Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00027247 | |||||||||
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US Politics
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Brian Tyler Cohen: Fed up Pete Buttigieg SMACKS DOWN Marjorie Taylor Greene Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uab2TRgVOls Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | |||||||||
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Fed up Pete Buttigieg SMACKS DOWN Marjorie Taylor Greene
Brian Tyler Cohen
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1,843,540 views Jul 21, 2024 Interviews with Brian Tyler Cohen
INTERVIEW: Brian interviews Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about how to approach a Democratic Party split over Joe Biden, his response to certain Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and JD Vance who tried to blame Democrats for Trump’s shooting, and his reaction to even Republicans trying to distance themselves from Project 2025.
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People
5 people
Joe Biden
President of the United States since 2021
Donald Trump
President of the United States from 2017 to 2021
Barack Obama
President of the United States from 2009 to 2017
Marjorie Taylor Greene
American politician (born 1974)
Pete Buttigieg
American politician (born 1982)
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258 episodes
Interviews with Brian Tyler Cohen
Brian Tyler Cohen
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Show transcript
Brian Tyler Cohen
0:00
I'm joined now by the Secretary of
0:01
Transportation Pete Budaj thanks so much
0:02
for joining me thanks for having me of
0:04
course so the issue of whether or not
0:06
President Biden will remain on the
0:08
ballot has obviously become a very big
0:09
news story right now on one hand we have
0:12
the most legislatively successful
0:14
president of our lifetimes on the other
0:16
there are concerns about his ability to
0:18
prosecute the case for a second term so
0:20
what do you say to an audience that's
0:22
largely split on this issue so because
0:25
of the campaign rules and because I'm
0:26
here as secretary I can't talk about the
0:28
campaign side of things what I can talk
0:30
about is what a good president as well
0:33
as a good man and a good boss Joe Biden
0:35
is and as you noted a record of
0:38
accomplishment that no modern president
0:42
can really compare to in terms of the
0:44
the legislation that's gotten done the
0:45
things I've been here in La marking
0:48
today from from ports to to buses to to
0:50
Transit and that's just a piece of it
0:52
just the transportation piece of it so
0:54
I'm I'm really proud to be part of this
0:57
team now you were in Pennsylvania uh
1:00
this week obviously the shooting in
1:02
Pennsylvania happened just over just
1:04
about a week ago when Donald Trump was
1:06
shot at his rally in Butler there were a
1:08
faction of Republicans and that includes
1:09
marger Taylor green JD Vance who was
1:11
obviously chosen as Donald Trump's VP
1:13
pick um who wasted zero time in
1:16
basically pinning the blame on
1:18
Democratic rhetoric what's your reaction
1:20
to that charge well it's it's absurd and
1:23
to be clear President Biden said uh what
1:27
I think most Americans felt which is
1:29
that
1:30
you cannot make any excuses for any
1:33
political violence and in his Oval
1:35
Office address he called to the grace
1:37
and decency of this country and while
1:40
there were some voices that were quick
1:41
to politicize this I I will note that
1:44
generally not universally but
1:46
generally that view came from ACR the
1:50
Right View came from across the
1:52
political spectrum and across the
1:53
country saying that we we cannot
1:56
tolerate political violence now we do
1:58
need I think to go once step further and
2:01
insist that you can't be against
2:04
political violence selectively right it
2:07
is horrific and wrong for there to have
2:09
been an attempt on President Trump's
2:11
life it was horrific and wrong for there
2:13
to be be an attempt on Gretchen
2:15
whitmer's life this is often uh
2:17
short-handed in the press as a
2:19
kidnapping plot but just to be clear
2:20
this was a kidnap and murder plot
2:22
against Gretchen Whitmer it was horrific
2:25
and wrong for there to be the shooting
2:26
that injured Steve scales a republican
2:28
member of Congress it was horrific and
2:30
wrong when there was an attempt on the
