From a Democratic perspective, What are the consequences and the catalysts for Democrats to use this in a meaningful way?

Yeah, you know, I think a lot of folks are thinking that this is sucking up a lot of oxygen.

This is another one of Trump's tactics to have the media talking about something else.

But where are the bases now versus 2018, his first term, that midterms? they're actually tuning out because they are frustrated with the chaos when they can't afford gas or groceries or they can't find a job.

And whether that's someone coming out of college or someone who has been in their career for decades.

And so the issues that you're talking about, sure, Michael, The everyday voter and not just the Democratic base, independents and even Republicans who are tired are thinking about this.

And this is actually giving Democrats more fuel to say, look, the Republicans actually can't lead on the issues that matter.

Does that work?

That's Trump country.

I mean, it is comical that they continue to spew these lies when the American people, I can't think of another time when the American public is actually understanding policy in their pockets.

When Trump got in office, announced all these tariffs, and then got us into this war, they're feeling it with the goods that they're trying to purchase, with the gas that is now over $4, with, you know, even people who are manufacturing here but are delayed because they can't get the parts that they need because of things that are being caught up with this horrific tariff policy.

And so I am encouraged going into midterms around this energy.

I just don't want Democrats to fumble the ball a bit and make this whole thing just about who Trump is, uh, a- a- and, and getting him, you know, getting some, uh, parameters around him and pu- pull, pulling back some of these laws.

Democrats actually have to have a plan, right? To help everything become more affordable for voters, because that's why they shifted from Democrats in 2024 and gave Trump the, the White House and the House, as well as the Senate.

And so it's interesting to see Republicans, knowing that this doesn't work, continue to stomp and try to get before voters when they can actually see and feel what is happening because of these tariffs.

Uh, where does this all, all fit in, Alencia? Because, uh, many people have noted that with an freer press and less of these, uh, censorship pressures, uh, we'd be hearing even more across the culture about, about Trump's failures.

Wow.

And we're making these decisions because we're thinking about economic stability, we're thinking about families, we're thinking about healthcare and the rising costs, and so many issues.

I even think about the package that was right before this segment and what's happening in Ohio with the cuts to healthcare, and what that means, it's more dangerous for women to have families and go get the services that they need.

And so it's really important that she's having this conversation that is forcing us to reckon how are our policies helping women decide whether or not they want to be parents.

It's ironic that the pro-family quote unquote party, the conservative movement, they're the ones that continue to enact policy that make it hard for women to make these sorts of decisions.

And yet it is women who are progressive, who want equality for all folks who are having this conversation and being vulnerable and transparent about the world that we are creating that can sustain the next generation, whether it's climate, whether it's criminal justice reform.

All of these things compounded are the reasons that women are taking reins over their family planning decisions.

Um, is this a, uh, is this sort of a, is it a party agnostic message at this point?

But what can Democrats do at this point? Are they handcuffed to do anything ahead of the midterms?

Yeah, look, this is a tough position to be in, but I think Democrats actually have to use this as not only a messaging strategy, but something that galvanizes their voters in order to actually show up in the election and doing the voter education that needs to be done.

I think this is kind of a result, as we know, of Trump's frustration with losing the 2020 election.

Democrats did a wonderful job, I think, in COVID, in those circumstances.

of actually creating an atmosphere where voters understood how they could use their voices at the ballot box.

So this is an organizing opportunity, as well as an opportunity to talk about the fact that the party that keeps talking about election integrity is actually the party that is using every lever to actually not make it acceptable accessible for most voters.

They are the ones saying that Democrats aren't actually for fair elections.

What do you think of that, Valencia?

Listen, I think it's something that Democrats need to run around and actually talk about winning something that voters have actually been begging them to do something.

You know, there's been a lot of conversation from voters and people who are really frustrated with the Trump regime and how they are just taking away so many of our rights and our civil liberties, including the ability to protest and protect our brothers and sisters and our neighbors.

And this is where Democrats held the line and actually won something for the American people.

Now, look, I, I know this doesn't solve the problem that we are having when it comes to policy around immigration reform, but it is something that I think can help Democrats continue to have this momentum going into the midterms about who was holding this administration accountable when we know, quite frankly, the Republicans have ceded all of that responsibility that's in their hands.

Like, this is a much fresher-faced group of people running this time around than even in 2018.

Yeah, look, it's definitely a fresher face, people who understand the states that they are running in, people who are closer in age to a lot of the median voters, which is really helpful for a lot of Democrats.

I do wanna say something with this development in Maine.

