing's mandatory.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I mean, when you're running for president, they get
to kind of decide how things go.
Like there was a presidentialdebate that was scheduled
between Biden and Trump, right,and Trump pulled out and said,
okay, I'm not going to do thatbecause now she's not the
official nominee.
Now, like I said, as of today,she's had enough votes, she's
the official nominee, right, butwe also think that Trump
(08:29):
doesn't want to face her.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I don't think he does , because I think she will like
run him over.
I really do think verbally andwith just the knowledge that she
has, I think she'll run circlesaround him and of course he
can't look weak, like that'sjust not in his nature.
So that's also why I think thatpeople are so excited, because
it's like, okay, well now, whatcan you say about her?
and then the Montel Williamsstuff with Kamala, like she used
(08:53):
to date him and you know she'sin this like nice satin dress,
looking like a baddie, by theway, I was like I would wear
that outfit and do my hair justlike that, and I'm like you know
they're trying to shame her forthat and I'm like that to me I
love that about her, that shehad those moments in her life.
Like that doesn't take awayfrom her intelligence, from her
(09:14):
experience being an attorneygeneral Right In this, a senator
like you know you don't justget there.
Well, I shouldn't say that, butI do think that she earned her
way there.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
You don't just get there.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Well, I shouldn't say that but I do think that she
earned her way there over timeand learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I'll say one of the things that has been very
disappointing for me is how manysexist attacks I've seen on her
, and this was actually evenbefore she became the nominee.
I was seeing memes like verydisgusting memes, trying to say
that she slapped her way to thetop and stuff like that, and I
was just like why is that thedefault when there's a
(09:49):
successful woman?
Why is it not ever that there'sa woman and she's got this
amazing record and she's doneall these amazing things?
Why is it that she's?
You know that she's sleepingher way to the top and it's just
.
It is so disgusting to me and Ikeep seeing these things go
around and I just want to telleverybody stop it.
You look stupid very stupid.
(10:09):
You look stupid, you soundstupid, no, yeah, well, I mean
it is if like that's all you got, that's all you got.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I know and, and, and.
If that's the case, well then,shame those men for being weak
and that's all it took for themto give her an opportunity.
Okay, you know instead of her,if it wasn't her, her expertise,
her experience, and you knowwhat she could do, so, yeah, and
I saw a good flip of thenarrative on that.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
as said, we should stop saying that women slept
their way to the top and saythat men are withholding uh
positions, yup.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yup and positions yes .
Speaker 2 (10:38):
For sexual favors real thing.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Let's not pretend, it doesn't right it's not a you
know, we made that up.
No, we didn't make that up.
I don't think I could speak toone woman that wouldn't um say
that they've been through atleast one experience of that, of
thinking that you know thisopportunity they were going for
was something that just likebased off of mary or based off
of their talent, and and itturns out like no, you're gonna
need to give more than just thatif you want this position.
(11:03):
But that's for another day.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
For sure, now, okay, jd Vance what's his name again
like Jim Bowman.
I mean he's got so many namesnow and then he became like an
author and now he's got a newname.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So see I don't know all I.
The little bit that I've heardof him in the few moments of him
speaking everything I have tolike it takes everything in me
to be like how does not everyonesee that this is horrible for
the whole country?
I mean especially like a womanlike me with no kids, no cats,
but with no kids You're not evena cat lady.
Where am I in this?
(11:39):
What do I do?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But you must live such a sad life.
The opposite, the contrary.
But yeah, if you ask him I'm,what do I do?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
But you must live such a sad life as a the
opposite, the contrary, right.
But yeah, if you ask him, I'mmiserable and my vote shouldn't
be Right and your vote doesn'tcount, right.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, actually, the only thing I have to say about
that is that this is actuallyputting on front street what has
been said behind closed doorsfor a long time, especially
among the far-right evangelicalmovement.
There has been this movement.
There was a vote in Texas tomove back to the household vote,
so that means that you wouldn'tget a vote because you don't
(12:12):
really count as a household, butit would be the one vote for
the household the man, the wifeand all the kids and stuff.
There's this wholeanti-feminism thing, this whole
thing about putting women back.
It's tied into the birthcontrol and the abortion debates
because it's all aboutreturning the public realm to
(12:33):
men.
Yep, according to this very,very narrow interpretation of
Christianity, and it's horrible.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Yeah, it's horrible, and especially Project 2025.
What the hell is this okay,because they're, and then
they're saying that they're,they have no, uh, they're,
they're not affiliated withright now they're like what?
What?
What's project 2025?
Meanwhile, like tens and I'msaying tens of it, it's probably
more, but tens of like the, thepeople who are a part of
(13:03):
project 2025, the, the, whateveris in that, that paperwork.
