Representative Jasmine Crockett sits down with Errin at the Texas Tribune Festival, fresh off her powerful speech at the DNC. The Representative talks about her viral interaction with Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, the fight against voter suppression laws in Texas, and why she will always defend Vice President Kamala Harris.
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On today’s episode
Our host
Errin Haines is The 19th’s editor-at-large and writer of The Amendment newsletter. An award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of experience, Errin was previously a national writer on race for the Associated Press. She’s also worked at the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.
Follow Errin on Instagram @emarvelous and X @errinhaines.
Today’s guest
Representative Jasmine Crockett is an American lawyer and politician who has been a U.S. representative from Texas’s 30th congressional district since January 2023. Her district covers most of South Dallas County, Central Dallas, Dallas Love Field Airport, and parts of Tarrant County. Congresswoman Crockett earned her B.A. in Business Administration from Rhodes College and her J.D. from the University of Houston. She is licensed to practice law in Texas, Arkansas, and Federal Courts.
Follow Rep. Crockett on X at @JasmineForUS and Instagram @jasmineforus
Episode transcript
The Amendment podcast transcripts are automatically generated by a third-party website and may contain typos or other errors. Please consider the official record for The Amendment podcast to be the audio publicly available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Errin Haines:
Thank y’all so much for being here. We ready to have a podcast? All right, let’s do it. Hey, y’all, welcome to The Amendment, a weekly conversation about politics, gender, and power from The 19th News and Wonder Media Network. I’m your host, Errin Haines, coming to you live from the Texas Tribune Festival. All right. So in the past six weeks, we have witnessed seismic shifts in the political landscape leading up to the 2024 election, which is in, what, 59 days? The Democratic National Convention also marked a turning point with speakers rallying around the Harris Walz ticket and calling for unity against the rise of extremism. Notably, the DNC highlighted the historic nature of Kamala Harris’ candidacy as the first Black woman to lead a major party ticket, underscoring the significance of this moment in our American politics. Yeah, absolutely. Now, for decades, Americans have seen the transformative power of Black women leaders, but Vice President Harris is not the only leader making waves right here in Texas. We have another rising star in the Democratic party, fresh from the DNC convention Sage in Chicago. Please help me welcome Representative Jasmine Crockett.
Errin Haines:
Representative Crockett, thank you so much for being here.
Rep. Crockett:
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Errin Haines:
Absolutely. I had a chance to see you live at the DNC in Chicago, and since taking office in 2023, you have made quite the impact. Yeah, I think some of y’all have probably seen some of that too, right? From calling out the hypocrisy of Republicans during the impeachment inquiry against President Biden to your viral moment, obviously, confronting representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Errin Haines:
And now that very powerful DNC speech has all brought you national attention. Like I said, I saw that speech, I saw your signature mix of joy and shade on full display, but I mean, look, you were armed with facts and, and you really just understood the assignment, right? You had these nonstop zingers while you also were just a very effective surrogate for Vice President Harris. So I just wanna ask you, kind of, what was your understanding of the assignment that night? What inspired you to take the stance that you took and what message were you really hoping to send that night?
Rep. Crockett:
Absolutely. So, first of all, it’s good to be home.
Errin Haines:
That part.
Rep. Crockett:
So this was my first DNC, and definitely my first time ever going on the DNC stage. And so they said, “well, you’ll get a speech writer.” So I was like, “Cool. That means I don’t have to write my speech.” Wrong.
Errin Haines:
I was gonna say, that sounded like all you
Rep. Crockett:
Yeah. Yeah. It was. And it was a fight to get there, but that’s a whole other story. But I will say that when I did get my speechwriter, they then said, “well, we thought that you should do a speech on the prosecutor versus the felon.” And so I was like, “Okay.” I was like, that’s an interesting line to walk, because, to be perfectly honest, there are some communities that are still, you know, you say the word “prosecutor” and it is nothing but bad feelings that are brought up. And I was like, but you know what? I am uniquely positioned to actually credentialize her and make it clear that she’s one of the good prosecutors. And so I was like, “All right.” And they were like, “Well, what do you talk about on the trail?” And I was like, “Well, I just got on the trail.”
Rep. Crockett:
I mean, I was on..
Errin:
Five minutes ago, right?
Rep. Crockett:
Yeah. I was on the trail for Joe Biden, and, and so I’d only, um, been a few places, but they had me talking to a lot of organizers. I had been down in Atlanta and some other places, and it was just various groups of organizers that I was talking to. But the initial polling that we had, uh, when she first got into the race — and this didn’t come from the campaign, this was outside polling that was given to us — in the House it said that while there’s this great excitement, people feel like they don’t know her. And so I was like, “You can read her resume. You can read all the things, but I think it’s important for me to let people know who she is.” So I told them, I tell this story about when I first met her…
Errin:
Yes.
