| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
So many different people, whether it be businesses, nonprofits, or influential individuals, they also can help with writing letters of support for grant applications or sharing our message on different platforms that they have access to. | |
| Just like community members have ways to connect with each other, politicians must be engaged with the communities that they represent. | ||
| The way we can help communities on the federal, state, and local level is to understand and know our communities, stay involved, have an open-door policy. | ||
| It is important that the president promotes understanding and takes time to listen to others and hear their stories. | ||
| Community members have a voice and it is important that they are given a platform to speak to organizations and address the issues that are most important to them. | ||
| We don't have the answer by ourselves and if you don't use the voice of everybody that is impacted, you're not likely going to come up with the right resolution. | ||
| While the president can be a positive example and promote initiatives, it is important for state and local governments to be given power and a voice to help support the communities they serve. | ||
| Be sure to watch all of the winning entries on our website at studentcam.org. | ||
| C-SPAN, bringing you democracy unfiltered. | ||
| C-SPAN viewers are familiar with the progressive advocacy group Move On. | ||
| Ronna Epting is the executive director, has served since 2019. | ||
| And Ms. Epting, I want to start with the rallies, the hands-off rallies this weekend on Saturday. | ||
| What role did MoveOn play in those rallies that took place in all 50 states in Washington, D.C.? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I mean, Saturday was a great day for people that care about what's happening in this country and wanted to speak up. | |
| MoveOn has millions of members all across the country, and our role is to give people information and tools to make their voices heard with their lawmakers. | ||
| And that's exactly what we've been doing for 27 years, and that's what we were doing this Saturday. | ||
| We were tapping into the energy that we've been seeing since Donald Trump took office for the second time. | ||
| And we noticed that there is just organic, genuine, authentic concern about what's coming out of this administration. | ||
| And we saw an opportunity and with a set of partners, we said, let's help the people make their voices heard. | ||
| And so that's what we did. | ||
| And we had over 1,300 actions on Saturday. | ||
| So what did those rallies do? | ||
| What's the message you take from them? | ||
| What should lawmakers take from them? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I mean, the challenge is, and it was responding to this challenge, is, you know, Trump administration intentionally has been driving a flood the zone strategy, running on all cylinders, very aggressively driving policies and executive orders that quite honestly have been offensive and concerning to millions of Americans. | |
| And so these actions on Saturday were about, you know, the folks have heard it, around hands off, hands off our Social Security, our Medicaid, our education, hands-off veterans' benefits. | ||
| It was hands-off our rights, our constitutional rights, our right to free speech. | ||
| We've been seeing a lot of attacks from this administration around threatening to cut these programs, threatening our rights around the First Amendment. | ||
| People are being disappeared and deported with no due process. | ||
| So it was a number of issues, and we saw signs all across on so many, so many concerns that people have. | ||
| And a lot of discussion after these rallies on what they could mean for two years from now, for election 2026, the midterm elections. | ||
| A lot of questions on Capitol Hill to members of Congress already looking ahead to 2026. | ||
| Republican Majority Whip John Barrasso was talking about Republican prospects in 2026. | ||
| I want to play that and then get your response. | ||
| President Trump won based on two things, that the Democrats were the party of high prices and an open border. | ||
| No one doubted President Trump's ability to get the border closed. | ||
| I mean, 137,000 illegal immigrants in March of last year, Biden, this past month, down to 7,000. | ||
| So he has been able to do that. | ||
| The Republicans are going to be judged on the economy, which is why I'm not going to be able to do that. | ||
| The defense chairman is saying inflation is going to potentially go up and there's great uncertainty. | ||
| That's why I want to get this comprehensive economic plan in place as soon as possible. | ||
| The certainty that the tax increases are not going to be there, the certainty that we have American energy and those jobs, the certainty we're bringing jobs back into the country, all of those things are going to make sure that by the election, 18 months from now, that people say, yeah, we're on the right path. | ||
| Republicans have gotten the country back. | ||
| The country is back on track. | ||
| I mean, right now, from, I think it's even your own CBS poll, in terms of right track, wrong track, right direction, wrong direction, we're at the highest we've been in 20 years in terms of the direction the country is heading. | ||
| John Barrasso is saying there that people are happy with where the country is heading, the right track, wrong track numbers. | ||