They used to work for trump.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Right, there were trump Tens of, and it's probably
more, but tens of, like thepeople who are a part of Project
2025, whatever is in thatpaperwork they used to work for
Trump Right.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
There were Trump administration employees yeah,
correct Like tens of them.
This isn't just like one or two, no, right, no, so you know.
So there were so many, and nowTrump's, like I don't know who
these people are, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I least he's smart enough to realize that that's
bad, like it's bad, and becausehere's the thing.
So in Trump's firstpresidential term, nobody
thought he was going to win andso there was no plan.
It was just like, oh my gosh,this guy won and he's kind of a
nut and he's going to do allthis stuff.
And he tried to go in there anddo it, but there were still a
(13:42):
lot of institutional people,people that knew how the
government works, telling themlike, hey, you can't do that,
hey, that's illegal.
What Project 2025 does iseliminates the guesswork and
says, hey, this is what we'regoing to do.
It's an agenda for the farright, for far right fiscal
conservatives, for actuallyextreme libertarianism.
(14:02):
It's that stemmed out of theworld that we've seen in the Tea
Party movement that goes allthe way back to the John Birch
Society actually, where freedom,by the way, is freedom of
property, and that includes theproperty of other humans that
you may own.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Why did I know that was the direction I was going?
We're talking about property.
I already know women areproperty in this.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Women met and enslaved people, black people,
yeah, so it's really and that'swhy the labor stuff is all
wrapped into it, because that'swhere this initially had started
was this idea, this rebellingagainst the concept that I'm a
landowner, so why can't I justput anything on it, take all the
resources and do with whomeveron my land whatever I want?
(14:46):
So I mean, it's actually a lotmore insidious than it is on
face, but it's a plan that hasbeen put in place that is there
to hand over to Trump, so thatthey can have only loyalists in
place and they can put all thesedraconian rules in.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So, and then you just reminded me how Trump had said
you know he's telling Christiansto vote.
I wanted your thoughts on this.
He tells Christians to vote.
Christians, go on and vote.
This is going to be the lasttime you have to vote.
After this, you won't have tovote again.
And now he has gone to explainthat.
But what did you take from that?
When he said that, when hefirst said you're not going to
have to do this again?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
he's telegraphing his dictatorship, right?
That's what it is.
It's like don't, don't worry,you're never gonna have to vote
again.
That's what it sounded like tome same, and he actually kind of
doubled down on it and was likeoh no, but it's gonna be so
great, you'll never have to voteagain yes, that's what he tried
to explain it as that he wassaying I mean, here's the thing
every time somebody tries toexplain what trump meant,
(15:46):
they're usually wrong.
He meant what he said.
Yes, that's why he said itright.
And here's the thing, even withthat subtext of like oh, maybe
you know, I'm gonna be adictator on the first day, ha ha
ha, and don't worry, you're notgonna have to vote again.
It's all plausible deniabilityfor him.
But let's be real about whatthe plan is.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Yeah, and that's what I see that direct.
I'm like he is telling us thatTrump does not say anything,
that he does not want to say andthat he does not mean.
And you know, and him beinglike I mean I just see so many
other things with him has nobodynoticed that he always says
he's the greatest and everythinghe does is the greatest and it
was the best and it was the most.
And even though the numbersdon't show that, does nobody
notice that for every singlesubject, he says that.
(16:27):
Do you know who else does that?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Who?
Kim Jong-un, kim Jong-il.
You know the dynasty in NorthKorea.
That's what they live on,that's what dictators do.
They are the best, they are thegreatest.
You know they tell the story ofthe hole in one that you know
Kim Jong-un got the very firsttime that he picked up a golf
(16:48):
club.
Right, I mean it, but it's,it's a glorification, I mean.
That's what the point is isit's to make it so you don't
believe your eyes anymore.
So you question all of theinformation and you put all of
your stock into the dear leader.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, I see, and I just I, just I see that and that
I'm like you can't be thegreatest at everything, okay, it
couldn't have been the bestevery single time you need to
say admit one time you failed,okay, then maybe I can listen to
everything else you say, but Ihaven't heard that.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yet it's not about you know.
It's not about the truth.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Yeah, it's about perception you're right
perception influence and andhe's got a lot of that.
He, he did.
I think I don't.
I'm glad that I feel like it'sgoing in a different direction
now.
I do think that they're veryconcerned right now with Kamala
jumping in where it's like oh,this is, I think you don't think
they're like kind of.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh yeah, I mean they're.
They're worried because theyhad their Right, they were ready
to run against Biden.
So all they got is like you'rea woman or you're not black.
Look at this photo of Montel.
That was this weekend.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, her not being black and that whole thing.
Like she says, now she's black,apparently she's black.
I couldn't believe he wassaying that in front of nothing
but black people.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
All the black journalists, yeah, uh-huh.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
And so I was so happy with the way they handled him
on that though.
