IS HE DEAD

Charles Booker, welcome. Great to see you. It's good to be with you. So we want to talk about your campaign and all the things, but first inquiring minds want to know, is Mitch McConnell dead or alive? What is the chatter in Kentucky? Because I know there's chatter in Kentucky. Everyone's asking this question. Democrats, Republicans, independents. We're all looking around like what in the world is going on? This is like house of cards, you know, the, one of the worst TV shows that you could ever imagine. And it's offensive at this point. And I don't know what's going on with Mitch McConnell. I've spoken with the governor and their folks, and he's continuing to ask the question too. We really don't know. And the fact that we have secrecy and it's now right at 40 days, not only is it ridiculous, but it's, it speaks to the fact that we have been ignored throughout his tenure. And even now, because yes, it's a personal health matter, but when it impacts his ability to show up for the people of Kentucky and to do his job, he should be accountable to the people. And that's not a partisan statement. That really is just factual. And it's, it's hard to believe, but with the crazy times we're facing now in this country, the, the unexpected should be expected now. I guess, are you telling governor Beshear, like, Hey, maybe go show up at the hospital. Like, what can we do? Cause I know probably like everybody probably knows a lot of the staffers for Mitch McConnell. There are, they've been completely silent as well days now. Is it 40 some days? I think it's 40 days. Yep. It is. And you know what? I I've talked to my team as well. It's like, well, shouldn't we all go check on them at the hospital? I think they probably have my picture up to not let me on the block, but we, we really do need to know what's going on because there are critical decisions that are impacting Kentucky in this country right now, um, including, uh, funding Trump's endless war, um, this horrific conflict is devastating. Not only Iran, but our global economy, certainly us here at home and did the very decisions that are being made. They go through Mitch McConnell and him not being there is costing a lot of us, uh, the opportunity to hold them accountable. Uh, but of course, to make sure that Kentucky is at the table. So, uh, I'm doing whatever I can to sound the alarm. I put out the call for transparency. I was the first to do that here in Kentucky. And, and since then, a lot of folks on all sides of the aisle have spoken up to do the same, including the governor. And so I'm continuing to sound the alarm because it's, this moment is too important for Kentucky to get ignored. Like we always do. Does it surprise you how little this is being talked about in Washington, DC? Because it is kind of surprised me. Like, I'm trying to think if the shoe was on the other foot and you had a Democrat in the exact same position as Mitch McConnell, I think that would be on Fox news virtually every day. They would be saying like, where is this person? Why have we heard nothing? There should be a process to effectively kick him out of office or, you know, uh, try to fix the problem. Like, do you think there should be a legal process to address this? I think of like the representative Keene is his name. He disappeared for how many months? He was just gone for like three months, gone for three months. Now, if I, if, if anybody watching this doesn't show up to their job for three months, they'll be fired immediately. It'd be fired after what? Three days, probably. So this leeway is kind of crazy. No, I completely agree. And of course, even before this, I've called for term limits. Um, we, we have seen a lot of our elected officials, um, stay in office until they pass. And like I've always mentioned, Mitch McConnell was elected when I was two weeks old. Uh, so he's really been screwing us my entire life. And we do need to take this moment into account and say, what do we do? Um, not only as a Commonwealth, but as a country to make sure that, uh, the people are represented and that if someone's elected to office, that they do the job. And, you know, when you ask about what would it look like when she was on the other foot, we saw it. You know, when president Biden was running for reelection and there were questions about his health, um, and this was bipartisan Democrats and Republicans alike were calling out the concerns about his, his ability to continue through the campaign and, um, and whether his health was caught in the question. And my opponent, Andy Barr actually called for him to step down, to drop out of the race, but also to resign because of his health concerns. And now that Mitch McConnell, the person who's supposed to represent us in Kentucky, the seat that he says he wants to take. Now that Mitch McConnell is gone, he's silent in the covering form. And this is not about political expediency. I've been telling Andy Barr, keep the same energy. And the truth of the matter is he's not looking to replace Mitch McConnell. He wants to replicate and Kentuckians