Latest / Breaking The Meta / The Platner Scandal Broke the Left. Two Candidates Explain Why This Is Good
Transcript
- Mike Winson: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Breaking the Meta. For nearly a year, Graham Platiner was supposed to be the future of the Democratic Party, a plain spoken oyster farmer, combat veteran, who was going to take down the absolutely wretched Susan Collins, who was only supposed to be on for two terms, I might point out, and is now going for her sixth or seventh term, something like that. and while it started out slowly, the Victoria Broderick: Thank you. Mike Winson: That all fell apart, ending with allegations from a woman two days ago of rape. And since then, Graham Platiner has suspended his campaign and is supposed to be officially withdrawing and a new candidate was taken. The reason I bring this up is a lot of stuff has come from it, a lot of discomfort, especially. On the left has come from this because someone like him, a plain-spoken, populist, working-class citizen, was supposed to help fix win Maine. And what it has done is caused a lot of fear and anxiety, and it's caused some other things to come to light that I'm want talk about. I have two absolutely amazing. People with me today. One is Alani Bankhead, who's a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who's running for the U.S. Senate in Montana, who has investigated child sex crimes and human trafficking, and is just an amazing human being, can confirm. And I'm excited to have her here. We also have Victoria Broderick, who's running for the fourth district in Tennessee. she calls herself. The friendly neighborhood liberal. And yeah. And she's also an amazing person. And so what we're gonna talk about, we're gonna start on the grand platiner thing, because I think that's a good place to start. So Victoria Broderick: Thank Mike Winson: For anyone who does not know about this whole issue, so there has been a slew of things that have happened with Grand Platinum. We're talking a tattoo that turned out to be an SS Nazi tattoo. There have also been multiple allegations from multiple women of other Not good acts. And up until this point, there was a consistent response from people that supported him, which was, Well, he's different. So where I want to start is so people like Rokana, people like Bernie Sanders, people like Elizabeth Warren all endorsed Graham Platner. Rokana specifically. rem obviously withdrew his his endorsement once the allegations came out. We on the left are very much about giving people a second chance sometimes. especially in this case, Graham Platiner very much talked about how he, you know, he got that tattoo when he was 22 and young and drunk and didn't know what he was doing. And a lot of people were like, We want to give him a second chance. Accountability is a hard thing. Let's let's I feel like I'm trying the there's so much to talk about in this. And okay, we're gonna start over because I'm just because Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Alani Bankhead: No, you're doing great. There's a lot to cover. There's a lot to cover. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: You're doing great. Mike Winson: There Victoria Broderick: And Mike Winson: is. Victoria Broderick: sitting in the discomfort, I think, makes it more genuine. Because the discomfort is what makes us grow. Mike Winson: Yes. Right. So we have a real thoughtful framework on the on the left when it comes to the idea of accountability. I've talked with both of you specifically in my interviews about how important accountability is. Where is that line between giving people a break and holding them accountable? I I guess that's that's where I want to start is really. In this in cases like this, where where is that line? Because that's the part that I think a lot of us have been struggling with. Alani Bankhead: Yeah. I so I'll jump in and just say, I think to your point, you're absolutely right. And I think this goes a across the board in terms of even conservatives feel like we want to give people the benefit of the doubt that this this is a universally human experience, right? You want to believe that your humans are inherently good. We've all made mistakes and we all need grace. I think where the line was crossed in this situation. Is that there was zero ownership of any level of responsibility in creating that situation. Right. So I think the current political climate and just the climate across the country is people want something that's real. People want something that resonates. And I think that's why Platner's campaign was so popular and it got so big because he was this down to earth. Oyster farmer and was a veteran and would just wanted to mind his own business. And they approached him to run and he told him to F off, right? Like the these were all the makings of like this guy's just like us and he cares and he wants to fight for us, which is different than what we're currently seeing. And yeah, like you do stupid things when you're young. I mean, I was in the military, like military young people, especially do extra stupid boneheaded things when when they're young. but I think the the line came when this woman f said her truth, right, about what she experienced. And she even said he was drunk, like blackout drunk. And the next morning when she, you know, w asked him, like, do you remember what happened last night? He said no. And then she told him, and he just has completely denied it up until this day, right? So if if he had said something like, you know what? Mike Winson: Mm. Alani Bankhead: I was blackout drunk, and that's happened to me before. And I don't remember, and I'm not saying that it didn't happen, but you know, I had a problem with alcohol and now I'm sober, like whatever it is, right? But there was zero acknowledgement or ownership of any part of the situation. And I think if he'd just come out a little bit to say, you know what, I'm a work in progress, like I'm gonna make amends. I don't know what happened, but I owe folks an answer. Because I want to be transparent and have integrity, I think it might have ended in a different scenario. But when when you do the blanket, you know, in the Epstein era, by the way, because context matters, right? So if if all of this had happened 10 years ago, he might still be a candidate because it it was just a different era. Now, anything sexually inappropriate, people do not want that because they want leaders who are going to hold the Epstein class accountable. So to me that's fine, but I'm curious what Victoria thinks about that. Victoria Broderick: I I think that you're exactly right. And I think that the thing that we need to remember here is like, we can have empathy for his experience. know, being a military veteran is not easy. I have lots of veteran friends. And I know that that trauma, that combat creates, it creates something that I could never realistically understand. You know, that said, it does not change the fact that sober thoughts are drunk action. or drunk actions or sober thoughts, however the saying goes. And you know, if you're going to get blackout drunk and do something like that, all he had to do was acknowledge that hurt that he caused. And maybe I've had just a little bit more grace and space for him, but he didn't. He did what we see quite often with people who have not deconstructed their biases. They double down, they say the thing, they gaslight, they make you feel some sort of way, and then they blame, victim blame or whatever, whatever the reason is. And again, in a post Epstein era, we want accountability. You know, we see this time and time again on the right. It's like the biggest complaint that we have. Mike Winson: Yeah. Victoria Broderick: um, as like candidates is like the right just lets it happen. They're like, oh cool. You haven't, you have a sexual assault record. Cool. Join our party. You're a racist. Join our party. They don't, they don't put any vetting into their candidates. And like, even if they do, there's no accountability. And I want to speak briefly on the vetting part because I felt I've seen a lot of commentary around the vetting process. And I think that this is where we need to like call people in. that if you want a better like vetting process for your candidates, that stuff has to come out quickly. There are steps and processes in place. Now, I do not know about Maine's vetting process because I am not in Maine, but as Tennessee, as a Tennessee state executive committee member, I know that the vetting process here in Tennessee, I know kind of what goes into it. Now, bad candidates can make it through if someone doesn't come forward and someone doesn't say anything. That is, that's not, that's not completely on them. However, kicking people off the ballot when those things are brought to our attention