The MeidasTouch Podcast
Dem Gov Town Hall on Trump 100 Days with JB Pritzker, Tim Walz, Maura Healey, and Kathy Hochul
Wed, 30 Apr 2025
MeidasTouch Host Ben Meiselas moderates an exclusive virtual town hall featuring four powerhouse Democratic governors: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Together, they respond to Trump’s disastrous first 100 days back in office and share how they’re standing strong to resist his relentless attacks on our democracy and values. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who are the Democratic governors discussing Trump's first 100 days?
let's meet the governors we have with us tonight illinois governor j.b pritzker we have minnesota governor tim walls we have massachusetts governor maura healey and we have new york governor kathy hokal the midas touch network viewers and subscribers to our sub stack submitted video questions to the governors we will be showing shortly and asking them to respond but first
I want to give each governor, starting with Governor Pritzker, the opportunity to make an opening remark to the American people. Governor Pritzker, what is your assessment of Trump's first 100 days in office and what are you doing in response?
Chapter 2: What is Governor JB Pritzker's assessment of Trump's first 100 days?
Well, thanks, Ben. And I'm so excited to be, especially with my friends, the fellow governors and with you, Ben. I think all of us are deeply, deeply concerned about what's happening across the country. And, of course, 100 days in, it's been, well, a disastrous administration for the American people. Essentially, we've seen Donald Trump do exactly the opposite of what he said he was going to do.
And 100 days in, we've seen prices go up. We've seen, you know, it's hard to buy a car, hard to buy a house. Your tomatoes, lettuce and beer at the grocery store, prices have gone up. And, of course, when he promised that he was going to bring peace to Ukraine and around the world, the opposite has happened. There have been, you know, more attacks on our friends and our allies.
and more involvement by the United States military across the world. And then finally, I just say that the rights of our friends and family, our neighbors, American citizens across this great country, are being taken away.
And I gave a speech on Sunday night talking about, well, in part about habeas corpus, about the government doesn't have a right to just make you disappear or snatch you off the street without giving you the right to a hearing. And we're seeing that happening to legal residents of the United States. And now we've seen it happen to U.S. citizens.
So I'm deeply concerned about what the next hundred days and frankly, the next thousand days will be like.
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Chapter 3: How is Governor Tim Walz responding to Trump's administration?
Governor Walz, your assessment of Trump's first 100 days, and what are you doing in response?
Well, yeah, thank you, Ben. And to my fellow governors, I couldn't be more proud than to be with these folks that are taking that fight. Look, I don't think any of us are surprised. This is where Donald Trump ended up. It's what he said, and he's carrying those things out. I think for us here in Minnesota,
guidance to my team and to the administration and to folks who care, and that's a lot of folks taking to the streets, we protect the most vulnerable and we protect our gains. We have an opportunity to prove a different way of governing, governing that improves lives, whether that's providing food for children or making sure our folks are covered with healthcare.
have access to free college and some help owning homes. Those are the things that people are looking for. So look, Trump is a disaster, which we knew he would. I think it gives us an opportunity. And what you're seeing is people rising up and showing that there's a better way. We can govern with compassion. We can govern with a sense of vision and innovation, and we can govern effectively.
So I think here in Minnesota, we're continuing to show that there's a better and a different way to do this. We collaborate with these governors that are on with me tonight and others across the country to ways that we can make sure that we're continuing to show as many people as that is possible.
And so this thing's going to get a little bit bumpy, but I think you're seeing right now folks are turning out. I do want to give a huge shout out to, I got neighbors. These states are my neighbors, but Our Canadian neighbors, they know that this is wrong. They stood up to it. It provides a lot of momentum coming out of the Wisconsin special Supreme Court election.
And I think the mobilization that's happening out there. So it's 100 days of just crap. We've got 500 plus till the midterms. But the work has started. Folks know that. And I think they're looking to see. folks stand in the breach and push back. So I'm glad to be with you, Ben. I want to give a thank you to folks who took time out of your busy lives to tune in tonight.
We're all in this together and I'm just glad you're here.
Governor Healey, what is your assessment of Trump's first 100 days and what are you doing in response?
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Chapter 4: What concerns does Governor Maura Healey have about Trump's policies?
Governor Hogan, assessment of Trump's first 100 days and what you're doing in response.
Nice commercial from Massachusetts, by the way, Governor. Well done. Good to see my friends once again. And Ben, thanks for hosting this important conversation. The first 100 days, is that all it's been? It feels like every passing day we're finding another way that Donald Trump is turning the American dream into a nightmare.
And I can't the stream of broken promises that many people in our country believed in him. It's just extraordinary. And I've never seen in all my life. And I've been involved in elective office for 31 years. The way that he is weaponizing the American government against its own people. And let's just dissect some of these things that he's done. I mean, you talk about the tariffs.