2:32
lives of the Pelosi that nearly killed
2:34
Paul Pelosi uh anywhere you look
2:36
certainly uh uh whether we're talking
2:38
about January 6th or these Lone Wolf
2:41
events there is only one legitimate
2:44
answer and that is that violence has
2:45
absolutely no place in our politics and
2:47
and anytime we see anybody flirting with
2:50
violent rhetoric we need to confront it
2:52
yeah and I I think it's especially
2:53
ironic that you know I know you can't
2:55
speak on this because of hatch act's
2:57
concerns but you know it has been Donald
2:58
Trump who you know to that exact point
3:00
kind of laughed off the kidnapping plot
3:02
against Gretch and Whitmer who laughed
3:04
off uh and reposted an image of
3:06
President Biden hog tied in the back of
3:07
a truck who who incited the events of
3:10
January 6th and is now predicating in
3:12
large part uh his reelection campaign on
3:14
freeing those insurrectionists who were
3:16
who were uh jailed as the result of
3:18
those crimes so again to your point you
3:20
know you can't do this selectively if
3:21
you want to be against political
3:22
violence then you can't just be against
3:24
it when it happens to your own side you
3:25
have to be against it across the board
3:28
categorically now pivoting to project
3:30
2025 here that has become a liability
3:32
for Republicans as more and more
3:34
Americans actually figure out what the
3:36
hell it is um what does it say that
3:39
Republicans are now effectively running
3:41
away from their own agenda it's pretty
3:43
alarming stuff and to be clear it's been
3:45
embraced by a number of congressional
3:47
Republicans that uh we deal with and
3:49
work with at the US Department of
3:51
Transportation and just taking the
3:52
transportation piece alone you look at
3:54
what's in there privatizing highways
3:56
tolling them um they even uh uh came out
4:01
against Vision zero that is our vision
4:03
to end traffic deaths roadway deaths in
4:06
this country I I just can't think of
4:08
something that should be less partisan
4:10
than the idea we don't want to get
4:11
people killed on our roadways uh act uh
4:15
being against our Railway safety rules
4:18
like the rule that says if you got a
4:19
two-mile Long Train Running through a
4:21
community carrying hazardous material
4:23
you ought to have at least as general
4:24
rule you to have at least two people on
4:26
it I think that's pretty common sensical
4:27
most Americans are probably shocked to
4:29
know that that wasn't a rule until we
4:30
made it one and this uh this Think Tank
4:33
uh project says that that uh we should
4:36
get rid of it you just look at item
4:37
after item by the way as a quick aside
4:39
is especially ironic considering those
4:40
were the same people who are very quick
4:41
to blame you for what happened in East
4:43
Palestine yeah and and and yet those
4:45
same people in Congress are nowhere to
4:47
be found right now when there's a
4:49
bipartisan Railway safety act still
4:50
waiting its turn uh it moved through
4:52
through Committee in the Senate and and
4:54
that's pretty much it uh Airline
4:55
consumer protection you know we move to
4:57
hold Airlines accountable for unfair and
4:58
deceptive uh practices this uh proposal
5:01
says that we shouldn't even have the
5:03
ability or the authority to do that
5:04
proposes getting rid of discretionary
5:06
grants like the one that uh we were
5:08
celebrating this morning at the Port of
5:09
Long Beach to install thousands and
5:12
thousands of feet of on do rail which
5:14
means that you can move containers onto
5:16
trains without having to wait for a
5:18
truck to get ready takes about 750
5:20
trucks to to move one train worth of
5:22
containers if you count all the
5:23
movements uh which which is a clear win
5:25
for our supply chain so it's just such a
5:27
backward way of thinking and and it does
5:30
seem now that that um there are some
5:33
Congressional Republicans and others who
5:34
were kind of embarrassed by it and
5:35
trying to tip to away from it but let's
5:37
be very clear this is their agenda this
5:39
is not coming from like some dude you
5:42
know with with with with a Blog
5:43
somewhere I mean this is the Heritage
5:45
Foundation this is like the intellectual
5:47
engine of the policy apparatus of uh uh
5:50
certainly every conservative
5:51
Administration in my lifetime the same
5:53
Heritage Foundation by the way that is
5:54
