Ezra Levin
Appearances
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
Really?
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
Great to see you, Rachel.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
I gotta say, I love to see the previous segment with all of those people at town halls, and then the Republicans seeing them, being surprised, and then slightly, as you said, slightly moderating their positions. Look, as we say in the streets, this is what democracy looks like. Now, I'm a former congressional staffer. I can tell you what's going on in those offices. Here's what they're thinking.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
They're saying, oh my gosh, there are a lot of people here. Oh my gosh, we might lose the majority over this. Oh my gosh, I might lose my seat over this. Oh my gosh, we've got to do something about this. We've got to tell them to stop. We've got to tell the White House. We've got to tell Senate leadership. We've got to tell House leadership. We've got to put the brakes on this.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
This could really endanger us. But they don't say, gosh, they have a lot more expletives behind the scenes. But that's Good. That means they're getting the message. What I would say is our lesson from the first month or so is that pressure is working. That should be the main takeaway. Pressure is working. But as you said, they haven't changed their tune entirely. They've changed a few notes.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
It's working, but the pressure can't stop. We're not done yet.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
Absolutely. Look, it's one thing when you're asking Republicans to vote for a messaging bill, a piece of legislation that has no chance of becoming law and most people will never hear about it. It's an entirely different political matter when you're actually considering legislation.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
that is going to negatively impact your constituents' health care, your constituents' schools, your constituents' families. You're playing with fire there. And when you've got a margin in the House of Representatives of three votes, when you've got a margin in the Senate of four votes, you've got to be really concerned about skittish members.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
The way we make them more skittish, though, for those of us who oppose that agenda, is by showing up and putting on this pressure.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Busted: DOGE humiliated by brutal fact-checking, walks back bogus savings claims
Great to see you.