is the move. We did this here in March, Mike, you know a little bit about my situation and what it led to. And this is why vetting is so important because if someone is going to double down, they're going to double down. the moment the accusation is brought up. that catching that in the vetting process is really important. So my call in is if you're upset about the vetting process, join your local state and parties and help vet candidates because it's a lot of work and a lot of it's volunteer based. And if we don't have the resources, manpower, et cetera, and also if you're a problem candidate, don't run for office. Mike Winson: Yeah. So Alani Bankhead: What? Huh? The logic. Mike Winson: so I do want to say this in in as little defense of Graham Platinum as as I'm willing to give, really, in this respect at least. So Graham Platinum was approached by people that aren't from Maine even, and was they they these two they're like PhD students in like New York or some Massachusetts or somewhere else. And they approached him, they chose to pay as little as humanly possible to vet him. They, they, they, they went cheap on the vetting. So, like, it wasn't like the Democratic Party went out and said, We're we're bringing Graham Platner forth. Other people convinced him. They said, Will you run? We will help get you money, we'll do all of this stuff for you. So I do wanna at least be honest about that, that this that this was not it wasn't a Democratic Party failure. It was it was another group of people that brought him forth and did not do what they should have done. Victoria Broderick: And yeah. And can I just, just to like add as like someone who's on a party yet to speak to that? Yes, that happens where candidates are approached. We see this all the time. And it also really just depends on the party and what their vetting process is. because if you meet the certain criteria and nothing is flagged immediately, he could, you could skirt by like candidates skirt by all the time who don't quite fit the criteria. mean, like when I ran in 2024, I didn't know that I'd been vetted. I just knew that I got on the ballot because I qualified. But it turned out, like when I started going around the district, they were like, no, no, no, you're a bona fide Democrat. Like, we know because your voting history shows it because I met the bare minimum requirement. But we also look at your social media pages, you know, the local party looks at that. We want to see. I've literally allowed candidates through who were DSA in Tennessee when other people were pushing back. because I was like, no, they're under the Democratic umbrella. If they're putting their name on the ballot, they fall under all the categories. That's not a red flag to me. And they're running for a county position or a state position. To me, that's not a reason to kick them off the ballot. Now, if they're like what happened in March and we're getting multiple criminal records, multiple reports of problematic behavior that can be tracked and looked at, over time and then we remove them from the ballot and they turn into a stalker and basically confirm everything that we know, then we know we made the right choice. But that doesn't change the fact that the election commission might still let them back on the ballot. The party might have said no, but the independents, don't think have a party. And I'm saying that all specifically because we have problematic candidates on the ballot currently in the state of Tennessee. because they've either been let through or because they were kicked off the Democratic ballot and are now running as independents because there's no vetting brought. Mike Winson: Yeah. Victoria Broderick: So like, this is a problem that we can see. This is not, it's not Maine specific, it's not Tennessee specific. This is a systemic problem within politics because we know in the modern era, these things come out. They don't like it, but it has to come out. Mike Winson: Yeah. So so the thing that comes to my mind with all of this and the thing that I have been struggling with is this idea of balancing The the fear that I'm hearing from people is the idea of balancing the accountability with the desire to, in many of our minds, save democracy. And I think that's where I'm seeing a lot of pushback come from the left when it comes to Platinum, because Platinum was seen as the best chance at the time, at least, to to get rid of Susan Collins, who has a very torted career. helping bring one of the Supreme Court justices who has done a lot of damage to this to this country. So what you know for someone who for for two people who are very, you know, who believe in accountability and believe in being held accountability accountable, what what kind of a message would you give to people that are afraid about things like losing the state, losing a Senate seat? because we are holding someone accountable, but also this understanding that we want to actually stick to our guns about holding people accountable. Alani Bankhead: man. Yeah, go go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Victoria Broderick: Do want me to take it? Do you want me to take it? Mike Winson: I'm just gonna give I'm gonna give you easy questions today. Victoria Broderick: Okay, hardball, let's go. I think that the way that I frame this to people is like, we want better, we have to be better. And yes, it's scary. It is scary. But my argument is stop ignoring other races. Stop making excuses not to show up and vote. We want accountability. There are great candidates in Maine who didn't win the primary and who aren't there because he won the primary. That does not mean that they're not qualified. That does not mean that they're not, they can't do the exact same thing. So what do we do? We rally behind them. We help them go forward. You know, this whole, the reason we're in the situation that we are in is not one small thing. It's a million little things that turn into a pedo in the White House, protecting a ring of pedophiles. Like that is what happens when we, the system is working exactly as it's intended and we don't play the same game and then voters become disenfranchised, et cetera, et cetera. And it's just a domino effect of issues. So if you are a leftist and you're like, well, he was our best shot, blah, blah, then I need you to rally around the next best option or the better option because the better option is a woman, the better option is someone who doesn't have this record and can go into Congress or into the Senate and fight the same fight without the baggage. Because again, the question comes specifically with SA, specifically with sexual assault, that that person might not look at what happened with the Epstein files and say, we do need, they might say, you know, well, I have a, I did some bad things. That's not what we want in our, in our representatives because it's the number I think is, and you can correct me on this. It's like one in four women are victims of essay and sexual assault. Children are just as like, you know, we know it's not someone you don't know. More often than not, that's the exception, not the rule. The rule is it's someone you know, it's someone you trust. It's someone who's already in your circle that is going to harm you. And getting drunk is not an excuse to rape someone. Period. I've done a lot of things when drinking and that's not one of them. Alani Bankhead: Yeah, and I'll piggyback on that. I everything you said, Victoria, 1000%. And, you know, I I want to address also that what Mike is talking about is fear, right? So fear is driving a lot of the behaviors and a lot of the decisions. Because if the goal is to protect and defend democracy and ensure that it continues, but you're making decisions from a place of fear, that's how we end up with a grand platiner, right? Mike Winson: Or a Donald Trump. Alani Bankhead: Or a Donald Trump. And and first of all, will any of this matter in a year? Probably not. Right. So right now we're focusing on this immediate tsunami of bad new information. You know, I'm trying to think of examples in history where it was like Lincoln lost how many times before he won? Like four or five times? I I could be off, right? But the point is there's ups and downs to all of these races. And Victoria Broderick: No. Mm-hmm. Alani Bankhead: I think in order for people to pivot away from fear and more to building something that is constructive and rooted in like love and wanting to support our communities, we have to take accountability for ourselves first, right? So obviously, we went to 50 counties out of 56 in Montana, fourth biggest state in the country during the primary. And everywhere you go, you meet amazing humans. And and we were just in Bozeman a couple weeks ago, met a guy, and I'm like, what got you into politics? And he's like, My wife sent me this email for