Rep. Crockett:
And they were like, “Well, you gotta do that.” I was like, “Listen, I can’t tell that story without crying.”
Errin:
Yeah.
Rep. Crockett:
So I was like, “I don’t know about that.” They were like, “No, no, no. The story has to be in there, and you’ve gotta do prosecutor versus felon and get it done in five minutes.”
Errin Haines:
You’re like, can I get five more minutes?
Rep. Crockett:
And ultimately it was about 10 minutes.
Errin Haines:
Yeah. Well, listen, not to try to make you cry again, but you did share a very emotional story about your first meeting with Vice President Harris. That was quite a moment. And you emphasized her as being not just a candidate for the people, but just your own personal experience of that — her seeing you. Can you just talk a little bit more about that moment? And sorry if that makes you cry again, but also, it really seemed like that was a very meaningful exchange that you had with her.
Rep. Crockett:
Yeah, but I’m not gonna cry, so we not gonna go too deep on it. Um, ’cause it does … it really is a moving moment. I mean, if any of you could literally just imagine the first woman Vice President of the strongest country in the world looking at you as… really, I mean, you know, when you walk into the house, you know, they classify you as a “freshman.” So if you’ve ever been a freshman in high school, a freshman in college, we are the bottom of the totem pole. Like no one cares about us. Right? Like, I mean, it just is what it is. I mean, your constituents care about you ’cause they want you to serve ’em, but everybody else, it’s not really a thing. So it was a really hard moment. I will tell you that we had to shorten the story for sure.
Rep. Crockett:
But one of the reasons that it was so moving is that the Black Caucus had been invited to go to the Vice President’s residence. And so I was there with so many of my colleagues, and, granted, I think we just finally got the date tied down ’cause I know it was before I went viral because that moment really did solidify in me, “You know what? If these trash people can be here and the Vice President said…you know what? I’m gonna do my thing.” And so it really did empower me, and so I think the date officially was, like, February 25, I think is the date that we realized was on my calendar that we went there. And so my colleagues didn’t know me very well at all, but the reality is that I work with them every day and they couldn’t see that I was actually struggling.
Rep. Crockett:
Like, and if they did, they didn’t inquire. But here it was in the middle of this long picture line. She did see me. And, to be perfectly honest, obviously I’m now a national co-chair, so the story continues, obviously. She is someone that I look at as a mentor, which is still kind of mind-blowing for me to say because she will just take a little bit of time outta her day, randomly. I’ll get a random call and it will just be to encourage me. That is who Kamala Harris is. And it’s why, I mean, you know, I tell people, I’m like, “I will run through a brick wall for her.” Not just because she’s qualified and she’s capable, but that she literally is compassionate and a real person. And I think that’s what you see on the trail as she’s out there. You see that she literally cares. And it is so hard to find people that sign up for politics and wanna do it because they give a damn, but she’s a real one. And so I wanted to, I never planned to share that story in such a very public way, and I don’t think that she knew that I was gonna be sharing that story. But I do think that it was important that people understand who she is on a deeper level than “let me recite her resume.”
Errin Haines:
You mentioned that meeting happening, you know, during Black History Month and it being a Congressional Black Caucus event. There are a record number of Black women in Congress. I’m wondering, you know, kind of in the year plus since you have been in Congress, uh, what it means to have that kind of strength in numbers as your colleagues have gotten to know you better, as you’ve gotten to know them better, as you have had kind of these viral moments, frankly, that a lot of times have been as a result of who you are — your race and your gender, right? How have your colleagues, if they have helped you navigate, kind of, those moments when you were being challenged in that way, what are you hearing from even some of the Black women in Congress who have served you a really long time? How have they supported you and how do you see your leadership as part of that tradition?
Rep. Crockett:
Yeah, so it’s been a mixed bag.
Errin Haines:
Keep it real, as we know you will.
Rep. Crockett:
Even in that moment with Marjorie, you saw the first person that jumped in was AOC. Just like that, had my back. And so I will say that this caucus in general has really stood strong. We had a little wobbly moment, for sure, around President Biden, but other than that we really have stood strong and been very supportive of each other. I will say though, the “B6 moment” definitely some older people were like, “Well, we don’t know.” And I was like, “Listen, I did what I did. I said what I said. And you know, if my district decides that they don’t care for that kind of leadership, I believe in democracy. I believe that I should get a report card and I believe that my district should kick me out.”
