Okay, welcome back to Morning Joe on this Tuesday, June 9th. Everybody, are we good, Rev? ; Uh, we good. ; We’re awake. Joining the conversation, we have contributing writer to the Atlantic, Eugene Robinson is with us, senior writer at the Dispatch and columnist at Bloomberg Opinion, David Ducker, and the host of Politics Nation on MS.
Now, Reverend Al Sharpton, he’s president of the National Action Network. And by the way, Willie, he was courtside last night. He was like right there. That’s not Wow. ; That’s not fair, Rev. Um, and that must have cost a pretty penny. That’s all I’m going to say. ; It did not cost me a pretty penny. ; There you go. Smart man. ; Well, your spikely was on Politics Nation a couple weeks ago and he said, “It’s a New York thing.
You should be there.” So, a friend of mine who owns courtside seats had Asian eyes as guests and it was exciting to be there and uh until then I I the mix didn’t win but it was exciting night. Even the booing of the president was exciting. ; I’m glad Rev, you didn’t pay the $75,000 that those seats were going for on StubHub the other day.
Um you were there. I saw the pictures. You’re with Adam Silver. You’re with Tracy Morgan. You’re with Fat Joe. All the celebs there. Um, we’ve already lamented the Knicks shooting, their turnovers, the foul disparity, all of those things. As we look ahead now to game four, but the energy was electric.
I mean, you could Charles Barkley was sitting there before the game. He said, “I have chills right now just being in the building.” Now, it didn’t translate to a win, but what was it like to be inside the garden last night? ; It was electric, and it was electric in the sense that everybody uh seemed on one accord.
I mean, it was like New Yorkers were out there for New Yorkers. People were there excited to see the championship finals back in New York. And it was one of the most uniting, unifying, I should say, events that I’ve seen uh in in many years, if I’ve ever seen it. So, I thought it was a great night for the city. Uh I think that uh the the fans were good.
I think the president was the only one that had any negatives. everybody as they showed all of us on the jumbo, nobody else really got booed and and I think it was proud of the night uh that people were celebrating uh this being in New York. It was a good night. ; Okay, let’s get to our top story this hour.
Voters in Maine head to the polls today to decide on their candidates for Senate. Incumbent Senator Susan Collins runs unopposed on the Republican side, while Oyster Farmer and veteran Graham Platner leads in polling among the Democratic candidates. But he faces multiple headwinds, including a story last week by the New York Times that found Platner had difficult relationships with several former girlfriends.
One even alleged that Platner knew what the purported Nazi symbol he had tattooed on his chest meant despite his public denial. It should be noted several other women spoke of their relationship with Platner in warmer tones. This all comes after the Wall Street Journal previously reported that Platner exchanged sexual text messages with other women during his marriage and his wife knew.
Platner has since responded to the report saying he was quote far from a perfect boyfriend and attributing his past behavior to a quote dark period in his life. Platner has been vocal about dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder after his time in the military. Let’s [snorts] bring in MS Now congressional reporter Kevin Fry who joins us live from Bangor, Maine.
Kevin, you’ve been talking with Maine voters ahead of today’s primary. What have you heard them say? ; Yeah, I mean, look, and don’t confuse them with the Paul Bunan statue behind me. I I look there’s been relatively as we’ve been talking to folks over the past several days up and down the coasts of Maine.
Voters are still standing with Platner for the large part amongst Democrats saying they’re kind of buying into this narrative that uh the campaign has put forward that this is a redemption arc that he made some mistakes. He came back from the war. He was troubled and now he’s working to improve his life. Never mind that some of these things were just from the last few years.
A lot of voters also willing to say those are personal issues. We’re focused on the policy. So it comes down to this kind of back and forth of perfect messenger perfect versus perfect message. And a lot of people like what they’re hearing from him. We’ve talked to people at some of these town halls, including one woman, for instance, who said after these last two stories out of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, she really kind of had some reservations even though she was a volunteer for the campaign.
But then she came to the town hall the other night and said she was 1,000% committed behind him. liking his populist economic take on the billionaire sort of messaging. Here’s though some of the trepidation, some of the anxiety that you’re hearing from some voters who are kind of willing to say, “Okay, really this is the best option we have.” Take a listen.
Advertisements
; I’d like to think we could get someone that doesn’t have as much baggage as Platinum, but right now it looks like he’s our best choice to uh to win. So, he’s got my vote. I think any of those things are abhorent and I, you know, I’m I’m sorry that he has that, but look at what we’re dealing with on a federal level.
