September 18, 2024 • 24 mins
In this episode of the Keystone Reckoning Podcast, Jesse White draws alarming comparisons between the fear-driven narrative unfolding in Charleroi, PA, and the discredited claims in Springfield, OH, where Trump and J.D. Vance falsely accused Haitian immigrants of eating pets. Jesse highlights how these lies are sowing division and stoking hate, while urging listeners to take action by registering voters and pushing back against MAGA’s dangerous rhetoric. With the election fast approaching, this episode is a timely reminder of what’s at stake for Pennsylvania and the nation.
Learn more about the Keystone Reckoning Project at www.keystonereckoning.com
Show your support for progressive values with True Blue Gear! Get 20% off bold, pro-democracy apparel—whether you’re rallying for voting rights, climate justice, or reproductive freedom. Use code KEYSTONE at truebluegear.com to gear up, stand out, and make a statement in 2024.
Check out our previous episodes and subscribe to the podcast at https://keystonereckoning.buzzsprout.com/.
Follow the Keystone Reckoning Project on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
LinkedIn
Questions? Comments? Ideas for a future episode? Email us at info@keystonereckoning.com
Support us by donating to The Keystone Reckoning Project political action committee, and also check out our partner True Blue Gear for some sweet progressive t-shirts and swag!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jesse White (00:02):
They say, talk about what you know.
Well, this is one of those rareoccasions where I can say that
I actually know something.
Hi and welcome to the KeystoneReckoning podcast for September
18th 2024.
I'm your host, jesse White, soI know it's been a while, but I
don't know about you.
But I've got this sense offrustration and fury and
(00:23):
existential dread.
This sense of frustration andfury and existential dread, and
I think I've basically taken mywife to the limit as to what
she's willing to listen to overbreakfast every morning.
So I decided I needed a positiveway to talk about what I'm
feeling and seeing and hopefullywe can use this as a way to
kind of vent a little bit andkind of get through these next
(00:45):
49 days together and whatevershenanigans come afterwards.
Because I could tell you I'vebeen in politics for a long time
, 46 years old.
I've been doing this since Iwas 18.
And I can say without questionand those of you that are
familiar with me know I've beenin some, and those of you that
are familiar with me know I'vebeen in some sticky, interesting
(01:05):
situations in my time inpolitics.
I've never felt more and Ithought about if there's another
word to describe it and therereally isn't of what I'm seeing,
because not only have wewatched Donald Trump and JD
Vance just go to places that areso beyond the pale of what
(01:31):
anybody would have everconsidered the norms in American
politics I mean, we're way, way, way past it but the fact that
people are are buying into it orlooking the other way or
finding ways to rationalize it,and that's a discussion we're
going to have moving forward.
(01:52):
But today I want to talk aboutan extension of what happened in
Springfield at the debate,because to me this one hits a
lot closer to home and it's justkind of developing now, and
that has to do with what'shappening in the town of
Charleroi in Washington County,pennsylvania, and to give you a
(02:16):
little context, I actually knowCharleroi.
When I was in high school I,shockingly, was not an athlete,
I didn't play any sports, but Iwas in the gifted program and
one of the things we did wecompeted in what they called
academic league or, as weaffectionately called it, geek
league, and this was way beforeit was cool to be a geek or a
nerd, but the way it worked iswe would go to a school maybe
(02:39):
once or twice a month and we'dhave academic competition and I
will say, to toot my own horn alittle bit, I wasn't all-star,
but we'd go there and we'd havethese competitions and then we'd
have lunch afterwards somewherenearby, which you know so, like
Pizza Hut, mcdonald's you knowthe really healthy places for
high schoolers to eat Well, thatwas Charleroi.
(03:01):
Charleroi either middle schoolor high school.
So I remember going toCharlotte Roy at a young age.
I lived like maybe 20 minutesaway, a little bit further south
in Washington County.
So I knew Charlotte Roy, wentto college in Washington County,
worked for newspapers inWashington County and really got
to know Washington County in areal tangible way.
(03:22):
Then, when I was elected to thestate legislature, a big chunk
of my district was WashingtonCounty in a real tangible way.
Then, when I was elected to thestate legislature, a big chunk
of my district was WashingtonCounty.
Now I didn't have Charleroi,but I had a lot of the areas
around it and one of the thingsthat we did was we got the
gaming money from when theMeadows Casino opened.
We were in kind of a uniqueposition in the county because
(03:43):
we were smaller but had a bigcasino.
The point is we had about eightor nine or $10 million every
year to spend on communityprojects.
I was on the board that oversawand decided and determined
where that money went and we hadpresentations and everybody
came in and wanted something outof it and a lot of it was
(04:05):
community revitalization andthings like that and I pushed
very hard to keep it out of justthe big developers, mainly
because of communities likecharleroi they are.
For those of you that don't know, charleroi is kind of the post
rust belt boom era little town.
(04:25):
It's not a city, it's a boroughand there are a lot of
challenges there because therewere, you know, a lot of the.
You know there are men on ahill river, there's a lot of.