quite literally sponsoring the RNC right
5:56
now um you know I'm I'm not sure whether
5:59
they're also sponsoring Matt Gates's uh
6:01
Botox recent Botox budget but that would
6:04
obviously be more significant outlay um
6:06
back to project 2025 within that 900
6:09
page framework is a plan where
6:11
Republicans would seek to reinstate um
6:14
an executive order related well called
6:16
schedule F and that would that would um
6:19
basically
6:21
reclassify as few as 50,000 but likely
6:24
hundreds of thousands of career civil
6:25
servants as political appointees who
6:28
would no longer be bound by by an
6:30
adherence to the law or the Constitution
6:32
but rather to loyalty to a political
6:35
party what would it mean for the federal
6:37
government if that section in particular
6:40
is if that executive order is reinstated
6:43
that would be disastrous I mean the the
6:44
crazy thing is we went through this as a
6:46
country uh in the days of you know
6:49
presidents Garfield and Teddy Roosevelt
6:51
and figured out that a modern country
6:53
ought to have a professional civil
6:54
service at our department the Department
6:56
of Transportation uh about a hundred
6:59
people are political appointees like me
7:01
and the other 55,000 are career civil
7:04
servants who don't have to be loyal to
7:06
this or that President they could be
7:08
Republican Democrat independent doesn't
7:09
matter don't care uh what matters is are
7:11
you good at your job as a geographer for
7:14
the federal rail Administration or an
7:15
air traffic controller in the tower at
7:17
LAX or as somebody who uh draws up the
7:21
the legal boundaries on on safety
7:24
regulations for uh uh for uh side view
7:26
mirrors or any of the things that people
7:28
are doing day in Day Out out to keep the
7:29
American people safe the last thing they
7:31
should be thinking about is the idea
7:34
that they could lose their job because
7:36
they were considered insufficiently
7:38
loyal to the president that's not how it
7:40
works for very good reason yes if you
7:43
want to be uh you know in a job like
7:45
mine or uh you know uh uh some of the
7:48
more kind of politically sensitive roles
7:52
uh those are are politically appointed
7:54
all I'll mention like even a lot of the
7:56
political appointees in our department
7:57
are subject matter experts uh uh some of
8:00
whom uh have even uh uh you know had
8:03
profiles in the past as career civil
8:05
servants and then uh were were appointed
8:06
to their roles just because they're
8:08
they're the best person for the job uh
8:10
and happen to be serving in a democratic
8:12
Administration but I the idea that you
8:14
would go back on that after everything
8:16
we've learned as a country about the
8:18
importance of professionalism in public
8:20
service just flies in the face of good
8:23
government flies in the face of good
8:24
government but here's an issue that I've
8:26
been trying to beat the drum about over
8:28
and over again because I think this is
8:30
really flying under the radar but for
8:31
example if you turn the doj or the FBI
8:34
or the law enforcement Community into
8:38
Political appointees as opposed to
8:39
Career civil servants prosecutors who
8:41
know what they're doing who know the law
8:42
then for example we saw in 2020 how
8:45
Republicans would constantly bring these
8:47
lawsuits forward or or just claims in
8:49
the media where they would allege that
8:51
ballots that came out of Detroit were
8:53
all fraudulent ballots that came out of
8:55
Milwaukee or Madison were fraudulent
8:56
ballots that came out of Philadelphia
8:58
all areas that just so happened to be
9:00
Democratic strongholds uh none of them
9:02
counted and of course a lot of this was
9:03
laughed off and even someone like Bill
9:05
bar who I don't think would would get a
9:08
lot of you know I don't think there's a
9:09
lot of love loss between both of us and
9:11
Bill bar but someone like a leftist
9:13
hardly a leftist even he said that those
9:15
claims were and those were his
9:17
actual words that it was and
9:19
that was likely bolstered by the fact
9:20
that he would have seemed like a clown
9:22
if he actually validated these claims
9:24
when the rest of the Department of
9:25
Justice could see that there was no
9:26
there there but without those guard
9:29
rails without those career civil
9:31
servants who are actually Bound By by um
9:34
you know adherence to the the law what
9:36