are tired of that BS because you're exactly right. If the shoe was on the other foot, there'd be around the clock news about how democracy is being subverted, um, or a power scheme. Why would Mitch McConnell and his team not be honest right now? Why wouldn't they explain? And to say that he was in the hospital for a mild case of pneumonia, that he fell and did not injure himself, uh, badly, no concussion, put out this photo that he has not looked that young idea that he could have 20 minute conversations with people like Scott Jennings. Mitch McConnell could not hold a 20 minute conversation last year. So at this point, we all see that this is BS. Whatever is going on on his personal side. Look, I know he has the best medical professionals and I want everyone to have high quality healthcare as part of my platform. So of course, the folks who are caring for them, I hope they're doing a great job, but on the side of representing our country, they need to show up or he needs to step down and we got to move on. Well, here's the thing. I don't know if people understand like Mitch McConnell is not popular in Kentucky. His favorability ratings have long been in the toilet. But then, you know, a Democrat goes up against him and the political realities of Kentucky, which has trended hard right at the federal level, it does have a popular Democratic governor with Andy Beshear right now. But in any case, at the federal level, those hard political realities set in. So what what are you seeing, Charles, that gives you hope that things will be different this time around? Well, I think just looking at the news for 30 seconds, we can all see how everything has completely been flipped upside down. And in a lot of ways, for me as a candidate in the type of campaign that I lead, that is rooted in community, that is speaking to our issues and addressing generational poverty and make sure that everyone can live a good, quality life. Now the news has shifted and Trump has flipped the political narrative to where I don't seem radical anymore. It's actually very rational to make sure that everyone has high quality health care. And because I've been organizing for years across Kentucky from the hood to the holler, literally, we've built a coalition of Democrats, Republicans and independents who are rallying around our campaign. And so I have a lot of hope that not only can we win this race, but we can run away with it because people are so sick and tired of the BS that has been fueled by Mitch McConnell. Like you said, Kentucky does not like Mitch McConnell. People have just come to accept that he'd probably always be there. He's been so powerful in the eyes of so many. But people do not like him. He's underwater like 80 percent. And the idea that Andy Barr would replace him is is laughable. And we're not going out like that. So I'm hopeful. And most importantly, all the things that Trump is doing to our economy, hurting our small family farmers, small businesses, our veterans, people see it. It's like the scales are falling from the eyes of folks across Kentucky. These no King's demonstrations, they haven't been led by just Democrats. They've been led by Republicans and folks who voted for Trump are organizing. And so I'm putting out the call now. We're going to win this race. We flip Kentucky. We're flipping the U.S. Senate. And I'm asking everyone go to Charles Booker or help us win this because we need this as a country. Now, on that point, Charles, and this now did a segment the other day. I put up on the screen, if you can control room, the full screen that we had during the lead in 32 percent of voters say they're more likely to vote for a candidate who identifies as a Democratic socialist. That is more than the 27 percent of voters who say they're more likely to vote for a self-described MAGA candidate. Those are still not majorities. So is there still a risk to this more extreme rhetoric? I think the risk is worth the reward because at the end of the day, child care is a payment. All of the things that you said that people have called communists or socialists in the past, like Social Security, Medicare, the minimum wage, stronger protections for organized labor. Those are things that we fight for now today because we can't see a life without them. This is like unprecedented in terms of polling that democratic socialism is more favorable than MAGA, in your opinion, just how cooked is MAGA right now? You know, I think they have overplayed their hand and hatred tends to do that. Racism tends to do that. And the premise of MAGA was really exploiting a lot of people who really do want things to change. I've talked to a lot of folks out in Kentucky who voted for Trump and saw the craziness around him, but heard him when he said he was going to bring jobs back, that he was going to drain the swamp and Mitch McConnell in large measure helped create this swamp. So a lot of folks genuinely wanted that. Donald Trump said he would end the wars. He would end these stupid wars. We have a lot of service members in Kentucky. So they've seen that