There was a lot of the.
You know the steel coalindustry that you know that was,
you know, went through there.
Uh, then there was a glassplant that had closed that cost
(04:46):
about 300 jobs.
They were good union jobs forthe most part.
And as they're a borough, forthose of you that don't know,
boroughs have unique challengesbecause they're landlocked,
there's only so much room.
It's not like they're townshipswhere there's a lot of room,
where they can bring in housing,developments and things like
that Pretty much everything in aborough that can be developed,
has already been developed.
(05:07):
So you've got that problem andit's just an area that is in
desperate need of revitalization.
And they were trying all sortsof things.
There was, you know, there were, uh, they were trying to bring
like a local theater back and doanything they could to kind of
spur revitalization in thiscommunity.
Yeah, they were working hard,it just wasn't happening.
(05:27):
So and I'll admit I've been outof Washington County for five
years now and to which I have noregrets, and so I missed this
when it happened but apparentlya couple of years ago there was
an influx of Haitian migrantsthat came into Charleroi legally
that's the key word and foundwork, and there have been.
(05:52):
You know, there was an interviewwith one of the borough council
members with some right wingmedia source, and they were
talking to him about it, and theguy, who is admittedly a
Republican he's on Trump'scampaign team, so to speak, he's
a supporter talked about thechallenges that this migration
(06:13):
has brought, but he did it in away that was very genuine and
very honest, where he said look,there are challenges here with
things like, you know, carelessdriving and things like that,
and that got picked up and theyran with it, and I think it was
the Daily Wire.
I could be wrong, but I'll putit in the show notes.
(06:35):
But there was an article rightafter the debate where they said
oh look, here's another placewhere there's a migrant invasion
, right.
And so now you know, all eyesare turning to it.
And there was a and I'll putthe link to this in the show
notes too.
There was a story by the CBSaffiliate, who I have no love
(06:56):
for whatsoever, katie Kaye, butthey did it as basically a
straight news story and theyinterviewed three people.
Two of the three people werejust like straight up racist.
I mean, the one guy was like Idon't, you know, I don't,
they're everywhere I go, theyare, they're bothering us, you
know.
And then there was another ladyand she's like well, they have
(07:17):
their own stores, but I wouldnever go into them.
And then the third lady was awoman named nancy ellis, who
I've known for a long time and Ibelieve she was the mayor or
was on council one or the other,but she's formally, I don't
think she still is.
But she called it as it was andshe said look, these people are
a bunch of racists, right,right.
(07:38):
The problem is is that if yousee what's happened in
Springfield, ohio, where it'sthere's a whole list of all the
places that have been onlockdown and bomb threats, it's
like every government buildingall the schools, elementary
schools, on lockdown and youhave it's been clearly debunked
that this is just not true inSpringfield and it's now been
(08:01):
debunked in Charleroi, and thisis something I have to every now
and again.
I have to admit that someone'sdoing the right thing.
On the Republican side it'srare, but the state senator down
there, cameron Bartolotta, whoI can't stand.
She represents a lot of my olddistrict of Washington County.
I think she's totally sold outto the shale industry.
She's a fraud.
I think she's totally sold outto the shale industry.
(08:22):
She's a fraud.
I think she's a terrible publicservant.
It's just plain and simple.
But I have to give her creditbecause she did go out in the
paper today and say this isabsolutely not true.
These are legal migrants.
They are here as people doingwork.
They're just trying to livetheir lives.
This has been closely distortedand misrepresented and it needs
(08:45):
to stop.
And I was like where the helldid you go, girl?
Okay, but it also told me itwas a barometer of wow, this is
how messed up this is.
Is that now you've got mesaying good job, kimber
Bartolotta, which I don't knowif I've ever said out loud or
privately, and the reason beingyou look at what's happening in
(09:06):
Springfield, it's terrifying,it's absolutely terrifying.
And when, given the opportunityto walk it back, you've got JD
Vance going on the Sunday showssaying they're creating stories.
I mean, I watched that live.
I could not believe what hesaid.
You know, he said if I have tocreate, if we have to create
(09:27):
stories, that's what we're goingto do.
And he was being interviewed byDana Bash on CNN and it was
like wait a minute.
Even she kind of went past itand then I guess her producer or
somebody got in her ear and waslike whoa, you need to walk
that back for a minute.
And she was like wait a minute,did you just say you're
creating stories?
And he, like I've been acandidate, I've been a
(09:48):
consultant, I've done all thethings.
I don't know of a singlecandidate on earth that would
not have had the wherewithal tobe like you know what?
I'm sorry, I misspoke.
That's not what I meant to say.
What I meant to say was blah,blah, blah.
This clown just dove right intoit head first and was like he
repeated it.
He's like double, he's doubling, tripling down on it.
(10:10):
And it's become so obvious to methat to everybody, right, that
they are just all in on racism,the vision, throwing out people,
scaring the hell out of peopleabout anybody, quite frankly,
with dark skin.