I mean, they haven’t done anything with the Epstein files. There have been some things that have come out that have um disappointed me a little bit about Graham Platner. However, I um I still think he’s the best candidate. Then the question becomes, of course, what do voters who have trepidations, particularly if there is another shoe that drops, which I know is engaging in a bit of a hypothetical, but what do those voters do? Some are saying they’re committed to staying behind him.
They won’t necessarily identify what the line too far would be. Though, we have heard from some who said, you know what, maybe I just wouldn’t vote. I don’t want Susan Collins by any mean. She needs to go, but maybe I just won’t fill in that line on the ballot. Now, the one other kind of uh interesting component here is when you talk about the the messager versus the message, there was a little bit of me that kind of kept going back to 2016.
Um, and the Trump uh part of all of this, obviously, he has defined our politics for the past decade. Democrats have traditionally liked to tout the fact that they hold their candidates to a higher standard. And so when I would ask voters, okay, I mean, you’re you’re saying you’re okay. You’re willing to accept some of what Platner has done, but you’re very quick to criticize, you know, Trump and the various scandals that he has around him.
And their response was, they pale in comparison to what Trump is accused to have done. ; Interesting. Congressional reporter for MS Now, Kevin Fry, reporting live from Bangor, Maine. Thank you very much. So, uh, David Ducker, I’ll start with you on the politics of, um, the issues surrounding this candidate in Maine.
When you look at a candidate that the president himself, who has his own issues as it pertains to women, uh, endorsed in Texas, um, I think these main voters are are making the point that I’m pointing to right now, which is look at what we’re dealing with. Republicans almost take pride in some of these same issues.
Well, that’s certainly one way to look at it, ma. And a lot of Democrats feel that way. But let’s flip it around for a second, right? What have we been talking about with Ken Paxton in Texas for months that Republican voters have been willing to look past um all of the baggage, all of the scandals.
I’ve said repeatedly here that he may be the most scandal plagued politician I’ve ever covered. And yet, what have I heard from Republican voters in Texas? What do you expect us to do? The other side is so much worse. And besides, we all have skeletons in our closet anyway. Even if it’s true, there’s just no way I’m voting for a Democrat.
So now we’re in Maine, and what are they telling us? Kevin Fry’s reporting over the past few days has been very revealing. They’re telling him the same things that Republican voters in Texas told me. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. But even if it is, we all have skeletons in our closet. And besides, what do you expect us to do? Look at what we’re dealing with.
And I think this just tells us that all American voters are pretty much alike and that, you know, 10 years plus into the Trump era, a lot of politicians on both sides of the aisle are very much the same in their character and presentation. And it turns out a lot of American voters are the same in what they’re willing to tolerate and accept and look past because they feel like the opposition party, the other side is so egregious that they don’t have a choice.
; Yeah, Eugene. Uh obviously David is right that that old line that from Trump supporters over the years that we are electing a president, not a saint, and they’re willing to overlook so much because they think he’ll deliver for them. And that’s exactly the kind of sentiment we’re hearing out of Maine from Democrats. Yes.
Um as was just pointed out that some voters uh find these new reporting from the New York Times, the tattoo, some of the previous posts he’s made um disqualifying, but maybe not enough. We’ve heard from more Democrats who say, “I don’t love all that stuff, but I also want to win the Senate seat, and I believe he gives us the best chance.
” ; Yeah. I think what is Joe Biden’s own line? uh compare me to the uh alternative, not to the almighty. Uh you know, that seems to be the way American politics works these days and it has worked over the last decade. Now, did Donald Trump cause all of this or was the were voters ready for this? Um you know, it’s a chicken egg uh problem or a chicken egg question, but in the end, that’s where we are.
And what you heard those voters in Maine saying is that we prefer this to the alternative. And they’re looking at the national big the big national picture. They’re looking at whether or not Democrats can control the Senate as a way of putting some sort of uh restraint on the Trump administration on the last two years of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
uh which uh they they they fear. Uh and so I don’t think anything is going to keep those voters from voting for Graham Platner. I think he wins obviously easy easily today and I think he has a very good chance of becoming uh the next senator. ; Yeah. One of the fundamental questions we grapple with in politics today is we the rules don’t apply to Donald Trump.
We’ve known that things that have sunk any other candidate. He has survived routinely since 2016. But do does that standard now only apply to him or do the have the rules changed for others too and rev that’s what’s interesting here because Democrats have still for the most part try to keep their candidates within the within the standards of acceptable behavior if you will.