| What would your response be to that, especially in the wake of what we saw from those rallies this weekend? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I'm not so sure about that. | |
| I mean, we saw over 3 million, some reporting 5 million people that came out all across the country and, you know, blue states like New York City and 54 actions in the state of Florida. | ||
| I mean, we had a protest in Ashland, Wisconsin, which is a deep red area for Trump. | ||
| We had 8,000 people show up in a town of 7,800, which means people all across that region drove to Ashland to attend those protests. | ||
| So I think John Barroso should maybe look around, listen to his constituents. | ||
| These are folks everywhere across the country, and they're highly concerned. | ||
| Ronna Epting is our guest joining us and taking your phone calls on phone lines as usual. | ||
| Republicans 202-748-8001. | ||
| Democrats 202-748-8000. | ||
| Independents 202-748-8002. | ||
| And as folks are calling in, who would you say is the leader of the Democratic Party right now? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The people. | |
| The people that showed up on Saturday, the people that are making their voices heard. | ||
| We're seeing a lot of new potential, new possibilities about who the leaders of the party will be. | ||
| But this is a really changing and shifting moment for the left. | ||
| You wrote a letter to members of Congress last month on what's happening in this country right now and what you want to see from Congress. | ||
| What did you tell members of Congress and what sort of response have you gotten? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, we were telling them the base is very upset. | |
| They're afraid. | ||
| They're concerned. | ||
| They're angry. | ||
| And these emotions are very potent. | ||
| And that Democrats have the opportunity here to either leverage this energy for good and funnel it into constructive action, constructive ways, or they can ignore it or be frustrated by it. | ||
| And I think that what we're seeing is some Democrats are taking us up on that offer. | ||
| Senator Corey Booker last week with his 25-hour filibuster and the call to the moral conscience of this country is a great example. | ||
| I mean, he had over 300 views on TikTok around this alone. | ||
| And we're seeing others traverse the country, Representative Maxwell Frost, Senator Chris Murphy, AOC. | ||
| You know, they're really speaking to the people and meeting them where they're at. | ||
| How have they been ignoring it? | ||
| How have they been frustrated by it? | ||
| What are the problems you see with the approach so far? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I think some, I think many people, many Democrats are trying to get their footing and figure out how they want to navigate this moment. | |
| And we disagree with those that have decided to downplay the concerns or to not be sounding the alarm everywhere and anywhere around what this administration is doing and the impacts it has on people's lives and livelihoods. | ||
| So an issue that very much played a role in campaign 2024. | ||
| How should Democratic leaders address the issue of illegal immigrants in this country and deportations? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Look, what we're seeing out of this administration is a cruel, indiscriminate policy that is rounding up innocent people without due process and deporting them or disappearing them. | |
| We don't know what's happening. | ||
| Like people do want immigration policy that works. | ||
| They want a system that makes sense, that actually processes applicants in this country in a timely manner. | ||
| They did not vote for Donald Trump for cruelty. | ||
| And that's what we're seeing. | ||
| And it's reckless how they're implementing this. | ||
| And it's just the beginning from what we understand. | ||
| We're highly concerned about how they're taking. | ||
| So another issue from 2024 that Republicans talked a lot about. | ||
| How should Democrats in 2026 address the issue of the war in Gaza? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Oh, well, I guess that depends on what's happening in 2026. | |
| But look, I think that, by and large, the American people do not support war. | ||
| They do not support indiscriminate killing of innocent people. | ||
| And Democrats should be on the side of people and safety and saving lives. | ||
| And then one more from 2024. | ||
| How should Democrats today address the issue of trans athletes in women's sports? | ||
|
unidentified
|
That great, you're asking me all the tough questions. | |
| I mean, look, like Democrats should be on the side of protecting the most vulnerable in our country. | ||
| They should be on the side of ensuring that we are not the bullies in the room. | ||
| We are the ones that believe there's a place in this country for everybody. | ||
| And I think that throwing communities under the bus because it's politically expedient is not the way to win here. | ||
| We want to have a contrast to what we're seeing in this Trump administration, which is driving a cruel, indiscriminate, reckless, chaotic set of policies. | ||
| And Democrats should be for compassion. | ||
| They should be for reason. | ||
| They should be for compromise. | ||
| They should be for fixing problems. | ||
| But they should not give up that moral high ground that we so desperately need and that the people of this country are demanding. | ||