Rep. Crockett:
But at the same time, I didn’t go to work to be disrespected. Like, that’s not what I signed up for. And, you know, the problem is that we’ve gone beyond just kind of policy disagreements to, like, petty little attacks. And so I needed her to understand, “If you come for me, this probably gonna be the last time.” And, truly, Marjorie skipped out on committee for like a month after that. And then she, you know, she doesn’t cross me for sure anymore. But for sure, initially there were definitely some of, like, the “old-school Democrats” I would call them, that were just like, “Well, we don’t really think that may have been what you should have done.” And I’m like, “Well, first of all, I made sure I didn’t break any rules and I was creative where English teachers could appreciate what I did.”
Rep. Crockett:
But, you know, in that moment I wanted to exemplify that, truly, as you are thinking that you’re superior to me, I can show you that I am superior by being so much more analytical and creative in the way that I go about this. But, you know, thankfully — or un-thankfully, for some people — my district seems to be okay with it. So unless something goes terribly wrong, I don’t even know who my opponent is. I don’t even know the person’s name. I’ll be fine come November. But my district has been very supportive, and I am thankful that my district understands that, you know, even if you don’t agree with everything that I do, you know that it comes from a very pure space. And I think that when people get frustrated with politicians, it’s because they think that there’s performative things that are going on. And there are people that are just, some people, especially on the other side, they really are crazy stupid and just don’t dunno what they’re doing. And other ones are performing because they see the dumb ones and they’re like, “Oh, you get money when you do stupid stuff, so I’ll do that.” But they literally don’t believe it. Like they don’t believe it. After B6 there were Republicans that were giving me thumbs up, sending me text messages. They were like, “I love your eyelashes.” And I’m like, “You better.”
Errin Haines:
They didn’t want it. They did not want the alliteration coming their way as well. They were not interested in that alliteration. No, but I mean, I think that another thing that folks are seeing with your leadership — frankly, with the Vice President’s leadership — it is a different model of Black women leading in this moment, right? And really an upending of some of the identity politics and what people are used to in how they think that Black women are supposed to respond, right? When identity politics and culture war things kind of come your way. And so I also wonder what you are thinking as you are seeing this Vice President navigating identity politics in this moment as now the democratic presidential nominee. How you think she is handling that, and what the lessons are really for us now, and how that does look very different than it used to look maybe for some of your older Black women colleagues in Congress, right?
Rep. Crockett:
First of all, I applaud the Vice President for how she’s handling it. I know a lot of people were making comments whether they appreciated what she did or didn’t appreciate what she did in the CNN sit-down interview where basically she decided we’re not about to even engage in this conversation.
Dana Bash recording:
He suggested that you happened to turn Black recently for political purposes, questioning a core part of your identity.
Kamala Harris recording:
Yeah. Same old tired playbook. Next question, please.
Dana Bash recording:
That’s it?
Kamala Harris recording:
That’s it.
Rep. Crockett:
I think it’s important that we really draw back the layers, right? While it is a historic moment, she’s not in this moment just because of history. She’s in this moment because she’s qualified. And, as women, we will celebrate, right? Because this is another glass ceiling, right? As people of color, we will celebrate because it’s another glass ceiling. But at the same time, she’s saying, “Look at my resume.” Because, as I said before, she has a resume. The other one has a rap sheet, okay?
Rep. Crockett:
And so, I get very frustrated specifically about this race because as my colleagues initially didn’t know which random racial attacks they wanted to make, they just said things like, “Well, she’s a DEI hire.” And so, you know, I’m like, first of all, we need to take back the rhetoric on DEI because it’s not a bad thing, number one. It’s always been a good thing. And as I go out and I’m trying to talk to crowds different places, I always ask, “Is there anybody in the room that has a finance background?” ‘Cause I was a business major with an emphasis in finance. And people that know anything about finance know if I’m putting together a portfolio, I want it to be diverse. They see that as a strength. So if it’s a strength when it comes to money, then why is it not a strength when it comes to anything else? It is. And to be clear, diversity, equity and inclusion was literally about including people that had been left out and not considered. And right now, when we look at their qualifications, I don’t know why this race is so tight. I can’t fathom it. Truly. Because honestly, if we wanna talk about who is benefiting from their race, it ain’t the Black woman.
Rep. Crockett:
It’s the White man. Or the orange one. Either way. Because, if we are just gonna be one-thousand about it, Trump could not be a person of color and have felony convictions, pending felonies, multiple impeachments, owe hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments, not allowed to operate a business in New York, multiple baby mamas, multiple wives. Like, he couldn’t be anybody but him. And so I’m like, “This is the greatest example of privilege that I have ever seen.”
Rep. Crockett:
Because Kamala did not fail up. She’s worked and earned everything that she’s gotten. And ultimately, when we win in November, it is going to be because she works. And I mean, you can look at Labor Day: it was only one team that was laboring on Labor Day. Like, she is going to run hard because she’s always had to run hard. And I think that that is the greatest part about her candidacy is because she’s always had to fight and always been the underdog that people didn’t think could get it done. And she always does. So, um, you know, when people decide to go after her diversity — whether they’re going after her because she’s a woman, or whether they’re going after her because she’s a person of color — I don’t think that that’s a fight that she needs to wage. I think she needs to focus on her qualifications and leave it there. It is for me to defend her, and I will.
