Oct 8, 2026 · 47 min · 12 segments
In this live episode of Six One Forward, Betsy sits down with Don Leonard for a wide-ranging conversation about his campaign and the people he hopes to represent. They talk about how the campaign is…
Don LeonardGuestRoosterHostBetsy GoldsteinHostSo when you're talking about some of the things that you've been quoted as saying-
[laughs]
Let's see if you wanna clear any of these up, if you still believe it the same way.
Historically accurate.
[laughs]
First of all, just a statement of fact, and second of all, uh, one that I happen to have a, an affinity for.
But yeah, I do think that since Ronald Reagan, we have been told that for most Americans, government is the problem and not the solution.
Would that kind of reasoning have gotten us through the Great Depression and saved the farmers during the Dust Bowl? Would that kind of reasoning have gotten us to defeat fascism in World War II, making sure that folks here in the US don't have to learn German or Japanese? Um, for so long, government was seen as a tool of the people to change the world that we face, uh, to put a human being on the moon, to eradicate poverty in our lifetimes.
And then the Vietnam War comes along, and the federal government started lying to the American people, and it created a culture rift that we're still healing from.
It created a deep and abiding sense of resentment and conspiracy theorizing about what the federal government's really doing.
And when folks like Donald Trump come along and tell you that it's that Black and bound- brown person down the street from you, it's that undocumented immigrant that's the reason that you can't get ahead, yeah, I think it's, it's a load of malarkey, and I think it's something that we've got to speak truth to and push back against.
So when you're talking about some of the things that you've been quoted as saying-
[laughs]
Let's see if you wanna clear any of these up, if you still believe it the same way.
Historically accurate.
[laughs]
First of all, just a statement of fact, and second of all, uh, one that I happen to have a, an affinity for.
But yeah, I do think that since Ronald Reagan, we have been told that for most Americans, government is the problem and not the solution.
Would that kind of reasoning have gotten us through the Great Depression and saved the farmers during the Dust Bowl? Would that kind of reasoning have gotten us to defeat fascism in World War II, making sure that folks here in the US don't have to learn German or Japanese? Um, for so long, government was seen as a tool of the people to change the world that we face, uh, to put a human being on the moon, to eradicate poverty in our lifetimes.
And then the Vietnam War comes along, and the federal government started lying to the American people, and it created a culture rift that we're still healing from.
It created a deep and abiding sense of resentment and conspiracy theorizing about what the federal government's really doing.
And when folks like Donald Trump come along and tell you that it's that Black and bound- brown person down the street from you, it's that undocumented immigrant that's the reason that you can't get ahead, yeah, I think it's, it's a load of malarkey, and I think it's something that we've got to speak truth to and push back against.
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