this hot dog event three hours ago. And I'm like, Awesome, where is she? And he's like, She's with her kids. And I'm like, So why are you in politics? And then there's this pause, and he's like, I thought about running for office, but what reasonable person runs for office? Right. And so we've met people like that all over the state. They're all over the country, people who were like, I want to serve my country, but I have something in my past that I'm ashamed is gonna come out. I'm worried people are going to lie about me. I'm worried it's going to cost me something. I'm there's gonna be sacrifice involved. But that is how we got here in our current political climate. And one of the things in terms of leadership, you know, whether it's military or my private business that I've learned is those folks that are second guessing their abilities. Are exactly the folks that we need in office because it indicates you are humble enough to acknowledge that you are not a perfect person, right? And unfortunately, you know, one of the factors that's out of our control is the age of social media and disinformation. I mean, there's like no grace anymore, hardly, right? Like any one little thing that comes out that's bad about you, people just want to dump you. And who wants to sign up for that? Right. And and for for me. Mike Winson: Yeah. Alani Bankhead: Part of that was having this moment where I'm like, man, I did my time. I fought for my country. Why do I have to sacrifice again? But I had my parents who raised me saying in the back of my head, you were taught that if you have something to offer your community that's suffering, that you do it, even if it costs you. And that's what we see with all, you know, Victoria and Mike, the work you're doing, all the other candidates that we know. And we acknowledge we're not perfect individuals. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Alani Bankhead: But that's why we need to be leading and supporting because we are not arrogant enough to sit there and try to dictate terms in terms of and not that don't even help our communities and scratch the backs of the elite and the wealthy and the ones who are sexually abusing folks, right? So in terms of coming back to you know your question, Mike, it's the accountability for ourselves. And when we take accountability for, like Victoria was saying. Victoria Broderick: Thank Alani Bankhead: Why are you not voting? Why are you not engaging in the political process? Maybe you don't have to run for office, but maybe you work at a state party, maybe you work at a central committee, maybe you fundraise or whatever it is that you want to do. And when you start doing that, you feel empowered, you feel inspired because you're like, this is my little bit that I can control. And I will tell you, as someone on the receiving end of that, From people all over the state and all over the country who want to partner and support our campaign. It is the most humbling thing I've ever experienced. And seeing people try like turn that pain into purpose, right? Turn that fear into action. We hear people on the campaign all the time who say, This feels so good that even though I can only do this little bit, I'm not sitting languishing in the fear of what can happen, you know? Victoria Broderick: Thank Mike Winson: Mm. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I want to add, can I just add one thing? Because I think that this is really important. We have two women candidates on here. have to be asked seven times to run for office. Minima. Seven times they have to be asked to run for office. Because women typically go down the checklist to make sure they qualify for the role. Mike Winson: Sure. Alani Bankhead: Please. Victoria Broderick: because we do the same thing in our jobs. We prepare for interviews so that we're prepared to go out and do it. And I think that this is something that we need to go ahead and pull down the mold, because what has happened, and what I've experienced, and Alana, you can speak to this too, is I get asked questions that a man would never be asked on the campaign trail. Every single time. Who's watching your kids? Mr. Victoria. He's a capable father. Well, what are you going to do when you're elected? Are you going to move to DC and move away from your family? Would you ask a man that question? Would you let's be real. Would you ask that man? And I had to come to this point in my deconstructing and my just imposter syndrome running for office because I was like, never I was the friendly neighbor liberal. I was just doing education. I was just doing all these other things, doing local and state organizing because I knew the importance of local down ballot candidates and pushing that forward because those that creates a pipeline for someone to move into higher office. I started having to ask myself, if someone was giving me feedback, specifically men, but women do it too, would they give the same advice to a man? And if the answer was no, then it was not my business. It was not my business to have, like take that so personally. And I think that voters, people who are interested in politics, interested in how do we move forward. Start asking harder questions of men because the women, there are problematic women. That's the exception, not the rule. The rule is people like Graham, able to do what they do, get into a high office, and then it comes out. And that is part of this, the patriarchy and male privilege that happens. And if we want to change it, and if you're a man listening to this, start asking harder questions. and calling it out because guarantee you he made problematic comments that would have highlighted that. But you have to be listening for the problematic comments. You have to be asking the right questions for the problematic comments. So deconstruct. That's my boy. Mike Winson: Yeah. So obviously, in in what we're talking about, this idea of accountability, it it worked, right? He was exposed, he is stepping down. but it also points out another problem, which is it took multiple women. Victoria Broderick: you Mike Winson: Almost like winning his primary, and it and there are still people that are choosing not to believe the woman. So, like, did accountability happen here? Did we just barely win? Look, there I feel like there's there's this is part of the crazy thing about it, is there are multiple perspectives because we got we do have many people, especially many people that believed in Graham Platiner going, this was a establishment hit job. This was APAC. This was like they're just scared of him. Like And obviously, this can it could be two things at once. This this could be this could have been the establishment Dems and APAC that found this about it and brought it out there exactly when they did to try and make it so Susan Collins went. That could absolutely be true. But in the same respect, he is a man who who raped a woman and was accused of raping a woman. If we say we believe women, women, women, we if we say we believe women, we need to actually. believe women, right? So it's like Where Where does that what what what doors is this is this is this problem opening up? Like what what are we seeing now because of it? Alani Bankhead: So can I just say, I don't actually think it's causing problems in like the traditional sense. I think all of this upheaval, whether it's Platinum or the greater conversation we're having nationally, I think it's all coming up because we have to address it. Right. And I think it provides us with an opportunity to wrestle with these really hard topics and make a decision moving forward. It's going to be an imperfect decision because as we get more information, we make better decisions, right? But First of all, context matters, right? We're in the Epstein era, and he had a lot of breadcrumbs and there was a lot of smoke, right? It started as like a little bit of smoke and then it got worse and worse and worse, right? And and I I'm not saying that I would have changed my perspective if let's say he well, no, I would have. Like there were other people who came forward and said he's got a problem with alcohol. Right. His wife's like, he's texted other women. Right. So we have some behaviors that frankly, I'm not the morality police. I don't personally care what you do on your own personal time. But when you're running for US Senate, like it we call it the totality of circumstances in law enforcement. Every individual thing maybe isn't super critical, but together combined, we've crossed the line. And so I think it gives us the opportunity to have these conversations and say, Victoria Broderick: you. Alani Bankhead: Okay, what do we have to learn from this? And by the way, there is a bigger picture of like, I think this is gonna do a lot of good in the long term because now that we're we're saying this is