Errin Haines:
I think that we are seeing a lot of Black women certainly coming to her defense — a lot of surrogates like yourself that are coming to her defense. The Black women who are mobilizing by, you know, the thousands and millions to come to her defense and who will be voting for her enthusiastically in November. But I think, to your point, this does still look like it could be a close election given everything that we know. And also, to your point, we are already seeing, you know, the racist and misogynist attacks on her and kind of still a lot of stale, outdated thinking about, you know, Black women in our leadership in this country. And so, should she win in November, I’m wondering what you think that means for folks who still have that mentality. As we saw in 2008, there was a backlash after Barack Obama becomes the first Black president. Do you expect a similar backlash should we get the first woman president as a Black woman?
Rep. Crockett:
Yes. You know, I have been thinking about that. But I also know another part of that story that I didn’t tell about our initial interaction was that I told the Vice President that I had been following her career my entire career, and that she had been a source of inspiration for me because Texas — so many of you don’t know, most likely, that I lost my first race. It’s the only race that I did lose. And I ran for District Attorney. And when I decided to run for District Attorney, I’d been working as a public defender. I’ve been very frustrated by the actions of the District Attorney’s office in east Texas. The state of Texas had not elected or appointed a Black woman DA. The only Black woman DA that I knew in this country was Kamala Harris. And so I told her how she had been an inspiration, and I didn’t really know if I would even be as far as I was without her, because I always tell people that there’s a lesson in your loss.
Rep. Crockett:
And so I lost that race, but I took the lessons of that race and never lost again. And, you know, I am a believer, regardless of my mouth, and so I believe that everything happens for a reason and that everyone has a purpose. And so, clearly, if I had won that race, I wouldn’t be sitting where I am now. But I did share that with her. And so, I will say that while I anticipate a backlash, I also anticipate an uprising because there will be people that can say, “If she can become President of the United States, there’s nothing I can’t do.” And so I do think that you will see more aggression from women and people of color going for what it is that they know it is that they can do. Whether those are jobs, whether that’s education, whatever it is. Whether it’s politics. I think you will see kind of an uptick. We saw it with Barack Obama. We saw so many more Black folk that ran for office. I think that we’re gonna see that. So while we’ll deal with the negativity, we absolutely will hopefully have more joy than hate.
Errin Haines:
Yeah.
Errin Haines:
let’s turn it back to Texas since we are in Texas here. I wanna talk about the challenges that are here first, because there are more than a million people that were removed from the rolls in this state since the last presidential election. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement that those removals represent an effort to protect the right to vote in a crackdown on illegal voting. So I wanna ask you about this because you represent an urban and progressive part of the state. I mean, how does this action from Attorney General Ken Paxton, who recently sued Bexar County over its plan to proactively mail voter registration for — Bexar County? Correct me, people, correct me. How do you feel about that move from him? How do you feel about Governor Abbott’s actions? And how’s that making you think about your constituents and their ability to participate in this election freely and fairly? I can see by the look on your face — y’all can’t see because we’re taping this podcast — but you all in the audience can see there’s a look on her face right now that portends the answer. So I’ll just let you go ahead.
Rep. Crockett:
Listen, we deserve better in Texas. We do. And the only way that these people can stay in power is to cheat. And so that’s what we see happening. They cheat us out of our accessibility to the ballot box in general by consistently passing voter suppression bills. And then when they feel as if we will outvote the voter suppression, they have now moved on to voter subversion to where they don’t want to count all of the votes. I mean, we deserve better. And my only suggestion to these dynamic leaders is that they actually get some policies that catch up with who we are as Texans. It is shameful, and it is frustrating, to constantly have to fight against the people that were elected to represent you. And that’s what we’re constantly having to do — from the raids that Paxton has had the audacity to usher into the homes of innocent, beautiful Texans that are simply trying to get people to participate in the process, considering the fact that he probably should be — not probably — he should be in prison. Like again…
Rep. Crockett:
I mean, you know, the party of law and order only wants to make sure that certain people are under they thumb. But they never wanna face the music for their bad actions. And we have to get to a point in which we see this world like our kids see the world. It’s black and white. It’s right and wrong. Some things just don’t make sense. You know, speaking of senselessness: our guns. It makes no sense that we are not moving this country forward. And it makes no sense that Texas is one of the fastest growing states in the country, and all they’re trying to do is take us back. Take us back. They don’t wanna move forward. You know, knowing that we’re a majority minority state, knowing that we are so beautifully diverse, yet we’re constantly attacking and trying to minimize those diverse voices.
