August 8, 2025 • 16 mins
In this brief conversation with Heidi, former Congressman Beto O'Rourke discusses the critical political landscape in Texas, focusing on the fight against gerrymandering and the implications of recent Republican Party actions.
He emphasizes the importance of grassroots activism, the need for a strong Democratic message, and the urgency of mobilizing support for upcoming elections. O'Rourke highlights the risks Texas Democrats face standing up against authoritarian tactics and calling for unity in the fight for democracy.
Join us on The Hot Dish every other week, where we serve up hearty conversations that resonate with every corner of the country.
The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project, making sure the voices of the rest of us are heard in Washington. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org or find us at OneCountryProject.substack.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome back to the hot dish.
I have a very special guest, former Congressman Beto O'Rourke and we have to say formerfellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
A big fan favorite for all those students.
They're still talking about you.
But we want you to be doing most of the talking because people are so interested.
(00:26):
in what's happening right now in Texas.
And you have been fighting this kind of thing, this autocratic moves from the governor,from the people uh in Texas for so many years.
Tell us where you think it's at right now.
What do you think the outcome is going to be?
It's great to be with you and thanks for inviting me to join you and to talk about what'sgoing on in Texas because I don't think there's a more important fight in the country
(00:50):
right now.
This one in Texas is for all the marbles and to bring everybody up to speed, Donald Trumpcalled our governor Greg Abbott and asked him to find him five congressional seats in
Texas.
He wants these five congressional seats because
His program right now of cutting millions of people off of Medicaid, which hurts all ofus, but it really hurts rural communities.
(01:12):
It shuts down hospitals in some of these more remote counties and places like thePanhandle in the state of Texas.
His Gestapo tactics that are terrorizing the hardest working Americans across thiscountry.
His massive transfer of wealth from working Americans to the richest 1 % in the country.
This stuff isn't popular no matter where you go and he'll lose control of the House.
(01:35):
So he's asked Abbott to redraw the maps in Texas to give him five congressional seats thatRepublicans can easily win, they hope.
And the Republican legislature in Texas, thick as thieves with these guys, was just aboutto do this when 56 state House Democrats in Texas broke quorum, left the state and denied
(01:57):
the Republican counterparts the numbers necessary.
to certify these new rigged maps.
And Heidi, as you know, they are all over the country right now.
Some are in Illinois, some are in New York, some are literally God only knows where, Idon't know.
But they're leading this fight not just for the people they serve in Texas, but for all ofus wherever we live in America, because if they are successful and we win a majority in
(02:23):
the house, we're only three seats down right now, then there will be a check.
on Trump's lawlessness.
There will be accountability for his corruption and his crimes.
And there will be the prospect going forward, including in 2028, of free and fairelections in America.
If we all fail, and I think this one is on all of us to support them, and I think we'reall in this together, but if we fail, and if Trump is successful in this deal, if he
(02:45):
maintains control of the House of Representatives, then I think this consolidation ofauthoritarian power in America is going to be nearly
unstoppable.
And that means more masked, plain clothes, federal agents without warrants or badgessweeping up our fellow Americans off the streets.
It means more of Trump's political opponents targeted for retribution, for violence even.
(03:08):
And it means that it is more likely than not that a Republican controlled Congress willroll out the royal red carpet for a Trump third term.
So those are the stakes of the fight.
And these five seats in Texas
are for all the money on table.
And so I just want to make sure everyone understands that the election of 2026 is about tobe decided in the summer of 2025 based on what we do or fail to do at this moment of
(03:35):
truth.
You know, one of the questions that I have is obviously this map was gerrymandered tobegin with Beto.
I mean, that you know, they've had total control and they drew this map to favorRepublicans.
Could they be in fact diluting some Republican districts and actually end up, you know,kind of be careful what you ask for because you now have made uh a plus 10 district, a
(03:59):
plus two or plus three districts.
the other thing I want you to comment on is the impact that this has on the population ofTexas, which is majority minority.
People don't realize that Texas is one of the most diverse states in the union.