messy, what do we expect from our our Senate candidates and our congressional candidates moving forward? How do we improve the vetting process? I mean, shoot, the FEC process still still uses Java, and we have to do it because. Nixon and Watergate and all that nonsense, right? And I mean, every time my poor treasurer is just like it it's a wild process, right? But but that is that was the solution to a problem, a very big problem that created a crisis in our country. And that is the accountability that came out of it. And so I think this is gonna be good down the road. And even though I think it it feels like we're taking a couple of steps back in terms of taking back the Senate and Congress as a whole. Victoria Broderick: That's awful. Alani Bankhead: For me, my litmus test has always been when I put my head on the pillow every day. Did I do everything I could and did I do it with integrity? And by the way, if I made a mistake, I don't have any problems going back the next day and being like, hey, I'm really sorry. That thing I said or did the wrong thing. I apologize. You know, how can I make it right? Right? Because I'm a human being too. and I think part of one of the things we're getting at is, you know, Victoria and I, and even you, Mike, are talking about. We want authentic leaders who are real, who aren't scared to lead with. I'm a human being. I'm not perfect. You're not gonna like everything about me. but what I am committed to is excellence, not perfection, because perfection's unattainable. And I will be straight with you if I missed up and I will fix it. When, as an investigator, we do internal investigations in law enforcement. And on the internal investigation side, Victoria Broderick: is then. Thank you. Alani Bankhead: We would release a quarterly report. We would redact the names, but it would say all the infractions that were investigated within our law enforcement agency. And we would have generals say, Everybody makes mistakes, everybody does things wrong. Where I have a problem where you will are guaranteed to lose your badge and your gun is if you lie about it. Right? If you did something wrong and you admit it, like there's a there might be a path of redemption, but if you get caught and you lie. You're done. And and for me, that's always been one of the bigger litmus tests. And that's what happened with me for Graham. When I clicked that video to see his response and I heard him deny, deny, deny. I was like, You're cooked, bro. Like we're done. So Victoria Broderick: Yeah. Denying it, denying it immediately, not acknowledging the harm, not acknowledging, you know, you know, the comparison has been made between Trump and Biden and Biden said, investigate it. Like he came out and said, investigate it. That does not mean that he is immediately guilty, but he understands the role. And I'm not saying he's perfect by any means. We all know that. However, when something is brought to your attention, If your first response is, I'm going to deny this, then you're not, there's no self reflection going on there. There's no internal, Hey, am I the right person for this? Hey, is there something that maybe I shouldn't be doing? Maybe I should constantly looking to say, like, make yourself better and strive for excellence to your point is self reflection. And what we've lost in our politics specifically is it's become an ego game. It's become a you're here. I belong here. I'm entitled to I mean literally we're watching this happen with redistricting where people feel entitled to jump into the race. They feel entitled to whatever they're doing. They feel entitled. They're saying all the right things. They're saying all these things about how they want to support women. They want to uplift black voices. They want to make sure and then they're they're jumping in the race and going up against that and doing things in ways instead of saying, you know what, maybe this person has been running for this amount of time and maybe I should just help them or maybe I'll run a campaign. But like if they're the better candidate, I step behind them instead of stepping beside them to step in front of them. Like if we're moving the team forward, if the goal is to get people elected and take back the house, the people's house, because we are We are customer service representatives. That's all we are. I make this, I've been starting making this like analogy. We're no different than your local barista. The only difference is we're not serving you lattes. We're serving you legislation and both can ruin your day. So choose the one. Like if you're not choosing the right candidate, if you're not choosing the right representative, what happens is this kind of stuff. Because Lord knows if he had made it into office, Mike Winson: Yeah. Victoria Broderick: What's that look like? It's, you know, the litmus test of like trying to figure out where the line is. Sexual assault is not a light thing. It's not like, hey, I don't like pineapple on pizza. Hey, maybe I'm not a big fan of the princess bride. That is harming people. That is hurting people. And what it does lead to and begs the question is how is he going to vote when accountability is needed? Because he's done the thing. So he's more likely to take the Republican, the Epstein class side on these things because of his own behavior. I don't care what people do in their personal time. You drink, cool, whatever. Don't harm people. You have extramarital, not my business. But if that's your platform, if your platform is I'm good, I'm this, I'm a Christian, and then you do the other thing. Alani Bankhead: That's exactly it. Victoria Broderick: You've opened the door for accountability. You opened the door for the hypocrisy. Mike Winson: So that I think this leads us perfectly into a topic that I can already see the comment sections blowing up. and I can see many, many men being unhappy with about with with the next part of this conversation. for the last, I mean, for the last ever since the dawn of human civilization, pretty much. Victoria Broderick: Thank Mike Winson: Men have been the the ones running things. since the 200, we're saying we're celebrating 250 years in of the United States. 99% of the people that have run this country over the last 250 years have been men. And one of the most common, and obviously it's not there are situations where women have done some of these things too, but a vast Near 100% majority of them have been men that have done things similar to what Graham Platner is accused of and Eric Swalwell has been accused of, and many, many, many, many, many others. Your opponent. Yep. So when it comes, so my question is Victoria Broderick: My opponent has a whole record. Mike Winson: Is the answer that we just need more women in power? Alani Bankhead: I mean, so I I I think again, context matters in this era, yes. and I want to be clear, society needs both genders to be successful, right? This is not about men versus women, but when you look at even recent examples of female leadership around the world, Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand. Mike Winson: Ha ha. Alani Bankhead: Angela Merkel, right? What they have all been pointing to is there's a different way to legislate. And it doesn't have to be leading with ego and bravado, right? Jacinda Ardurn's book is called A Different Kind of Power because she talks about leading and legislating with kindness, by listening, with empathy, right? And but there is a time and a place to kick the door in and get aggressive. Right. And we each bring a different skill set to the table. But I think, you know, to Victoria's point, and and I give the your stats were spot on on child sex abuse in this country, just those stats alone, we're talking between 68 and 75 million Americans are survivors just of child sex abuse, not even adult sex abuse. And and so right now with the Epstein. Files and us being what the only country just about that hasn't made any arrests on these files, right? Corruption, aside from affordability, corruption is on the ballot. Protecting people who have been sexually abused is on the ballot. And that means you have to not have engaged in that behavior, and you also need to not protect that behavior or sweep it under the rug. As someone who has investigated those crimes, I will tell you my biggest barrier to investigating these cases has never been the pedophile or the trafficker. It was the government. It was the judge that told me that child pornography, which is actually known as child sex abuse material, just to be clear, was a victimless crime. It was the assistant US attorney who was like, I don't think we have a case here. On a silver platter, guy trying to Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alani Bankhead: Buy sex with three kids. We had video evidence, chat logs. It was like such a perfect bow tied