We're not hearing this aboutSwedish immigrants and then
saying we're going to get rid ofthem.
And if you look, I've made themistake of being more active on
(10:35):
Twitter because I think it'simportant to kind of see what
the other side's saying.
And good God, has Elon Muskrigged that whole algorithm,
because nothing but right-winggarbage, but it's only getting
worse and worse and worse.
And the fact that people arebuying into it and are saying
like, yeah, and there's, youknow, the xenophobia and the
(10:57):
racism and the fear, like peoplethat quite frankly, need to
know better, like they've gottenpeople that I frankly need to
know better, like they've gottenpeople that I know are smarter
than this or thought I thoughtwere smarter than this.
Literally, they're not right,they're buying into it.
And it's to the point where I'mlooking at this and I'm like I
know this town, I know what thisis.
(11:18):
I know people that still livethere.
This is not how they should beportrayed, and you're seeing it
happen in real time, especiallygiven and I think this is where
the pushback is coming fromlocally, especially given what
has happened in springfield,where they realized it was
totally baseless, and trump andvance and Magna are just all in
(11:42):
on it.
You know, and they don't care.
They do not care.
If you know and think to youknow I hate to think this way,
but I think to the worst casescenario, right, what's the
worst thing that could possiblyhappen would be you know,
someone actually goes beyondcalling it a bomb threat and
actually, like it, blows up aschool.
God forbid, it's just.
(12:02):
It's as a parent.
That's like the worst nightmare, right.
If that were to happen, let'ssay you know, let's go back,
let's not make it quite sogruesome, right?
Let's say they found like apipe bomb outside of a school.
They found it, they diffused it, nobody got hurt.
That's that's the betterscenario, right?
That's the let's not go theworst place.
You know as well as I do thatTrump's first response would be
(12:27):
well, this is a response to thehateful rhetoric from Kamala
Harris, because he did it Afterthe second quote assassination
attempt, which I'm sorry didn'thappen was not really an
assassination attempt.
There's nothing about it thatrings true, especially given
that Trump had was having maybethe worst news sample really an
assassination event.
There's nothing about it.
That rings true, um, especiallygiven that trump had was having
maybe the worst news cycle thatan american political campaign
(12:48):
has had in since the founding ofthe republic.
He immediately doubled down onthis was all kamala harris's
fault.
And then you're seeing the rightwing trying to justify it
because they're saying like, ohwell, this is the uh, you know
both, it's the both sides is akind of thing, and luckily, this
time around after the initialassassination, which I also have
(13:10):
thoughts on.
But you know clearly something,something without it, right, um
, there was that whole.
We all have to dial it down.
We all have to dial it down.
Now we're seeing and hearing,and this is the camp I'm firmly
in.
Um, no, y'all need to dial itdown.
We all have to dial it down.
Now we're seeing and hearing,and this is the camp I'm firmly
in.
Um, no, y'all need to dial itdown because, first of all, both
shooters were republicans.
Right, both shooters were, werepeople that couldn't be a were
(13:35):
clearly in mental healthproblems.
Both shooters would have not,would not have likely been able
to legally possess the firearmsthey possessed if there were
common sense gun control laws inplace, right?
So this whole well, it's KamalaHarris and the Democrats and
the left's fault.
It's ridiculous.
It's absolutely ridiculous,because you do not see the left
(14:00):
or anybody with common sense,right, this isn't really a right
or left thing.
This is like a sane, insanething.
You don't see anybody callingfor political violence on the
left.
You just don't, whereas on theright it's so prevalent.
I mean, then Elon Musk comesout and calls for the
assassination of Joe Biden andKamala Harris.
Hey, how much more brazen doyou need to be?
(14:24):
Right, this is not an us problem, this is a them problem.
Well, actually it's our problem, but this is a their fault
thing and we cannot, 49 daysafter an election, let them off
the hook on this.
There's just no way, becausethey are shameless, any sort of
(14:48):
attempt at civility as viewed asweakness, and you know when we
talk about ending them and andyou know and making them go away
, whatever, everybody knows whatwe're talking.
We're talking about politicallyright, like and yes, we should
all choose our words carefully,no doubt about it.
But the point is, you, it's noteven a comparison, right?
(15:11):
It's just not a comparison.
It's not apples to oranges,it's apples and Goodyear blips,
right?
It's just not the same.
And to pretend that it is isbasically letting them off the
hook, especially because theyjust won't stop.
They just keep going, going andgoing.
And so, for those reasons, andlooking at as we get further
(15:33):
along and the polls are comingout and I don't I I'll do a
whole other episode aboutpolling and why I think we need
to basically ignore the pollsthis time out um, and this is
someone who's has done polling.
I've been a pollster, I knowhow to read these things, I know
how to read these things, Iknow how to run these things.
As they get more and moredesperate, it's only going to
(16:01):
get worse, you know, and that's.
I talked earlier aboutfrustration and existential
dread.
To me, the existential dread iscoming not only from where we
are and this horrible place thatwe are, and it's just horrible.
