Seth Moulton
Appearances
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Yeah, great to be here, Ben. Thanks for having me.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Well, I think the lesson for Democrats is that we've clearly lost trust. And there are a lot of Americans who felt that Trump was a bit crazy. I don't want to vote for this guy, but I can't trust the Democratic Party. They're so out of touch. And so I think we need to make some corrections there. Now, let's be honest.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
At 100 days, Trump had the lowest approval ratings of any president in modern history. Democrats in Congress, Congress across the board is looking pretty bad. The opportunity for Democrats is to show that we're willing to change and that we can do things better. We can do things differently.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
But ultimately, we have to prove to the American people that we're not just going to preach to you about what we think our liberal beliefs are. We want to listen to you and gain your trust. We have a lot of work to do there.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
I hope we focus on the issues that really matter to American voters, you know, like the economy, right? People are pretty frustrated with the tariffs. They don't want a trade war. They don't want prices to go up. Democrats have a generational opportunity to win back leadership on the economy.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Republicans this week are going to try to push through, and they'll probably succeed because they'll all cave at the end of the day, this massive bill that will cut taxes for the rich, slash Medicare, and ultimately dramatically raise our deficit. So we shouldn't trust Republicans, at least under Trump, on the economy.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
And yet, if you look at American voters, going back to Reagan, they really trust the Republican Party overall. So I think Democrats have a chance to actually win back leadership on the economy. I think we have a chance to win back leadership on national security. Trump is crushing our allies. He's kissing up to dictators. You saw what he did in the Oval Office with Zelensky.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
He basically echoes the Kremlin talking points. This is a generational opportunity for Democrats to be the party of the flag, Democrats to be the party that supports the troops, Democrats to be the party that stands with our allies and stands up to dictators. But these are things that we have to show the American people, hey, We're going to change.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
We're not just going to be obsessed over cultural issues. Whether Republicans bring up the issues and make us talk about them, or whether we just think that you can't even be a part of our party if you don't check all these boxes on these litmus test social issues, we want to be a majority.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
And we're going to be a majority by welcoming more people into the party and showing that we can lead on issues that really matter to American voters.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Well, first of all, Ben, I mean, I agree with you. In large part, I mean, the big thing about this bill that people aren't talking about is what it does to the deficit. This reconciliation plan will add over $5 trillion to the deficit. Trump added $8 trillion to the national debt in his first term.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
These are, we're not just kicking a can down the road for our kids, we're throwing a bomb down the road for our kids. And this is really bad for our country. And I, by the way, will admit that Democrats need to do a better job of talking about the deficit, admitting that it's important. But don't tell me that Democrats have never made cuts. I mean, under Clinton, you were alive for Clinton.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Clinton and Gore cut government by $250 billion, about twice as much as what Elon Musk has achieved. And they cut a lot of government red tape. They made welfare reforms. By the way, some of those work requirements didn't work out all that well. But they did this before. Democrats have made cuts before. But we've also done things like expand health care.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
We've gotten health care to a lot of Americans, including a lot of red state Republicans who are very grateful for Obamacare, who supported Medicaid expansion, which Republicans want to cut back right now. The bottom line is, can we afford these tax cuts for the 1%? Can we afford tax cuts for corporations like Amazon that are barely paying any taxes at all?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
And I think the harsh reality that we have to come to terms with as Americans, if we do care about the debt and the deficit, is that we can't afford them.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Ben, our tax system isn't nearly as progressive as it was in the 1950s. Trump wants to take us back to this mythical time in the 1950s. Well, we actually paid for things back then. I fought four tours in a war in Iraq, and Bush told everyone to go shopping.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
It was the first war in American history where we didn't raise taxes to actually pay for the war and pay for all the veterans benefits that those of us who came back from that war need today. So we do have to have this honest conversation. And, you know, I'm standing in my office here in Capitol Hill right now.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
I've had hundreds of people come in and sit on this couch and tell me about things they want government to spend more on. Sometimes they bring in their kids who are suffering from horrific diseases and they want more money for research. I mean, really, really good things.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
But how many people do you think have come in here and said, hey, I've got an idea for how to increase revenues so that we can actually pay for all this stuff? Ben, you could still be the first, right? So the point is that we do have to have an honest discussion about this.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Look, we do not need to pursue this tax plan that's before us this week. I mean, this is what's on the table, right? That will disproportionately benefit the 1%. I think Americans get the idea that we should have fairness in our tax system. And when Warren Buffett says that, you know, his assistant, his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does, and that doesn't seem very fair to Americans.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
So I'm not saying that we get all our revenue from the top 1%. I'm not saying we should just crush people who are billionaires and millionaires. You know, I'd love to be a billionaire someday. Wouldn't we all, right? But I do think that everyone should pay their fair share. And it doesn't really seem like that's the case when the Republicans have a bill that disproportionately benefits the top 1%.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
successful companies in America went from a tax rate of about 22% to 12% under these first tax cuts that they want to repeat now. That doesn't seem fair. I mean, you and I pay a higher tax rate than 12%. So why is it that a trillion-dollar corporation, almost like Amazon, has a lower tax rate than you and I? I don't know.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