case. And they're like, I don't really think he's a danger to society. And it took a state Supreme Court overruling what they said, right? And and I remember, I'll never forget the second chair on that case called me crying. And they're like, Alani, are we wrong? The first chair's telling me that he doesn't think we have a strong case. And I'm like, honey. Explain to me why you think anybody would look at the evidence in this case and think we don't have one. Right? And it's because they've been involved. I'm not saying like to that level, but they've done something in their past that they feel really bad about and they know that they should be held accountable to. Right? So, so in this era, the antidote. Victoria Broderick: Okay. Alani Bankhead: To the abuses that we're seeing. And by the way, this goes to the highest levels. The administration started a war in Iran because he wanted to cover up for what was happening in the Epstein files. And so that's the stuff when we talk about it, it is terrifying that this person has access to the nuclear football and can start World War III whenever he wants. Yes, I think we need more women in legislature and in elected positions. Victoria Broderick: you Yeah. I mean, the answer is yes. Like, we need more people who understand what moms are going through, what a woman experiences on a daily basis. know, Mike, know, and I'm on TikTok lives and I'm having these conversations regularly where they're like, well, you know, what do I do? And I'm like, I literally can go for a run in my neighborhood. And I can't tell you how many times I've been stopped and asked to get in the car. and doing the thing and told like, I'm literally on a run. I've got my headphones in. I am not in the mood. And someone pulls over and it's a man and he's like, get in the car with me. And I'm like, no, but that is the experience. And that's, it hasn't stopped, know, that, you know, the question that I always see posed on like social media is when was the first time you as a woman, as a child were sexually harassed? And women are coming in saying four, five, six, seven, remembering exact moments in time in their lives where they've been harassed. the other part of this and speaking to your childhood victims, the exception is getting justice. The rule is they don't get justice. The rule is the court says, the police say, and that's, if they come forward, have the wherewithal to come forward. And what does that look like? You know, I am that statistic. I got justice. I am the exception to the rule. But I didn't get justice in the sense that I got millions of dollars. I got justice in that I reported. I was believed. I when they asked me all the questions, but I didn't. The lawyer said, well, he didn't rape her. The neighbor said, well, she asked for it. The school teacher said, well, well, you know what she's like. She likes to hang out with boys. A seven-year-old. And all those things are the same things that every victim hears. So every time you say those things, we know what you mean. We know that you're discrediting us. Because if you're willing to say it to a seven-year-old, You have no issue saying it to someone who's a grown woman. And that's just part of it. But here's how we fix it is believing women, believing them, believing them from the get go. Because a lot of these times, when a woman comes forward, if it's just one woman, the rule is, just like with child predators, the child that came forward, just had the courage to come forward. There are a plethora of victims behind because they had to learn that behavior somewhere. Every predator gets better at being a predator, which is why we say things like, they don't stop. Men who abuse women don't just stop abusing. They get better at abusing them, better at hiding it. And if we want to bring change, and if you're a man feeling a little uncomfortable here, deconstruct that. Mike Winson: Good, by the way. Good. Alani Bankhead: Yeah. Well, it Victoria Broderick: deconstruct it, feel uncomfortable. Alani Bankhead: yeah, well, and can I just say to all of this and I'm gonna go back to we need men and women to create a successful society. And I will say I have been hugely encouraged by the men that I've seen come out addressing these issues, calling people out for bad behavior. Because as a female law enforcement officer, military member, like All the things that I've done, the one area I don't have authority in is in male-related issues, right? So I can talk until I'm blue in the face about these things. But I am so thankful. Well, there was a gentleman this morning, he was a state legislator for a really long time, and he did a post about my candidacy. And he's like, I thought about running for Senate, and somebody had to sit me down and say, you are an 80-year-old white man. And he was like, it hurt my ego, but I knew they were right. And he was like, This is the candidate that we need because we need fresh blood. And it's like, it's not about men in you know, in this context, it's not male versus female. But he's saying we need something different than me, right? And and and that humanity again goes back to the question you mentioned, Mike, about the fear that's exhibited, right? Initially, he was like, I'm gonna run because I'm scared for democracy. He was gonna make that decision from fear to say, I know what's best. And it took someone who loved him enough to say, dude, you've done so much for the community. You can still support democracy, but you're not the guy. You've had your time and it's time to step aside and usher in a new era of new candidates and fight for them. And I've never met this man in my life. The things he said about me, I mean, Have been so I can't even describe like he was like, I heard Alani speak at an event and my shoulders like soften. I have three granddaughters, I have a wife. I, you know, he was like, for the first time in a long time, I had hope that my daughters and the women in my life were gonna be okay. And I'm like, really? Like, it's just so humbling, right? But that is just as powerful as running for office. That is just as powerful as. Yeah, you know, like working in politics, it's just a different way of doing things. So, you know, for the men, it bec because I I do hate the culture wars. And I think all of us, that is something that we also want to acknowledge that this is not a binary conversation and the powers that be want to keep us divided in these male versus female camps. But the reality is we need different leadership, right? You cannot have the same like processes. And expect a different result. Mike and I were talking before we hit record. There are people who have lost statewide races multiple times giving me advice on how to win. And I'm like, you've never won. Like, why? Like, I'm I'm down for feedback, but why are you talking to me like you know what it's like to win when you haven't won? So, so we just have to do something different. Victoria Broderick: think that like this is like one of those interesting things is like the guy that you mentioned, this gentleman that you mentioned, he could have just said two middle fingers of the world, let's go and run. But instead he took that feedback and while it hurt, he sat in the discomfort. He sat in what that looks like because he chose in even even if he's like maybe not done all the deconstruction, he's already processing it. And that's something that we should look for. How are the people in your life responding to the criticism, the feedback? If a man comes to me and is asking me how my husband feels about my run for office, it's an immediate red flag. Because I'm like, oh, so your immediate is like, what is my keeper doing? And of Victoria is totally fine and well-kept. Mr. Victoria's fine. is well taken care of, guys. He is fine. He'll be okay. But like, that should be the thing. Yeah, go ahead. Alani Bankhead: Yeah. Well it Well, well, and I was gonna say, I love the handmaid's tale reference, but but but I think too, you know, what Victoria is saying is so relevant on so many levels. And when it comes to people having fear about democracy, and you come into contact with this resistance, what I have learned over many years is my job is not actually to change people's mind. My job is to show them a different way. They can either come along the ride or they don't have to. So when I experience those individuals who are resisting, and it is a smaller percentage, more and more every day, I want to acknowledge that. When I find those people, I'm like, you're not my people. I'm not going to engage in any level. No way, shape, or form. Because you have these preconceived notions. You are not willing to be introspective and you are not willing to consider a different way of doing things. But what I have found, and again, Having primary, you know, and and of trap talk to thousands of