he's lied on every front. And what they've been looking for is a campaign, a candidate leadership that will speak to their needs. And in a lot of ways, it's a populist message that acknowledges that Kentucky has been one of the poorest and sickest states in the country. So I speak to a lot of the folks who supported Trump, who supported Thomas Massey and Rand Paul on the libertarian side, because we're all tired of big government corruption and we're seeing it in the grossest way right now and people are done with it. And so this shift away from, you know, what has been branded as MAGA is really just response to people understanding, OK, we're getting screwed and we have to do something different. And I'm excited about the progress that's possible even now. What can you kind of pinpoint? Were there specific turning points when people really started to open their eyes? Epstein files, Iran war, tariffs, Doge, like, did you see particular things that were really consequential in terms of changing minds? You know, the the controversy around the Epstein files and the way that so many politicians who were calling out for transparency and accountability and once the Trump administration took office, they essentially put a full court press to hide everything. That did light a fire in a lot of folks who start to say, wait a minute, what is this? But I think the thing that has really opened the eyes of people, certainly here in Kentucky, are the cuts in the rising costs, cuts to health care, the threat of over 30 rural hospitals closing because of the Trump administration that has been shepherded by Mitch McConnell and and then given an applause by Andy Barr because he's doing nothing in Congress that is hurting real people. And these rising costs, the cost of fertilizer, a lot of small business have had to close down because of the the essentially the erosion of our economy. And they see that it's not Barack Obama doing it. They see that it's not Joe Biden. And now they're saying, OK, we have to do something different. And and while it's exhausting to me in a lot of ways and it hurts to see so many Kentuckians struggling, I'm inspired because this is a chance for us to do something different, to come together, to stand for humanity and to win a race that speaks to how we move forward as a country. And so I'm just proud to be on this journey and to represent my family, the people of Kentucky. And we are going to win this race. When you say 30 rural hospitals may close, that's just in Kentucky. That's just in fact, in the country, it's up to seven hundred and forty two because of the Medicaid cuts. Which parts of the state are most impacted by that, Charles? Because I know eastern Kentucky and this is Appalachia, a lot of problems with poverty and really across the state, a lot of problems with poverty. Some of those communities are literally like built around the hospitals there. That's right. That's right. And the the place that will be hit the hardest are the very places that voted for Trump in in largest, in the largest measure, in largest percentages. And it is a lot of communities across Appalachia. And you're exactly right. For a lot of those folks, if they can even get access to health care, they have to already travel a couple of hours or spend a whole day to get to it because so many folks are isolated. There's a lot of crumbling infrastructure, which not only through the Biden administration, but certainly with Governor Beshear, we've been laser focused on repairing and rebuilding infrastructure. There's been these historic floods, a lot of storms and then the erosion of our environment due to the decline of the fossil fuel industry. A lot of the things have been really just piling upon Kentucky and the idea that we can lose these hospitals. And again, I mentioned Kentucky's been one of the sickest states in the country. I'm a type one diabetic. I've had to ration my insulin to feed my children. And a lot of Kentuckians know that story. And I think it's causing them to say, we can't allow our families to go hungry. We can't allow our government to screw us over while Elon Musk becomes a trillionaire and they're standing up to do something about it. So there's an Economist YouGov poll that just came out where Trump's job approval rating is 37 percent. That's actually on the higher of of the scale of what I've seen recently. Some have been as low as there's one ahead of a 30 percent recently. I don't know if you saw that one, Crystal. But when they asked specifically about this illegal war against Iran, the number was just 27 percent. It started off as the least popular war at the beginning of it, because usually there's a rally around the flag effect. But even at the beginning of this thing, it was 38 percent support, maybe 40 percent support at most. Now it's all the way down to 27 percent. So the Intelligencer just released an article. Polls showed that even MAGA has soured on Trump's Iran war. So some polls have it like 70 to 80 percent of MAGA still agree with the war. But then other polls have it at a 50-50 split