But yeah, he and he just saysit and I'm like nobody's gonna
punch him in the face, but okay,I guess that sounds a little
like.
You know, I don't want to call,I didn't feel like it was
racist, but maybe it is, but Ijust felt like it was ultimately
rude to say that right, I mean,yeah, speculating on anybody's
you know race is not appropriateetiquette.
(18:27):
It's just not like, what are wetalking about here?
You know, and but I could gointo more of that too, because
apparently he used to say, ordeny, his he's got some German
in his blood or something in hisDNA or his family line, and
that his, his family, had deniedit for years.
And there there's Omarosa wasthe one that brought this up
about a book that someone had inhis family wrote and mentioned
(18:49):
that, so anyway, so you know,you could go, they go back that
far, you could see all of thosethings you know.
But okay, so now let's talkabout her, kamala Harris's VP.
Uh, possible candidates, right,and there were several.
There were like I don't knowall of them, but I saw like at
least five or six men and thenone woman, um, and I don't know
a lot about, know all of them,but I saw like at least five or
(19:09):
six men and then one woman, um,and I don't know a lot about a
lot of them, but I did see acouple that I felt really good
about, okay, but just before weget into like one of the
candidates, so I noticed likethere's six maybe majority men
and then one woman, and I reallydon't.
I love that there was a womanthere, but I don't think two
women.
I don't think people are readyfor that.
I am, but I don't.
I love that there was a womanthere, but I don't think two
women.
I don't think people are readyfor that.
(19:31):
I am, but I don't think theworld is ready for two women.
As president and vice president.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I mean, at this point I was kind of like, let's just
go for the moonshot, becausethis is going to freak everybody
out anyway.
Oh, I like that.
That's why I was like, yeah,maybe we'll go.
Gretchen Whitmer was one of theconsidered, for she's the
governor of the state ofMichigan, or Pete Buttigieg, and
he's a gay man.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Oh wait, I've heard of Pete.
He's got nice hair.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
He does have nice hair.
He's secretary oftransportation.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Oh, okay, yeah, I liked what he was saying.
There was a couple interviewshe did and I liked him.
Did you get good vibes from him?
Oh?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
he's great, like he's very great, and he's always
good at holding Trumpaccountable and coming with
facts, and so that's why I likedhim.
I liked him when he was aDemocratic presidential
candidate as well.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah, he was a 2020 candidate.
I actually met his husband,chastain Buttigieg, here in
(20:32):
Naples, so, um, very interesting.
But I mean again, what is goingto make the far right's head
spin more than a black and southAsian woman as a lead on the
ticket and a gay man as herrunning mate?
Oh my God, yes, I don't know ifyou could get more woke than
that.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
You know they hate that.
It's not even woke, it's justlike they're qualified and
that's it.
But it does matter.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
They are, but it would.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, they would spin it to that for sure.
Oh, look at what wokeness isdoing.
You know we can't have a womanand a gay, Right, it's too much,
it's a bridge too far.
So were any of the candidatesstill for her VP pick?
So any of them stand out to youwhere you were like oh, it was
Pete then for you, right?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I really, you know I, like I said, been a fan for a
long time.
I think that they're probablygoing to go back to what I would
describe as like a traditionalstrategy with vice presidencies.
What would that?
look like Okay.
So usually when you pick yourvice president, you're picking
somebody who's going to balanceyour not only just your personal
qualities, but it's also aboutstates and where they can go in
(21:42):
and pick up additional votes,and especially swing states and
stuff like that.
So she's California.
California is going to be onlock for the Democrats.
Where is there an opportunityto pick up votes?
So if you get Beshear inKentucky, that would be an
opportunity for him.
He's the governor of Kentucky.
He's a Democrat.
That's a very mixed state aswell.
(22:04):
Would be interesting to getsome votes there.
A lot of people have theirmoney on Shapiro, who is the
governor of Pennsylvania, andPennsylvania is a swing state.
Pennsylvania is in play and hewould be able to bring a very
strong hand to the presidentialcampaign as her vice president.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
I definitely want to look into him more Because I was
reading too.
So she doesn't have to make herannouncement for that pick for
the VP pick until August 19th.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Right, that's the Democratic National Convention,
but by all accounts they willlikely make the decision this
weekend.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Right, that's what I was saying.
She was going to do early.
But you know, someone pointedout like why do it earlier?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Like let all of these men go out there and praise you
, girl, you know, because theyhave to go out there and do the
interview I I actually thinkit's because of the ohio ballot
issue, so they have to have theticket on paper for ohio and I
think it's like august 10th isthe deadline I see.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
so I know I think it was the 7th or the 9th.
She's gonna do it a few daysbefore or days before the the 19
.
That's what it was saying.