And they are clearly drawing these maps to diminish the capability of uh minority peopleto basically get representation in Washington
(04:25):
These are both.
excellent points on the first, you're absolutely right.
In order to rig these maps so that they can pick up five seats that are currentlyrepresented by Democrats, all of them Democrats of color or women, they will have to move
Republican voters out of what are so-called safe Republican districts into these morecompetitive or Democratic dominated districts.
(04:50):
They'll have to move some Democrats out of those districts into Republican controlleddistricts.
And in other words, they may
may make pre-existing Republican-represented districts far more competitive.
And we may be able to win, even if they redraw the maps for those five districts, we maybe able to win those districts because the margins will still be pretty tight, but we
might have tighter margins in the old Republican districts as well.
(05:12):
And folks have called this a potential dummymander, which means that you exceed thepossibility of your reach in terms of what you're able to deliver for your own party.
And you open up
a front that never existed before for your rival party in Texas.
So this is actually a pretty precarious play that they're making.
(05:33):
And one of the tracks that we have to be on right now is reaching out to and registeringthe voters in these both in the proposed re-gerrymander districts and in the pre-existing
Republican dominated districts so that we have enough net new voters to be not justcompetitive, but to win.
(05:53):
So that's just...
absolutely critical and something that we've got to do.
The other thing that I'd like to see us do in addition to that and supporting theseDemocrats who've left the state is to encourage Democratic governors who have the
political trifecta of their general assembly or their house and their state senate and thegovernor's mansion to redraw their own districts to Democratic party advantage.
(06:18):
You and I both agree that members of Congress should not be able to choose their ownvoters.
You and I both
dislike gerrymandering.
and I both have been part of the good government team that has asked for citizen ledcommissions to redistrict this stuff so you get it out of the hands of politicians.
But I hope we both agree that you cannot unilaterally disarm it if the other side is goingto rig this game and then use that to consolidate authoritarian power and end what Lincoln
(06:44):
called the last best hope of earth that is government of by and for the people.
Then we have to play with every single thing that we have got.
regardless of what the old norms and rules used to be, especially for our party, we've gotto be focused on winning power.
And that's the way that I look at it right now, given the fact that so many people that wecare about, their lives are literally on the line depending on the outcome of this fight.
(07:09):
So, you know, I think about this period of time, Congressman, about kind of, it's aturning point.
It is, the rank and file Democrats in this country are tired of people not fighting.
They're tired of people kind of just going along and getting along as they see it.
Now here comes these brave uh legislators out of Texas saying, look, I'm going to totallyupend my life to fight for democracy.
(07:36):
It is inspiring and it's inspiring a lot of
Democrats, um how now we're talking about the FBI going out and investigating them.
How how intimidating is that to these folks?
And um as a former congressman, what can Congress, what can Democrats in Congress be doingright now to stop the federal authorities from getting involved in local political issues
(08:02):
in Texas?
Well, first of all, I just love what you had to say.
uh My friend Joaquin Castro, who I think you know pretty well, who represents uh acongressional district outside of San Antonio, said something to the effect of this is a
season for fighters only.
We don't want people who are going to roll over, who are going to submit, who are going tobend the knee.
(08:24):
There are plenty of people in America doing that right now.
These big law firms, Harvard University, Columbia University, uh Brown, others who've madesettlements, Tim Cook.
the CEO of Apple literally presenting Donald Trump with a gold-plated iPhone like here isthis bar of gold Mr.
President now will you protect my company from the tariffs that others will have to haveto pay I mean this may be legal but it is corruption by by any other name and we've got to
(08:50):
fight it and and one of the things that I think you will really love or you do love aboutthis moment given your life and your service and the fights that you have waged
is we're not just going to the obvious places, to the bright blue cities and to the placeswhere Democrats usually dominate.
Last night I was in Oklahoma City and we had a crowd of more than 1,500 people who cameout and that city sits in the fifth congressional district, which is a district that we
(09:18):
can win in November of 26.