I mean, if you, the more Ithink about it, just the worse I
feel, um, but where it's goingto end up.
(16:23):
And this one with charleroi.
I saw it online a couple ofdays ago and I thought, dear god
, please don't let this, don'tlet this get in traction, don't
let this go on you.
And, of course, now it is, andI commend the people on the
ground for pushing back the youknow the, the, the local
(16:44):
officials, for being responsible.
Even the guy that gave the uhyou know who, who was on Trump's
campaign team.
He said I did not know I wasbeing recorded.
That he said for sure, and hekind of paraphrased like this
was not what I meant, you know.
He said look, there arechallenges.
Well, you know what that's.
Anytime you're, you know, I'vebeen a local elected official, I
was a township supervisor.
There are always challenges,you know, and they talk about,
(17:06):
for example, oh, crime is nowout of control and they're
making the taxpayers pay foradditional police and it's
raising your taxes.
What they leave out is Charleroihas a regional police
department because so many ofthe municipalities down there
(17:26):
are cash-strapped right.
They have a municipal, theyhave a shared regional police
department and I believe thebudgeted increase because
they're about to pass theirbudget.
I think it was something like$73,500.
I could be wrong on the exactamount, but that was the
ballpark of what it is.
Anybody that's ever donemunicipal budgeting knows that,
for police, $73,500 doesn't evenget you.
(17:47):
It might get you one policeofficer in terms of salary,
benefits, equipment, you know.
It's probably even more thanthat if I looked it up.
So they're trying to make itsound like there's this mass.
You know that they have to puttanks on the streets right to
deal with the Haitian migrantsthat are overrunning the town.
You're talking about theequivalent of probably less than
(18:09):
one uniformed police officer orone vehicle, right, like one
police car or a regional policedepartment that serves multiple
communities that are spread out,you know, around the borough of
charleroi.
They have to cover some groundbecause the only other
alternative is, if you don'thave the local police, then the
(18:32):
state police have to cover itand obviously the coverage
really, you know, goes downhill.
So they're being responsible byproviding local police coverage
and the budget increase I amcertain would be basically the
same whether the there is therewere Haitian migrants there or
not, because, by the way, theydidn't show up yesterday.
(18:53):
They've been there for two orthree years now.
Right, they're making it soundlike there were, like a bunch of
rickety boats that floated upthe Mon River and everybody
jumped off and basically tookover the town.
That is not what happened byany stretch of the imagination.
That is not what happened byany stretch of the imagination.
This is a situation where thesefolks came here.
(19:14):
They were doing all the rightthings, they are legal, there
are you know?
I mean, look, if you look at acouple thousand people, are you
going to find a bad actor hereor there?
Sure, but I'd be willing to betthat if you took the crime in
Charleroi and you stacked itproportionally by the Haitian
migrants versus everybody else,I think it's a pretty clear bet
(19:38):
where the higher crime ratewould lie.
I could be wrong, but I don'tthink I am.
And so you've got this situationwhere it's being grossly
misrepresented and and they'rethey're trying to make something
(19:58):
out of nothing and the theconsequences of this go far
beyond political.
These are lifetime consequencesfor these people.
These people are going to thelocal elected officials the
migrants.
People are going to the localelected officials the migrants.
They are going to be lookingover their shoulders For the
rest of their lives Because youhave put a spotlight on them.
These people get doxxed.
(20:20):
Their information gets outthere.
They didn't ask for this, theydidn't want this and they sure
as hell did not expect this, thedivision that is probably
already taking place in thiscommunity, given the incredibly
racist comments made by two ofthe residents and you really do
have to watch them because itwas the most insane thing ever.
(20:46):
I told a friend, you know, Iactually did have Washington
County racism on my 2024 bingocard for the election.
I told a friend, you know, Iactually did have Washington
County racism on my 2024 bingocard for the election.
I'm honestly kind of surprisedit took this long you know
that's a story for another dayand again, not upset to be out
of there.
But this is real.
There are real lifeconsequences.
The children that have come tothis country for a better life,
(21:09):
like everybody's children did atsome point, the parents that
brought their kids here for abetter life, which almost
everybody did at some point theyare now going to have to deal
with this, explain it these kidswho have these racist parents,
these kids who have these racistparents and clearly, if they're
(21:30):
willing to say it on television, I'm sure they're willing to
say it at the dinner table.
And what is going to be said inthese schools.
What is going to be said tothese kids, what is going to
happen in the cafeteria and theplayground and in the classroom
is real, and those are seedsthat are being planted now that
(21:51):
will bear fruit for years andyears to come, and that fruit is
going to be rotten, and Trumpand Vance and his people do not
give a damn.
The cruelty is the point.
We're seeing it unfold in realtime.
So, yeah, I'm angry, yeah, I'mfrustrated, yes, I have a sense
(22:17):
of dread because I can seewhat's coming and it's
terrifying.
There's no way to sugarcoat it.
By the way, today is NationalVoter Registration Day, although
I would assume, if you'relistening to this podcast,
you're already voting.