people at this point. People are so hungry for something real. And online, especially, it's its own like crazy universe of five people screaming really loud. But we've never come across a situation where people of completely opposing beliefs aren't willing to have a conversation with us about what kind of government they want. Right? So and so I I want to be really clear, like. For me, it is when I experience those moments of fear. Because by the way, I'm human and I still do. But I recognize that I'm operating in fear and I don't take action out of that fear. And I might have to call a Mike. I mean, Mike's experiences. I'm like, Mike, like I need to vent for a second, right? And and we call on those support networks and we self-care and we get back to that place of, okay, I'm operating in love and wanting to fight for this community, not from a place of fear, but because we're building something. Mike Winson: Yeah. Alani Bankhead: Better that is going to support more and more people. Now I'm back on the right track. And the more we do that, the more people see those examples. I know one of the goals of this campaign is in 2028, I want a ton of people to come out and run and be like, if Alani did it, she's a normal chick. Like I can do it. That is that that would make me happier than really anything to have that happen. Because the point is we're here because normal people aren't. psycho enough to run in this political environment, but a few people have to step up and do it. And you have a Mike Winston who maybe doesn't run, but he's like, I got a platform. I'm passionate. I can tell stories. I can ask questions. I can share these things. That's just as important. So thank you. Victoria Broderick: If you want to go. was just saying, speaking to that, I want people to come to the table. Again, I love alliteration. This is the thing that I do. again, what you're talking about is holding that line of we've given, I tell people all the time, if moderates won elections, I wouldn't be running for office. If the status quo won elections, I wouldn't be here. You literally wouldn't see my face. Mike Winson: Nope, go for it. Victoria Broderick: You guys could have fixed this for yourselves years ago, but you didn't. So here I am. I'm sorry for that. You're welcome. Anyway, but like this is what happens when we don't, you know, like when we give and give and give. like one of my biggest supporters is a Republican. He's my lawyer. He heard me speak at a no Kings rally and he's like, I like what you have to say. I like what you're saying and doing the thing. And my story resonates. I had no intention of running for politics. I soft launched in 2021, 2022. And then in 2024, the opportunity presented itself because we were going to have an election where the Republican incumbent was going to run unopposed because people just didn't feel like we're in a rural district, gerrymandering. mean, this district's been gerrymandered more often than not, and that was just gerrymandered in May. People are craving different. And what I did in 24 was I ran on the platform that I ran on. I ran on working class values. I was pushed back so much by the party. They're like, be more moderate. Don't say these things. Don't sign a pro-peace pledge. Don't say you're not going to take APAC money. Don't do this. Don't do it. The don'ts came more often than not, more than the you're going to lose. And yet, at the end of the campaign, I felt the change. I felt the needle move. And I didn't have a grasp of that until the numbers came back. I was a first time no name candidate working full time with two tiny humans, four fur babies at the time, fostering with our local humane society. And I grew voter turnout, getting 28 % of the vote in five months. That is not the rule. That's the exception. That's not the rule. So what did I tap into? What did I do differently? And that's what people want. People who are leaving Republican Party are asking for change and they're not going to Democrats. They're going to candidates who are speaking and being real and saying, I'm human. I'm doing these things, but I want you to join me as a player on the field because I'm a politician. I'd rather you be a player on the field than the turf that we walk on. And You're better when you're on the field. You don't have to score the goals. You don't have to punch the Nazis. You don't have to do any of that. I just need you to be on the field and move the ball forward. Alani Bankhead: Victoria, that is so good. And you just reminded me of again that bigger picture, right? Will this matter in a year? No. Like we're not going to be talking about it in this level of depth. But when I think about the people whose shoulders I stand on to be able to run right now, right? Montana, most people outside of Montana don't know, was the first state in the country to send a female to Congress four years before women could vote federally in this country. Victoria Broderick: So woke. Alani Bankhead: Right? But right. But and she's the only female congresspack in our history as a state. There have been a ton of other females that have run, and they are incredible, very well qualified. But when I look back on on what they did for us, I carry them with me. Right. All of those losses have paved the way for me to be here. Right. And so I think it's important to note that everybody plays a really important part in breaking down those barriers. And especially as Americans, we look at like the win or lose, or it has to end perfectly. Otherwise, I'm a dismal failure, right? That's not how the human experience is. And, you know, for us going into the primary, I I was like, our job is to run the best possible race we can. Put our heads on the pillow, knowing we did the best we could. It's never gonna be enough. But on primary day, we won with double digits. And we, I'm still shocked by it. But that was the people sending a but well, that was the people sending a really clear message of we want someone authentic. We want someone with this background. And I hope that that encourages other people to say, Mike Winson: I'm not. Alani Bankhead: I want to run. And by the way, Victoria, you saying I don't want to run. I have to run because nobody else is stepping up. The last panel I did with Mike on this platform, it was what, five, six other candidates saying the same thing. We're all like, none of us want to be here, but we're looking around at this country burning and we love it too much to let it burn. Right? So, so that's where we're at. And I know at the end of the day, even if we lose, Victoria Broderick: You want some? Alani Bankhead: We still, to your point, cracked a window open into some data or some learning points that are gonna support the next generation of folks that come behind us. But we're gonna win, of course. We're gonna win. So yeah. Victoria Broderick: I mean, we'll revisit this after August 6th, because I'm in the I haven't slept stage of the campaign. Alani, you can speak to this too. I've been up since like 4.30 this morning because my brain turned on and I've been campaigning since this morning. But you know what? I'm fun-sized and feral. It'll be fine. I'm going to make it through. The work is going to pay for itself. I never stopped campaigning. And yeah, I'm up against a lot of things. But to your point, Mike Winson: Yeah. Victoria Broderick: Voters want change. They have a good BS meter. And now with the way people are plugged in, the way that they're paying attention, the way that we're on social media is changing the political sphere. spent 20 minutes with the chief of staff of my MAGA opponent, Republican opponent in DC last week, and he hates social media. And he wanted me to talk crap about it. And I was like, look, accountability sucks. Getting yelled at sucks, but as a former barista, as someone who gets yelled at by tiny, tiny humans, you know, the little tiny terrorists that I decided to bring into this world, that's the job. That's just you, you signed up for it, buddy. If you don't like it, buckle up, buttercup. I can get you a new job come November, because that's what I'm going to do. And I said that to him. Like, this is what we're bringing change and change is possible because Mike Winson: Ha ha ha. Victoria Broderick: The Republicans, the only thing they're more afraid of than the Epstein files coming out is voter turnout because they know in 2026 when that when that house flips, they're screwed. That is why they are trying to convince you that not voting or voting makes no difference. And you just shouldn't do it. I'm telling you, show up, vote all the way down the ballot. Can't vote Republican right now because Republicans fall in line, Democrats fall in love. Voting is public transportation. Pick a bus and get us out of there in two years if we're not doing our job. Mike Winson: So what what kind of