| Plenty of callers from the people of this country. | ||
| This is Bradley in Michigan. | ||
| Line for Democrats. | ||
| You're up first with Ronna Epting. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, thank you. | |
| Yeah, thank you. | ||
| I'm just thrilled, Ronna, to be able to speak with you at this time. | ||
| I've had this idea a long time. | ||
| I think with all of the spinning around and loss of energy trying to fend off every crazy move, put it into one issue, health care for all, form a coalition. | ||
| Bernie and AOC can head it up. | ||
| Get Democrats to sign on. | ||
| Those that don't, primary, have Maverick Republicans. | ||
| You may get them also. | ||
| 70% of the American people are in favor of it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So center in, hammer that issue, and focus all the energy into a great thing. | |
| And I think the result would be amazing. | ||
| Bradley, thanks for the call. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, Bradley, I don't disagree with you. | |
| I think that's a great idea. | ||
| You know, the majority of people in this country believe health care should be affordable, accessible, it should work. | ||
| And that is the beauty of living in one of the most wealthiest countries of the world. | ||
| And unfortunately, what we're seeing out of the Trump Musk administration right now is threats to actually gut Medicaid, threats to social security, and these critical lifeline programs that actually help create a safety net for the United States of America and its citizens. | ||
| Great Falls, Virginia. | ||
| This is Daniel Republican. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| You're on with Ronna Epting. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hey, good morning. | |
| Thanks for taking my call. | ||
| A couple things I wanted to ask your guest. | ||
| First of all, she talks about free speech. | ||
| I'd like to know what she thinks about actual brave protesters in Gaza right now who are protesting at the risk of their lives against Hamas. | ||
| We've heard a lot of radical leftists around the U.S. who have gone out and they've stood up for these Hamas protesters around the country. | ||
| They say nothing when you have people who are actually protesting against Hamas in Gaza right now. | ||
| I'd like to know what she thinks about free speech when it comes to UC Davis over the weekend. | ||
| There was a turning point USA event out there, and Antifa violently shut down their event. | ||
| They wouldn't let them speak, which has happened over and over again throughout UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and other crazy places like that. | ||
| I'd like to know what she thinks about the violent left going around firebombing, Molotov cocktailing, keying Teslas because they don't agree for some reason now that Elon Musk has been made their enemy now, all of a sudden, it's a complete 180 in about five minutes. | ||
| What does she think about that? | ||
| I'll tell you the left. | ||
| Daniel, lot there. | ||
| Let me give our guest a chance to respond. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah. | |
| Hi, Daniel. | ||
| Thank you for calling. | ||
| Look, I will say at the very fundamental level, I believe in the right to be able to speak and voice and voice your opinion and ensure your voice is heard and to be safe knowing that you can do that. | ||
| And we all as Americans have this free speech constitutional right to do that. | ||
| And we should be able to do that without a fear of being physically in danger. | ||
| That does not include the ability to destroy property. | ||
| Don't support that. | ||
| And that does not include the ability to physically harm anyone. | ||
| But the beauty of the United States of America and one of the bedrocks of living here in this country is that we all have a constitutional right to protected free speech and that we should be able to exercise that right as long as we are not physically harming anyone or destroying property. | ||
| Anthony, Detroit, Michigan Independent, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hey, good morning. | |
| In my view, the reason the Democrats have the identity crisis and they've been losing so much is because there's, I mean, there's a misunderstanding of what they're even for. | ||
| They're like 2,000 Republicans now. | ||
| I mean, you called the guests progressive, but to me, I think it's more accurately described as neoliberal. | ||
| And the protests were neoliberal. | ||
| So like Medicare for all, that's the bumper sticker progressive agenda item. | ||
| But when the Democrats controlled the Congress and the presidency in 2021 and 2022, their so-called squad didn't even push the leadership to do anything towards Medicare for all. | ||
| So they have no credibility, the progressives. | ||
| And then anti-war, the guest doesn't answer the question about Gaza. | ||
| What should be the position on Israel and Gaza? | ||
| So that's a total punt. | ||
| And part of the agenda for hands-off was hands off of NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization. | ||
| That's the most warmongering organization there's ever been in the human history. | ||
| So if you're supporting NATO, you're not anti-war. | ||
| Ronna Epting. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Anthony. | |
| Yes. | ||
| I mean, one of the beauties of Saturday is that there were so many people out there protesting and making their voices heard on dozens and dozens of issues, whether it was science or whether it was health care. | ||