Who are they helping? Who are the winners in this? Seems to me we're all gonna be losers because the only ones getting jobs in this era are bankruptcy lawyers. And we're starting to hear even effects like toy manufacturers are cutting back production. Stores that normally do their holiday purchasing. This time of year, my mom had a small flowering gift shop.
We were buying our things in the spring for the next Christmas. i'm not sure santa claus is coming this year at the rate we're going because the cost is so high we're going to be driving businesses out of work and out of business and the cost in new york is estimated about seven billion dollars a loss of 280 000 jobs now
This is also gonna cost families in New York over $6,000 a person if these Trump tariffs, which I call the Trump tax, stay into effect. So at the same time, what are we doing? I'm fighting back. We're going to court. It's also a growth industry for all lawyers. My attorney general, Tish James, has been teaming up with the attorney generals from all across the country.
Today, I think we're filing a lawsuit to stop what they're trying to do, destroying our offshore wind industry. I know it's important to my New England friends as well. trying to stop the tariffs and litigation, trying to stop everything they're doing, the cutbacks, the $300 million we lost that's supposed to help build back communities after natural disasters.
Our people are hurting, not to mention the farmers. It's not just... Wall Street that's hurting in my state, it's also the main streets and the small towns and the farmers who cannot believe that their costs went up $10,000 a month to get more fertilizer and their feed that they normally get from Canada. So I have a whole litany, a parade of horribles.
But my concern is that the people of my state are hurting. They're hurting all over America. And we're going to keep going to court and standing up. But the next thing we can do best is to organize, take this anxiety and this anger and turn it into action. Action means we're mobilizing already for 2026.
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Chapter 5: How is Governor Kathy Hochul addressing Trump's tariffs and economic impact?
I need my Medicare Part D and secondary MNsure coverage. With these essential programs on the chopping block to budget for and fund the tax cuts for the wealthy, does Minnesota have any contingency plans for those of us who need our Medicaid? I welcome responses from the other governors for their states as well. Thank you.
Governor Wolf. Yeah, well, thank you, Deanna. Thanks for being on here. And in Minnesota, we do take care of our own. And I think we're getting out there. We've been doing a lot of town halls around the state, letting people understand exactly what Medicaid and Medicare does for them. Forty percent of all children in this state don't rely on Medicaid.
Eighty percent of our seniors in long term care and nursing homes depend on it, especially in and Deanna's right up there across from Fargo when you get out into the more rural areas. And so in Minnesota, we make it a top priority. We have one of the highest rates of folks that are insured, but it's dependent on the federal government's share of this.
And I think you've got a district that Deanna's speaking from that you have a member of Congress who is unwilling to meet with their constituents. We were up in Moorhead a week ago and a town hall with state legislators and myself, making sure that our neighbors know exactly what's going to happen here.
We have gone out of our way to make sure that we get people insured because one, it improves people's lives. Two is in the long run, we end up saving money and it's stronger for our economy, making sure our children are fed, making sure our children are covered, making sure our children are getting tax cuts to their families to get the things that they need.
But I can tell you this, it doesn't matter which of these states and you're going to hear from two states with New York and Illinois that are very large, but economy of scale doesn't help you when they take the Medicaid away from you. It will have devastating impacts. It will have devastating impacts on people like Deanna's son.
And you couple that with the destruction of the Department of Education that takes away our civil protections around students with disabilities and IDEA. And you have a situation where the Secretary of Health basically said it and was speaking with the language of eugenics that some people just don't matter. People like Deanna's son or my son or those of you listening tonight.
So look, this is a fight we must win. It's a fight that the American people are overwhelmingly on our side, but we need to get out and make the message of how important this is. Don't let them message this that somehow Medicaid is a giveaway program. It is foundational to everything we do.
Next question is for Governor Healey. This question is about democracy and civil rights and the steps you're taking to defend our courts. Let's play this clip.
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Chapter 6: How are the governors supporting protesters and mass mobilization efforts?
We have strong supports, housing programs, healthcare programs, programs for our seniors. We passed, I think, the country's best veterans legislation just recently. And we continue to support and enforce that and support our veterans. So, you know, I'm going to do all I can within my power, Michael. And this is why governors matter, because we're on the front lines right now.
We've got laws that we want to implement and enforce here in our states. We want to make sure that people's rights are protected. And we also do that working with one another, other states, and working with our state AGs. These are these are really important things that we need to do.
I'm also speaking up and using this platform to talk about what's happening when they disappear people from our streets without cause, when they scare away our foreign students or illegally take away their visas to study in this country when all they want to do is study and research and invent new technologies and pioneer new cures. I mean, that's outrageous what came out today.