would it look like for example if what
9:38
happened in 2020 happens let's say let's
9:41
say you know just in this thought
9:43
experiment Donald Trump wins and it's
9:45
2028 and all of a sudden you have
9:47
hundreds of thousands of political
9:48
appointees who are running the doj and
9:50
the FBI what would it look like if they
9:52
brought forward claims of of you know
9:54
unsubstantiated but claims of voter
9:56
fraud yeah the the the politicization of
10:00
a um a law enforcement function like
10:02
that would be nightmarish and again I'll
10:04
tread carefully in my words because you
10:05
know we actually care about following
10:06
laws at the Hatch Act and that sort of
10:08
thing but I I can tell you serving in
10:10
this Administration that uh the
10:13
president the White House they are uh
10:16
extremely almost ridiculously careful
10:19
about not interfering politically with
10:22
the processes of the justice department
10:24
or or or law enforcement uh because we
10:27
know that so much in our democratic
10:30
system depends on keeping those things
10:32
independent from politics and you've
10:34
seen that uh to to a fault uh and you've
10:36
seen that by the way in the way that
10:37
that that a justice department has
10:39
independently acted in ways that uh uh
10:42
the White House from a political
10:43
perspective might vigorously Challenge
10:45
and be upset with but are not going to
10:48
uh put a thumb on the scale because the
10:50
president cares so much about the
10:53
independence from politics of our
10:55
judicial system in an event in a
10:58
hypothetical event and let me and if you
10:59
can't answer this because of hatch
11:01
considerations that's totally fine but
11:02
in a hypothetical event where we do
11:04
cross that threshold and there is no
11:07
longer you know it doesn't it ceases to
11:10
be uh an issue where there's you know
11:12
career civil servants and instead we
11:13
have political appointees and you cross
11:15
that that threshold into kind of a
11:18
system where now people are not really
11:20
focused on following the law they're
11:21
just focused on on staying loyal to an
11:24
autocratic figure is is there a way to
11:27
come back from that we've seen a lot of
11:29
examples of countries where it does work
11:31
like that where you don't have
11:33
assurances about the rule of law places
11:35
like Russia in a different way places
11:38
like China I don't know anybody in
11:40
America who would if they thought about
11:42
it for a minute prefer to deal with that
11:44
prefer to be in that system and I don't
11:47
know how you get back if you allow that
11:50
to happen which is why we can't allow it
11:51
to happen in the first place another
11:53
part of the project 2025 agenda to to to
11:56
move more toward um your beat here is
11:58
it's hostility toward clean energy um
12:01
and that's a a sentiment that has
12:02
largely pervaded the entire Republican
12:04
party uh so first off I feel like I need
12:07
your response to this and you think gas
12:10
prices are high now just wait until
12:12
you're forced to drive an electric
12:15
vehicle
12:16
so I don't even know how to ask this
12:19
question but
12:21
how H how all right yeah yeah where do
12:24
you begin right first of all nobody's
12:25
forcing anybody to drive anything um
12:29
except this I will I will acknowledge
12:31
this we are forcing the Auto industry to
12:35
innovate and make gas cars more uh fuel
12:38
efficient as we have done since the
12:39
Nixon administration because it saves
12:41
people money at the pump we are trying
12:42
to save people money on fueling their
12:45
car whether they do it with gasoline or
12:46
whether they do it with electricity and
12:48
part of how you do that is by requiring
12:50
industry to get more efficient when we
12:53
have first introduced Cafe standards
12:54
that's what they're called corporate
12:55
average fuel efficiency standards again
12:57
in the Nixon years so this is not some
12:59
modern Progressive Democrat woke uh
13:01
invention uh the the uh miles per gallon
13:04
were I think the first standards are
13:06
something like 18 mil a gallon and then
13:07
industry is like this is too hard we
13:09
can't do this this is overregulation and
13:10
over the years industry got better
13:12
because we required them to step it up
13:14
and that has been to the benefit of not
13:17
just the environment just people's
13:18
pockets not having to buy that much gas