now, even inside the Republican coalition. So how much has this war been a motivating factor for your campaign voters coming onto your campaign, voting Democrat now, some people for the first time in their lives? Has it been one of the biggest motivating factors? You know, I think in a lot of ways it's been the straw that has broken the back of any of those who thought that Trump was ever going to do anything to help working people, to help the people of Kentucky. And as I mentioned, there are a lot of service members here in Kentucky. And so when Donald Trump said in response to our loved ones losing their lives overseas that, well, that's just how it goes. They felt that. And now they're seeing that not only is this not going to be over in two weeks, but there's no end in sight and billions upon billions of dollars are being sent to essentially pad the pockets of folks like Donald Trump and his family in our faces. And again, he ran on ending stupid wars. So this is not something that Kentuckians take lightly. And it has lit a fire in a lot of folks to say, we know we need to end this war. We need to invest here at home. And they're looking for leaders that are committed to that. And that's literally been my message for about a decade now. So this is my run, my third run for office. You know, it's like Rocky three for me. And and because we've been telling this story for so long, we've earned a lot of trust. And the people of Kentucky know that I'm standing on what I believe in. And that's why the polls are reflecting it. We know this race is a toss up. We know that we are in a position to win this race and flip the seat. And in large measure, it's because of the way that Trump and Andy Barr and Mitch McConnell have really stepped on our backs and everybody's sick and tired of, you know, I've seen in Iowa that there's Fox News polling. There's actually a lot of polling that shows Democrats with a shot to win that Senate seat and also the governor's mansion there as well. I think it really highlights the way that rural Americans are have been really suffering under Trump's policies between the tariffs and now the war and many other things besides screwworm. Yes. Down in Texas, the decimation of the rural hospital system, as you were mentioning before, what do you think it will take for Democrats to really be able to regain the trust of rural Americans? You know, I think we've got to get back to the basics. I've mentioned that this campaign is a testament to community, the power of organizing, building relationships and building trust over time and speaking to the issues that people feel when they're when they're at home, when they're dealing with their children, when they're deciding whether to pay the rent or to keep the lights on. And, you know, there are a lot of ways that we go into our corners and when we stop seeing each other. But I always say we have so much more in common than will ever divide us. But we don't get to that if we don't listen to each other. And so a lot of this in my campaign through a distributed model of organizing is showing up on issues, not simply saying, hey, vote for me, but saying what's pissing you off? What do you care about? And let's work together to address those needs. And let's make government work for us instead of people like Elon Musk. And that is something that you have to invest in day in, day out, not just around election time. And we've been showing that it works. We'll win this race while being outspent. We have to get big money out of politics. You don't need one hundred million dollars in a Senate race. If we invest in community and we invest in people and we listen to them, we can win everywhere. And my hope and call for our Democratic allies and loved ones is let's meet this moment and lift up campaigns and candidates that speak to the needs that reflect those who are hurting the most so that we can galvanize our coalition that's ready. And this isn't just Democrats, Republicans who are pissed off. Independence. Kentucky has been more of a 50-50 state as far as Democrat and Republican registration. As you mentioned, we have we have a Democratic governor. This state is not a lost cause at all. We actually can win here and win everywhere if we listen to. Yeah, everybody go donate to Charles Booker. Like he says, if we win Kentucky, we win everything. Right. But let me also ask you this, because this has been on my mind a lot lately. What do you make of the criminality, the corruption, the self-dealing? I mean, I have never in my life. I came to my political awareness and consciousness during the Bush years, and that was a nightmare. OK, but now you have people looking back at them and going, oh, my God, they look positively professional compared to all the criminality, all the corruption, building the ballroom, putting his name on an airport in Florida, all the the no big contracts for the reflecting pool where he's getting a cut. And the guy who's doing the thing looks like a mobster. And the reflecting pool isn't even fixed. You know, the crypto scams, oh, my God, the