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'We have the power to HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE' MI Gov. nominee calls out Republican election deniers · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: Michigan Democratic leaders are preaching unity ahead of the three
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  Speaker 1: month dashed.
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  Speaker 2: To the midterms.
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  Speaker 1: Their goal is to hold on to a crucial US
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  Speaker 1: Senate seat and the governor's mansion in this all important
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  Speaker 1: swing state. Today, Jocelyn Benson, who just won her party's
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  Speaker 1: nomination for governor, and Abdul Alsayad, who just won a
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  Speaker 1: very tight primary race for the Senate, appeared alongside other
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  Speaker 1: prominent state Democrats, including the current governor Gretchen Whitmer. Al
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  Speaker 1: Sayad also shared a hug with Congresswoman Hailey Stevens at
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  Speaker 1: the Unity Breakfast event that they were attending just two
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  Speaker 1: days earlier. Stevens and Alsaiad were bitter rivals in the primary.
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  Speaker 1: Now Stevens has endorsed al Sayed, and in a statement
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  Speaker 1: today following their appearance together, she said, it's time to
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  Speaker 1: come together to make sure we beat Republican Mike Rodgers
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  Speaker 1: and let's keep Michigan blue. Let's go win. Michigan's Democrats
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  Speaker 1: are also said to hold unity set to hold a
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  Speaker 1: unity rally tomorrow in Detroit. Meanwhile, President Trump is already
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  Speaker 1: pushing conspiracy theories about the vote in Michigan Wednesday morning,
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  Speaker 1: right After the primary, Trump made baseless accusations about election
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  Speaker 1: integrity in the state. He posted vote Wayne County, which
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  Speaker 1: is Detroit is part of Detroit. I'm sorry, part of
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  Speaker 1: Detroit is part of Wayne County. Wayne County in Michigan
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  Speaker 1: is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the
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  Speaker 1: United States, if not the world. Get ready for another
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  Speaker 1: rigged election in November. We must vote for Mike Rogers
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  Speaker 1: and make Michigan too big to rig end quote all right.
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  Speaker 1: As the midterms approach, Trump has gone all in on
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  Speaker 1: election conspiracies. Last month, he dedicated a primetime address to
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  Speaker 1: bogus theories about a stolen twenty twenty election, the one
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  Speaker 1: that he lost six years ago, and he stacked his
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  Speaker 1: administration with election deniers, as well as appointees like his
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  Speaker 1: new Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, who should know
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  Speaker 1: better but still refuse during his confirmation hearing to admit
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  Speaker 1: that Trump lost the election in twenty twenty somehow, in
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  Speaker 1: a moment where America is in a war that no
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  Speaker 1: one explained or sought permission to undertake, and with cost soaring,
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  Speaker 1: and with battles with our trading partners ongoing, somehow arguing
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  Speaker 1: over the results of an election from six years ago
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  Speaker 1: is a defining issue of these mid term elections, which
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  Speaker 1: is why Jocelyn Benson is so important to all of this.
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  Speaker 1: She's not only won the Democratic primary for governor in Michigan,
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  Speaker 1: but she has spent the last seven years as Michigan
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  Speaker 1: Secretary of State overseeing the state's elections. In twenty twenty,
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  Speaker 1: she made sure that Michigan's votes were fairly counted. She
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  Speaker 1: understands how elections actually work and what it takes to
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  Speaker 1: actually keep them secure. Joining me now is Michigan Secretary
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  Speaker 1: of State and Democratic nominee for governor, Jocelyn Benson, The
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  Speaker 1: Secretary of State. Benson, congratulations, first of all on your
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  Speaker 1: victory on Tuesday night.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks and great to see you.
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  Speaker 3: Great to be here, really thrilled to have the wind
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  Speaker 3: in our back and extraordinary momentum heading into the general
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  Speaker 3: not just for me and our campaign for governor, but
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  Speaker 3: Democrats up and down the ticket. We know we have
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  Speaker 3: a plan to drive down costs and grow our economy
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  Speaker 3: here in Michigan while protecting our democracy, and we're ready
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  Speaker 3: to deliver results for everyone in the state.
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  Speaker 1: I will say I know that the main Senate candidates
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  Speaker 1: had promised to support each other once this was over.