[laughs]

Because I think what [laughs] we're seeing in Texas and why we're talking about it here in DC and New York is because Democrats all over the country have upset Republicans ever since Trump's second term, right? If we are thinking about what happened in 2025 up and down the East Coast with Virginia, New Jersey, New York, all of those different races.

And I think, and what I'm hearing from voters in Texas, they're really excited about an opportunity to flip some seats.

And Republicans continue to just kind of serve on a platter, great material for Democrats to work with.

And as they, as I always say, kind of cannibalize each other on the right, it gives the left and Democrats an opportunity to say, "Hey, let's continue to try to figure out what are the candidates that are going to work in some of these races." Now, the reality is what is going to work in that district may not work in a different district in Texas.

And what actually works in the Texas Senate race for Democrats-

Yeah

... wrestling with it since the 2025 election.

How do people feel? Is it affecting traffic? Do people not want to go downtown? What's DC like right now?

Well, listen, a lot of what those residents said does ring true here, but was actually even more clear as a lot of people we know in the DC area are very much politically ac- active.

They are advocates and they are also people, if we look at the demographics and the way that people vote here, they are people who speak out against Donald Trump.

And a lot of those folks are Black and Brown folks.

And so I'm setting that up to say that these people are feeling a bit frightened, a b- like, "I actually don't want to stay in a city that is a police state.

And so if I don't feel as though my freedom here is safe, I have to consider other options and maybe I have to decide whether or not I'm going to leave the city." Um, you know, I think there's a real understanding here in the DC area that these pictures we're seeing, they are reminiscent of what we've seen in other countries in history-

Right.

...

AnnaLencia?

It's giving Real Housewives of DC and a really nasty reunion.

But you know, it's interesting.

Your lead into that was the point that I've been thinking about.

There have been so many egregious things that have happened in this administration from, you know, we see unemployment having gone up under this administration, we see this horrible bill that happened last week, we see what is happening with these ICE raids, all of these things that have happened in this first 170 days, and this is the thing that the base is literally crying over on television and on video? And so it will be interesting to see how moving forward the administration actually starts to bring in some of these MAGA loyalists who, quite frankly, are these conspiracy theorists that they would campaign with, right, in 2024, they brought them into the administration, and now they are infighting and it's leaking out publicly.

Is that continuing to erode the trust that the MAGA base has with the Trump administration? And I think it will, it will.

Now, I actually don't have a lot of empathy for a lot of MAGA supporters because we've been here before in his first administration, right?

AnnaLencia?

Right.

...

but as a Black woman, I so intimately felt that rejection and that once again, here is a Black woman with this amazing plan for everything.

We will solve it, and yet still it was rejected or told we weren't worthy or whatever it may be.

And I heard this Alice Walker, um...

I heard this video of Alice Walker talking about you have to keep a healthy soul in the constant face of oppression, and how do you do that? That is through the joy and through the rest and through resisting what this, our culture continues to tell us that we have to just work harder.

Yeah.

...

Right.

... saying all of that right now.

(laughs) And so, all of these things weren't adding up.

And what I realized is, the further I ran from myself and who I really wanted to be, the less impact I could have, and that who we are supposed to be outside of what everyone else tells us we're supposed to be is the key to shifting the world around us for better, like, in getting into our purpose, our God-given purpose.

And it's not easy.

It's not easy challenging status quo.

It's not easy getting out of your own way.

Yeah.

(laughs)

That's exactly why I wrote the book, and it's so interesting because the concept of the book came in the 2020, beginning of the 2020 election, which we thought that was gonna be, like, the end of Donald Trump.

Uh, God, I wish it was.

And I kept getting this question from folks of, "How can I have impact in the world?" And like, "What can I do? I wanna be a disruptor." And like, I've worked on presidential campaigns, I've worked for Planned Parenthood, all of those things.

And it was the beginning of 2020, around the time of the pandemic, when it got real, when we realized, like, "Oh, wait, we're not just gonna be at home for a week." We're, like, don't know how long we're gonna be home.

Like, this is very serious.

The murder of George Floyd...

Like, how do you align the things that you care about with the actions that you need to take to m- make a difference in those areas? Does that seem right to you?

[laughs]

... that is not the benevolent white man with blonde hair, blue eyes that they like to tell us who he is.

No, I like that man who, like, cares about the least of these.

And so there's that spirituality, right? And my spiritual practice.

And then at the beginning of the pandemic, this is where this concept came from.

In between working for Senator Warren, taking some time off, but I was at home with my family, and then starting working, I was just like, "God, what is it that I am trying to do? Why haven't I gotten out of my own way?" And yes, I've done a lot of amazing things.

But 32 at the time, I had done a lot of amazing things, but I still felt as though I wasn't going after my dreams for my life.

What can disruption look like in those spaces?