Rep. Crockett:
Now, they want our bodies so that they can get more seats in the Congress, but all they want is our bodies. Because when we went through redistricting, we grew the state by 4 million people. We added 180,000 Anglos. The other portion of the 4 million were all people of color. You wanna guess how many people of color congressional seats we got?
Errin:
Correct.
Rep. Crockett:
Okay. So, like, this is about a power grab for them. And, you know, the fact that there are no term limits on the Governor and the AG and the Lieutenant Governor, the fact that there are no limits on how much money they can get. They can just call up one of their tycoons and get $2 million dropped into their account. I mean, it is the highest level of corruption that we probably have in any state. And at least in other, kind of, terrible step-cousins of states like Florida.
Rep. Crockett:
Yes, Florida’s one of our ugly step-cousins. At least the people have more power. They can say, “You know what? We want access to reproductive care. So we’re gonna put that on the ballot. We want to legalize marijuana, so we’re gonna put that on the ballot.” We can’t do it in Texas. They don’t want us to be able to do anything, and so instead they wanna keep us being 47th for voter turnout in the country, but even at 47th for voter turnout – and this is what’s scary for them – even at 47th, four years ago, Trump only won this state by five points. Even at 47th, Ted Cruz only won this state six years ago by three points. So just imagine if more people could vote in this state. They know that they’re going down. And so this ain’t about cleaning the rolls.
Rep. Crockett:
And why you gotta clean ’em right at election time? I mean, the timing is curious, right? So like, we not stupid, like we see what you’re doing. So the thing is, I always encourage people to recognize their power and make sure that they don’t cede their power. Do not give away your power. They know how powerful you are, and that is why they are so afraid of you. And so I’m encouraging you to not only go out, exercise your rights and make sure that you have representation that you can believe in, but also tell somebody else, educate them on the fact that they pay our salaries. We work for you. It’s not the other way around. It is time for us to say, “You know what? You are not working for me, so I’m kicking you out.”
Errin Haines:
Well, I wanna talk about, folks maybe recognizing their power, what that power is gonna look like at the ballot box in just a few more weeks. Recent polling shows that Vice President Harris is making gains in Texas. I wonder, it sounds like maybe you might have some thoughts on whether Texas is in play this year and what you think it might take for her to win here.
Rep. Crockett:
I don’t think it’s in play. I don’t. I do think that we are blue. Now, the reality is that Texas is a very expensive state to play in. We have some of the most expensive media markets in the country right here in Texas, in addition to the fact that we’re just not very organized, in addition to the fact that we have approximately 50% of the available positions that go uncontested. And so, here’s the thing: you may not like the top person on the ticket, the top two people on the ticket, but if your neighbor is running for office, you wanna go vote for Betty, even if Betty ain’t got a chance, right? Like you gotta show up for Betty, right? And when you’re talking about these thin margins, you’re talking about three points and five points. If you just got people showing up for Bettys everywhere, then we will get it.
Rep. Crockett:
But like, it’s gonna take a little bit. We don’t have people investing in us because they believe that we’re deep red. So I will say that so long as we can get close this time, which I think we can, then I am gonna be the one on the front lines asking for all the investments to pour into our state to make sure that we’re getting organized, to make sure that we can go out and recruit all the Bettys all around the state to run for office and to make sure that we start communicating. ‘Cause, you know, everybody thinks that the win for anything democratic is by going into the urban areas. And I represent an urban area. But let me tell you, we got a good story to tell in rural America, especially in rural Texas. As someone who was in East Texas, I know the challenges that come in rural America, and I understand that our hospitals are closing down every day in rural Texas. And the reality is that your life expectancy is cut short just because you live in rural Texas because we have idiots that are running the state. But who’s talking to them? Who’s telling them this? We’re not going and telling them, you realize they could be getting these federal dollars which would help to keep your hospitals afloat. You deserve better. But guess what: Democrats? They work for everybody. Like, we have a good message for rural America and we’re not telling it.
Errin Haines:
Yeah. And I think that was really what was so striking to me about when the Vice President went to South Georgia. I’m a Georgia native, but I live in Atlanta, which is where you used to usually see Democrats. But to see her in a part of the state where people usually do feel ignored, I think that sends a message to those folks. And, by the way, rural America is also diverse America. It’s not just who we assume lives in rural America. Well I wanna stick with a couple of a couple of issues because you have been out in the country talking to voters about this election. I know that here in Texas, immigration is a perennial issue in Texas politics. It’s also among the issues that was in Vice President Harris’ portfolio. I wanna ask you about her performance on addressing those root causes of migration. And what do people who are not in Texas, as you’re out in the rest of the country, kind of understand about what should happen on the border and what do you wanna see happen?