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  Speaker 1: I had of the law set on the show on Monday,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, push them, there are you going to
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  Speaker 1: be at that unity breakfast in the unity event and
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  Speaker 1: you said yes. I will say the takeaway from me
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  Speaker 1: is that it is happening in Michigan. There were some
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  Speaker 1: doubts about whether the competing candidates can come together in
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  Speaker 1: order to win the election in three months, but it
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  Speaker 1: looks like it can happen.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, look, we're all unified around our desire to
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  Speaker 3: make Michigan a place where you can afford to live
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  Speaker 3: and build a career and thrive.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, frankly, the number one thing I.
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  Speaker 3: Hear from folks all across the state, and I'm sure
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  Speaker 3: every other candidate is hearing the same thing, is how
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  Speaker 3: high costs have gotten, from prescription drugs to housing costs,
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  Speaker 3: utility bills. You know, the cuts to Medicare and Medicaid
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  Speaker 3: and all the fears of not being able to afford
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  Speaker 3: to live in a state like ours, where wages have
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  Speaker 3: been stagnant and costs are going up. And you know,
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  Speaker 3: families shouldn't have to choose between putting food on the
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  Speaker 3: table or life saving medicine, and too many are having
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  Speaker 3: to make those tough choices. Candidates all up and down
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  Speaker 3: the ticket are focused on that issue, which we know
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  Speaker 3: as top of mind for so many citizens in our
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  Speaker 3: nation and also, frankly, in many cases a direct result
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  Speaker 3: of the failed economic and chaotic economic policies of Trump administration.
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  Speaker 2: So we're all the same thing, we singing the same song.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know that I like to spend
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  Speaker 1: a lot of time in Michigan, and I think Michiganders
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  Speaker 1: understand the major issues of our country, right. They understand industrialization,
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  Speaker 1: they understand trade, and I know that there are Michiganders
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  Speaker 1: who want freer trade and someone want more restrictive trade.
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  Speaker 1: But this isn't about that.
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  Speaker 3: This is just chaotic, yeah, truly, and not only that,
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  Speaker 3: but corrupt and cruel. At a time where you know,
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  Speaker 3: it feels like we see the federal government showing up
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  Speaker 3: everywhere we don't want it, Like literally in our polling places,
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  Speaker 3: observing our free and fair and secure elections, and showing up,
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  Speaker 3: you know, massed federal agents showing up in communities all
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  Speaker 3: around the state, scaring kids and law abiding community members.
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  Speaker 3: It's not okay, especially when so many folks are struggling
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  Speaker 3: just to make ends meet. So I think the real
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  Speaker 3: question facing voters this fall is who do your.
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  Speaker 2: Leaders work for?
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  Speaker 3: Do they work for you, Do they work for the people,
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  Speaker 3: or do they work for Donald Trump and the highest
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  Speaker 3: bidder and corporate interests. Every Democrat running in this election
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  Speaker 3: this fall in Michigan is committed to working for the people,
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  Speaker 3: and that's where the unity lies.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm hoping that the election, and I think it
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  Speaker 1: is going to be about all those things you just named,
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  Speaker 1: except it's kind of weird that some of it is
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  Speaker 1: still going to be about relitigating the election of twenty twenty,
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  Speaker 1: and some of it is going to spill into whether
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  Speaker 1: or not the elections of this year are legitimate. And
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  Speaker 1: it is important that you're there because you have looked
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  Speaker 1: at these things. Often when we quote the statistics about
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  Speaker 1: safe and secure elections, we quote statistics that have been
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  Speaker 1: provided by your office or studies that over you've undertaken
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  Speaker 1: to get a handle on voting in this country. Voting
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  Speaker 1: in your state is remarkably safe. The instances of non
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  Speaker 1: citizens voting is virtually non existent, and pursued when it happens,
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  Speaker 1: but otherwise, voting is safe and properly done.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and indeed, we welcome the scrutiny.
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  Speaker 3: We welcome the extra attention and spotlight on our elections
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  Speaker 3: because we know when you do show up to actually
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  Speaker 3: look and observe our election processes, you'll see that they're secure.
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  Speaker 2: You'll see that we've.