things would you would either of you support doing? Because, you know, one of the one of the issues that we do have, you know, obviously I've said it before on plenty of videos. I'm sure I've said it to both of you. I agree there should be more women in in power, in politics. Men we've men have created this world. There are people. Alani Bankhead: Yeah. Mike Winson: Like Susan Collins, who said she was only gonna run two terms and decided she was just gonna keep going. There are women like Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Green and and Lauren Boebert and a bunch of other people who who are who are issues of their own. So the question is, what what would you support doing? Alani Bankhead: Yeah, but Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Mike Winson: And having be the new norm in politics, in Congress, that would give some level of Trust back that has been lost to to such an extent. Alani Bankhead: that's such a good question. I mean, the transparency is the first thing that comes to mind is admitting when you're wrong goes a long way in building trust with people. having a counterintelligence background, we assess culture and individuals. And, you know, like human interactions are really simple. Victoria Broderick: It is. Alani Bankhead: On average, it takes seven contacts with someone before you build enough trust with them where they're willing to buy a product from you. And so for me, when people are like, What's the big plan to build trust? Or how do I do this as someone who wants to be in public service? I'm like, you say who you are, you say what you're gonna do, and you show up over and over and over again. And your behaviors align with what you're gonna say. You cannot control when people are going to invest that trust in you. Your job is to show up over and over and over again. When I worked in sex crimes, you will so the anti-trafficking space is is great. It drives me a little bit bananas too because you get these folks that come in and they're like, I want to rescue all the kids. And they're like really well intended. But they do their first operation or their first investigation and they encounter someone that's on the, you know, the track or whatever. And this person is. violent with them, they're cussing them out. and and this, you know, individual, a lot of times the law enforcement officer will be like, I am shocked. I'm here to rescue, right? But I'm like, they've been groomed to not trust anybody, least of all, you. And so what do I do? The first time I go down to the area where we know that these activities happen, I'm bringing water, I'm bringing food. Hey, how you doing? My name's Alani. Here's how I function. I I brought you some water, just want to check and see how you're doing. Don't ask for anything. Just how are you? Okay, great. See ya. See you next time. The next time, you know, maybe bring them more water, more food, whatever. I bring a restaurant business card that I just take from takeout. I put my business number on the back so the trafficker can't see that it's a police officer or a law enforcement officer. And I say, if if you ever need anything, you call me. And when they call, I better pick up the phone. I better get them what I can, right? the third time, it's it's just these constant touch points until the day they call and they're ready. Right? That takes a lot of time. But that's what you have to do to regain the trust of the people whose trust the government has violated over and over and over again. Same thing with the military. You want to talk about the broken relationships with NATO and all of our overseas partners, the post-World War II. Era is over of international security. The rules-based order, gone. But because we've worked, and you you can hear like the maddises of the world talk about this, we can repair those relationships. It's going to take years of us showing up and saying, I'm sorry for what my government did. Here's how we're trying to address it. And here's how we're going to show up. And I get if you don't want to talk with us, but I'm going to be here showing up. So to me, transparency and showing up and and walking the talk is the thing, but I'm curious what Victoria has to say. Victoria Broderick: think that we can actually put this into like conceptualize it. Because like what you're speaking about, the touch, like you have to touch a voter nine times, not touching a number of guys get out of the gutter. I know the topic's weird. Anyway, this is, I gotta put the humor in here. Anyway, but like you have to engage with the voters. They're talking about like, there's like some rule that like they say three to five times. Mike Winson: Nope, you good. I agree. Holy so Alani Bankhead: I it. I love it. Victoria Broderick: It's actually like nine to 10 times that you've got to engage with voters now. And that's not, and a touch count says us talking in person, us having a phone call, us going, me going to your door and door knocking, me dropping off literature for you. These are all these points that we make contact. And I say this during my speeches. I tell people, was like, you get me in the room, I'll get the votes. You get me in the door. I'll get it. get all I will take it the rest of the way home. I just need you to open the door for me. And this is something that I realized in my district. I am the only the second congressional candidate to run into general consecutive general election. This district was blue until 2008. Like that's not that long ago. So what happened? It was Jerry man and it was abandoned. And the abandonment is not just felt on democratic side or independence. It's felt by Republicans too, because representation matters. And when your Republican representative doesn't show up, you notice it. And when the money doesn't come back to the district, you notice it. And when you put a pedo in the White House after all these other things, you're thinking, I need something different. And then you put a working mom on the campaign trail who's now been campaigning since May of 2024. I haven't stopped. I haven't taken a break. I have been campaigning, building name recognition. I have not run a single poll, not done any of that. It's literally boots on the ground, creating content, explaining the political process, breaking down the barriers, up and standing on business. that builds trust with voters. When you have a Republican showing up at a no-kings protest and saying, that's my girl, I like her, I want her, I recognize that that might seem like would be a turnoff, but I know he's a Republican. So I'm gonna meet him where he is. We're gonna gently pull him back over, explain why, but I'm not asking him to do any, believe anything, I'm asking him to vote for safety. affordability, freedom and equity. And I'm putting it in terms and context that he understands. So this primary, every one of my four other opponents has to figure it out. They don't know how to run against me because they, I'm not the status quo. I brought something authentic. I'm not a career politician. I have experience in international domestic logistics. I have experience in the tech industry and I just happened to be a nerd who decided to put my name on the ballot. I just have blonde hair, guys. Like, everything else is nerdy. Like, this is... And I'm a millennial, so like, there's tons of movie references. But this is what voters want. They want someone they feel like they can go get a drink with, that they can have a coffee, a water, a beer, or some brown water, because I'm in the whiskey district and everybody likes a nice... George Stickel is still in my district, woo-hoo! But... This is what we need. we, and they want some of this sense of humor who understands. You know, I'm a politician now guys. I hate being called a politician, but I am one. And then I just make the joke. The only thing shady about me is I got tattoos. Like making it relatable under taking the ownership back of like politicians suck. I'm one I know don't trust us, but I'm working for you. Mike Winson: So s so here The idea of what you are talking about, obviously, I 100% agree with is someone who wants to be able to trust politicians again. And Alani, as someone who's running for Senate, you get six years to earn that trust if you get in office. How when you get in office? How much Victoria Broderick: when. Gotcha. Mike Winson: More difficult is it for someone like you, Victoria, who in many ways gets to try and legislate really for about a year and then has to start running again. Victoria Broderick: Yeah, I mean, this is where this is where it gets really complicated. And this is why I have to explain to people like I not only do I have to explain to voters like here's why you have to vote the way and like this is why I talk about it online too. It's like we need at least half of the courage