Rep. Crockett:
Yeah, so this is an interesting one. I’m gonna be honest. In my district, nobody’s ever asked me about immigration. Not once. I’m just saying, they haven’t. And I’m in Texas. So I’ll tell you that the Texas border has always been the border, and immigration is something that we have always failed at under all administrations. That’s just the reality. And so there’s arguments as to why we fail at it and why we don’t. I will say this: There’s a couple of things that we have going on. We have the Right that wants to stoke fear and say it’s a border security issue. Security and immigration are not the same. They’re not. They’re two totally different things. Okay? And so just to clear up some of the lies, ’cause I’m not even gonna say that they misinformed — they just lying. When it comes to things like fentanyl, it’s Americans. Americans are actually the ones that are bringing it across the border, just to be clear. If we’re concerned about the drugs and that kind of stuff. In addition to that, building a wall don’t fix nothing.
Rep. Crockett:
Third of all, we do have an issue as it relates to criminals — everywhere, not just at the border — but obviously we’re dealing with cartels, and cartels a whole other level. Um, and so some of what you see when you see an influx of people, and, and truly if you Google, there have been hearings where we’ve talked about this, where the cartels are the ones that put it out there because they wanna flood the border so that then we’re having to deal with an influx of people, okay? That’s one issue. Another issue is that I tell people a lot of times to Google “Japan economy and immigration” because we are, number one, a country of immigrants. Number two: Our economy actually depends upon immigration. It does. And so it’s important that we do this the smart way because when I’m out, I usually ask people things like, “Tell me how many of you are raising farmers?”
Rep. Crockett:
Don’t everybody raise your hand at one time, is usually what I say, right? Because I don’t get anyone that’s actually raising a farmer. But then people are like, “Well, the cost of food is high and the president is the reason.” And I’m like, “It’s not really that simple because the food don’t just show up on your table or at the grocery store.” Let’s take it back, right? And so as there has been this terrible rhetoric around migrants, we’ve not been able to move them like we need to by making sure that we’re given the resources to border control so that they can determine who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy that’s trying to get in, number one. Number two: some of these lower-level positions, or entry-level positions, they are positions that so many members of the migrant community will take up because our dollar is still strong.
Rep. Crockett:
So they can come over here, they can work on the farm, a lot of our hospitality positions. And when you send that money back home to your family, it goes so much further. And so that’s part of my issues around immigration. The other part is really, it’s very simplistic to just look at the border and be like, “Look at all them people. And the president is the problem.” It is very, very simplistic to act that way.
Errin:
Or to blame her, which former President Trump is attempting to do.
Rep. Crockett:
Or to blame her. What she did was the right thing. You have to determine what it is that is causing people to say, “I will leave my home and risk my life to go to a place that I don’t even, sometimes, a lot of times, speak the language.”
Rep. Crockett:
You gotta understand people not just saying, “Well, yeah, you know, lemme just run on up.” That’s not what it is. And so one of the examples that I give is the Haitians, especially when talking to Texans — if you’ll recall, Governor Abbott had his officers out there on horseback whipping the Haitians in the water. That was a few years ago, ok? No one asked because every time they talk about the border, they act like everybody coming from Mexico, which is so ignorant. But nevertheless. So no one asked, “Well, what’s going on with the Haitians? Why are the Haitians at the border?” And then it was only somewhat recently that the rest of the world started to learn about the destabilization of their government. So finding out root causes of migration is helpful to figure out what it is that we can do. And so while I know there are those that are like, “Don’t send my tax dollars elsewhere,” let me tell you: Of our budget, which is a multi-trillion dollar budget,
Rep. Crockett:
one percent of our budget goes to foreign aid. But if that means that we can help to stabilize other communities, then that reduces how much of an influx that we have. So when she (Vice President Harris) was charged with figuring out what was going on, Venezuelans, she was charged with that — figuring out what’s going on. Because usually there is a destabilization of some sort, and trying to help fix that. When you look at the numbers, what she was charged with dealing with, those numbers actually did decrease. So you can’t look at the border and then say “It’s all the Vice President’s fault” and whatnot, because again, we have so many layers to why people are migrating. And it is important that we have strong trade policy and that we are also investing in the stabilization of some of these communities. Because again, our dollar is so strong that when we invest over there, it goes a lot further when we make our investments in their country versus if they come over here.
Errin Haines:
Yeah. Well I wanna talk about the reality that you are heading back to Washington next week. I know, I know, but yes. You gotta go back to Washington next week. And because this is an election year, that means that the dynamics in Congress are probably a little different. I’m wondering what it is that you hope you can get done with the election looming, where you see any opportunity to make any kind of legislative progress, and how you see the election maybe complicating things on the hill in the coming weeks.