That's right. So, I mean, I agree with that. We should have a serious conversation. That's why we should actually have a bipartisan discussion and debate about this legislation instead of just passing it in a completely partisan way through reconciliation. Let's have that discussion. Let's make Democrats come to the table and say, here are some cuts that we reasonably can agree to.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
Let's make Republicans come to the table and say, here are some taxes that we could actually raise to pay for this stuff. But instead, like you said, we are throwing a bomb down the road to our kids.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
And it actually is not the same between the two parties, because the deficit has consistently gone down under most Democratic presidents of the last 50 years, and it's consistently gone up under most Republican presidents, because Republicans always cut taxes by saying that, oh, the economy will pay for them. But it hasn't. The economy did not pay for the Bush tax cuts.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
The economy did not pay for the Trump tax cuts. And the economy is not going to pay for these tax cuts either. That's just the math.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
I totally agree. I mean, we're playing catch up. We're behind them in technology. We haven't been making the investments that we need to really focus on this threat. And of all the things you listed, Ben, the fact that Xi Jinping has promised to invade Taiwan, staked his reputation on it, I mean, that's the most serious because it could literally start World War III.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
And I'm amazed by the number of Americans, including very, very well-educated Americans that, you know, you and I see places we go, like they don't understand this threat. And if China invades Taiwan, it will ruin the economy. We're talking about Great Depression again. If we get into that war, I'm confident the US will win, but we're talking about Vietnam-level casualties.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
So the point is, with all of this stuff, we have to be focused on deterrence. We have to convince Xi Jinping that it is a very bad idea to think about starting a war in the Pacific. And Obama was actually the first president to say, we're going to strategically shift to the Pacific, get out of wars in the Middle East, focus on the Pacific. Trump has doubled down on that strategy.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
I agree with a lot of what Matt Pottinger did when he was on the NSC leading the China policy in the first Trump administration. But we've got to be serious about this threat. And that's why I'm proud to serve on the bipartisan China committee. It's a very bipartisan committee. We do a lot of good stuff together. Mike Gallagher was a chairman before.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
We've passed some important pieces of legislation, like the TikTok bit. Yeah. You know, I mean, we might love TikTok, but the fact that China, the Chinese Communist Party can influence the minds of our kids because they run the algorithms that run TikTok, which, you know, 100 million, I don't know how many, 100 million Americans have on their phones. That's a real problem.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2203 - The Democrat-Media Scandal That Won’t Go Away
And by the way, it's a real problem that this bipartisan piece of legislation passed into law is not being implemented by the president. I mean, he is violating the law by not implementing the TikTok bill and saying that we just need to control the algorithm if TikTok is going to continue living on our phones.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
They're doing it for one reason, Ben. It's not MAGA. It's a one-word answer, fear. That's why they're doing it. They're just cowards. They're so scared of him. And they say totally different things in private than what they say in public. So, yeah, they're going to get on TV and act like sycophants because they're scared that he'll primary them if they don't.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
But then in private, they don't like what he's doing. They actually do respect veterans. They do respect NATO. I sat at the Munich Security Conference just three weeks ago with the likes of Senator Graham, a tirely bipartisan delegation of Republicans and Democrats from the House of Representatives,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
all reassuring our European allies, all standing by Zelensky, all propping him up, all doing the same thing, singing from the same sheet of music. And then here's the same story. Trump does something totally crazy that no Republican with an ounce of intelligence or morality can agree with. And about two hours later, you know, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
These Republicans spin some crazy disjointed story to justify what Trump did. And then all of a sudden they're cheering him on. So it's just utter hypocrisy because they're scared. They're just cowards.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
I mean, these countries did come to us after 9-11, and they're not even required to do so the way we are required by treaty to come to their aid if they get attacked in Europe. They didn't have to help us in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they did. And it's not surprising that Trump doesn't know that. I mean, he's not a student of history.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
Yeah, I mean, look, Trump has never liked veterans. I mean, let's not forget, this is the guy who literally made fun of John McCain for being a POW in Vietnam, who called people who sign up losers, and if you get killed, a sucker. I mean, this is just who Trump is.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
But I think more to the point, he doesn't have any sons or daughters who served in the military after 9-11. You know, they're all about my age. They all could have done their part. Just one of them had signed up, maybe he would know that we served on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside Canadian troops, French troops,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
united troops from the uk the danes the poles all these nato countries not to mention our ally just to the north and you know they lost a lot of lives there they didn't need to do that but they did it because that's what allies do that's what allies do they stand by your side And when we went to Iraq, we became allies with these Iraqis, right? And they were difficult allies.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
I mean, there are a lot of times we disagreed. I've been in a lot of very contentious meetings with Iraqi leaders. They didn't always pay their bills. but no one on the ground there, even those of us who disagreed with the war, imagine selling them out, selling them out to the enemy, starting to use Al-Qaeda talking points. I mean, that's what Trump's doing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
He's selling Ukraine out, he's selling our NATO allies out, and he's literally using the talking points of the enemy. Imagine if Roosevelt had started using Hitler talking points. That's how bad this is. And I get it that we don't win elections on national security issues, but Trump is putting this country in danger.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