I do want to introduce, though,because there was one possible
candidate that I did learn alittle bit about and I loved I
had to look into him, becausehe's the one that started the
they're weird.
They're weird calling, you know, the Republicans and Trump's
(23:24):
administration and all of them,Like they're just weird.
And it caught on, which I wasnot expecting either, because
I'm like that's such a smallthing to say.
It's a weird thing to say andfor them to get triggered by it
so badly that it was goingaround.
So we're going to put on ourheadphones and I want you to
hear what he had to say or howthat started.
I should say.
So we'll go into some of thisaudio right here.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
Yes, why do you think she's so much more competitive
in Minnesota than Joe Biden was?
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Well, good morning Jake.
Thanks for having me.
Look, there's a burst of energyout here.
Joe Biden, we've heard itdelivered across the board on so
many issues, but there's a newburst of energy.
I was at a labor rallyyesterday and I've not seen
anything like this for 15 years.
And what you saw out in StCloud yesterday with Donald
Trump and JD Vance is the sameold nonsense just, uh, talking
(24:16):
points and denigrating folks andand I think she's more, you
know, boosted because she'sbringing a positive vision look,
we care about what happens toyour kids, we care about the
environment, we care about jobcreation.
So it's just a whole new vibeto the campaign.
And I think these guys thereisn't going to be a pivot
because they don't have any newplans.
So this is what you're going tosee.
I think Minnesota alwayscompetitive, but we're certainly
(24:38):
going to win.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
So you've gotten some attention this week for calling
Trump and Vance and Republicansin general weird, and I think
that you're the one that setthis tone.
And there's this shift.
The Harris campaign seems to befollowing your lead, echoing
this language.
Why do you think weird is amore effective attack line
against Trump than whatDemocrats have been done
(25:00):
previously, which is argue thathe's he's an existential threat
to democracy.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yeah, and it's an observation on this, and I know,
being a school teacher, I see alot of things.
But my my point on this was ispeople kept talking about look,
donald trump is going to putwomen's lives at risk.
That's 100 true.
Donald trump is potentiallygoing to end constitutional
liberties that we have in votingI.
I do believe all those thingsare a real possibility, but it
gives him way too much power.
(25:26):
Listen to the guy.
He's talking, talking aboutHannibal Lecter and shocking
sharks and just whatever crazything pops into his mind.
And I thought we just gave himway too much credit, and I think
one of the things is is whenyou just ratchet down some of
the you know the scariness orwhatever and just name it what
it is I got to tell you.
My observation on this is haveyou ever seen the guy laugh?
(25:48):
That seems very weird to methat an adult can go through six
and a half years of being inthe public eye.
If he has laughed, it's atsomeone, not with someone.
That is weird behavior.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
I love that.
It's weird behavior.
It is weird behavior, buteverything he was calling it out
for and we can take off ourheadphones real quick, but yeah,
so he's calling them weird andthat's how it started.
But his background is that hewas a teacher.
His parents were teachers.
He comes from education.
He was also in the military.
His parents, he says, taughthim about kindness and caring
(26:20):
and community and those are hisvalues.
So I just really like the wayhe talks about them and he's
like it's just weird that theywant to be in your exam room.
It's weird that they want toyou know, uh, just know be in
your personal life, like that soI really liked him and I felt
like he he's like.
I would like to see him, but Idon't know how, how close he is
(26:40):
in the front running or any ofthat.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Um, I know that he is definitely, you know, in the
front running of it because ofhis capacity to speak like this.
Now, if we go back to thestrategy thing, minnesota is
pretty blue, so he doesn't bringin that strategic side of the
vice presidency pick, but he maybe a better messenger than the
(27:04):
other folks.
We don't know.
It's going to be ultimately upto, you know, harris and her
team and making sure that theyhave a strong ticket.
But I do like what he's sayingand I do agree with the concept
that they're weird and it doestake away the power.
It's something that I'veactually said a lot, even though
(27:26):
, deep down in my heart ofhearts, I am very worried.
Like you know, he is saying aswell, there's, there is actually
really threats, but it'ssomething like project 2025.
That's actually the threat.
So, if we have this huge pushcoming in behind Donald Trump
the dotard right Like you know,he doesn't.
You know he he, you know, throwsketchup around he you know he
(27:49):
says weird things.
He's got a lot of felonies.
He talks randomly about andrambles about stuff all the time
.
He himself is not a threat likethat.
It's what happens to all theinstitutions around him.
That's a threat and I do likethat.
You know, talking about howridiculous he is, how ridiculous
(28:09):
the team is, how ridiculous hishair is, how ridiculous his
spray tan is his stance forward?
