Maxwell Frost

Hey, how you doing? Good to see you.

Hey, how you doing? Good to see you.

I'm Maxwell.

I'm Maxwell.

Well, I am a congressman.

Well, I am a congressman.

I appreciate it. I'm actually 27.

I appreciate it. I'm actually 27.

I don't think we should have that.

I don't think we should have that.

What is a cognitive test?

What is a cognitive test?

Yeah.

Yeah.

A rhino and a harp.

A rhino and a harp.

I'll be honest, I had to think for just two seconds about what animal that was.

I'll be honest, I had to think for just two seconds about what animal that was.

I do think it's an issue that, yeah, young people aren't as represented. I don't think we should boot out all the old people and just have young people running the country.

I do think it's an issue that, yeah, young people aren't as represented. I don't think we should boot out all the old people and just have young people running the country.

I'm not an ageist.

I'm not an ageist.

I don't know when I would retire, but I do think we need term limits.

I don't know when I would retire, but I do think we need term limits.

Because of how this place works? Maybe, but my hope is we'll have it way before that.

Because of how this place works? Maybe, but my hope is we'll have it way before that.

You can't.

You can't.

Because I live in Orlando. I represent Orlando, Florida. If you move to Orlando, though.

Because I live in Orlando. I represent Orlando, Florida. If you move to Orlando, though.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Hey, how you doing? Good to see you.

Hey, how you doing? Good to see you.

I'm Maxwell.

I'm Maxwell.

Well, I am a congressman.

Well, I am a congressman.

I appreciate it. I'm actually 27.

I appreciate it. I'm actually 27.

I don't think we should have that.

I don't think we should have that.

What is a cognitive test?

What is a cognitive test?

Yeah.

Yeah.

A rhino and a harp.

A rhino and a harp.

I'll be honest, I had to think for just two seconds about what animal that was.

I'll be honest, I had to think for just two seconds about what animal that was.

I do think it's an issue that, yeah, young people aren't as represented. I don't think we should boot out all the old people and just have young people running the country.

I do think it's an issue that, yeah, young people aren't as represented. I don't think we should boot out all the old people and just have young people running the country.

I'm not an ageist.

I'm not an ageist.

I don't know when I would retire, but I do think we need term limits.

I don't know when I would retire, but I do think we need term limits.

Because of how this place works? Maybe, but my hope is we'll have it way before that.

Because of how this place works? Maybe, but my hope is we'll have it way before that.

You can't.

You can't.

Because I live in Orlando. I represent Orlando, Florida. If you move to Orlando, though.

Because I live in Orlando. I represent Orlando, Florida. If you move to Orlando, though.

Yeah, yeah. That's illegal, too.

Yeah, yeah. That's illegal, too.

Exactly.

And I think people really understand just how important this is.

And what I told everyone at the Canvas launch that we did with Mayor Bass the other day, and I'll say to you guys, is this isn't just about California, right?

This is a response to what Donald Trump has said that he wanted to do in Texas and in other states.

And he knows that when they pass the big, ugly bill, which rips away health care from 17 million people,

You usually don't win elections when you do something like that, when you stage the greatest transfer of wealth from the working class and working people to the billionaires and mega corporations.

And so instead of undoing that, he knows that in order to win, he needs to cheat.

And that's why he told Texas, redraw your maps and give me four to five new seats.

That's why he is pressuring states across the country to give him more seats.

And what California is doing is responding to that through Proposition 50.

And, you know, the energy

was so high in this room, Ben.

I saw people, it was a multi-generational, multi-racial coalition.

But the thing that really got me too is there were people there who were actually in Los Angeles on vacation, but they know it's so important that they decided to show up.

And guess where they're from?

They're from the state of Texas, where they're seeing this happen, but not in a democratic way, where they're seeing politicians just doing it because Donald Trump told them to do it.

Exactly.

And the thing is that this redistricting thing that Trump is trying to do, which is to try to essentially rig the election and cheat with the election, it's not popular.

It's not popular with Republicans.

It's not popular with Democrats.

It's not popular with non-party affiliates.

We actually tested this in the state of Florida because DeSantis wants to do the same thing.