Um this is one where at least for now they’re willing to overlook some things because they think he’s the best candidate. They want to win and truthfully let’s be clear he’s also a very talented politician. He’s resonates with voters like there’s a lot of reason why his message resonates. A lot of people find him why people find him so so compelling.
But we should note Susan Collins is a survivor. She has been down the polls before has won. And I guess that’s the concern Democrats have expressed to me that if the enthu if these stories reduce the enthusiasm for platin just a little or those like on the fence voters who maybe would have broke into him now go her or stay home, that might be enough for Collins to squeak by again.
; The risk is that Susan Collins is someone that has always beat the odds. Uh but the fact is that in many ways people have changed in terms of their political decisions. I I think not uh despite Trump but in many ways because of Trump. Trump was not only uh when we say that he is uh uh has has baggage and that Paxton is worse.
; Yeah. ; Trump was found guilty by a jury of his peers Paxton. He was he was find found liable but guilty of the of the criminal fraud case. uh by a jury of his peers. There’s a difference in a guy saying these were allegations I got around them and a guy that was found guilty in civil court and criminal court and we made him president twice. Yep.
; So the question is whether or not they’ll be like Trump or whether Trump has changed the the whole policy. ; I think uh for the Platner campaign the focus might be for them. And I’ I’ve heard a little bit of this. I mean look if they want to because Susan Collins is a survivor that’s for sure. Look at her votes and look how Maine has been impacted and look how Maine is doing and how mayors are doing right now and look at his message and compare them to what she has voted for with this president and I think you may have a
winning argument. I do despite the despite the reports that are that are troubling for sure. I think his message is strong and many would argue some of her votes are um pretty damaging as well. Uh, we mentioned the Texas race. US Senate candidate James Telerico of Texas has picked up a surprise endorsement from an attorney with deep ties to his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Dan uh Cogdale, an attorney who represented Paxton for the Texas AG’s impeachment trial and a year’slong security fraud case. His attorney says that his former client has quote lost sight of his core mission which is to represent the people of Texas. Cogdell added quote unlike Ken I believe to my core that James Telerico believes in unity over division.
That’s a big one. Meanwhile, President Trump is amplifying baseless claims of election fraud in California. As the candidate he endorses in the Los Angeles mayoral race, Spencer Pratt has now been defeated. Trump took to social media yesterday, writing in part, quote, “Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the LA runoffs after the big lead he had rigged elections.
” Fair to say that’s incorrect. Uh, progressive city council member Nithia Raman has instead advanced to the November runoff against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass after extending her lead over Pratt by nearly 22,000 votes. Vice President JD Vance backed Trump’s claims yesterday, saying in an interview the primary appeared quote pretty shady without providing any evidence.
Again, not shady. This is how it’s done. And Spencer Pratt That’s the outcome that he got. House Speaker Mike Johnson also backing President Trump’s claims that California’s election results are raising questions. He was repeatedly asked by CNN what evidence exists to support claims of fraud. ; The president keeps saying that there’s election fraud in the California mayor’s race.
Is what evidence is there to prove that? ; You tell me, Manu. They they are counting votes weeks after the election. We have entire nations with huge populations like India that can count their votes in 24 to 44. ; Are you saying it’s rigged like the president? ; I’m not saying it’s rigged. I’m saying it stinks to high heaven and everybody knows that.
; But what evidence is there to prove that there was range? ; I don’t Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream that is impossible to prove. But I think everybody knows instinctively something is wrong here. So it’s diabolical uh unless you are waiting to become speaker of the house and then you patiently wait for California to come in.
That is hypocrisy at the highest extreme. Performative hypocrisy. David Ducker, you hail from California. Explain for us how California’s slow vote counting process, which Mike Johnson is fine with when it benefits him, is now diabolical. uh even though it’s driven by the state’s heavy reliance on mail voting and it delays the final results for 30 days.
I don’t get it, Mike. Like which one is it, Mike? Both Mike and Ron Johnson, they they seem to have a problem with California’s counting process unless it benefits. I don’t get it. David Ducker, please explain. ; You mean to tell me, Mik, can we put men on the moon? Because I I I’m sorry. I just I don’t see it. All right.
I mean, there’s just something weird here. ; There’s a there’s a there’s a there’s a television studio somewhere. All right. There was a movie about that, too. It was pretty good. OJ Simpson was in it. Look, this is this is this is all performative politics because to exist in the Republican party today, you have to support at least you cannot contradict the president’s baseless conspiracy theories about votes.