That he never you know, henever smiles.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
That people who, in one sentence, will say, oh,
we're for law and order, andthen buy a t-shirt with a
mugshot of their presidentialcandidate right like I don't,
this is these things don't makesense, and calling that out, I
think, is a good strategy,that's what he's been doing, and
that's what I don't hear, whatI haven't heard before, which is
(28:39):
why I got so excited about him,because I'm like he's just
saying the things that we allknow, but he's on a platform to
say that and and and and and.
Say it with.
You know, there's no fearbehind it.
No, I don't care what happensto me, it's about the people,
it's about what's best foreverybody, and so whatever comes
with that, but he's thegovernor of Minnesota, yes, so I
(29:02):
really liked him, I liked whathe was saying.
But I'm looking forward to thiswith Kamala Harris.
I'm excited.
I think that I really do think.
If I can predict, I thinkKamala, kamala's going to win.
I don't know who her VP isgoing to be, but I know Kamala's
going to win.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yeah, I do too.
I feel very strong about it.
I feel the energy and I thinkthat we're going to see new
folks coming out.
We're going to get some ofthose young voters back Away
from some of the weak pointsfrom Joe Biden, including on
Gaza, where you know he had beenshedding support from people in
(29:40):
Michigan Muslim Americans andyoung people and voters of color
because they look at thesituation in Israel and Gaza as
apartheid, feeling that if we'regoing to allow that to happen
in another country and stand byan ally that is perpetrating
(30:01):
these type of atrocities youknow how easy is it that to
slide into affecting my lifehere in the United States and I
do understand that.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
I also just keep looking at, like everything that
if we allow Trump to go to toanother, another term,
everything that's going to betaken away, including like he's
still using that rhetoric of,like you know, women can kill
their babies at nine months.
And he says it like that.
You know like it's just so easythat information to be found
and to be educated on to speakcorrectly on it, that that's not
(30:32):
really not the case and ourrights are, you know, on the
line.
As women, you know the immunityfor police that terrifies me.
We've seen that there has to beaccountability there,
absolutely.
You know what happened withSonia Massey.
So they asked Trump about that,did you see, when they asked
him about what his thoughts wereon Sonia Massey?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I did not see his response.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
His response goes you know, I don't know much about
it Is that where she threw thewater and he does a motion where
, like of her throwing theboiling pot of water, which, if
you look at it there, you knowsome people say she did, some
people, depending on what videoyou saw, if she did or if she
didn't.
There was a whole lot more thatwent on, but I found it
interesting that he thought,well, oh, if this is the the
(31:16):
you're talking about, let'sstart with her and automatically
make her seem like she deservedto be shot in the head, in the
face, because she threwallegedly she threw water,
instead of saying, oh, beginningwith, is this the story about
the police officers and they goto her home?
And how do you not know aboutit?
Speaker 2 (31:33):
It's national news for weeks he did, clearly he did
he did right, but he but.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
But I also thought that he wanted to frame her as
the perpetrator and I alsothought it was backhanded to to
just like black people ingeneral, especially in that
setting, to be like I don't knowabout it.
How, what do you mean?
Like knowing that he's lying,you still have to have, I feel
like it was.
It was crazy to not acknowledgethat and pretend like I don't
really know what to talk about.
(31:58):
Yes, you do.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah Well, so I think you were correct earlier when
you said that Trump is alwaysintentional about how he says
and frames these things.
He was absolutely trying to setthat up as, oh, that lady who
did that?
He knew, just like he knewabout Project 2025 and all this
other stuff.
But I think it's also importantto remember that the truth
(32:19):
doesn't matter to Trump.
We already know that he, youknow, he, you know they created
the you know a whole newuniverse of it, because the
point that they make is that thetruth is what they say when
they say it.
So, and you got people that arehooked into that.
So the the point and, by the way, if you want to throw in, like,
why is this a whole thing?
(32:39):
This is a whole psyops thing.
This has been happening in thiscountry at the hands of Russian
operatives and Chineseoperatives.
They are some of the biggestplaces who are producing this
disinformation in the UnitedStates, with the point of
confusing people, yes, andmaking it harder for people to
(32:59):
make a decision because theydon't know what the real
information is, to muddy thewaters and to make it so that
people don't want to votebecause they don't feel like
they have a clear understandingof things.
So Trump plays into that,because voter suppression means
he wins, right, right.
So the more apathy, the moreconfused people are, the less
(33:20):
likely they are to vote and themore likely Trump will win.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yeah, I definitely agree with that.
I see him doing that too, whereI'm like, oh my God, I hear a
lot of people too say I'm notgoing to go vote, it doesn't
matter, and I don't know how toconvince them.
I don't know, I always feellike you're a goner at that
point when you're just like yougave up your vote.
Um, I don't know, what do yousay to people Like have you ever
been able to convince someonewho was like I'm not voting, and
(33:44):
then convince them to just vote, not for your side or other,
just vote?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Yeah, yeah, you do.