Here's a challenge Go findthree people that you don't
(22:38):
think are registered to vote andask them and if they are not
registered, sit down with them,go to voteorg and walk them
through the process.
It is not illegal to helpsomebody register.
You can't harvest ballots formail-in voting.
You can help them register.
Do it.
Three people, three people.
(22:58):
That's all it takes.
If everybody does their part,we can actually turn the tide
and make this happen and put anend to this absolute insanity.
Thank you for listening.
We're going to do this againtomorrow.
We're going to do this everyday until the election and, I'm
sure, for quite a bit afterwardsas we deal with what comes next
(23:18):
.
I'm Jesse White.
Thank you and have a great day.
They say, talk about what you know.
Well, this is one of those rareoccasions where I can say that
I actually know something.
Hi and welcome to the KeystoneReckoning podcast for September
18th 2024.
I'm your host, jesse White, soI know it's been a while, but I
don't know about you.
But I've got this sense offrustration and fury and
(00:23):
existential dread.
This sense of frustration andfury and existential dread, and
I think I've basically taken mywife to the limit as to what
she's willing to listen to overbreakfast every morning.
So I decided I needed a positiveway to talk about what I'm
feeling and seeing and hopefullywe can use this as a way to
kind of vent a little bit andkind of get through these next
(00:45):
49 days together and whatevershenanigans come afterwards.
Because I could tell you I'vebeen in politics for a long time
, 46 years old.
I've been doing this since Iwas 18.
And I can say without questionand those of you that are
familiar with me know I've beenin some, and those of you that
are familiar with me know I'vebeen in some sticky, interesting
(01:05):
situations in my time inpolitics.
I've never felt more and Ithought about if there's another
word to describe it and therereally isn't of what I'm seeing,
because not only have wewatched Donald Trump and JD
Vance just go to places that areso beyond the pale of what
(01:31):
anybody would have everconsidered the norms in American
politics I mean, we're way, way, way past it but the fact that
people are are buying into it orlooking the other way or
finding ways to rationalize it,and that's a discussion we're
going to have moving forward.
(01:52):
But today I want to talk aboutan extension of what happened in
Springfield at the debate,because to me this one hits a
lot closer to home and it's justkind of developing now, and
that has to do with what'shappening in the town of
Charleroi in Washington County,pennsylvania, and to give you a
(02:16):
little context, I actually knowCharleroi.
When I was in high school I,shockingly, was not an athlete,
I didn't play any sports, but Iwas in the gifted program and
one of the things we did wecompeted in what they called
academic league or, as weaffectionately called it, geek
league, and this was way beforeit was cool to be a geek or a
nerd, but the way it worked iswe would go to a school maybe
(02:39):
once or twice a month and we'dhave academic competition and I
will say, to toot my own horn alittle bit, I wasn't all-star,
but we'd go there and we'd havethese competitions and then we'd
have lunch afterwards somewherenearby, which you know so, like
Pizza Hut, mcdonald's you knowthe really healthy places for
high schoolers to eat Well, thatwas Charleroi.
(03:01):
Charleroi either middle schoolor high school.
So I remember going toCharlotte Roy at a young age.
I lived like maybe 20 minutesaway, a little bit further south
in Washington County.
So I knew Charlotte Roy, wentto college in Washington County,
worked for newspapers inWashington County and really got
to know Washington County in areal tangible way.
(03:22):
Then, when I was elected to thestate legislature, a big chunk
of my district was WashingtonCounty in a real tangible way.
Then, when I was elected to thestate legislature, a big chunk
of my district was WashingtonCounty.
Now I didn't have Charleroi,but I had a lot of the areas
around it and one of the thingsthat we did was we got the
gaming money from when theMeadows Casino opened.
We were in kind of a uniqueposition in the county because
(03:43):
we were smaller but had a bigcasino.
The point is we had about eightor nine or $10 million every
year to spend on communityprojects.
I was on the board that oversawand decided and determined
where that money went and we hadpresentations and everybody
came in and wanted something outof it and a lot of it was
(04:05):
community revitalization andthings like that and I pushed
very hard to keep it out of justthe big developers, mainly
because of communities likecharleroi they are.
For those of you that don't know, charleroi is kind of the post
rust belt boom era little town.
(04:25):
It's not a city, it's a boroughand there are a lot of
challenges there because therewere, you know, a lot of the.
You know there are men on ahill river, there's a lot of.
There was a lot of the.
You know the steel coalindustry that you know that was,
you know, went through there.
Uh, then there was a glassplant that had closed that cost
(04:46):
about 300 jobs.
They were good union jobs forthe most part.
And as they're a borough, forthose of you that don't know,
boroughs have unique challengesbecause they're landlocked,
there's only so much room.
It's not like they're townshipswhere there's a lot of room,
where they can bring in housing,developments and things like
that Pretty much everything in aborough that can be developed,
has already been developed.
(05:07):
So you've got that problem andit's just an area that is in
desperate need of revitalization.
And they were trying all sortsof things.
