Christian Menefee on win over Al Green

Texas Democratic Congressman Christian Menefee joins me now after his primary victory over congressional Democrat Al Green. The two faced off because the state's Republicans, the legislature and governor, redrew the state's congressional map at the behest of President Trump, setting off a nationwide chain reaction of redistricting. Congressman, congratulations on your victory. Let me ask you this. As someone who's now defeated Congressman Al Green, who had a long history in Congress, what part of his legacy in politics will you take with you, and what parts, with respect, will you put on the shelf? I'm going to take with me his spirit of protest. Congressman Al Green is an icon, became an institution in the halls of Congress for being willing to speak truth to the powerful directly to their face, including standing up at the State of the Union and letting President Trump know that he does not have a mandate. I spent my time in my previous job as county attorney for the largest county in Texas fighting back against powerful Republicans like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and even the Trump administration itself, and beating them in court to ensure that we have health care, to make sure we have voting rights, and to ensure that every single community has clean air and clean water. I'm going to take that fight with me through the halls of Congress. I have learned a lot from Congressman Green, and I look forward to carrying that legacy forward. And I'm serving alongside him right now, so maybe I'll find something that I decide I want to leave behind. But for now, I'll just say that Congressman Green has been an absolute institution in our communities, and it's going to be an honor to serve after him in the parts of the 18th congressional district that I don't currently represent. One of the things that Congressman Green is known for here in Washington is filing numerous articles of impeachment against President Trump in his first term and in his second term. Is that something you will do and you ascribe to? If I come for the king, I'm not going to miss. So I plan to be heavily involved in each and every investigation that goes into the Trump administration when Democrats take the House back in November. Because I want to be clear, we are going to win the House back in November. And then you're going to see committees like the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee start to dig into this rank corruption that we've seen from the president enriching himself and his family. And if we have the evidence, then I would be more than willing to move forward with impeachment articles. But as a lawyer, as someone who served as the county attorney in Harris County who is used to building these cases and beating the powerful in court time and time again, if I come for President Trump, it's because I believe the evidence shows that we have him, and that's when I would file an impeachment resolution.

You just name checked Ken Paxton. He won the Senate Republican primary last night. You have sparred with him legally before. How formidable or not formidable do you consider him as a Texas-wide candidate as a US Senate representative or nominee for the Republican Party? It's a stain on the state of Texas that Ken Paxton was nominated last night to be the Republican nominee for the United States Senate. This is someone who engaged in rank corruption when he was the attorney general of the state of Texas, someone who, time and time again, has been shown that he cannot be trusted by the voters in Texas. And right now, we have a strong candidate on the Democratic side, State Representative James Talarico, someone who is going to be leading our party forward across the state. So I look forward to Democrats across the state making the case as to why Ken Paxton should not be the next United States senator. I certainly don't believe he was a stronger candidate than John Cornyn, who is someone who has enjoyed support from both sides of the aisle, who was able to get stuff done even with my predecessor, the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, when they made Juneteenth a national holiday. You can't say those kinds of things about Ken Paxton, and the voters are going to find out throughout the rest of the year. You know as well as I do that veteran reporters like myself in Washington have been told for many an election cycle, this one will be different in Texas, told that by Democrats. Countless Democrats have whispered that in my ear, pounded on the table, et cetera, et cetera. I've grown a little weary of that pronouncement. Why should this year be any different? I will tell you, as someone who is relatively new to politics, I have never drank the Kool-Aid. I have never been the Democrat who, cycle after cycle, is saying, this is the one. This is our go. But if you look at what happened in 2018 with Beto O'Rourke, being able to have the success that he had against Ted Cruz, it's because he built an organic, grassroots campaign, but it was also because we had an extremely unpopular President Trump in term one who was doing all he can to lose the faith of the American people. We have that same president in office now, but the difference is he's engaged in a war that nobody asked for where US service persons have passed away. He's engaged in a war that has made gasoline more expensive. He's put tariffs unilaterally that have ensured that people's prices of their necessities and groceries are more expensive. The president is incredibly unpopular, and at the same time, we have a candidate in Texas who is grassroots supported, who is supported by independents, who is supported by people all across the political spectrum, and I think this is our year. But we also have a growing bench of Democrats who are going to help turn out the vote across this state. I just finished speaking with the Democratic nominee for Harris County executive and the Democratic nominee for Fort Bend County executive. These are two young, dynamic people who are going to turn out folks across their counties to ensure that we flip this state. So, yes, this is not the year. I'm not just selling you the Kool-Aid because I typically don't drink it. This is the year where Democrats are going to shake things up in the state of Texas. And with Ken Paxton, you have one of the least-popular nominees in recent history, so this is the year to do it. Before I let you go, Congressman Menefee, what effect on the ground do you believe the redistricting effort in Texas will have this cycle? It has had a huge effect already. Folks across our communities were pissed that two leaders were pitted against each other because of the collapsing of Black and brown representation from two districts into one district. I believe that people all throughout the state of Texas are going to rise up and make their voices heard. But it was also what happened in the 18th district, where the governor delayed our election after the passing of the late Congressman Sylvester Turner and made us go nearly a year without a voice in Congress. People are upset, and they lay all of the responsibility at the feet of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Republicans are going to have to answer for the conduct of President Trump, for the conduct of Governor Greg Abbott, and now for the conduct of their Senate nominee in Ken Paxton, and I think all of that is going to cause us to have record turnout on the Democratic side and see success in November.

Congressman Christian Menefee, I appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you.