| But I'll also acknowledge the challenge is like we can't we don't all agree on everything and it's just not strategic or feasible to ensure there's 100% alignment when you have a national mass distributed protest such as Saturday. | ||
| So one of the additional beauties of the Democratic tent is that we're a big tent. | ||
| We don't all agree on everything. | ||
| And the role progressives play in organizations like Move On is to push the Democratic Party more to be more inclusive, more progressive, and embrace these values. | ||
| And sometimes that can be a strategic moment and decision based on the power that we believe we actually can leverage. | ||
| But yeah, I mean, we don't all agree on everything. | ||
| And I think that's one of the wonderful things about Democrats is that it doesn't mean we're going to kick you out of the party. | ||
| So what should Democrats run on? | ||
| What issues should they focus on headed into 2026? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Look, when we asked our membership this, they're really right now the most concerned about not necessarily the specific policy prescription. | |
| So let's not debate over Medicare for all or the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| They're more concerned about the underlying values. | ||
| People deserve affordable, accessible health care in this country. | ||
| And they're more concerned about seeing Democrats fight and put up a fight against this administration and stop the claw back, the rollback of rights and critical social safety nets. | ||
| So hold the line as opposed to propose new I think it's both. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I think they want to see people out there fighting. | |
| They want to see people out there undeniably fighting for the people, not for wealthy special interests. | ||
| And they want to see a new vision and a new pathway forward. | ||
| There are a lot of wonderful ideas that some Democrats have put forward in the past. | ||
| I think that this is a moment where the party needs to start coalescing around a clear vision. | ||
| Ron in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Democrat, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Can watch the rest of this on the free C-span NOW video app, as we take you over to Capitol Hill where the House is about to gavel in and NASA | ||
| and you talk about waste, fraud and abuse and they want to go to Mars. | ||
| We have people on this planet that are starving, and we should be helping them and not having containers of food rotting in some port. | ||
| It's a shame that they, you know, and also Trump inherited the best economy in 35 years, according to the Lenny, yeah, Zandy, Mark Zandy, and the analytical group that he's with. | ||
| So, you know, a lot of people just didn't vote this last election because they were upset about the candidate being only allowed to really campaign for 107 days. | ||
| So Trump was campaigning for almost four years. | ||
| So let's keep those things in mind. | ||
| Thank you, Ron. | ||
| You know, you mentioned waste, fraud, and abuse, which is a big discussion happening across the country right now. | ||
| And I think most Americans agree. | ||
| We don't want to see our tax dollars wasted. | ||
| We don't want to see them going to corrupt for corrupt reasons. | ||
| And I think the major debate is around how do we address this? | ||
| How do we, and what actually constitutes waste, fraud, or abuse? | ||
| And so you see Elon Musk and his Doge apparatus trying to rummage through the federal government and they are making claim after claim that they're finding waste or fraud or abuse. | ||
| But I think the challenge is that a lot of these are lies. | ||
| And, for example, the Social Security Administration, you know, they have eliminated a number of jobs at the SSA. | ||
| They're asserting claims that millions of dead people are receiving Social Security checks, but this is actually not true. | ||
| So I think we need to actually have a serious approach to this as opposed to a reckless and chaotic one that is lobbing accusations without actual factual proof. | ||
| And I've talked to federal workers. | ||
| They've said, we can tell you where this is. | ||
| Work with us. | ||
| Instead of firing us and kicking us out the door, we actually know what programs are working and where there could be some cost savings. | ||
| And we can really address this issue that is important. | ||
| I mean, we pay billions of dollars into taxes in this country, and we do care how they're used. | ||
| And we ultimately want our taxes used to support our communities, our families, our neighbors, so that we can have a decent life and we can not just get by, but get ahead. | ||
| You bring up Elon Musk. | ||
| I want to read part of a piece from Jonathan Turley, writing in the New York Post. | ||
| He's a columnist there, law professor Jonathan Turley. | ||
| He also comes on this program on occasion. | ||
| This is what he writes in his most recent column. | ||
| The left decries political violence like January 6th, but is largely silent as Teslas are set on fire and cyber trucks are covered with graffiti. | ||
| It promotes boycotts and rallies with a wink at the vandals. | ||
| While other billionaires from George Soros to Mark Zuckerberg have spent big on elections for the left, Elon Musk is somehow uniquely evil because he gives money to Republicans. | ||