13:21
um I would add that what we are doing is
13:25
making it more affordable for people
13:26
have to have the choice of an electric
13:28
vehicle which is more efficient which is
13:31
cheaper to fill up which is cheaper to
13:34
maintain because it has fewer moving
13:36
parts and which is finally actually
13:37
become cheaper to buy increasingly it's
13:39
the case that if you look at an EV and a
13:41
comparable gas car partly because of our
13:43
tax credits uh the eeve is actually
13:45
coming in cheaper now and that's been
13:46
our goal to make it accessible for
13:48
people who want to to choose that we're
13:50
not forcing anybody to pick one or the
13:52
other matter of fact uh if you just look
13:54
at the evolution of the industry and the
13:55
charging stations are we can't do it
13:59
overnight and that's why the goal is
14:00
roughly half by the end of the decade
14:02
it's also probably worth noting uh from
14:04
R Taylor green that uh you probably
14:07
aren't too concerned about the cost of
14:08
gas if you're driving an EV so I don't
14:09
know what that fearmongering was to
14:12
accomplish for her if you really wanted
14:13
to think it through I suppose if
14:14
everybody's driving an EV then Global
14:16
petroleum markets would probably show a
14:18
drop in demand which mean oil would
14:19
actually be cheaper but I doubt she
14:21
thought through all of those yeah yeah
14:23
something tells me that that wasn't that
14:25
wasn't a very wellth thought out uh uh
14:26
concept there uh with that said that was
14:29
part of a broader hearing on on Eves and
14:33
and climate where Republicans largely
14:35
threw everything that they had at you so
14:37
um for those who are watching right now
14:39
who have some modicum of self-respect
14:42
and didn't subject themselves to
14:43
listening to Republicans uh you know
14:45
beat up on you for hours on end you're
14:47
saying not everybody tuned into to the
14:48
transportation and infrastructure house
14:50
Committee hearing it was centilating
14:51
yeah um well well for those people I
14:54
figured that we could do something of a
14:56
mock hearing here so if it's okay with
14:57
you I'll be all Republicans and you
15:01
could be you if that works and actually
15:03
for this moment I figured to really get
15:05
into character I I had to buy uh my gun
15:08
pin here so we have we have a gun pin so
15:12
I'll wear
15:13
this and hopefully this doesn't get
15:16
taken out of context because which I'm
15:19
sure it won't the internet is famous for
15:21
yeah nuance and yeah irony is well
15:23
understood on the internet nothing to
15:25
worry about okay so here we go uh don't
15:28
worry you will get my family's Christmas
15:30
card now with all the kids holding
15:32
AR-15s okay so I'll start no one is even
15:36
buying a EVS anymore all right so every
15:39
year more Americans buy EVS than the
15:42
year before and uh every quarter we have
15:44
seen year on-year growth in EV sales
15:46
because more Americans keep choosing EVS
15:48
they're way more expensive than gas
15:50
powered vehicles no they're not if you
15:53
look at an equivalent you look at a
15:54
Chevy bolt uh you look at a Tesla in
15:56
terms of actual equivalent uh gas power
15:59
car the EVS are increasingly reaching
16:01
par in some cases cheaper okay well
16:03
they're only cheaper because of
16:04
government
16:05
subsidies we are definitely using tax
16:09
credits to support americanmade EVS it's
16:12
a hell of a lot cheaper than the
16:14
subsidies that have been going on for
16:16
years for oil and
16:17
gas well you say climate change is real
16:20
but the climate change is four times a
16:22
year and the climate that we're in right
16:24
now is summer as you know I actually got
16:26
a question like this from this which
16:28
left me briefly uh speechless which
16:30
doesn't happen often um yeah no look
16:34
almost every year we're having the
16:35
hottest year ever recorded this is a
16:37
thing you you can't pretend this is not
16:39
a thing and most importantly this is a
16:42
thing that can be addressed in ways that
16:43
actually create jobs like developing a
16:46
made in America EV and EV charger
16:49
industry which is exactly what President
16:51
Biden and this Administration are doing
16:54
there aren't enough uh uh charging
16:56
stations and so range anxiety is
16:57
preventing people from even
16:59
yeah so the truth is there aren't enough
