The new Democratic leadership is the same as the old Democratic leadership and the critics are saying, what the hell? You have useless leadership that put the Dems where they are today. And now, like a bunch of lemmings, all the Democrat rank and file says, yeah, we’re going to put them in charge again. It’s almost like a dependent on daddy kind of mentality.
Transcript:
*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.
Mike Papantonio: The critics where it comes to, hell, I don’t even know, what am I gonna call it? The new Democratic leadership is the same as the old Democratic leadership. And the critics are saying, what the hell? You have useless leadership that put the Dems where they are today. You were responsible for that, Schumer. You were responsible for that, Pelosi. And now, like a bunch of lemmings, all the Democrat rank and file says, yeah, we’re gonna put ’em in charge again. What is that about? Why is it the Democrats are so incapable of saying bye Hillary Clinton, goodbye Nancy Pelosi, goodbye Schumer? Let’s have some new blood in here. Why are they incapable? It’s almost like they’re dependent on daddy kind of mentality. You’re a Democrat. I know you don’t think like that, but I’ll tell you if I’m to sum it up, that’s the way it looks to me.
Farron Cousins: Top fundraisers, that’s what they do.
Mike Papantonio: Okay.
Farron Cousins: That’s what Schumer is in the Senate. That’s what Pelosi is in the House. We are the people that bring in the money.
Mike Papantonio: Well, now talk about that. Go into a lot of detail. In other words, they hold power according to your theory because they bring in so much money that you don’t want to offend Nancy Pelosi or Schumer because you might not have enough money for your race. And in that you let them destroy the whole frigging political party because that’s what they’ve done.
Farron Cousins: Yeah. So what happens is that obviously Pelosi, Schumer have been there for decades and over time you build these relationships, not with your constituents, with the donors. You get to know all the lobbyists. You get to know everybody that has a checkbook. So whenever the party is in trouble, hey, we got an election, we’re running a hundred million behind the Republicans, Nancy, Chuck, please make your phone calls. And they do. They make their phone calls, they get the money. And it’s the same thing on the right.
Mike Papantonio: Used to be Harry Reid was the go-to guy. Right?
Farron Cousins: Right. He really was and that’s why they kept him so long. And so they have to keep these people in leadership. Not because they’re good leaders, but because they’re money people.
Mike Papantonio: Good fundraiser.
Farron Cousins: When they don’t even realize that, listen, they’re only calling Democratic donors. Any idiot that’s a Democrat in Congress could make the same phone call and have probably the same results. You could have Elizabeth Warren make the phone calls, but she wouldn’t because she has standards.
Mike Papantonio: Okay. So that is, I believe you’re right. I believe that really is inside baseball right there. But let’s go outside inside baseball. And I still ask the question, why is it that the Democratic party is so willing to operate in this system autocracy where you have the people making decisions for you and you know they’re the wrong decisions because you just lived through it? You just saw the beat down election that just took place and you still say, yeah, these are our people. They made really good decisions. What the hell? They’re like, it’s like lemmings going off a cliff. And I tell you what, I know that Republicans are doing the same thing, but it seems like laser focused problems for the Democrats.
Farron Cousins: It really is because you bring up the best point here. We just got our butts kicked. There is no way to sugarcoat that. There is no way to pretend that November was awesome for the Democratic party. The public openly rejected us and embraced the convicted felon instead of you. You have to look at yourself and realize where all did we go wrong? And it terrifies me that they aren’t doing any of that. Let’s put the same people back in charge. Let’s keep the same people in charge of the DNC, although I do think they’re actually gonna get rid of Harrison, which is great because he has been a disaster.
Mike Papantonio: Totally.
Farron Cousins: His only qualification was that he ran against Lindsey Graham. Got his kicked. But he raised a lot of money. That is what it was.
Mike Papantonio: Farron, you are so, you are the best voice the Democratic party could have. I mean, not to say you don’t go after them when you need to go after them, but you’re the best voice.
Farron Cousins: They need to be smacked around right now.
Mike Papantonio: So, you deal with all these folks that are out there, how are they justifying this? I mean, what are they saying, this is a great idea? Are the Sam Seders and are those folks like that saying, or David Pakman types saying, wow, this is a great idea?
Farron Cousins: No, absolutely not. I haven’t seen anybody, including folks online that think this is a smart decision. So all of these folks out there understand, yeah, we’re in this party boat and the boat is sinking. And they say, you know what? Let’s hit the rock again because maybe the rock will plug the hole. No, it’s gonna rip it open even further and we’re all going down.
Mike Papantonio: Is it in the Democrat’s DNA, is it just so in the Democrat’s DNA, that they have to operate with a strong mama or strong daddy that tells them what to do? Is that just part of their DNA.
Farron Cousins: It really is. It’s the hero mentality. We always need.
Mike Papantonio: Okay. Talk about that, you’ve talked about that a little bit.
Farron Cousins: We need the savior. We’ve gotta have a Superman figure show up and save the day. And right now we’re willing to slap that cape on any elderly person that calls themselves a Democrat. Chuck Schumer is not your Superman. Nancy Pelosi is not Batman. They’re not going to save you in your moment of need.
Mike Papantonio: And when you say that, I even think of, to me it’s broader than that. Are they so insulated that they believe that they have everything in common with Hollywood’s celebrity? That that’s who they’ve become, or that they are in such a blue bubble with the media that they’re so separated from reality that you’ll never bring ’em back?
Farron Cousins: Oh yeah.
Mike Papantonio: You understand, there is that Hollywood celebrity bubble who would not give them the time of day. Again, I’ve said this again and again, these are people who they fly around in jets, they have chauffeurs driving them around. They have gold toilets for God’s sakes. But the Dems say, oh, well we want to hear them. We’re part of them. They’re us. They don’t give a about you brother. But they become insulated to the reality that whatever the shots they’re calling are way, way off nowadays.
Farron Cousins: Yeah. And I do think they’re definitely insulated. Have they lost it forever? Hopefully not. I hope that these young leaders in the Democratic party, which in the House you do have the young leaders that are now challenging these leadership positions saying, hold up. You’re not gonna be ordained to be the minority leader. Maybe I want a shot at it. Maybe I want to be the minority chair of this committee. So in the House, we’re seeing a little bit of pushback. In the Senate, there’s none at all.
