A terrifying week in global warfare brings cautious relief days later by way of a two-week
ceasefire in Iran.
Times on the sidelines may wonder where their congressional representatives stand and how
they are responding to the war.
Tonight we turn to second-district Democratic Congressman Mark Polkhand.
We should know we reached out to Republicans in several districts without reply.
Congressman, thanks very much for being here.
Sure, thank you.
So on Tuesday this week, the world was on Tenterhooks, waiting President Trump's threat
that a whole civilization will die tonight unless Iran opened a Strait of Hormuz and
then the announcement of a ceasefire.
The White House says it was a tough negotiating tactic that worked.
What do you say?
Yeah, this is chaos piled on top of chaos, piled on top of uncertainty, right?
I don't think Donald Trump from day one really had a plan on how to deal with what he was
doing going into Iran.
And we're seeing that all unfold right now.
And that rhetoric just has been unseen by any world leader previously.
And even now, the ceasefire still has all kinds of uncertainty.
We're not exactly sure what all the standards were.
Donald Trump said he knows the 10 and he'll tell you if they're met.
That's ridiculous.
And Iran, just I saw today, he said two conditions aren't met yet.
The stopping of the bombing in Lebanon and releasing some funds to them, which that was
the first time I actually had kind of heard that part of whatever it was negotiated.
So this is just a complete mess.
Our gas prices are going up.
Our respect across the world was going down.
And it was a war of choice.
There was no imminent threat to the United States.
And that's the only time the president could initiate this without Congress.
So, you know, to call it chaotic is probably an insult to the word chaos.
You and others have called to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office.
That would take the vice president and the majority of the cabinet to declare the president
unfit.
So is this really a rhetorical demand on your and others parts?
Yeah, I think this is a signal to the world that don't hate America.
There are normal people here because what Donald Trump is doing is hurting our place
across the globe right now, you know, some of our best trading partners in Japan and
South Korea rely on like 70% of their energy coming through the streets of our moves.
The fact that now they're paying the price of Donald Trump's bad decision, the fact that
our best allies were not informed going into this.
So now they're not participating in which I totally understand, but Donald Trump doesn't.
We have to express that as a nation this we understand this is a bad decision.
What he did in a couple of those social media posts this week were beyond a bad decision.
And I seriously think in many others question whether or not he's able to do this job.
But we want others to understand that many of us do question his capability.
Wisconsin polling shows that 61% of voters opposed this war.
Many of them probably in your district.
But what levers of power do you and others in Congress have over this?
Will Dems continue to push for a war powers resolution?
Yeah, we'll push for a war powers resolution next week when we're back in Washington.
And I'll tell you this is one where, you know, we need some of the Republicans from Wisconsin
and across the country to reach around their backs and feel if they have a bone down the
middle called a spine because it's necessary for Congress to stand up and stop Donald Trump
from this chaotic behavior.
It is up to Congress to initiate war.
That's according to the Constitution.
And I've heard a few Republicans say they're waiting 90 days and all this other stuff.
That Constitution doesn't say that.
Constitution gives the power to Congress on this.
So we have to act and take the responsible role in this.
And if we don't, then unfortunately we continue to pay higher prices at the gas pumps.
We continue to hurt ourselves with other countries across the world.
So there's a lot riding on this and we need Wisconsin Republicans and others in Congress
to stand up and grow a spine.
Why should Wisconsinites care about a conflict happening in half a world away?
A lot of reasons.
I mean, you're seeing it right now in gas prices.
They're about $1.20 a gallon right now because of what's going on.
This is going to continue for months.
If this ended today, Frederica, we will see gas prices and those increases for months
to come yet.
So this was a terrible decision that was done by the White House, but you should care
because also our trade around the world, you know, as chaotic as Donald Trump's tariffs
have been, it's important that we have partners across the globe that buy American products,
that create American jobs.
And when we're hurting ourselves like we are with this right now, we be jeopardized our
role in being able to do that.
So it's about jobs.
It's about your pay.
It's about what you're paying for goods because we're paying too much for everything from
groceries and everyday goods because of tariffs to health care and utilities because of the
big ugly law and now we're paying too much for gas because of this.
There's a lot of reasons we should pay attention and care.