The night before I was in Omaha, Nebraska.
currently represented by Don Bacon.
He's retiring.
We absolutely have to win that if we don't win that district.
We're in we're in the wrong business last year.
I was in Minot, North Dakota.
We had a big group that came out and and listen these are folks as you know, full well whodon't really define themselves by party affiliation.
(09:41):
There you know, there's some great, you know lifelong Democrats and great lifelongRepublicans and then there are folks who say you know what?
I'm not so sure that politics has ever really worked for this country.
It hasn't.
certainly work for my family.
I'm coming out because I'm curious.
I want to know if someone's going to stand up and fight for me.
And when we show up and listen to these folks who come out to these meetings, no matterwhere we go across America, and we talk about the things that we're fighting for, like
(10:05):
making sure that they can see a doctor, like their kids are going to a school that isfully funded and the teacher doesn't have to work a second or a third job to make ends
meet, that farmers...
are making enough on what they produce and grow to be able to pass that land on to theirdaughter or their son or the following generation because too many feel like they have to
sell or subdivide right now.
(10:27):
If we're literally there to be with them in this fight, then they are going to be with usin our pursuit of power, both to stop Donald Trump and these terribly destructive things
that he's doing to our country and to the people we love in our families and in ourcommunities.
But more importantly,
to be able to deliver on the big hopes and promises that the Democratic Party shouldrepresent, like making sure that whatever work you do, that one job is enough for you to
(10:53):
be able to survive and to provide for your family.
Like you can always be able to see a doctor so you're healthy and well enough to go towork or go to school or raise your family or do whatever you are placed on this planet to
do so that you can afford to buy a home if you work at it because too many people areworking at it right now.
and just can't afford one and feel like they will never be able to afford one.
(11:15):
I mean, this aspirational bold ambitious agenda is the kind of thing that we have to besharing with people, but we got to go everywhere.
We can't do it on the internet.
We've got to be there in person.
And I know you know that because that's how you won political power and used it to makethe lives of the people in your state that much better.
the most important thing that you've talked about is, I think people just like, DonaldTrump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump.
(11:38):
You cannot win this fight without actually having some ideas of your own.
And you just outlined what I think is absolutely the essential 2026 message, the 2028message.
why we're different, where we're gonna go to deliver that message.
And the thing that I always say Beto is, you know what?
(11:59):
If you can sell your message in Minot, North Dakota, you're gonna win some Swinn districtsin New York.
People wanna divide this country, but what people in this country want is so similar,whether you're in Minot, North Dakota, whether you're in New York, whether you're in El
Paso, Texas, places you and I know well.
And so I know you're on a short time span.
(12:19):
I hope you'll come back.
and give us more words of wisdom.
I know people are really, really excited that you're out there, that you're doing whatneeds to be done.
Tell us what your plans are for the next 40 days to be the spokesperson for thisincredible movement that is being uh out of Texas.
(12:40):
You know, these 56 Democrats in Texas who are the tip of the spear, who've left the stateto deny Abbott and Trump the quorum necessary to steal these maps, you know, they're being
pursued by the governor who has threatened to charge them with second degree felonies.
He has threatened to vacate their seats.
He actually filed with the Texas Supreme Court to remove them from office.
(13:01):
He has sent out the Texas state troopers.
to hunt them down.
John Cornyn, our senior senator from the state of Texas, just tweeted that he has anagreement with Cash Patel, the director of the FBI, to send federal law enforcement after
them.
They're being fined $500 a day every single day that they're outside of the state ofTexas.
And so this is coming at extraordinary personal and then certainly political risk to eachand every one of them.
(13:27):
So I'm doing what I can to rally people to the cause.
and ensure that folks support them.
I mean, financially for sure, but also just the kind of the moral support and theencouragement.
They need to know that all of us are with them right now and that we're grateful for whatthey're doing.
So these town halls that I'm holding everywhere.
And I mentioned a few of the cities that I've been in tonight.