Why does DeSantis want to do it?

Well, number one, he's not going to be governor at the end of next year because he turns out and he's trying to stay relevant.

And Donald Trump hates Ron DeSantis.

So now DeSantis is trying to curry favor with him and do anything that he says.

And in fact, you know, it's interesting.

Most Republicans in the state of Florida say we don't want to change our maps.

But what people should know is that the maps in Florida are already gerrymandered.

They're already gerrymandered in our state.

That's what happened two years ago.

And now they want to do it even more.

And the other interesting thing is even congressional Republicans in Florida have come out and said they're not a fan of redistricting.

They think it's going too far, which tells you something.

No, exactly.

It wasn't until Gavin Newsom came up and said, we're going to put forth Proposition 50 that Kevin Kiley and some of his other colleagues came out and said, hey, actually, we're down to work with Democrats to ban gerrymandering.

It's like until it impacted them directly, they didn't give a shit about the entire thing.

And that's part of the issue here.

And look, I think it's important.

We're not here to gaslight people.

Politicians should not be choosing their voters.

Voters should be choosing the politician.

But what's happening in California is a response to something Donald Trump is doing.

We can't be in this fight tying our hands behind our back.

This is part of the reason why people don't view Democrats in the most favorable way right now.

We have to be aggressive about the things we stand up for.

We have to be 10 toes down.

We have to be willing to fight.

And that's what we need in this moment, fighters.

And that's what Proposition 50 is all about.

And so but what I want to tell Kevin Kiley is, look, if you if you want to join forces with Democrats, get us enough votes.

Let's let's pass through something that will make sure that every single state plays by the same rules in terms of gerrymandering, because here's the problem.

the only states that have statewide independent redistricting committees are democratic states so you have democratic states doing this the right way and then you have red states gerrymandering it and making it so that way the politicians are picking the voters and that's not right there is no statewide solution to gerrymandering i'm sorry it doesn't exist it has to be a national law so let's do this now to combat trump to fight against trump and him trying to completely rig this democracy

Let's get in the power and then let's actually do the thing we're talking about, which I think is the most important part of this.

No, 100%.

And look, unfortunately, the only thing a lot of people, especially Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, understand is when you respond with the same energy that they're bringing.

And we saw Donald Trump come out a few weeks ago and say, well, at some points, I was surprised that there wasn't as much pushback.

And that's part of the issue.

We have to push back with everything we have.

And what we see is that when we're aggressive in the things that we believe in,

and we tell them we're not going to let you walk all over us, then you start seeing cracks in their coalition.

Take, for instance, what's going on now with the government shutdown.

Donald Trump shut down the government because he'd rather shut down the government than make sure people can actually afford their health care.

And he wants people to pay more for health care because it frees up money in the federal budget to give billionaires a tax break.

Like, that's what's going on.

It's very simple.

But here's the thing.

When we are actually aggressive about what we believe in,

and we don't vote for an evil bill, now you starting to see that are certain Republicans in Congress coming out saying, well, maybe we ought to work with the Democrats and fix this healthcare problem.

That wouldn't happen if we just did what they said, right?

And so for me, we're in this era where not just our base, but Democrats as a whole are calling out to us saying, stand up, stand up and stand tall for what we believe in.

And when we do it, it's not always a good policy, but it's good politics too.

Yeah, so first off, go vote.

And if you live in California, you know that you have that mail-in ballot already.

Fill it out.

Send it in the mail.

Just do it now.

Okay, once you do that, now we need your help to get out the word.

So get involved with certain organizations.

You can California Democratic Party, Proposition 50, Grassroots Democrats HQ, and find out where the canvases are and the phone banks are and go and get more people to vote too.

That's what we need you to do in this moment so we can win this thing.

Of course. Thanks for having me on.

Of course. Thanks for having me on.