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  Speaker 3: Had back to back to back the highest turnout elections
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  Speaker 3: in our state's history over the last several years since
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  Speaker 3: twenty twenty, while being ranked one of the most secure
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  Speaker 3: election states in the nation. So I'm really proud that
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  Speaker 3: we've been able to protect democracy amidst all these threats.
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  Speaker 3: And again it underscores why state leaders in this moment
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  Speaker 3: in twenty six and moving forward are going to be
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  Speaker 3: so critical.
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  Speaker 2: We're the guardrails.
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  Speaker 3: We're the ones who are prepared and must stand up
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  Speaker 3: to Trump to enforce the law, speak the truth, and
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  Speaker 3: protect every voice in every vote.
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  Speaker 1: Talk to me about issues that are outside of this right.
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  Speaker 1: You believe that elections are safe, and you get that
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  Speaker 1: people are united on needing to understand this war and
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  Speaker 1: probably not supporting it. Meetings, have better trade policy, needing
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  Speaker 1: things to be more affordable. AI did come into your
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  Speaker 1: race into the Senate race in Michigan, it does seem
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  Speaker 1: to be unifying people. Americans don't seem to understand what
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  Speaker 1: benefit they're getting from AI. They are seeing that AI
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  Speaker 1: leaders are benefiting.
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  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, again, it gets back to who are the
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  Speaker 3: leaders of Michigan working for. Are they working for the people?
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  Speaker 3: They're trying to protect their voices. Are they're trying to
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  Speaker 3: protect our jobs? Are they trying to prepare our young
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  Speaker 3: people for the jobs of tomorrow, whether they be in
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  Speaker 3: tech or elsewhere.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that's again where we're focused.
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  Speaker 3: And I know there's a lot of unknowns, particularly when
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  Speaker 3: it comes to technological advancements and AI, and that's where
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  Speaker 3: government also has to come in with guardrails to actually
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  Speaker 3: protect the people, protect them against deception, protect them against
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  Speaker 3: misuse and abuse of their own likeness.
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  Speaker 2: And image and other things.
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  Speaker 3: And again that's why having state leaders are at all,
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  Speaker 3: leaders who are squarely focused not on what corporations want
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  Speaker 3: or tech billionaires want, but what the people need is
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  Speaker 3: a critical role for government to play. And frankly, that's
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  Speaker 3: why I'm really excited to be running for governor in
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  Speaker 3: this moment, because I've seen firsthand how important it is
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  Speaker 3: to have state leaders and governors who are under free
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  Speaker 3: to be those guard rails, to stand up to anyone
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  Speaker 3: and no matter what it takes, what safety is impacted,
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  Speaker 3: or you know.
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  Speaker 2: What threats our own safety come as a result.
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  Speaker 3: If we can do our part as governors to show
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  Speaker 3: that government can actually just show up for you, protect you,
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  Speaker 3: keep you safe, save you time, and save you money,
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  Speaker 3: then that's such an important contrast to the chaos and
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  Speaker 3: cruelty we are seeing and the corruption we are seeing
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  Speaker 3: at the federal level.
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  Speaker 1: Can I ask you about this business, because I think
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people just legitimately don't understand it. But
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  Speaker 1: I've got an actual secretary of state here. Why is
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  Speaker 1: the federal government looking for ballots from states?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's designed to one create confusion about
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  Speaker 3: the validity of elections, to potentially say that they've discovered
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  Speaker 3: something we know again that having paper ballots and post
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  Speaker 3: election audits help us reinforce the security of our elections
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  Speaker 3: and the validity of the results. But simply making a
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  Speaker 3: lot of these false accusations creates doubt designed to make
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  Speaker 3: us question our power as citizens to hold elected affacs accountable,
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  Speaker 3: designed to help us to make us question.
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  Speaker 2: The efficacy of participating at all.
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  Speaker 3: And when you have a corrupt federal government that is
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  Speaker 3: trying to misspend tax payer dollars and know a bunch
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  Speaker 3: of other things, it's bone shilling. But it's not surprising
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  Speaker 3: that they're also trying to make us forget that we
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  Speaker 3: have the power to hold them accountable and check them,
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  Speaker 3: which is what democracy is all about. And that's why
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  Speaker 3: it's so important that we see it through those terms
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  Speaker 3: and not allow them to make us feel small, but
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  Speaker 3: instead come out and vote, participate, and indeed hold them accountable.