So part of my job, Michael, is to to use this platform so that we can explain to the American public what is going on real time in our states. Donald Trump takes this action, here's the consequence in our state. And I'm gonna continue to do that. And I will say to you, cause you're from Virginia, we just kicked off celebrations of 250 years of this country.
The revolution kicked off here in Massachusetts with the shots fired and conquered in Lexington, and people joined up and down from all of the then colonies to form this amazing, amazing union in this great United States of America. And all of us in power are going to work our damnedest every single day to preserve that and to further that.
And that's the job of those of us in office and the job of all citizens and Americans.
The next question is for Governor Hochul. And this question is about Trump's disastrous tariffs and his harming our economy. Let's play this clip.
Hello, Democratic governors and my network. My name is Jesse. And here's my question. Trump's implementation and strategy of his tariffs has been unstable and aberrant, to say the least. How do you assess the short term and long term
economic impacts of said tariffs and what should we do as people here in the u.s what should we do to prepare and how should we prepare for this because it's going to hurt thank you for answering my question governor
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Chapter 7: What are the governors' plans to protect Medicaid and Medicare programs?
I'm a former member of Congress. I served at a time when the Tea Party was just running wild. They used to come and protest my town halls. It was hard, but you know what? I stood there and took it. These people are too chicken because they know they're on the wrong side of history here. But get out there with your friends, start writing letters, start sending the emails,
filling up their phone banks and just blasting them because when they start feeling enough pressure that they may not get reelected again, that's the power of the people that started way back when our country rebelled against a dictator and rebelled against a king. Donald Trump called himself a king when he shut down something called congestion pricing in New York. Called himself a king.
Said, long live the king. You can't make this up. He did that. But I said, we have not labored on our king for over 250 years and we're not about to stand for that now. So Jesse, you have the same sentiment as millions of us. We have to rally together, stand together, mobilize, organize, and get out there and vote next year to take back our country, at least the House and the Senate.
Back to Governor Pritzker. This question, Governor, is from April H. She's from Chicago, and her question's about affordable housing and jobs. Let's play the clip.
I am a resident of Chicago, and I have a specific question. As much as families now are losing hope as all of the pricing gets worse, and it doesn't really seem like anything is happening,
to the president after all of his lies and all of the lawlessness he has done, we begin to wonder what specific steps our Illinois governor is taking to ensure that our working families in our state can afford housing. Even my rent went up and it's getting un-affordable. What we're doing for housing and healthcare and education, not just now, but to help us all in the long term,
I have a son who's getting ready to graduate law school with over $100,000 in debt who can't even seem to find a good job, let alone move out and have affordable housing. Thank you.
Governor Pritzker.
Well, first of all, April, I'm sorry for the challenges that you're going through. And when I listen to you, I think, as a state, we've made an enormous amount of progress toward addressing housing. In fact, as you may know, I put together a commission last year that came up with a bunch of really great ideas for us to follow through on, and we're doing that this year in the legislature.
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Chapter 8: What steps are being taken to defend democracy and civil rights against federal overreach?
There never has been, whether it's disrespect of troops or whether it's the inability to fund the things that are most important for the troops.
On this one, it's personal for me, both having served but also being the ranking member on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, that prior to Donald Trump being there, whether it was under George Bush or Barack Obama when I served in that position, there was bipartisan support, things like the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, where we came together to reduce suicides and saw the work being done, both when our troops were in uniform
and after they left understanding that those those wounds of war uh run deep and are not always so obvious uh those days are coming and much more difficult the cuts that donald trump is making 84 000 of a providers at the best health care system in the world which is the va a promise that we made to troops that if you serve us we will serve you in your health care
becoming much more difficult to be able to provide all the services that are necessary. And this is not about running a business. The VA trains 70% of the physicians in this country, and it provides care to well over a million veterans. And it is the best care in the world.
The mental health piece of this, we know that getting access to that care in a timely manner, understanding that we're going to have to, when these troops come home, we've got a lifelong commitment to make this happen. Donald Trump is continuously trying to underfund. And I will just say this, this is a fight I have been fighting almost two decades now, is the attempt to privatize the VA.
This goes back to our current Secretary of Defense ran an organization called Concerned Veterans of America. Its purpose was to undermine the VA and privatize the VA and shift that money out of that. And what that ends up doing is leaving veterans without care. And that's why we get so many veterans. If they can get into the system, We can prevent the mental health issues. We can help heal.
We can be part of a broader community. And I will also say this. Many of our veterans depend not just on the VA. They depend on Medicaid as a part of this. So all of these things fit together. The education pieces that are being pulled back to be able to make sure that our veterans get the training they need to live the careers post-medical. military.