(13:48):
I'm in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Tomorrow I'm gonna be, or day after tomorrow in Fort Worth and Sunday in Abilene, Texas,one of these rural communities that we've got to show up in and listen to people in.
I just want to make sure that everyone knows that this is the fight of our lives and it'staking place right now.
And if we're waiting or hoping or praying for someone to come in and ride to the rescue,or if we labor under the illusion that we can be active in 2026 or even 2028, God forbid,
(14:17):
and that that will be sufficient, I just want us to know that if we wait and the momenthas passed before we have begun to fight, it will be too late for all of us and for this
country.
On the other hand, if we all band together and join in rural and urban alike, Democrat andRepublican alike for that matter, because at the end of the day, we're more American than
(14:38):
we are anything else.
If we stand to be counted at this moment of truth, I'm confident that we're gonna comethrough.
So Heidi, I'm gonna stay focused on this.
Our group is called Powered By People.
We're rallying folks all across Texas and the country.
to join this fight and to make sure that we win it.
And so thank you for letting me join you today and to speak to you and to your audienceand please keep up the great work that you're doing.
(15:02):
So Beto, you've been everywhere and I know the people who are listening want to know howcan they keep track of you, how can they keep track of this movement and how can they
help?
Let us know.
pitch in by texting the word fight to 20377.
And when they do that, they're gonna get a text message back from us that gives them anopportunity to donate.
(15:27):
And the donation, 100 cents on the dollar, goes directly to those Texas Democrats who arebreaking quorum right now and doing their best to fight for this democracy and our
country.
And so we would love, and they would love,
to see that support from everywhere around the country.
And then for folks who are interested in the other work that Powered by People does, it'svoter registration, it's fighting voter suppression, it's engaging with young and new
(15:53):
voters to make sure that we help them turn out in states that are heavily voter suppressedlike the state of Texas.
Our website is poweredxpeople.org.
And you're welcome to join us and volunteer with us wherever you live in America.
We can sure use your help.
You are an inspiration and you've never given up the fight in spite of all of theobstacles you are.
(16:17):
are incredibly motivating.
I, you know, I feel like I should be going door to door and fighting for these folks rightnow too.
So congratulations, keep us posted.
I hope you come back and talk on the podcast again.
You are always welcome on the hot dish and certainly you're always welcome in North Dakotaor any part of the world country to spread the message.
(16:37):
Thank you so much, Congressman, for everything that you're doing.
Welcome back to the hot dish.
I have a very special guest, former Congressman Beto O'Rourke and we have to say formerfellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
A big fan favorite for all those students.
They're still talking about you.
But we want you to be doing most of the talking because people are so interested.
(00:26):
in what's happening right now in Texas.
And you have been fighting this kind of thing, this autocratic moves from the governor,from the people uh in Texas for so many years.
Tell us where you think it's at right now.
What do you think the outcome is going to be?
It's great to be with you and thanks for inviting me to join you and to talk about what'sgoing on in Texas because I don't think there's a more important fight in the country
(00:50):
right now.
This one in Texas is for all the marbles and to bring everybody up to speed, Donald Trumpcalled our governor Greg Abbott and asked him to find him five congressional seats in
Texas.
He wants these five congressional seats because
His program right now of cutting millions of people off of Medicaid, which hurts all ofus, but it really hurts rural communities.
(01:12):
It shuts down hospitals in some of these more remote counties and places like thePanhandle in the state of Texas.
His Gestapo tactics that are terrorizing the hardest working Americans across thiscountry.
His massive transfer of wealth from working Americans to the richest 1 % in the country.
This stuff isn't popular no matter where you go and he'll lose control of the House.
(01:35):
So he's asked Abbott to redraw the maps in Texas to give him five congressional seats thatRepublicans can easily win, they hope.
And the Republican legislature in Texas, thick as thieves with these guys, was just aboutto do this when 56 state House Democrats in Texas broke quorum, left the state and denied
(01:57):
the Republican counterparts the numbers necessary.
to certify these new rigged maps.
And Heidi, as you know, they are all over the country right now.
