Deja Foxx
Appearances
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
Yeah, I mean, just after the Republicans attempted to push through their budget bill, right, that would strip Medicaid funding, snap benefits from folks all across the country, but hundreds of thousands of them right here in Arizona in Congressional District 7. We gathered storytellers in my living room in a really intimate space. session to talk about the impacts of Medicaid cuts.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And I heard from a neonatal doctor, I mean, someone who takes care of our most vulnerable, our tiniest among us, who says that half of babies born in Arizona are born under access, which is Arizona's version of Medicaid. So let's be clear, there's nothing pro-family here. about what these Republicans are doing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
I also heard from a young woman who was on a pre-med track in school, but when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, they had to make a tough decision to delay her care to be able to afford the cost of living. And she lost her mother because of that delaying care. And these are the stories that we hear time and time again. And, you know, I think about one man who came to that round table
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
He introduced himself as James from the neighborhood, and he had never been to a political event before. And he didn't share much, but when we asked what was your message at the end to these Republicans pushing this budget bill through to line the pockets of billionaires at the expense of our families and our healthcare,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
He asked, how could these elected officials, these representatives, make these decisions if they had ever sat with people like us? And this is the frustration we're hearing on the ground in Arizona and I'll say across the country, right? I see it all the time on the internet and the TikTok comment sections and so much further that people are frustrated. They feel unseen.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
and really are asking how can they make these inhumane decisions? And the answer is that they are catering to their billionaire buddies, not you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
Yeah, this is the American dream story that they all say they support, right? That because of good policy, you know, I was raised by a single mom. I'm a first-generation American, and I was raised in Section 8 housing, right? That's what put a roof over my head. SNAP benefits, food stamps put food on our table, and my mom worked every odd job. I mean, she delivered flowers.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
She worked at a post office. She cleaned houses. to make ends meet. And we needed a little help to get by at the end of the month. I mean, there were times where we had to choose between bills and back to school clothes. It's something that so many families understand, but those social safety nets, those programs are not handouts. They're hand ups, right?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
They made it possible for me to be the first in my family to go to college. And, you know, my first advocacy battle had everything to do with that American dream story. I think about during the first Trump administration when Republicans here in Arizona voted in lockstep with him. to defund Planned Parenthood centers, something else that was in that budget bill.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And these are the places where I got my health care, where I got birth control when I had no money and no parents and no insurance at 16 years old. I walked into a Planned Parenthood and walked out with the birth control I needed to take control of my body and my future and go on. to be the first in my family to go to college.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And I think about that as sort of this, you know, that subway door, elevator door moment in which things could have gone a different direction for me. But because of good policy, Title 10 funding, Planned Parenthood centers, I was able, to go the step further to achieve that American dream.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And now I'm running for office because I feel a deep sense of responsibility to the version of my younger self who's out there right now. That girl who cannot wait until this Trump administration is over, who deserves care now, families like mine who need food and housing now, and my community members who need healthcare, not in three years, but today.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
Like I said, my name is Deja Fox and I'm running in Arizona's seventh congressional district. It's a special election that opened up because my member of Congress passed away, right? And we have seen the conversation around age coming to a head in our party and in our country. Just in the past few months, three Democrats have passed away while in office in Congress, right?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And when we think about that budget bill that passed by a single vote, and has the potential to strip millions of their access to health care, right? Take food off the table of our most vulnerable families just to put money in the pockets of billionaires. We need to be having a conversation about age. And I'm 25 years old. I would be the youngest member of Congress.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
I'd be the first woman of my generation, Gen Z. We have an opportunity to make history in this election, but it's coming up fast. Early ballots drop in the month. I mean, they are literally coming out in no time. And our election is July 15th, less than 50 days away. And I wanted to share one story about why me? Why now? We shared this frustration around Donald Trump, right?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
We've heard Republicans say that he is not living up to the promises, which he is a grifter and we know this. But we are also hearing a frustration with Democrats for not standing up, for not doing what they promised. And I want to share that, though I'm young, I'm 25, I'm not new to this work. I've been at it since I was 15.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
For the last decade, when my mom was struggling with substance abuse, navigating a rehabilitation process, I was all on my own. At 15 years old and at the very same time, I was seated in a sex education class. And this was a curriculum that was last updated in the 80s, didn't mention consent, was medically inaccurate, and made my life harder.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
When I was already working at a gas station, fighting a real uphill battle on my own, and it was the kind of thing that my school board members elected had decades to fix, and yet they didn't. It took a young person like me showing up and demanding better, organizing and telling vulnerable stories. And there was a mix of both Republicans and Democrats on that school board, right?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And this points out the larger problem with our democracy is that elected officials are out of touch with the needs of their constituents. And I'll share that I am actually running against one of those school board members now, because I believe that we need to not only fight back against Donald Trump and these MAGA extremists, but demand that Democrats do better.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And I'm in this race because I know what it means to be a fighter. I've been fighting for the last decade, and I had to ask myself the tough question I hope you'll ask, which is, when everything was on the line, will you be able to say you did everything you could
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Deja Foxx on Trump’s attacks on Arizona Voters
And who do you trust to stand between Donald Trump and your mom's access to health care, your grandmother's social security check, your daughter's ability to make choices about her body?