He's putting our national security at risk because all across the globe, our allies are saying, we can't trust America anymore. And our adversaries, especially Xi Jinping and China are saying, yeah, it looks like we're getting the green light. We can just walk all over America and its friends no matter where we want.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
He dodged the draft himself because he thought someone else less important than him, I guess, as a guy in his early 20s should go to Vietnam in his place. So it's really not a surprise. It shouldn't be a surprise. People who believe his rhetoric about how he's tough and he's going to restore confidence in the military and things like this, it just doesn't line up with his personality.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
We're getting a lot of calls from veterans right now who say we depend on the VA. I mean, I depend on the VA. I get my health care at the VA. I made that promise when I got elected that I'd continue going to the VA and wouldn't just, you know, live off the congressional health care plan.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
if they cut 80 000 people from the va we're not going to be able to get care so it's all these concerns and yeah a lot of them are about the economy let's not forget trump promised that prices would go down on day one well they've just gone up that's the one thing that's gone up the market's down consumer confidence is down investment is down everything's down except prices prices are going up
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
And none of this crazy talk about tariffs, none of the selling out our allies, Ukraine, none of our unwillingness to just uphold our commitment to NATO, which has kept us safe for 75 years. None of that is lowering prices. Prices are going up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
You know, I was in the gym a few weeks ago, bipartisan, you know, bunch of Republicans. And one of them said, oh, you know, we're going to a Bible study today. Anyone want to come? And I just said, I really hope you're going to cover hypocrisy. I hope you go over that in your Bible study group because you guys are really good at it. Again, they're scared. They're scared.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
And they don't let hypocrisy get in the way of supporting Donald Trump, no matter what he's trying to do. Yes, everyone knows that Doge is bad. A lot of the calls we're getting, these thousands of calls, 9,000 people showed up at a telephone tele-hall I had last week. I mean, all these people are complaining about Elon Musk and Doge and all the things that are gonna be impacted.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
He's definitely making government less efficient. It's going to take longer to get appointments at the VA. It's going to take longer to get your license renewed. I mean, any of this stuff that's impacted by the federal government is going to get less efficient. But we also got to talk about the fact that I mean, I'm standing I'm sitting here as a Democrat who's a big champion of government reform.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
and making government more efficient. The first bill I passed in Congress was the Faster Care for Veterans Act just to make it easier for vets to get appointments at the VA.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
I heard a story, a guy called me up from my platoon and was like, hey, I tried to get a mental health appointment at the VA because I was thinking about killing myself last week and they told me I could see someone in three months.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
and this great marine vet that i served with risked his life for for all of us he's like look i wasn't thinking about killing myself in three months i was thinking about it last week you know and so there's a lot of reform that's needed in government and i think democrats have to be more proactive about saying here's our plan to reform government here's how we can do it well
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
The point is, Musk might have a good idea that government could be more efficient, but the way he's going about it is just slashing everything. I mean, he's not making government more efficient. He's making it non-existent. And that does not serve America well.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
So no, it's not surprising that he's cutting the VA and a lot of veterans are going to get hurt.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
We do have to fight. And I think you've got to pick your battles because you're right. We don't have control, so we can't win every battle. But take issues that you can have an impact on. I'm a Marine vet. So is JD Vance. So I went after him pretty hard when he sold out Zelensky.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
And I know it got under their skin because they obviously called Fox and Friends and did a hit job on me the following morning, which I'm fine with, you know, but the point is it got under their skin. We do have to stand up and fight. But the other thing that we have to do is we've got to put ourselves in a position to win.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
And let's be honest, we got wiped out in this last election when it should have been easy. We were running against a convicted felon. Democrats should have cleaned up across the board. So I don't care how much we lost by. The simple fact that we lost, means that we're out of touch with the majority of Americans and we gotta work on getting back in touch.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
And there's three things I'm focused on, doing a lot more listening and a lot less preaching. I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post about how we just become a party that talks down to people and says, if you disagree with us, you're not only wrong, you're a bad person. We gotta change that around and start listening to a majority of Americans again.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
The second thing we've got to do is stop listening to the lobbyists, to the extremist groups that give us these litmus tests, these litmus tests on the far left that say, if you don't answer these questions, check these boxes, then you're not a Democrat. Well, that's not a way to build a broad coalition. That's not the way to build a winning majority.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
And then the third thing is let's actually put people in leadership positions who aren't just from safe seats. You know, put people like Pat Ryan, Abigail Spanberger, I mean, people who win tough elections into leadership positions in the party to show that Democrats actually care about getting elected. And we're not just catering, you know, to San Francisco or Brooklyn.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Rep. Seth Moulton on Trump Failed Policies
We got to do these things to show America that we got the message that we lost. We got the message that you don't trust us anymore, that you think we're out of touch. And we're going to turn this around. We're not just going to hate Trump. We're going to show a positive vision forward for the country that you can get behind because we're listening to what you want.