Some are in Illinois, some are in New York, some are literally God only knows where, Idon't know.
But they're leading this fight not just for the people they serve in Texas, but for all ofus wherever we live in America, because if they are successful and we win a majority in
(02:23):
the house, we're only three seats down right now, then there will be a check.
on Trump's lawlessness.
There will be accountability for his corruption and his crimes.
And there will be the prospect going forward, including in 2028, of free and fairelections in America.
If we all fail, and I think this one is on all of us to support them, and I think we'reall in this together, but if we fail, and if Trump is successful in this deal, if he
(02:45):
maintains control of the House of Representatives, then I think this consolidation ofauthoritarian power in America is going to be nearly
unstoppable.
And that means more masked, plain clothes, federal agents without warrants or badgessweeping up our fellow Americans off the streets.
It means more of Trump's political opponents targeted for retribution, for violence even.
(03:08):
And it means that it is more likely than not that a Republican controlled Congress willroll out the royal red carpet for a Trump third term.
So those are the stakes of the fight.
And these five seats in Texas
are for all the money on table.
And so I just want to make sure everyone understands that the election of 2026 is about tobe decided in the summer of 2025 based on what we do or fail to do at this moment of
(03:35):
truth.
You know, one of the questions that I have is obviously this map was gerrymandered tobegin with Beto.
I mean, that you know, they've had total control and they drew this map to favorRepublicans.
Could they be in fact diluting some Republican districts and actually end up, you know,kind of be careful what you ask for because you now have made uh a plus 10 district, a
(03:59):
plus two or plus three districts.
the other thing I want you to comment on is the impact that this has on the population ofTexas, which is majority minority.
People don't realize that Texas is one of the most diverse states in the union.
And they are clearly drawing these maps to diminish the capability of uh minority peopleto basically get representation in Washington
(04:25):
These are both.
excellent points on the first, you're absolutely right.
In order to rig these maps so that they can pick up five seats that are currentlyrepresented by Democrats, all of them Democrats of color or women, they will have to move
Republican voters out of what are so-called safe Republican districts into these morecompetitive or Democratic dominated districts.
(04:50):
They'll have to move some Democrats out of those districts into Republican controlleddistricts.
And in other words, they may
may make pre-existing Republican-represented districts far more competitive.
And we may be able to win, even if they redraw the maps for those five districts, we maybe able to win those districts because the margins will still be pretty tight, but we
might have tighter margins in the old Republican districts as well.
(05:12):
And folks have called this a potential dummymander, which means that you exceed thepossibility of your reach in terms of what you're able to deliver for your own party.
And you open up
a front that never existed before for your rival party in Texas.
So this is actually a pretty precarious play that they're making.
(05:33):
And one of the tracks that we have to be on right now is reaching out to and registeringthe voters in these both in the proposed re-gerrymander districts and in the pre-existing
Republican dominated districts so that we have enough net new voters to be not justcompetitive, but to win.
(05:53):
So that's just...
absolutely critical and something that we've got to do.
The other thing that I'd like to see us do in addition to that and supporting theseDemocrats who've left the state is to encourage Democratic governors who have the
political trifecta of their general assembly or their house and their state senate and thegovernor's mansion to redraw their own districts to Democratic party advantage.
(06:18):
You and I both agree that members of Congress should not be able to choose their ownvoters.
You and I both
dislike gerrymandering.
and I both have been part of the good government team that has asked for citizen ledcommissions to redistrict this stuff so you get it out of the hands of politicians.
But I hope we both agree that you cannot unilaterally disarm it if the other side is goingto rig this game and then use that to consolidate authoritarian power and end what Lincoln
(06:44):
called the last best hope of earth that is government of by and for the people.
Then we have to play with every single thing that we have got.
regardless of what the old norms and rules used to be, especially for our party, we've gotto be focused on winning power.
And that's the way that I look at it right now, given the fact that so many people that wecare about, their lives are literally on the line depending on the outcome of this fight.
(07:09):
So, you know, I think about this period of time, Congressman, about kind of, it's aturning point.