I think it's important for people to see that their leaders understand that this is not a normal moment. We're in the middle of a billionaire administrative takeover and coup of our country where they want to cut Medicaid, cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut all the things that we fought for and earned in order to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations. It's

I think it's important for people to see that their leaders understand that this is not a normal moment. We're in the middle of a billionaire administrative takeover and coup of our country where they want to cut Medicaid, cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut all the things that we fought for and earned in order to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations. It's

not a news story for this country, but it is the most overt I think it's ever been. And so I, in the spirit of being a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, but also coming from organizing, decided to do a walkout with a group of members wearing a message that not only the press could see, but that the president could see.

not a news story for this country, but it is the most overt I think it's ever been. And so I, in the spirit of being a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, but also coming from organizing, decided to do a walkout with a group of members wearing a message that not only the press could see, but that the president could see.

He calls himself a king, but we're a country of no kings, especially when these kings want to do nothing for the people and take all the money and give it to themselves. That's exactly what Donald Trump wants to do.

He calls himself a king, but we're a country of no kings, especially when these kings want to do nothing for the people and take all the money and give it to themselves. That's exactly what Donald Trump wants to do.

It's not hyperbolic at all. And this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. It is all in Project 2025. Donald Trump is the president, but he is also the Speaker of the House, effectively. He has an entire Republican Congress that is allowing him to do whatever he wants

It's not hyperbolic at all. And this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. It is all in Project 2025. Donald Trump is the president, but he is also the Speaker of the House, effectively. He has an entire Republican Congress that is allowing him to do whatever he wants

None of them utter a peep against what he's saying, unless their town halls are stormed and either they're running out or they say, maybe I disapprove a little bit. But Donald Trump has complete control over the Republicans in Congress.

None of them utter a peep against what he's saying, unless their town halls are stormed and either they're running out or they say, maybe I disapprove a little bit. But Donald Trump has complete control over the Republicans in Congress.

And so what the founders set out to do is have a Congress and have a presidency that were co-equal branches of government, checks on one another, checks and balances. But we don't have that right now. We have one person who runs the Congress because he runs the entire majority.

And so what the founders set out to do is have a Congress and have a presidency that were co-equal branches of government, checks on one another, checks and balances. But we don't have that right now. We have one person who runs the Congress because he runs the entire majority.

I had a town hall about a week and a half ago when we put out the link. Within four hours of one email, we had over 600 RSVPs. And at this standing room only town hall, the message was clear from everybody. Two things. They wanted to learn about how serious and dire the situation is. And two, they wanted to be put to work.

I had a town hall about a week and a half ago when we put out the link. Within four hours of one email, we had over 600 RSVPs. And at this standing room only town hall, the message was clear from everybody. Two things. They wanted to learn about how serious and dire the situation is. And two, they wanted to be put to work.

And as someone who comes from an organizing background, March for Our Lives and other organizations, It is a goldmine when the people contact you and say, what can I do? You know, I come from going to people and knocking on their doors and begging them to volunteer, begging them to get involved. And now the people are saying, put us to work.

And as someone who comes from an organizing background, March for Our Lives and other organizations, It is a goldmine when the people contact you and say, what can I do? You know, I come from going to people and knocking on their doors and begging them to volunteer, begging them to get involved. And now the people are saying, put us to work.

We want to fight for our democracy, for our country, for Medicare, for Medicaid, for programs that help and that working people have earned. And so I think it is important to make sure people know that the United States, our democracy can break. We can lose it if we don't defend it. And fascism and authoritarians, they gain power when there is no opposition.

We want to fight for our democracy, for our country, for Medicare, for Medicaid, for programs that help and that working people have earned. And so I think it is important to make sure people know that the United States, our democracy can break. We can lose it if we don't defend it. And fascism and authoritarians, they gain power when there is no opposition.

That's part of the reason I've told people you have to make the decision. Are we the minority or are we the opposition? Because I do believe an authoritarian can take hold when it's just a minority. But when there's a strong opposition, we can fight it back and we can come back stronger than ever. And so I agree with giving people something to do.

That's part of the reason I've told people you have to make the decision. Are we the minority or are we the opposition? Because I do believe an authoritarian can take hold when it's just a minority. But when there's a strong opposition, we can fight it back and we can come back stronger than ever. And so I agree with giving people something to do.

But first off, you've got to explain to people how serious the situation is.

But first off, you've got to explain to people how serious the situation is.

Thanks for having me on.

Thanks for having me on.