17:01
charging stations that's why we are
17:03
helping to build them the number of
17:04
charging stations uh mainly put in by
17:06
the private sector has roughly doubled
17:07
now uh coming up on 180,000 just since
17:11
Joe Biden took office but we don't think
17:12
the private sector will be able to
17:14
create the entire network because
17:16
there's some places where it's not yet
17:17
profitable which is why we think we need
17:19
to get involved and support the states
17:21
in building out Chargers even though
17:23
about 80% of EV charging happens at home
17:26
it is important to have publicly
17:27
available EV charging we are working on
17:30
a plan to make sure by the end of the
17:31
decade there are more than half a
17:33
million of them including through
17:35
supports for every state and by the way
17:37
every state red blue and purple has
17:39
filed its plan and is already going
17:41
through the process of starting to
17:42
procure those Chargers we've even seen
17:44
the first uh handful actually be
17:45
installed although most of that is going
17:47
to be in the oute but but by the end of
17:48
this decade we'll have it done all right
17:50
well all all good answers but not going
17:53
to change my positions on anything
17:54
because I'm still getting oil and gas
17:55
money so all right uh with that said
17:58
said transportation is the biggest
18:00
source of carbon pollution in the
18:02
country right now so can you talk about
18:03
the update that you have as far as
18:06
electric buses right here in Los Angeles
18:08
Los Angeles we were just at a
18:10
maintenance facility with LA Metro where
18:12
they are updating and putting to work
18:14
new zero emission buses we just had a
18:17
$77 million award to LA to help do that
18:20
but we're doing this for uh facilities
18:22
and and Transit agencies across the
18:24
country from some of the country's
18:25
biggest like LA to rural uh transit in
18:28
in some cases to help them operate own
18:29
and purchase and operate these cleaner
18:31
Vehicles we're also doing it with made
18:33
in America expectations which means
18:34
we're helping send that demand signal to
18:36
build up a domestic electric bus
18:39
industry and what it means is cleaner
18:41
air uh certainly for the workers who uh
18:44
like bus operators who are on these
18:45
buses every day but also just for Riders
18:47
neighborhoods uh and it's also I think
18:50
over the long run going to have a
18:52
reliability benefit because these things
18:54
have fewer moving Parts over time
18:56
they're less liable to break down when
18:57
you take into account clean energy and
19:00
moving in that direction this stuff is
19:01
cheaper it's better for the environment
19:03
it's it's more popular across the board
19:05
it's just a win-win on everything do you
19:06
ever have concessions from from
19:08
Republicans for example when you do do
19:10
these hearings from you know where where
19:12
they kind of acknowledge if not publicly
19:14
behind the scenes that that you know
19:16
that they don't understand why they're
19:18
so opposed to something that across the
19:20
board is just good you know I I really
19:24
have trouble sometimes understanding why
19:27
for example when they they M themselves
19:29
driving Eevee which many of them do
19:31
because they figured out it's it's kind
19:32
of the right answer for them and their
19:34
family that that they still adopt this
19:37
uh this messaging which I just don't
19:39
think is going to age well look I'm I'm
19:40
not claiming that this transition is
19:42
easy uh this is the biggest
19:45
transformation of the Auto industry
19:47
since the Auto industry began but that's
19:50
precisely why we can't let America fall
19:52
behind on it this is happening this is
19:54
happening in the world auto market with
19:55
or without us uh China isn't subsidizing
19:58
EV makers because they're the Chinese
20:01
Communist party is is a huge kind of
20:05
environmentalist you know group of
20:07
environment Buffs they're doing it
20:08
because they understand the the economic
20:10
security and strategy implications of
20:13
trying to dominate that market now the
20:15
Biden Administration is working to
20:16
protect that to to try to keep that at
20:18
Bay while we build up a homegrown Market
20:21
but the point is the decision is not are
20:23
we going to use gas cars forever or use
20:25
EVS the question is are we going to be