I mean, you know.
First of all, I usually saylisten, I understand, I
understand that you don't wantto vote.
I understand the apathy, Iunderstand that you know.
You see the president, and it'susually white guy after white
guy after white guy, and yourlife doesn't really change, no
matter what happens.
What I usually say to folks isdon't worry about the president.
(34:11):
Actually, you know, a lot oftimes I said look at what is
actually happening in yourcommunity, because votes for
city council, votes for countycommission, votes for the state
legislature are actually moreimportant to your everyday life.
So if you're worried about yourstreet flooding and not having
lighting and stuff like that,then you need to look at who's
(34:33):
on city council.
And so usually I talk to peopleabout that.
Like get to know these folks.
These are your neighbors andare they good people?
Are they representative of you?
And that's how you make achange in your community.
You shouldn't be looking at thetop thinking that it's going to
change your life down here.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Well see, you know where I see that, where it's
like people would take.
That for me is like, oh see, itdoesn't matter.
It doesn't matter about upthere, but I do think it does.
It matters in both areaslocally, in your own communities
(35:08):
.
But for me, trump, being apresident, it means I'm going to
lose my rights as a woman.
I am not, I'm not going to havemy own choices on my own, my
own health care, my own umreproductive system, you know,
and, and I think that there'sgoing to be laws that are really
going to make, force me tomaybe possibly be in a situation
where I, you know, end uppregnant, I decide I don't want
it.
Well, now it's not even allowed.
You don't even have a choice.
You have to have this.
(35:28):
And that scares the crap out ofme, because I purposely have
not had kids, because I don'tfor me, I'm not ready
financially.
I don't want to deal with thatLike I don't.
I would.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
They're messy.
Make your car smell.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
And like I do that, enough for myself, but I have
purposely chosen not to havekids for so many reasons, but
especially financially, like.
So to me, that scares mebecause mistakes happen, things
happen.
But also, again, with thepolice immunity.
That scares me because then Ifeel less safe and even me,
being a latina woman, like I,still would not feel safer
(36:05):
knowing that.
And, um, there's so many others.
And the environment?
He doesn't give a crap aboutthat.
You know, I care about ourenvironment, I care about the
future of it.
So there's just so many.
That's why to me it matters,because he would, depending on
who's president they're going toallow bills, allow, you know,
laws to pass.
Uh, that would, would affect mylife, don't you think?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah.
So this election more thananywhere at any time else
actually.
So, because what we've seen isSupreme court decisions come
down where now presidents havealmost blanket immunity to do
anything as long as it's anofficial act, and that means
that presidents can break thelaw during their presidency.
That's something that was justdecided this summer by the
(36:48):
Supreme Court, by the threejustices that Donald Trump put
in.
So we're actually in a time nowwhere voting for president
matters more than any time else.
But before we used to haveinstitutional protections and
you could always say, well,congress is going to vote on
this and the Senate's going tovote on that, and that will
still be true to a certainextent.
(37:08):
But what we see with Project2025 is actually the president's
expansion of powers, and thecapacity of that to happen is
now the door's wide open.
Essentially, the door is wideopen because the Supreme court
has made that decision onpresidential immunity.
They don't have to follow therules anymore.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
And why would we want that?
Like, why don't?
We don't want that?
So what?
So right there, like you cannotto me, it's like.
That scares me, because yougive someone unlimited power and
no consequences for that.
I mean, what will they do?
There's nothing they can't do,and already they're showing me
they're not in favor of doingthings that matter to me.
(37:48):
It would be good for me.
So that scares the crap out ofme.
But I do want to talk to you,because I bring it down to the
local level too, because, as Iintroduced you, you know you're
here, you're running for FortMyers, ward 4, and that's going
on right now.
Can you tell me about that?
Like, what are?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
you up to.
Okay.
So that campaign is for Ward 4.
So that includes downtown FortMyers River District and then up
McGregor, basically almost toColonial.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
And that little section in between 41 and
McGregor and there's a littlebit.
There's a little bit behind themall and it's going well.
I've been going out knockingdoors in the community.
I actually just sent someChristmas cards so because we
had a Christmas in July partyand we were sending Christmas
cards to voters.
(38:38):
So if you get a randomChristmas card, it's probably
from me, dr Cindy Vanier,because we were trying to find
innovative ways to get peopleexcited about voting and we
thought you know what Peoplemight open a Christmas card yeah
actually no, that doesn't makesense and put a little like a
little gusher in there orstarburst.
So my daughter was actuallydrawing pictures, so some of you
will get, like, hand-drawnpictures from my daughter, evie,
(39:00):
so you're welcome, but, yeah,so this is about, you know,
focusing on the people of FortMyers, because, as we've seen
over this past couple of weeks,some data came out that we're
like the fastest growing smallcity in the country.