So the assault that Donald Trump has made on this, I won't stand for it. If he wants to stand in front of troops, he wants to wave the flag, he doesn't do a damn thing for veterans. He has undermined their care. He's put them at risk. And I want to just say this, trying to get people out of the military because of who they are,
and who they authentically are of someone who has had the courage to sign up where donald trump did not or to put our troops at risk our female troops at risk have the right to make their own reproductive decisions and we have a right to make sure they have access to that care So this is a fight that I'm glad folks are on. Danielle showed courage to speak up, which she has the right to do.
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Chapter 9: How are the governors addressing affordable housing and job challenges?
Hello. My name is Emma. I am a United States Army veteran. And under the current administration's policies, I and thousands of other women like me are considered persona non grata in the job market. My question to you all is, what steps are you going to take to ensure an equal chance for female veterans to get employment?
Go ahead. Emma, thank you so much for your service. And I come from a military family, so proud of our military and those who serve, our veterans, our service members, our Gold Star families who paid the ultimate price. You know, the military has become stronger over time because it has embraced diversity, you know, desegregated the troops way back, then allowed women.
In fact, I'll tell you this, Eamonn, the woman who actually was the pioneer and made possible women in the Army is a woman named Edith Norris Rogers. She actually served in the United States Congress for Massachusetts. And a few months ago, I've lost track of time, as Governor Hochul says, I don't know how many days it's been, the same day that Donald Trump
had the Department of Defense and Arlington National Cemetery take down on their websites all the images of women, of Black people, of Latinos, of Asians. Remember that day? We had a celebration of Edith North Rogers in the State House, and I put on display all the uniforms that women had worn in combat over the years. Diversity is a strength. It's not a flaw.
It doesn't make any sense for us in classrooms, in boardrooms, in C-suites, or in the military to exclude women, people of color, people with disabilities. It's wrong. doesn't make for better outcomes, doesn't make for better results. So as governor, I've convened with my veteran secretary.
We have a targeted effort in our state to fund and support programs for women veterans in particular because of some of the added burdens that they've endured, particularly around PTSD. But we do that for all of our veterans. But I just want you to know that You know, if you were in a state like Massachusetts, you'd have the benefit of our HERO Act, which benefits 30,000 women in Massachusetts.
We also have a deputy secretary who's a woman as in that position at Veterans Affairs here in Massachusetts. And, you know, I say this to you, Emma, somebody like I was. I was the first gay person elected attorney general in the country when I got elected. And I'm the first woman elected governor in the state of Massachusetts.
And I wouldn't be where I am today if we didn't have anti-discrimination laws in place. I'll tell you that. And, you know, that's why we need to really push back hard on what Donald Trump and his administration is doing in trying to write diversity out. Again, diversity is a strength, not a flaw in America.
Next question is for Governor Hochul. This question's from John S. from Massapequa, New York. It's about Medicaid and maternal care. Let's play this clip.
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Chapter 10: What policies are in place to protect the mental health of troops and veterans?
And it's focused on families. We'll have child care tax credits for the first time ever, $1,000 for every family with a child four years old and under. Because I know, personally, that's when you have to pay for the diapers and the formula and always going for those medical checkups and the vaccinations. And yes, get your vaccinations. So we're putting money back in families' pockets.
We have a middle-class tax cut coming, the largest tax rate cut in 70 years. We have money in inflation rebate, putting money back in families' pockets, starting as soon as possible. And we're focusing on nutrition programs, making sure we cover all the lunches and breakfasts in school, just like some of my colleagues do. So it's all about the family to me.
As I said back when I first announced my budget this year, I said, your family is my fight. Now, I didn't know at that moment that fight would also include taking on Donald Trump and his administration, who's trying to undermine all these safety net programs like Medicaid for expectant families. So I appreciate your concern. We are on this.
And if something does happen, our Attorney General Tish James and I will be on the front lines to try to stop it in court. We can't always rely on the courts, but sometimes we're surprised. Even the Supreme Court, handpicked by Donald Trump, the majority of them, have sometimes done the right thing in the interest of protecting the separation of powers and ultimately protecting our democracy.
So this fight is my own, and you can count on me being on the front lines if this happens.
Next question is going to be directed to all four governors who are here with us tonight, and it's about your communication strategy. What are Democrats doing to communicate all of the great policies and ideas that you've talked about so people actually get it and elections are won? Let me play this question from Henry for all of you. Let's play it.
Thanks for taking my question. My question is really about how to package the party going forward for both the midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election, because something like 90 deals in 90 days is pretty ridiculous, but it catches people's attention.
And a lot of what Trump is doing with the way he's approaching things is very much catching people's attention, even if there's really no substance to it. But what can the Democrats do to be better in terms of reaching people that are more likely to relate to TMZ than they are to relate to The New York Times?
Great question. Governor Pritzker.
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