candidates elected because what does that mean? It me just getting elected by myself is not going to do there. Literally, I'm going to walk into Congress first day house. Hakeem Jeffries is going to go. Go and sit in this corner and make phone calls for the DNC and raise money. And what happens when you get 50 of us elected, we walk in and we say, no, no, first day, here's the paperwork. I've been working with all these organizations for two years. I had the legislation ready to go. No, we're not doing that. You're not putting me in a class. You go, go put Mitch McConnell on it since he's had him phone calls all the time. Go do that. He's, he's got time. I get to work it in again. Yes, I'm so proud of myself. Anyway, we digress. But like, this is something we can do. And it is a marathon. It's not a sprint. And the other aspect of it is I've already prepared my voters. I'm going to get chapped when I flip this seat, because I'm going to flip it when I win this primary, you know, against donor class money, when I flip this seat against a war chest of $500,000, a 16-year incumbent. Mike Winson: man. Victoria Broderick: What is what's going to happen is I'm going to get challenged that first year. And that first year I'm going to get challenged. Someone's going to run for office. They're going think they can do it better. They're like, this mom, she made a path. You know, I've created this whole path for a working person to get elected into office. I documented it on the internet, how to do it, what to do, how to run for office. And they're going to think they can do it. And maybe they can. And if it's my choice, I'm going to be like, I'm out. I'm good. go, it's your turn. Or I'm gonna have to work really hard to keep it at least one or two more cycles because I wanna see term limits at the end of the day. And I wanna hold myself accountable for that. I'm also writing a memoir because I'm gonna put this on a book because when I flip this, it is going to be a game changer for politics. They're gonna wanna talk about it. They're gonna wanna look at how it's done because they're still ignoring this race. And that is... a fatal flaw for both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Because when you ignore voters and you create desperation and you create a system that it doesn't work for them, they're looking for someone who's going to speak out. And that's how we got Trump in 2016. They're looking for someone who's speaking to it. He just happens to be a bad guy. He took the opportunity. And fear, courage is not the absence of the fear. It is the ability to act in spite of it. And that is what we're doing, putting our names on the ballot. We can lose our livelihoods, we can lose our careers, we can lose all these things. But we're still making that sacrifice and that choice, not because we're not afraid, but because we understand what's at stake and we're not letting it hold us back. Alani Bankhead: And you know, to Victoria's point, what I love the most about being an underdog is I'm like, y'all, have you not read a book? We are the country of underdogs. Like, we love an underdog, and I love operating under the radar. You know how many times I've been dismissed my whole career? And and it's not even just me. There's always a pattern. The visionaries, the people who go against the current. Victoria Broderick: you Thank Alani Bankhead: People doubt and second guess. There's a a million examples of this in our history. But as soon as they gain momentum, all of a sudden everybody wants to bandwagon. They want to be all part of that magic, right? And so, so it just cracks me up at the end of the day because it, you know, it does take, and is not everybody is wired the way that we are, because I believe everybody has a different mission, right? You don't have to finish watching this and and Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Thank Mm-hmm. Alani Bankhead: The goal is not to get you to run for office per se. The goal is how do you want to support making democracy stronger and supporting your community in a way that is authentically you? And that's scary as hell when you figure out what that is. But the point is, you know, courage again, like you literally have to have fear to have courage. It's in the definition. And so you just have to have the example from a Victoria, and thank you for writing a memoir, by the way, because. Victoria Broderick: you Alani Bankhead: You know, when you look at books, it's it's a lifetime of wisdom that I don't have to learn the hard way. So yeah, write the book. so like I'm in violent agreement with you on all these things. And and this is why I think this next season, even though it's really hard, even though all this ugliness is coming up, I think it's a launching pad for America's newfound courage and newfound era. Victoria Broderick: Thank you. Thank Alani Bankhead: because these are all things that we had to address. The sexism, the racism, the hate, the bigotry, like just all of it. Like it had to come to the surface. Victoria Broderick: I love this statement. A lot of things, but above it's not one of them. And when I win this primary and when I win this election, I'm going to be insufferable because for two years, I've literally done the thing without support, without the thing. keep meeting these walls and people are like, Wait, why are you still running? You keep needing, you don't get support and you just don't turn away. You didn't get support from the Democratic party. So you joined the Democratic party. What is this? What's happening? And I want to remind people and like help you, how you can conceptualize this. How can you, how can I pull you onto the field? You're not, this is not a spectator sport. Spectator sports is for Europe. That's what they're doing right now. They're watching what we're doing in the United States and they're thinking, Jesus. Christ, we're going to have deal with this later. So how do we do that? Activism is a muscle. Start small. you're not, if politics is not your thing, make food for your neighbor. Go out and help your community. Your animal shelters need you. a foster, foster kitten. There is nothing better than coming home to a gaggle of kittens. Words. Like this is. how you start because that's how I started. You can go and watch my four years worth of content and watch me grow, watch me change, watch me learn how to become the friendly neighborhood liberal, which was just a joke. It was literally a joke because everyone was like, well, you're a far leftist. And I was like, but I'm opening the door for the conversation and the friendly neighborhood liberal allows that because people, they. I'm blonde and small. Of course people are going to think it's OK to talk to me a certain way. They just don't know that I'm fun-sized and feral at the same time and I match energy. But this is how you come forward. Alani Bankhead: Well, and and you know, the last thing I'll say to bring it full circle, Victoria, I say the same things to people. You start small. Montana has one of the highest rates of alcoholism. I'm like, get sober, go to treatment, see a therapist. That is just as powerful. Look at Graham Plattner, right? I'm like, what if he had done those things back in the day? Right? Like, All of this could have been avoided potentially. So absolutely working on yourself that accountability of ourselves is how we heal the country. Mike Winson: Yeah. so yeah. Yeah. obviously this is something that we could keep talking about for a long, long, long, long, long, long time. I make too many friends with too many people that could just never stop talking. And I'm sure there'll be plenty more conversations that we can have. Alani, Victoria, thank you for coming in here and talking about this. I know we did not probably get as far as even any of us really hoped we. Victoria Broderick: and taking care of your community. We're community-based. chart. Thank you. Mike Winson: We could because this is not an easy conversation, but that's the point. This is a one of many conversations that we need to have as time goes on in order to get to a point where we can heal and actually grow as a nation. So thank you for being here and helping start this. I will put links to both of your campaigns down below and in the description for anyone that wants to check out Alani, who's running again for Senate in Montana, and Victoria, who's running for District Four in Tennessee. thank you again for everyone. Please like, subscribe, hit all those buttons down below. It helps to make it possible for me to keep doing what I'm doing. Please watch all the videos of these amazing people. If you want to see my interview with Alani and Victoria, those are also available. We'll also put links there as well. And yeah, we will see you all next time on Breaking the Meta. Bye, guys. Victoria Broderick: Thank Bye.