We have like 6.3% growthannually, and we have a lot of
people coming here, and that'sreally great.
(39:22):
And what we need to keepfocused on, though, is the
people of Fort Myers, and notjust the tourists, not just the
visitors, not just the snowbirds, Because we keep making policy
that puts these shiny objects upthere.
Right, like, currently, thereis a project going on on
McGregor, right in front of theEdison Estates, and it is
(39:47):
putting some fancy bricks justso happens to be in front of the
mansion of my opponent on thestreet that bears his name.
I'm sure it's just acoincidence, yeah, no, not a
coincidence, it's a priorityissue, right?
So how many times have we shutdown McGregor to put in these
beautification projects?
Mcgregor has been shut down andredone four times in the last
(40:10):
10 years.
Were there other areas of thecity that are being neglected?
I have to walk on the side ofthe road, in a very, very small
road, just to get my daughter toschool in the morning, because
there's no sidewalk there andthere are places that still
don't have lights replaced fromthe hurricane, and we keep
(40:32):
putting the priority on whatlooks good for the tourists, I
see, and that's wrong, that'swrong.
I think.
I think that we need to put thepriority on the people of Fort
Myers.
I think that as we're doingdevelopment, we should
prioritize the residents thatare living there, not bringing
in new people.
That's, by the way,gentrification, that's what that
(40:54):
is.
So if you're not doing that,you get gentrification.
So there is a big push rightnow.
I mean, I think it's great andredevelopment is great and we
see good things happening on theMcGregor, on the Martin Luther
King Corridor, right.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Is that recently?
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, and downtown.
And now there's anotherredevelopment area on US 41 that
actually goes through Ward 4.
So that's your Edison Mall kindof area right, which we need
some attention.
We agree with that.
What we don't want to see is wedon't want to see residents
who've lived there be pushed outbecause the prices and the
rents go too high, and we don'twant to see profiteering
(41:29):
landlords feel like they have tojack up the prices because oh
now it's a nice neighborhood,right, and that's what
gentrification is, and it's apolicy decision.
And what we have right now is alot of good old boys that are on
the city council, that are onthe county commission.
They prioritize developers, sothey want to see high end luxury
(41:52):
development.
We don't have a real emphasison affordable housing.
We don't have an emphasis onattainable housing.
We don't have an emphasis onattainable housing.
We don't have an emphasis onworkforce housing.
So people who are regular folks, who make up, by the way, the
majority of our workers, arepeople who are working in retail
and small shops and hospitalityand stuff like that, which does
(42:13):
not pay.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Well, it does not pay a lot.
You're going to need a few ofthose jobs to make ends meet.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
They're already being pushed out of the city, and
it's not right.
It's not right, it's not goodpolicy, it's not ethical.
Just to say, oh, we want to bea bigger, fancier city, so we're
only going to be putting infancy developments, we're only
going to be prioritized luxuryhousing.
And I know I've talked a lot onthis.
(42:39):
But the other thing that'sreally grinding my gears at the
moment is taking city propertyand giving it to private
companies.
We've seen this on the RiverDistrict this is Ward 4, too a
whole bunch of times.
You know we have theamphitheater downtown right, yes
, okay, it's beautiful I love it.
I love the park there.
It yes, okay, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I love it.
I love the park there.
It's very new.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
It is new A couple years, a few years, something
like that yeah.
Do you know who makes the moneyfor that?
Who?
I have no idea.
Luminary Hotel.
Luminary Hotel is a privatecompany.
Oh, luminary Hotel was built onland that was city land that
was supposed to be a park.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
So when it's city land, that means that it's
obviously not meant to be liketo build a hotel on.
It's more like what you said,like a park or what are the city
land, what are they?
What should?
Speaker 2 (43:25):
they be doing with city land?
Well, it should be for publicgood.
So if it's sold for public good, that's OK.
If it's developed for publicuse, that's OK.
There was actually a delay inthe building of the Luminary
Hotel because the family thatgave that property to the city
stopped it and said look, thisis supposed to be a park.
That's why our family gave itto the city.
(43:46):
We do not approve of it beingused and sold to a for-profit
company.
And it got tied up in courts.
And then the developers andtheir big lawyers prevailed.
And now we have a similarsituation going on with the Hall
of the 50 States downtown.
What is that?
So that's next to the Luminary,you know there's like kind of a
big field, yes.
(44:07):
And then there's this oldbuilding there.
That's a historic building.
Okay, they have taken RFPs forthat, and their top rated
proposal from the city staff wasto actually move the historic
building off that property andthen sell it to a private
developer.
And for basically like apittance too.
(44:28):
By the way, what is it?
Wait, what does pittance mean?
Pittance?
Like a small amount, like theywanted $400,000.