It is, the rank and file Democrats in this country are tired of people not fighting.
They're tired of people kind of just going along and getting along as they see it.
Now here comes these brave uh legislators out of Texas saying, look, I'm going to totallyupend my life to fight for democracy.
(07:36):
It is inspiring and it's inspiring a lot of
Democrats, um how now we're talking about the FBI going out and investigating them.
How how intimidating is that to these folks?
And um as a former congressman, what can Congress, what can Democrats in Congress be doingright now to stop the federal authorities from getting involved in local political issues
(08:02):
in Texas?
Well, first of all, I just love what you had to say.
uh My friend Joaquin Castro, who I think you know pretty well, who represents uh acongressional district outside of San Antonio, said something to the effect of this is a
season for fighters only.
We don't want people who are going to roll over, who are going to submit, who are going tobend the knee.
(08:24):
There are plenty of people in America doing that right now.
These big law firms, Harvard University, Columbia University, uh Brown, others who've madesettlements, Tim Cook.
the CEO of Apple literally presenting Donald Trump with a gold-plated iPhone like here isthis bar of gold Mr.
President now will you protect my company from the tariffs that others will have to haveto pay I mean this may be legal but it is corruption by by any other name and we've got to
(08:50):
fight it and and one of the things that I think you will really love or you do love aboutthis moment given your life and your service and the fights that you have waged
is we're not just going to the obvious places, to the bright blue cities and to the placeswhere Democrats usually dominate.
Last night I was in Oklahoma City and we had a crowd of more than 1,500 people who cameout and that city sits in the fifth congressional district, which is a district that we
(09:18):
can win in November of 26.
The night before I was in Omaha, Nebraska.
currently represented by Don Bacon.
He's retiring.
We absolutely have to win that if we don't win that district.
We're in we're in the wrong business last year.
I was in Minot, North Dakota.
We had a big group that came out and and listen these are folks as you know, full well whodon't really define themselves by party affiliation.
(09:41):
There you know, there's some great, you know lifelong Democrats and great lifelongRepublicans and then there are folks who say you know what?
I'm not so sure that politics has ever really worked for this country.
It hasn't.
certainly work for my family.
I'm coming out because I'm curious.
I want to know if someone's going to stand up and fight for me.
And when we show up and listen to these folks who come out to these meetings, no matterwhere we go across America, and we talk about the things that we're fighting for, like
(10:05):
making sure that they can see a doctor, like their kids are going to a school that isfully funded and the teacher doesn't have to work a second or a third job to make ends
meet, that farmers...
are making enough on what they produce and grow to be able to pass that land on to theirdaughter or their son or the following generation because too many feel like they have to
sell or subdivide right now.
(10:27):
If we're literally there to be with them in this fight, then they are going to be with usin our pursuit of power, both to stop Donald Trump and these terribly destructive things
that he's doing to our country and to the people we love in our families and in ourcommunities.
But more importantly,
to be able to deliver on the big hopes and promises that the Democratic Party shouldrepresent, like making sure that whatever work you do, that one job is enough for you to
(10:53):
be able to survive and to provide for your family.
Like you can always be able to see a doctor so you're healthy and well enough to go towork or go to school or raise your family or do whatever you are placed on this planet to
do so that you can afford to buy a home if you work at it because too many people areworking at it right now.
and just can't afford one and feel like they will never be able to afford one.
(11:15):
I mean, this aspirational bold ambitious agenda is the kind of thing that we have to besharing with people, but we got to go everywhere.
We can't do it on the internet.
We've got to be there in person.
And I know you know that because that's how you won political power and used it to makethe lives of the people in your state that much better.
the most important thing that you've talked about is, I think people just like, DonaldTrump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump.
(11:38):
You cannot win this fight without actually having some ideas of your own.
And you just outlined what I think is absolutely the essential 2026 message, the 2028message.
why we're different, where we're gonna go to deliver that message.
And the thing that I always say Beto is, you know what?