There was, you know, there were, uh, they were trying to bring
like a local theater back and doanything they could to kind of
spur revitalization in thiscommunity.
Yeah, they were working hard,it just wasn't happening.
(05:27):
So and I'll admit I've been outof Washington County for five
years now and to which I have noregrets, and so I missed this
when it happened but apparentlya couple of years ago there was
an influx of Haitian migrantsthat came into Charleroi legally
that's the key word and foundwork, and there have been.
(05:52):
You know, there was an interviewwith one of the borough council
members with some right wingmedia source, and they were
talking to him about it, and theguy, who is admittedly a
Republican he's on Trump'scampaign team, so to speak, he's
a supporter talked about thechallenges that this migration
(06:13):
has brought, but he did it in away that was very genuine and
very honest, where he said look,there are challenges here with
things like, you know, carelessdriving and things like that,
and that got picked up and theyran with it, and I think it was
the Daily Wire.
I could be wrong, but I'll putit in the show notes.
(06:35):
But there was an article rightafter the debate where they said
oh look, here's another placewhere there's a migrant invasion
, right.
And so now you know, all eyesare turning to it.
And there was a and I'll putthe link to this in the show
notes too.
There was a story by the CBSaffiliate, who I have no love
(06:56):
for whatsoever, katie Kaye, butthey did it as basically a
straight news story and theyinterviewed three people.
Two of the three people werejust like straight up racist.
I mean, the one guy was like Idon't, you know, I don't,
they're everywhere I go, theyare, they're bothering us, you
know.
And then there was another ladyand she's like well, they have
(07:17):
their own stores, but I wouldnever go into them.
And then the third lady was awoman named nancy ellis, who
I've known for a long time and Ibelieve she was the mayor or
was on council one or the other,but she's formally, I don't
think she still is.
But she called it as it was andshe said look, these people are
a bunch of racists, right,right.
(07:38):
The problem is is that if yousee what's happened in
Springfield, ohio, where it'sthere's a whole list of all the
places that have been onlockdown and bomb threats, it's
like every government buildingall the schools, elementary
schools, on lockdown and youhave it's been clearly debunked
that this is just not true inSpringfield and it's now been
(08:01):
debunked in Charleroi, and thisis something I have to every now
and again.
I have to admit that someone'sdoing the right thing.
On the Republican side it'srare, but the state senator down
there, cameron Bartolotta, whoI can't stand.
She represents a lot of my olddistrict of Washington County.
I think she's totally sold outto the shale industry.
She's a fraud.
I think she's totally sold outto the shale industry.
(08:22):
She's a fraud.
I think she's a terrible publicservant.
It's just plain and simple.
But I have to give her creditbecause she did go out in the
paper today and say this isabsolutely not true.
These are legal migrants.
They are here as people doingwork.
They're just trying to livetheir lives.
This has been closely distortedand misrepresented and it needs
(08:45):
to stop.
And I was like where the helldid you go, girl?
Okay, but it also told me itwas a barometer of wow, this is
how messed up this is.
Is that now you've got mesaying good job, kimber
Bartolotta, which I don't knowif I've ever said out loud or
privately, and the reason beingyou look at what's happening in
(09:06):
Springfield, it's terrifying,it's absolutely terrifying.
And when, given the opportunityto walk it back, you've got JD
Vance going on the Sunday showssaying they're creating stories.
I mean, I watched that live.
I could not believe what hesaid.
You know, he said if I have tocreate, if we have to create
(09:27):
stories, that's what we're goingto do.
And he was being interviewed byDana Bash on CNN and it was
like wait a minute.
Even she kind of went past itand then I guess her producer or
somebody got in her ear and waslike whoa, you need to walk
that back for a minute.
And she was like wait a minute,did you just say you're
creating stories?
And he, like I've been acandidate, I've been a
(09:48):
consultant, I've done all thethings.
I don't know of a singlecandidate on earth that would
not have had the wherewithal tobe like you know what?
I'm sorry, I misspoke.
That's not what I meant to say.
What I meant to say was blah,blah, blah.
This clown just dove right intoit head first and was like he
repeated it.
He's like double, he's doubling, tripling down on it.
(10:10):
And it's become so obvious to methat to everybody, right, that
they are just all in on racism,the vision, throwing out people,
scaring the hell out of peopleabout anybody, quite frankly,
with dark skin.
We're not hearing this aboutSwedish immigrants and then
saying we're going to get rid ofthem.
And if you look, I've made themistake of being more active on
(10:35):
Twitter because I think it'simportant to kind of see what
the other side's saying.
And good God, has Elon Muskrigged that whole algorithm,
because nothing but right-winggarbage, but it's only getting
worse and worse and worse.
And the fact that people arebuying into it and are saying
like, yeah, and there's, youknow, the xenophobia and the
(10:57):
racism and the fear, like peoplethat quite frankly, need to
know better, like they've gottenpeople that I frankly need to
know better, like they've gottenpeople that I know are smarter
than this or thought I thoughtwere smarter than this.
Literally, they're not right,they're buying into it.