Rep. Crockett:
Nothing’s gonna happen, y’all. I mean, listen, it’s the most unproductive Congress in the history of this country. So I don’t see that changing. I mean, these were the people that couldn’t pick a Speaker, and then once they picked him, they kicked him out and this one is hoping he don’t get kicked out. Because as we go back, we’re supposed to deal with the budget. That’s what got McCarthy kicked out last time, because we were doing continuing resolutions. And they just released the language, I think yesterday, for the proposed continuing resolution. And so my staff is going all the way through it, but I was like, “How far does it go?” And so it goes through March if it ultimately passes, but we’re supposed to be in for three weeks. We’re supposed to get our budget passed by September 30th.
Rep. Crockett:
It’s not gonna happen. And for those of you that don’t understand, the way that the budget is, it’s kind of like, you know, “I got rent, I got my car note.” Like we have these very kind of separate bills that make up the entire budget. Essentially in order for a bill to make it to the floor for a vote of the full House, we have to agree on the rule first. Well, I think they’ve got a historic number of rules that have failed this time. So, you know, we will see how they deal with their Speaker in light of the fact that he is going to try to bring a continuing resolution instead of us getting through with our budget. I do think it is curious. There have been a lot of talk about “Will it go to the end of the year or will it go to March?”
Rep. Crockett:
Going to March is almost like they think they’re about to lose the House, which they should, they deserve it. But also because we finally passed our FY24 budget and we were six months late on passing it. And so, you know, there were concessions that we had to make because we don’t run the House. There were things that they did such as get rid of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office that was in the House. I mean, they did, you know, they took their punches. So there’s still some ugly stuff in what they passed. So if they do a continuing resolution, then they know that they at least get to keep their ugly stuff for, uh, you know, at least a couple of extra months into the year. But I do think that they’re gonna lose the House even though we have to deal with gerrymandering so much, especially down South. But I think that there is such a groundswell for this ticket as well as there’s just a level of disenchantment with just the dysfunction that we have seen out of this Republican held House. It is the one thing that I am most confident about is that we are about to kick them outta power and Hakeem Jeffries is gonna become Speaker.
Errin Haines:
Well, I wanna fast forward, also, to now after the election.
Rep. Crockett:
Yes. Brighter days.
Errin Haines:
I know what you’re thinking about the outcome of this election. But I’m also wondering what you are thinking in terms of the peaceful transfer of power. We saw what happened on January 6, obviously. We see the former President again raising the specter of a rigged unfair election if the outcome is not what he thinks that it should be. How concerned are you about the peaceful transfer of power? How concerned are you about, frankly, your colleagues in Congress going along with certifying the results of this election?
Rep. Crockett:
Mm-Hmm. Let us all bow our heads. Okay. So peaceful transfer of power, I feel a lot better about it than I did before.
Errin Haines:
Why?
Rep. Crockett:
Because the Vice President of the United States is Kamala Harris. It ain’t Mike Pence. So even though Mike did the right thing — like let’s give it up for Mike Pence. ‘Cause Lord knows, he had pressure on him. So the thing is, regardless of who wins, because the President doesn’t assume until the 20th, so she will still be serving as the Vice President. So she will still be the President of the Senate. So I have all faith in Vice President Kamala Harris doing the right thing. That’s number one. As it relates to the House, the House will be a new House ’cause we swear in before the President. And so, because I feel really good about us taking the House, that means Hakeem Jeffries versus MAGA Mike.
Rep. Crockett:
So I feel pretty good. Which is why now they’ve moved on to the next level of threat, which I am more concerned about that, which we see in states like Georgia where they’ve decided that they’ve set up these bootleg, I don’t know, boards or whatever, trying to not have to certify the vote. I still don’t fully understand exactly what the goal is or how they’re going. And I wish we could get something done on the federal level. This may be something we have to deal with later, but I think that we’re going to have to be clear that they can do whatever they want to with they state elections. But when it comes to these federal elections, listen, if you don’t turn your paperwork in by a certain time, that’s it. Like we moving with what we got. Um, and so, you know, I think that there’s something to explore around that.
Rep. Crockett:
And I think that as we are trying to push forward with John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, as well as the Freedom to Vote Act, that now that we see that they’re constantly coming up with new schemes to try to minimize and deplete people’s voices that we go ahead and include some more protections on the federal level around the vote itself. So I’m more concerned, but we are, you know, when I go out and we’re raising money for the campaign, I like to be transparent about where people’s money is going. ‘Cause most people are like, “Oh, I’m giving money.” And they don’t know. They’re just like, “Oh, it’s for the commercial,” which true it is for the commercial. But I like to make sure that they understand the layers and one of the – this will probably be one of the most expensive legal races we’ve had. Because we are going to have to pay lawyers to be in court before the vote, as well as lawyers to be in court after the vote. And so there’s going to be probably a ridiculous amount of money that’s being spent on legal fees.