Now, look, California is a huge state. They’ve really taken to mail and voting. And it can also be a very incompetent state, right? I mean, the bureaucracies at the county level, at the state level, they’re not always the most well-run. And I think it would behoove California to find a way to count votes quicker, especially quicker than three to six weeks, which sometimes happens.
; But if you know anything about California politics, ; it’s been a Democratic state for a while, but particularly polarized ; in the Democratic party’s direction uh during the Trump era. And as my sources told me, you know, when I called around a few weeks ago, listen, maybe Spencer Pratt has a problem because Mayor Bass is in a lot of political trouble.
How she handled those wildfires uh really uh put a dent in her approval ratings to say the very least. There’s a lot go and there’s a lot going on in California and the city of Los Angeles that people are unhappy with uh besides that from from the homeless crisis to public education to public safety.
And what they reminded me was that the city of LA is seven points more Democratic than the state of California. So you tell me how Spencer Pratt is supposed to win this race. It’s just exceedingly unlikely. And even though he mastered the attention economy of this campaign and had people all over the country and particularly in Washington thinking, “How can this guy lose? Look at his ads.
” Well, voters are voters, right? I mean, how many times have we seen a Democrat excite Democrats nationwide, uh, Democrat running in Texas, a Democrat running in Kentucky, and we see tens of millions of dollars from donors pour into these campaigns, and the Republican wins by five points, by 10 points, by 15 points, it’s because voters have certain kinds of opinions.
And if you’re in a blue state, it’s just going to be hard for Spencer Pratt to any Republican, anybody defined as a Republican to win an LA mayor’s race in the year 2026 versus, you know, earlier in my life when somebody like Richard Reirden, a moderate Republican, was able to succeed there.
And it’s there’s just no other explanation is needed. But you know when you’re arguing conspiracy theories, every counterargument to the conspiracy fuels a counterargument that furthers the conspiracy and you end up going around in circles. ; Gene, it’s a blue state. It comes no surprise that Democrats are winning in California.
I mean, it’s preposterous in what a normal person could say or Mike Johnson or others could say was that Spencer Pratt ran a great campaign. It was an uphill climb of course in the state of California. We have a lot to learn from the way he did his social media, etc., etc., etc. And David said something that, you know, you just have to stop, which is true, I guess, but you have to stop and say in the Republican party today, you cannot contradict President Trump’s conspiracy theories.
Exactly. You could if you had a drop of courage or integrity, ; but if you’re so worried about your job and keeping power and losing your seat, then you don’t. I mean, it’s just shocking that that’s a probably a true statement at this point. ; Yeah. to to to be in the Republican party and continue to succeed in the Republican party, you have to you have to mimic you have to parrot every lie that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth, including about the 2020 election.
It’s just ridiculous. The thing I I worry about I I wonder about in California is if it’s if if Spencer Pratt is is somehow being deprived of all these votes and and and it’s crooked and it’s it’s evil, then how did Steve Hilton, the Republican, managed to make it into the runoff uh the for the you know uh the the statewide runoff? How did that happen? Uh and I don’t you know obviously those two things can’t coexist uh and because this is all made up this is all performative.
Now the the big question is is this just bloiating? Is this just um you know being ridiculous or is this preparation for something? Is this setting up the country for um for for the midterms and for uh claims that then prompt some sort of action by uh the president, by the Republican majority in the House, whatever, uh to try to deny Democrats control of one or both houses of Congress.
And and so again, we will see. But um but that’s my concern. Is this is is there more here than meets the eye. ; The Atlantic’s Eugene Robinson and senior writer at the Dispatch, David Ducker, thank you both very much for your insights this morning. Brad, stay with us if you can. And still ahead on Morning Joe, our next guest could make history as the first Native American woman to serve as a governor if she wins New Mexico’s gubernatorial race in Native American women elected to Congress and later became the first
Native American to serve in a presidential cabinet when she was tapped for Secretary of Interior under President Joe Biden. Just last week, Holland won the Democratic nomination for governor of New Mexico. And if elected, she’d notch yet another first as the first Native American woman to be governor.
The trailblazing politician is telling her story in a new memoir out today titled A Voice Like Mine and she joins us now. It’s great to have you back on the show. ; Thank you. Thank you, Ma. Happy to be here. ; And congratulations on the book. I’m um I think it it’s got an incredible narrative. Your story is incredible. But first, tell us where this phrase came from, the title.