| Democrats will defend every illegal immigrant, but then mean that a foreigner, Musk is a naturalized American, is meddling in our government. | ||
| How would you respond to that? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, there was a lot in there. | |
| So I would say in terms of why is Musk different, Musk has been handed the keys to the federal government. | ||
| He is physically going into these agencies with a team of very young men and gaining access to private, very secure information and unilaterally making decisions about who gets to who they're kicking out the door. | ||
| He is employing fear tactics to actually demoralize the federal workforce. | ||
| And he is recklessly making decisions about who is being fired and so much, so recklessly that you see reporting after reporting that they're recalling some employees back because they accidentally cut critical programs like cancer research or what have you. | ||
| So it really does matter how people carry out these policies. | ||
| And the challenge with Musk is his reckless and cruel and fear-mongering strategy that people don't trust. | ||
| And I think that's actually at the core here of what we saw on Saturday is the Trump administration and Elon Musk are not bothering to build trust with the voters of this country. | ||
| And they're not even trying. | ||
| And that is core problem here. | ||
| The images from those rallies, you get to see a lot of the signs. | ||
| A lot of the images that I saw had signs that were focused on Elon Musk. | ||
| I don't know if you saw that at the rally that you were at. | ||
| Do you think, not that Donald Trump would ask you, but do you think that Elon Musk will be around long enough for Democrats to run against him headed into 2026? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Who knows? | |
| I mean, there's been reports that maybe Elon will be transitioning out of his role soon. | ||
| But, you know, again, we can't trust anything we've heard out of this administration. | ||
| They say one thing and they do another. | ||
| Would it behoove Democrats to have Elon Musk out there in the sphere so we can run against him? | ||
| I think what we saw in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, not such a bad thing. | ||
| The latest Marquette Law School poll, Elon Musk's personal favorability rating at 60%, less than 40% favorable. | ||
| No surprise to you? | ||
| No. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I mean, like, look, he's not a man who cares what people think. | |
| He doesn't have empathy, nor does he believe empathy is a good quality. | ||
| And I think it shows in how he's maneuvering and navigating through all the work he's driving through Doge. | ||
| And this is not a good look for President Trump. | ||
| I'm not sure why he's keeping him around. | ||
| About 15 minutes left with Rhonda Epting this morning, Executive Director of Move On. | ||
| As we said, you've been in that role since 2019. | ||
| You plan to step down this coming summer. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Why? | |
| Five years is a long time to run a rapid response national political organization. | ||
| And MoveOn's been around for 27 years. | ||
| And we have a history of executive directors lasting, like, you know, sticking around for about five or six years. | ||
| So it's my time to go on and do new things. | ||
| And we're excited for this leadership transition. | ||
| What are the new things you plan to do? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm not sure yet. | |
| I'm taking a moment because I really want to assess kind of the state of the political landscape and figure out how I can be the most constructive and helpful to rebuild this country. | ||
| Is there a succession plan at Move On? | ||
| Who comes after you? | ||
|
unidentified
|
We're in a hiring process right now. | |
| I will be around through the end of the year to support the incoming executive director and ensure that there's a smooth transition for the organization. | ||
| And how big is the Move On organization? | ||
| What's a yearly budget? | ||
| What is this person going to be stepping into? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, so we have millions of members all across the country in every congressional district and every state. | |
| And we are, by and large, funded by our members. | ||
| An average donation of our members is around under $30 a month. | ||
| So we are a small dollar-funded organization. | ||
| We have a total budget of around $25, $30 million. | ||
| $30 million budget varies depending on the year and how much our members decide to give and support the work. | ||
| But we exist to support our members, give them the information, the tools they need to make their voices heard with decision makers. | ||
| And we've been doing it for a while now. | ||
| And what do you use that $30 million a year to do? | ||
| What are the biggest spending items for you? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, biggest spending items are reaching out to folks, giving them opportunities to take action. | |
| So we reach out to folks via text, which unfortunately is very pricey. | ||
| But it's a really great way to directly reach out to people, say, this is what's happening in Congress today. | ||
| Call your member. | ||
| Here are some resources that you can use. | ||
| We spend a lot of money doing activations like we did on Saturday to ensure we have security, to ensure people have training around de-escalation. |