And it's to the point where I'mlooking at this and I'm like I
know this town, I know what thisis.
(11:18):
I know people that still livethere.
This is not how they should beportrayed, and you're seeing it
happen in real time, especiallygiven and I think this is where
the pushback is coming fromlocally, especially given what
has happened in springfield,where they realized it was
totally baseless, and trump andvance and Magna are just all in
(11:42):
on it.
You know, and they don't care.
They do not care.
If you know and think to youknow I hate to think this way,
but I think to the worst casescenario, right, what's the
worst thing that could possiblyhappen would be you know,
someone actually goes beyondcalling it a bomb threat and
actually, like it, blows up aschool.
God forbid, it's just.
(12:02):
It's as a parent.
That's like the worst nightmare, right.
If that were to happen, let'ssay you know, let's go back,
let's not make it quite sogruesome, right?
Let's say they found like apipe bomb outside of a school.
They found it, they diffused it, nobody got hurt.
That's that's the betterscenario, right?
That's the let's not go theworst place.
You know as well as I do thatTrump's first response would be
(12:27):
well, this is a response to thehateful rhetoric from Kamala
Harris, because he did it Afterthe second quote assassination
attempt, which I'm sorry didn'thappen was not really an
assassination attempt.
There's nothing about it thatrings true, especially given
that Trump had was having maybethe worst news sample really an
assassination event.
There's nothing about it.
That rings true, um, especiallygiven that trump had was having
maybe the worst news cycle thatan american political campaign
(12:48):
has had in since the founding ofthe republic.
He immediately doubled down onthis was all kamala harris's
fault.
And then you're seeing the rightwing trying to justify it
because they're saying like, ohwell, this is the uh, you know
both, it's the both sides is akind of thing, and luckily, this
time around after the initialassassination, which I also have
(13:10):
thoughts on.
But you know clearly something,something without it, right, um
, there was that whole.
We all have to dial it down.
We all have to dial it down.
Now we're seeing and hearing,and this is the camp I'm firmly
in.
Um, no, y'all need to dial itdown.
We all have to dial it down.
Now we're seeing and hearing,and this is the camp I'm firmly
in.
Um, no, y'all need to dial itdown because, first of all, both
shooters were republicans.
Right, both shooters were, werepeople that couldn't be a were
(13:35):
clearly in mental healthproblems.
Both shooters would have not,would not have likely been able
to legally possess the firearmsthey possessed if there were
common sense gun control laws inplace, right?
So this whole well, it's KamalaHarris and the Democrats and
the left's fault.
It's ridiculous.
It's absolutely ridiculous,because you do not see the left
(14:00):
or anybody with common sense,right, this isn't really a right
or left thing.
This is like a sane, insanething.
You don't see anybody callingfor political violence on the
left.
You just don't, whereas on theright it's so prevalent.
I mean, then Elon Musk comesout and calls for the
assassination of Joe Biden andKamala Harris.
Hey, how much more brazen doyou need to be?
(14:24):
Right, this is not an us problem, this is a them problem.
Well, actually it's our problem, but this is a their fault
thing and we cannot, 49 daysafter an election, let them off
the hook on this.
There's just no way, becausethey are shameless, any sort of
(14:48):
attempt at civility as viewed asweakness, and you know when we
talk about ending them and andyou know and making them go away
, whatever, everybody knows whatwe're talking.
We're talking about politicallyright, like and yes, we should
all choose our words carefully,no doubt about it.
But the point is, you, it's noteven a comparison, right?
(15:11):
It's just not a comparison.
It's not apples to oranges,it's apples and Goodyear blips,
right?
It's just not the same.
And to pretend that it is isbasically letting them off the
hook, especially because theyjust won't stop.
They just keep going, going andgoing.
And so, for those reasons, andlooking at as we get further
(15:33):
along and the polls are comingout and I don't I I'll do a
whole other episode aboutpolling and why I think we need
to basically ignore the pollsthis time out um, and this is
someone who's has done polling.
I've been a pollster, I knowhow to read these things, I know
how to read these things, Iknow how to run these things.
As they get more and moredesperate, it's only going to
(16:01):
get worse, you know, and that's.
I talked earlier aboutfrustration and existential
dread.
To me, the existential dread iscoming not only from where we
are and this horrible place thatwe are, and it's just horrible.
I mean, if you, the more Ithink about it, just the worse I
feel, um, but where it's goingto end up.
(16:23):
And this one with charleroi.
I saw it online a couple ofdays ago and I thought, dear god
, please don't let this, don'tlet this get in traction, don't
let this go on you.
And, of course, now it is, andI commend the people on the
ground for pushing back the youknow the, the, the local
(16:44):
officials, for being responsible.
Even the guy that gave the uhyou know who, who was on Trump's
campaign team.
He said I did not know I wasbeing recorded.
That he said for sure, and hekind of paraphrased like this
was not what I meant, you know.
He said look, there arechallenges.
Well, you know what that's.
Anytime you're, you know, I'vebeen a local elected official, I
was a township supervisor.