As to rising inflation, I see that consumer sentiment just ranked at the lowest on record
in the U.S. and meanwhile, Trump's budget calls for $1.5 trillion in defense spending.
This would not be, I trust, a priority of yours.
No, in fact, I think what the president said is we don't have money for things like
childcare because he wants to put it into the national, the Pentagon's budget essentially
because he's wasting so many weapons right now while he's doing this war of choice in
Iran.
And I think if you talk to the average person, certainly the average employer, childcare
is far more important than what he's doing right now.
So the fact that he doesn't understand, let's face it, he's the Epstein class, right?
He's a really, really rich guy who is out of touch with what it is to actually live
paycheck to paycheck, to pay a mortgage, to make sure you have health care for your
family.
Can you budget for a vacation?
This guy hangs out at Mar-a-Lago and has 20s, roaring 20s style parties.
That person doesn't understand what Americans are going through.
And we see it because we're paying for the increase in prices.
So November, people can see a change that can change out some of the faces in the House
and the Senate.
And then we can finally have the ability to stand up and do proper oversight.
But right now, it's tough times.
And we get the calls in the office and people are certainly nervous.
How do you think the war in Iran informs voters coming into the midterms?
Well, I think it just shows another bad decision, right?
The tariffs are a bad decision.
We know that.
And we're all paying more for groceries and everyday goods.
That big ugly law where they gave a giant tax break to Elon Musk and people who belong
to Mar-a-Lago, that took away health care from people and more in November, by the way,
all the Medicaid cuts take place at that point.
So 15 million people lose health care and we're all paying more for it, plus it made
utility rates go up.
And now we're paying more for gas because of the war.
So you look at all of this.
And I think people are just kind of exhausted from the winning that Donald Trump keeps telling
us.
I think most of us have a different definition of winning.
It's being able to have that little luxury of snowmobile or a boat or whatever it might
be.
But it's not just paying more for good so that rich people get tax breaks.
Speaking of elections, what's your reaction to Liberal Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor's
20-point victory this week?
She was an extraordinarily good candidate.
I think they feel that an extraordinarily poor candidate by Supreme Court standards.
But people also are very frustrated with what's happening nationally and I think you saw that
translate.
I mean, you saw mayors flip from conservative to more progressive across parts of the state
that aren't exactly blue, maybe not even purple.
But people are just frustrated with what's going on.
So I think you saw a lot of that.
But you know, Chris Taylor is going to be a great Supreme Court justice.
She's very smart, very savvy.
I've worked with her since my time in the state legislature.
She's going to help that court.
We need that court to probably get a kick in the butt maybe to get a few more things
done.
And I think she may just be that catalyst.
But how is a spring election different from a November election?
Turnouts definitely lower, but you saw the intensity of certain people wanting to come
out.
And so I think it's really important to see the intensity of Democratic or more progressively
in voters versus Republican.
People are really upset with Donald Trump.
And very few are very happy.
In fact, independents, we saw a poll.
The swing was 48 points from independents from a year ago.
That was called the extinction level numbers when that happens.
So I think, you know, when you look at, you know, certain congressional districts in Wisconsin,
the state assembly and state senator both up to flip, I think all of that is going to
happen this November because people have just had it with how Donald Trump is behaving
and how Republicans are just rolling over and getting their bellies rubbed rather than
standing up and fighting for their constituents.
We leave it there.
Congressman Mark Polkhand.
Thanks very much.
Sure.
Thank you so much.
I have no idea how long that went and we may need to trim to fit it into our program,
but thank you.
Thanks a lot.
Sure.
And no problem, it's going to be interesting.
Everything we're seeing come November is not going their way.
I mean, it's massive more than I think a lot of people even are ready for.
So, you know, and I don't know how he gets out of this Iran thing.
I mean, just this morning, seriously, I saw the fact that Iran said part of the deal was
releasing of funds, which remember they criticized Joe Biden about and Obama.
It's just, you know, it's kind of unexplainable in some ways, so.
We'll see how these peace talks go.
Hopefully, you know, everyone hopes, right, that there's a cessation of this kind of violence,
but.
Yeah.
Problem is we never should have got there in the first place, and now we've got to figure
out how to get out and let Donald Trump save some face, and that's why I think the difficulties
just beginning.
Well, thank you for your time.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Yeah, take care.
You too.
We'll see you.