; Right. So, when I ran for Congress, my um media consultant, she said, we we were all on a call one day and she just said, “Well, Congress has never heard a voice like yours.” And I was like, “Yeah.” So, we started using that, right? It just became a catchphrase. ; Yeah. ; Uh Congress has never heard a voice like mine.
And and so uh we it was kind of a slogan that we used in my campaign. ; And so what is a voice like yours ; in over 233 years when I was running for Congress? We’d never had a native woman in Congress and I just feel like representation matters and uh my perspective in fact I got elected along with my uh with the other native woman Shereice Davids from Kansas.
And so we had an opportunity to bring issues to light and and that’s what representation means, right? we we highlighted the missing and murdered indigenous people’s crisis and when I got to uh the department of the interior uh federal Indian boarding schools and things that just hadn’t had a light shined upon them.
So I feel like representation matters and and it matters that we that we have people representing all of our communities in leadership roles and so I was really grateful. ; Willie ; Secretary Holland, good morning. Congratulations on the book. I was struck reading the research that you are a 35th generation New Mexican, not third generation or fifth generation, 35th generation.
Can you speak to what that history and that personal heritage means to you? How it guides you in your life and your work? ; Oh, absolutely. So, yes, we um the PBLO people have been in places like Bears Ears, Choco Canyon in New Mexico. My grandfather uh descended from the Peekos people uh in northern New Mexico. And so, you know, we this the United States was all Indian land at one time.
And um it is our ancestral homeland. And so we care deeply about the land, the water, our natural resources. Um these are just things that were passed down to me. And so I’m I’m just really proud to have the opportunity to be the Democratic nominee uh for New Mexico and feel like, you know, my ancestors essentially um survived and persevered so that I could be here today. and Jonathan Lamir.
While we’re looking at potentially another first um uh with Deb Holland uh representing um Native Americans, there are a lot of things in this book and in her story that um that really match what a lot of Americans are going through right now from, you know, early life in poverty, um alcoholism, single parenthood. Yeah, no question.
The the battle for sobriety, that challenge of being a single parent resonates with so many Americans. It’s part of, of course, of of your of your story. So, let’s talk a little bit more about the race. You had a little tougher than expected primary. Sam Bregman, uh, who is a DA and father of a Major League Baseball player, uh, you know, you ran but defeated.
Um, talk to us about the running now as someone from the Biden administration because we have talked on this show a lot. ; ; you know, the legislative accomplishments of the administration robust, but there unquestioned a lot of anger with how it ended and a lot of desire from Democrats to sort of turn the page.
So, how are you grappling with that? ; Sure. Well, I have a a long record of accomplishment uh serving with President Biden as the Secretary of the Interior, millions of acres of land into conservation. Uh we stood up a clean energy transition for our entire country, 12 offshore wind uh projects and um 50 solar projects in the southwest alone.
Um so we have a strong record of accomplishment and nothing can take away from that, right? we did those work. We did that work and and uh so I’m really proud of the having had the opportunity and um I think that the difference between me and any candidate whether in the primary or the general is that um I have the experience of leading a department of 70,000 career staff and an 18 billion dollar annual budget.
I did that for four consecutive years. And I think right now leadership is important in our country. Um and and certainly governor is the first line of defense against the worst policies coming out of the Trump administration. ; Rev. ; Governor uh as you where I want to go exactly where you left off. If you are elected, you would be governor uh at least for a year and a half or two years under President Trump and his policies of deportation and other uh things that would directly affect New Mexico.
How would you as governor deal with an administration that may be uh against if not outright hostile for some of the things that you have stood for all of your career? ; Exactly. And uh it’s not just cutting of Medicaid and SNAP benefits. It could close five rural hospitals in my state. Um Trump is making things more expensive and and you know over $4.
5 a gallon for gas. And if you close rural hospitals and people have to drive 200 miles for a doctor’s appointment, um how can they afford that? So life is more expensive. Trump is making people in my state sicker, poorer, and hungrier. So look, we have to push back against this administration. Um um sue the administration for the things that they are obligated to uh our state for.
And so I just feel very strongly that I know how the federal government works and I’m going to work hard to make sure that New Mexicans are protected against the these worst policies that are coming out of the White House. ; The new memoir is titled A Voice Like Mind, Democratic nominee for Governor of New Mexico, former Congresswoman and Interior Secretary Deb Holland.
Thank you so much. Uh congratulations on the book. And Reverend Al Sharpton, thank you as well. Thank you. ; Good to see you. And still ahead on Morning Joe, what