(11:59):
If you can sell your message in Minot, North Dakota, you're gonna win some Swinn districtsin New York.
People wanna divide this country, but what people in this country want is so similar,whether you're in Minot, North Dakota, whether you're in New York, whether you're in El
Paso, Texas, places you and I know well.
And so I know you're on a short time span.
(12:19):
I hope you'll come back.
and give us more words of wisdom.
I know people are really, really excited that you're out there, that you're doing whatneeds to be done.
Tell us what your plans are for the next 40 days to be the spokesperson for thisincredible movement that is being uh out of Texas.
(12:40):
You know, these 56 Democrats in Texas who are the tip of the spear, who've left the stateto deny Abbott and Trump the quorum necessary to steal these maps, you know, they're being
pursued by the governor who has threatened to charge them with second degree felonies.
He has threatened to vacate their seats.
He actually filed with the Texas Supreme Court to remove them from office.
(13:01):
He has sent out the Texas state troopers.
to hunt them down.
John Cornyn, our senior senator from the state of Texas, just tweeted that he has anagreement with Cash Patel, the director of the FBI, to send federal law enforcement after
them.
They're being fined $500 a day every single day that they're outside of the state ofTexas.
And so this is coming at extraordinary personal and then certainly political risk to eachand every one of them.
(13:27):
So I'm doing what I can to rally people to the cause.
and ensure that folks support them.
I mean, financially for sure, but also just the kind of the moral support and theencouragement.
They need to know that all of us are with them right now and that we're grateful for whatthey're doing.
So these town halls that I'm holding everywhere.
And I mentioned a few of the cities that I've been in tonight.
(13:48):
I'm in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Tomorrow I'm gonna be, or day after tomorrow in Fort Worth and Sunday in Abilene, Texas,one of these rural communities that we've got to show up in and listen to people in.
I just want to make sure that everyone knows that this is the fight of our lives and it'staking place right now.
And if we're waiting or hoping or praying for someone to come in and ride to the rescue,or if we labor under the illusion that we can be active in 2026 or even 2028, God forbid,
(14:17):
and that that will be sufficient, I just want us to know that if we wait and the momenthas passed before we have begun to fight, it will be too late for all of us and for this
country.
On the other hand, if we all band together and join in rural and urban alike, Democrat andRepublican alike for that matter, because at the end of the day, we're more American than
(14:38):
we are anything else.
If we stand to be counted at this moment of truth, I'm confident that we're gonna comethrough.
So Heidi, I'm gonna stay focused on this.
Our group is called Powered By People.
We're rallying folks all across Texas and the country.
to join this fight and to make sure that we win it.
And so thank you for letting me join you today and to speak to you and to your audienceand please keep up the great work that you're doing.
(15:02):
So Beto, you've been everywhere and I know the people who are listening want to know howcan they keep track of you, how can they keep track of this movement and how can they
help?
Let us know.
pitch in by texting the word fight to 20377.
And when they do that, they're gonna get a text message back from us that gives them anopportunity to donate.
(15:27):
And the donation, 100 cents on the dollar, goes directly to those Texas Democrats who arebreaking quorum right now and doing their best to fight for this democracy and our
country.
And so we would love, and they would love,
to see that support from everywhere around the country.
And then for folks who are interested in the other work that Powered by People does, it'svoter registration, it's fighting voter suppression, it's engaging with young and new
(15:53):
voters to make sure that we help them turn out in states that are heavily voter suppressedlike the state of Texas.
Our website is poweredxpeople.org.
And you're welcome to join us and volunteer with us wherever you live in America.
We can sure use your help.
You are an inspiration and you've never given up the fight in spite of all of theobstacles you are.
(16:17):
are incredibly motivating.
I, you know, I feel like I should be going door to door and fighting for these folks rightnow too.
So congratulations, keep us posted.
I hope you come back and talk on the podcast again.
You are always welcome on the hot dish and certainly you're always welcome in North Dakotaor any part of the world country to spread the message.
(16:37):
Thank you so much, Congressman, for everything that you're doing.
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