There are always challenges,you know, and they talk about,
(17:06):
for example, oh, crime is nowout of control and they're
making the taxpayers pay foradditional police and it's
raising your taxes.
What they leave out is Charleroihas a regional police
department because so many ofthe municipalities down there
(17:26):
are cash-strapped right.
They have a municipal, theyhave a shared regional police
department and I believe thebudgeted increase because
they're about to pass theirbudget.
I think it was something like$73,500.
I could be wrong on the exactamount, but that was the
ballpark of what it is.
Anybody that's ever donemunicipal budgeting knows that,
for police, $73,500 doesn't evenget you.
(17:47):
It might get you one policeofficer in terms of salary,
benefits, equipment, you know.
It's probably even more thanthat if I looked it up.
So they're trying to make itsound like there's this mass.
You know that they have to puttanks on the streets right to
deal with the Haitian migrantsthat are overrunning the town.
You're talking about theequivalent of probably less than
(18:09):
one uniformed police officer orone vehicle, right, like one
police car or a regional policedepartment that serves multiple
communities that are spread out,you know, around the borough of
charleroi.
They have to cover some groundbecause the only other
alternative is, if you don'thave the local police, then the
(18:32):
state police have to cover itand obviously the coverage
really, you know, goes downhill.
So they're being responsible byproviding local police coverage
and the budget increase I amcertain would be basically the
same whether the there is therewere Haitian migrants there or
not, because, by the way, theydidn't show up yesterday.
(18:53):
They've been there for two orthree years now.
Right, they're making it soundlike there were, like a bunch of
rickety boats that floated upthe Mon River and everybody
jumped off and basically tookover the town.
That is not what happened byany stretch of the imagination.
That is not what happened byany stretch of the imagination.
This is a situation where thesefolks came here.
(19:14):
They were doing all the rightthings, they are legal, there
are you know?
I mean, look, if you look at acouple thousand people, are you
going to find a bad actor hereor there?
Sure, but I'd be willing to betthat if you took the crime in
Charleroi and you stacked itproportionally by the Haitian
migrants versus everybody else,I think it's a pretty clear bet
(19:38):
where the higher crime ratewould lie.
I could be wrong, but I don'tthink I am.
And so you've got this situationwhere it's being grossly
misrepresented and and they'rethey're trying to make something
(19:58):
out of nothing and the theconsequences of this go far
beyond political.
These are lifetime consequencesfor these people.
These people are going to thelocal elected officials the
migrants.
People are going to the localelected officials the migrants.
They are going to be lookingover their shoulders For the
rest of their lives Because youhave put a spotlight on them.
These people get doxxed.
(20:20):
Their information gets outthere.
They didn't ask for this, theydidn't want this and they sure
as hell did not expect this, thedivision that is probably
already taking place in thiscommunity, given the incredibly
racist comments made by two ofthe residents and you really do
have to watch them because itwas the most insane thing ever.
(20:46):
I told a friend, you know, Iactually did have Washington
County racism on my 2024 bingocard for the election.
I told a friend, you know, Iactually did have Washington
County racism on my 2024 bingocard for the election.
I'm honestly kind of surprisedit took this long you know
that's a story for another dayand again, not upset to be out
of there.
But this is real.
There are real lifeconsequences.
The children that have come tothis country for a better life,
(21:09):
like everybody's children did atsome point, the parents that
brought their kids here for abetter life, which almost
everybody did at some point theyare now going to have to deal
with this, explain it these kidswho have these racist parents,
these kids who have these racistparents and clearly, if they're
(21:30):
willing to say it on television, I'm sure they're willing to
say it at the dinner table.
And what is going to be said inthese schools.
What is going to be said tothese kids, what is going to
happen in the cafeteria and theplayground and in the classroom
is real, and those are seedsthat are being planted now that
(21:51):
will bear fruit for years andyears to come, and that fruit is
going to be rotten, and Trumpand Vance and his people do not
give a damn.
The cruelty is the point.
We're seeing it unfold in realtime.
So, yeah, I'm angry, yeah, I'mfrustrated, yes, I have a sense
(22:17):
of dread because I can seewhat's coming and it's
terrifying.
There's no way to sugarcoat it.
By the way, today is NationalVoter Registration Day, although
I would assume, if you'relistening to this podcast,
you're already voting.
Here's a challenge Go findthree people that you don't
(22:38):
think are registered to vote andask them and if they are not
registered, sit down with them,go to voteorg and walk them
through the process.
It is not illegal to helpsomebody register.
You can't harvest ballots formail-in voting.
You can help them register.
Do it.
Three people, three people.
(22:58):
That's all it takes.
If everybody does their part,we can actually turn the tide
and make this happen and put anend to this absolute insanity.
Thank you for listening.
We're going to do this againtomorrow.
We're going to do this everyday until the election and, I'm
sure, for quite a bit afterwardsas we deal with what comes next
(23:18):
.
I'm Jesse White.
Thank you and have a great day.
Popular Podcasts
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com