Like you can barely even buy ahouse in the city of Fort Myers,
let alone waterfront propertydowntown Fort Myers.
Yeah, I know Right.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
My mouth is too open.
Dropped right now, Right.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Right, because that yeah, and again.
So it goes against the vibethat we've been building in the
city of Fort Myers as a historicdowntown and what you're going
to have is only people who canafford this luxury property be
able to enjoy the waterfront,and it's going to take away that
area.
Because, by the way, anotherthing that's been snuck in is
(45:10):
the redevelopment of the yachtbasin down there again to a
private company.
So that's again city propertyand had been available for boat
flips and people you know wouldbe able to go in there.
It hasn't been in use since thehurricane and now they have
plans and developers ready toput in again another big luxury
development there.
They want to put in somethingthat looks like marina jacks up
(45:33):
in saras, which is a lovelyplace.
However, we are slowly, becauseof the city council, handing
away those public properties toprivate investors with very
little in return for the publicin the city of Fort Myers.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
That's the most important part Very little in
return, if nothing at all,because it's a private company.
They can decide.
You know, this is absolutelynot for the public, this is
every you know, only for highpaying customers or whatever it
may be.
But and then again, for thetourists, or, like you said,
it's just not for the peoplehere living in this community
(46:11):
who should be able to enjoysomething like that, you know,
and is that, would you say thatthat project is already like
written, signed, it's just inthe works, or can that be
stopped?
I mean what and how that?
Speaker 2 (46:21):
sorry, you didn't answer that yeah, how the heck
did this happen in the firstplace?
Well, it happened because wehave people who aren't really
looking out for the interests ofthe people of Fort Myers right
on council can we name names?
Speaker 1 (46:34):
no part of that project?
Speaker 2 (46:35):
um no so these are really difficult things for
regular people to get involvedin as part of it.
So we, you know there arethings like the Lee County, you
know, Historic PreservationSociety.
There's some activists that arelooking at this.
But I mean, you really have tobe diving in on the city council
agenda to be able to see thiskind of stuff, Do they have?
Speaker 1 (46:53):
meetings every month or something.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Yes, they do.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
We could just show up .
Speaker 2 (47:00):
Like, I don't need to buy a ticket, you can just show
up.
No, it's free.
Now, the times aren't alwaysvery accessible because I
believe they start at like 4 pm,so working folks have a hard
time getting to them as well.
And again, you're going to lookat this huge agenda and it's
really hard to understand.
So some of these process theYacht Basin one, I believe, has
been voted on already Again, theone where we gave away the
(47:21):
amphitheater downtown to theLuminary.
That's a done deal.
I believe that the Yacht Basinone has already been voted on.
Now.
The Hall of 50 States one isstill in process.
That will be coming up soon.
You can check out my Facebookpage, my Instagram.
I'm going to try to keepeverybody up to date on that.
It's hard, even for somebodywho's a watcher, for me to keep
(47:41):
up with it because so much ofthis happens and it's very
technical.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
I know it's a lot, but that's why I love that
you're here and that you canhelp at least give us some
direction, because otherwise I'mjust going in circles.
I have have no idea, but I knowit's important and I know that
you're very passionate about ourcommunity.
You really do show up and sheis always at the rallies or
anytime something's going down.
Cindy is there in person, youknow, ready to shout to the, to
(48:07):
the world about this, and that'swhat I love about her.
So learn about Dr Cindy Banyay.
Please follow her on hersocials.
Actually, can you tell themyour socials?
Speaker 2 (48:15):
yeah, so you can check out.
My website is cindybanyecom,that's B-A-N-Y-A-I.
And then you can find me cindyunderscore banye underscore F-L
on Twitter and Cindy Banye CindyLynn Banye for Fort Myers on
Facebook and Dr Cindy Banye onInstagram.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
And I will say because she has her own podcast
and it's about it's politicaland it would keep you at least
informed, especially locally.
So I highly recommend if youcould plug that yeah, absolutely
you can check out.
Speaker 2 (48:43):
Um, there's actually a host of podcasts I do on big
mouth media.
You can see more about that atbigmouthmediaflcom.
We host one called a democratand republican.
Walk intoa bar where we have ademocrat and republican.
We sit down, we talk about it.
We really focus it.
We really focus on local issues, particularly Cape Coral and
Fort Myers.
Speaker 1 (48:59):
Yes, and I've listened to it.
I love it because it's bothsides.
And her partner, who's aRepublican, sean, is great too.
I love his takes, and so Ihighly recommend it.
If you want to learn aboutpolitics and you're like me,
you're like oh, where do I start?
What's going on?
That is a great base to start.
You'll love it.
Check that out, dr.
Speaker 2 (49:21):
Cindy Banyan.
Thank you for joining Friendswith Brittany.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate it.
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