Errin Haines:
Yeah, I was just gonna add that also makes me wonder what, what you think, is the Department of Justice doing enough headed into this election? Is there more that you feel like they could or should be doing to ensure that this election, is it free and fair and safe?
Rep. Crockett:
Listen, I mean, I think with the resources that (Attorney General) Merrick Garland has, he’s doing more than we’ve ever seen. Is there more to be done? Yeah. Because we… listen, we’re not just fighting with people that, in my opinion, are un-American in this country. We fighting people from other countries as well. And so, he really took a bold step when he decided that he was gonna prosecute those that basically had agreed to be pawns for Russia. And meddling in our elections waiting until after the fact is too late. And I think that that’s what we saw in 2016. So I do appreciate that he is getting out ahead of it. But, you know, in oversight, we’ve had some hearings talking about China as well as Russia. And the threats that they present and it is clear that they have a preferred candidate, the one that likes their leadership.
Rep. Crockett:
You know, the fact that we’re even having pundits that are talking and acting as if we should pal around with Putin, it is absolutely absurd. I don’t think that you have to be a foreign affairs expert to understand that Russia is not our friend. So there’s a lot of work to be done, but this department does not have all of the tools that it needs, and you leave it up to the current MAGA folk that will minimize the tools that the Department of Justice has. They have consistently said things like, “We wanna defund the police.”
Errin Haines:
Mm-Hmm.
Rep. Crockett:
That’s what they wanna do nowadays. It is very frustrating that we have gotten to the point — the very basic things we just can’t agree on. And I am gonna take this moment to be bipartisan ’cause I’ve been beating up on them ’cause they deserve it. But I will say this: Texas has an opportunity to get rid of a pain in our behind this election if we just see it through. ‘Cause I think a lot of Republicans don’t like him as well. I will tell you that I can’t work with Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz has no intentions of doing anything.
Errin Haines:
This is your bipartisan moment that we’re…?
Rep. Crockett:
It is.
Errin Haines:
Alright. I’m gonna let you, I’m following along. I’m just gonna follow along.
Rep. Crockett:
But our Senior Senator, John Cornyn, has absolutely been a partner to me. And when I couldn’t swear in because of the chaos of his people in the House, his office called our office and said, “Hey, any constituent calls you get, send them to us because we weren’t official.” So I had access to nothing. In addition to that, he said, “If you have legislation that you feel like is good for Texas, don’t go just looking for a Democrat on the Senate side. Come to me first,” and he carried — and this is face to face, this isn’t through, like, he sat me down in his office. And so he actually has been a huge champion of a lot of my fentanyl legislation, and he’s actually been out there more with it than I have ’cause I’ve been all over the place. As well as some other bills.
Rep. Crockett:
The reason that I bring this up is because I know we can do better. I know we can do better. I get that we won’t see the world the same. And granted, he probably still feels like it’s okay for people to control my body, but at least we can find common ground about some basic stuff. And so that’s what’s so frustrating to me about, “Are we gonna shut down?” It shouldn’t be a question about whether or not we’re gonna shut down. It should be that the one job that we have is to keep the lights on in the government. And so no, yes, we won’t shut down. Like that should always be a thing. But we can’t get to the very basics that help all of us. It is not partisan to make sure that air traffic control is still operating, ’cause last time I checked everybody flying.
Rep. Crockett:
Right. Like, I mean, that is what’s so frustrating about this job. And I will tell you that in that moment when I met with the Vice President, I was feeling frustration, but I was also feeling like you can’t complain about being frustrated because here it is: You’re one of less than 60 Black women to ever have this opportunity. So how dare you complain and how dare you wanna give up? But at the same time I’m like, “I’m showing up and it’s like I showed up to kindergarten class,” like I could be making a bigger difference and making better money somewhere else. It’s how I was feeling. But I will tell you that I am so thankful to each and every one of you because it’s the people that fuel me as I walk into the chamber and have to deal with some of the most ridiculous people I’ve ever met in my life. It is only when I am out of the chamber talking to real people who are truly concerned about them and their families and their neighbors that I am inspired to go back in and fight another day.
Errin Haines:
Amazing. Okay. Representative Jasmine Crockett, thank you so much for stopping by The Amendment. Thank you for being here with us in Austin at the Texas Tribune Festival. We so appreciate you.
The Amendment is a co-production of The 19th News and Wonder Media Network. Our executive producers are Jenny Kaplan, Terri Rupar, Faith Smith and Emily Rudder. The show is edited by Grace Lynch and Julia B. Chan, produced by Brittany Martinez, Grace Lynch and Luci Jones. And post-production support from Julie Bogen, Victoria Clark, Lance Dixon, and Wynton Wong. Artwork by Aria Goodman. Our theme music is composed by Jlin.