20:28
left behind behind as the world moves to
20:30
EVS or are they going to be made in
20:32
America in places like Indiana where I
20:34
grew up uh cooko Indiana Homer Chrysler
20:37
one of the things that got me into
20:38
politics was fighting to stand up for
20:40
Chrysler when there was a big fight over
20:41
whether uh uh it was the right decision
20:44
in the Obama Administration to keep
20:45
Chrysler in business some of those
20:47
facilities are being retooled now that
20:49
employ thousands of people uh to make
20:51
electric vehicles and vehicle components
20:54
seeing the inevitability of this of this
20:56
change from from gas powerered vehicles
20:58
to to electric vehicles and and knowing
21:00
the implications here not not that it's
21:02
going to be like a future where we
21:04
determine whether we're going to have
21:05
gas power vehicles or EVS it's going to
21:07
be EVS that's just the way the world is
21:08
moving and knowing that we can either
21:10
seed control to China or have control
21:12
right here in the United States when you
21:14
have a Republican party whose so much of
21:16
their identity is predicated on their
21:18
their purported opposition to China how
21:20
do they reconcile those two things where
21:22
they are fighting for a fossil fuel
21:26
controlled future which would hand over
21:29
the Reigns of clean energy and clean
21:31
energy manufacturing and EVs and EV
21:33
battery uh creation all to the country
21:35
that they claimed to to to stand against
21:38
the the only explanation I can think of
21:40
is that their Fidelity to oil and gas
21:44
profits in the status quo there is
21:47
stronger than their Fidelity to the idea
21:49
of making sure the US beats China
21:51
economically I just don't know how else
21:53
to explain it yeah I think it's pretty
21:55
pretty simple right there well you know
21:56
so much of our government is marked by
21:58
an inability to cooperate to work
22:00
together and there is really no
22:03
incentive structure more broadly for the
22:05
right to do anything along with the left
22:07
it just doesn't it just doesn't exist in
22:09
today's in today's Republican party and
22:11
yet even despite that here's what uh
22:14
Congressman Dusty Johnson said to you
22:16
thank you madam chair Mr Secretary of
22:17
course there's always going to be a
22:18
certain number of things you and I
22:19
disagree on but I have to start with a
22:21
compliment in a town where so many of
22:24
folks both in my party and your own seem
22:26
to Pedal fear and anger some of them
22:29
almost exclusively uh you bring a far
22:31
more professional and respectful
22:33
approach to your work and the
22:34
communication that I get from you and
22:35
your team I think helps all of us be
22:38
better so uh thank you with that so what
22:40
does it say that even Republicans who
22:43
who largely exist to break government to
22:46
prove that it can't work uh have
22:48
recognized your ability to take your job
22:50
seriously and actually deliver for
22:51
Americans well I I know this can sound
22:53
naive but I really believe in it that if
22:55
you put your head down and do good work
22:57
and engage people in good faith on
22:59
honest terms you can get some credit for
23:01
that not with everybody but Dusty
23:03
Johnson is is an example of a he's a
23:05
very conservative Republican I disagree
23:07
with him on probably uh 95 out of a 100
23:10
things but he's also an honest person
23:12
who uh recognizes that even while we're
23:14
disagreeing we can engage on things that
23:16
are going to make South Dakota better
23:18
off where he's from or that that just
23:20
don't have any ideological veillance to
23:23
them that that we just know are going to
23:25
do some good and so uh you know I do
23:27
believe that that at the very least you
23:29
you can get credit for engaging with
23:31
somebody or their office on honest terms
23:33
and I I found whether dealing with with
23:36
some tough characters in my own party
23:38
back when I was mayor or working across
23:40
the aisle today if you treat
23:44
people with the Assumption for the
23:47
benefit of the doubt that they'll
23:48
respond the way you wish they would
23:50
versus how you fear they might yeah
23:52
sometimes they actually do perfectly put
23:55
we'll leave it there uh secretary budy
23:56
judge thanks so much again thank you no
24:00
[Music]
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