crypto scams are like he's made billions of dollars off the White House. What do you when you look at this, Charles, like what do you what do you make of this? How do we fix this? You know, I when I when I try to wrap my mind around this, which is really overwhelming, you're right. This is horrible. I mean, he's operating like a mob boss. They are taking every a norm, every expectation of sanity and decency and humanity and just thrown it out the window. They ripped up the Constitution in our faces. They are trampling over our human rights and they're destroying everything that we have held dear in our pursuit of democracy. And to me, the only way that changes is by us having the courage to say, wait, we're not going out like that, because one of the biggest issues is not just Trump's and his administration's criminality, which they all need to be arrested. It's the fact that people like Mitch McConnell and Andy Barr have let it happen. They have laid down and essentially paved the way for it. We would not have a Donald Trump if it weren't for Mitch McConnell. So it's those folks who know better and have seen what's going on that have decided that they're going to let it happen so that they can get closer to power and the people is where the power really rests. And so this campaign for me is about giving regular folks the permission to call out this bull. I was going to say more, you know, to call it out and to say that we know that democracy is worth fighting for and protecting. We know that our Constitution is worth strengthening and protecting, and we're not going to allow these criminals to rob us blind anymore. And if we can meet that moment together. And that's why I launched this campaign, speaking about a general strike, us leveraging our power as people to do what we need to do to protect our country from these criminals. And I'm telling you now, Kentucky's ready. We've just been ignored. We've been counted out, but we're ready for change. And this campaign is going to show it because we're going to win this thing. But to that point about criminals, you know, let's say you make it to the Senate. What are you thinking about investigations in terms of prosecutions? Because I'm watching, you know, these ICE murderers in Maine and Texas and other places as well. There was a whole report from The New York Times about how violent they are sort of across the board. No vetting, you know, wife abusers, just absolute insane stuff. And then you have, of course, the oligarch criminals, Elon Musk rampaging through the federal government and doing all kinds of illegal things. Like, what is your priority in terms of focusing investigations and trying to hold people to account? Because I think that has to happen if we're going to move forward together as a country. I think that's the first order of business. I think we have to do two things immediately. One, we have to shore up the attacks on democracy, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, the ways that they're trying to subvert right in our faces and attack the idea that our voices can be heard at the ballot box. We have to do that work quickly, because if we don't have a seat at the table, a voice in the process, any of the policies we want to fight for, it all becomes moot and regular people are being drowned out. But at the exact same time, we have to do the work of cleaning up the mess that Donald Trump has poured gasoline on, but that Mitch McConnell helped to build, which requires us, as you mentioned with ICE, there must be a liability, civil and criminal, for these folks who have been acting like a vigilante group, causing terror across our country, trampling on constitutional rights, trampling on our liberties. That has to stop. And as you mentioned, the rampant corruption throughout the Trump administration, the way they've been enriching themselves in our faces, all of it has to stop. And we have to do the work of ending Citizens United. We have to do the work of making sure that this mega dark, big money interests that are essentially ignoring regular people are not allowed to take our voices away. And to me, having the majority in the Senate gives us an opportunity at a time when so many people see it now more than ever to do their work. So I'm committed to that. And that's a lot of the reason why Kentuckians are standing with me. I've commended folks like Thomas Massey, as I mentioned, for calling out the corruption and saying that we cannot go on this way. So this, to me, is not partisan. If you're standing for the people of Kentucky, whether you're Republican, Democrat, independent, you'll find a partner in me. We got to get to work right now. Charles Booker, great to see you, my friend. And as always, of course, wishing you lots of luck. I know you're running an extraordinary campaign there. Everybody go donate to his campaign right now. Let's get him in the top five on ActBlue. Thank y'all. Everybody sign up below to see the full episode of Crystal Kyle and Friends on Substack. There's a lot more that you didn't see here. Go sign up.