With just weeks to go until the U.S. 2026 midterm elections, Texas Rep. Greg Casar spoke to Mehdi in front of a LIVE audience in Houston, as Lone Star State Democrats James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa look to flip seats in the U.S. Senate and Governor’s mansion, respectively.
But is this really the year Texas flips blue, Mehdi asks the very progressive Casar, mentioning he’s been hearing this for the entire 27 years he’s been visiting the Lone Star State.
“This is our best shot of my entire life,” says Casar, noting Texans will have to turn out in massive numbers and beat out the influence of one of the state’s biggest Republican donors – Elon Musk. “We can very much win this race, but they’re spending historic amounts of money.”
Casar, who is chair of the House Progressive Caucus, also spoke about how money in politics, and the way DC operates, influenced the Democratic Party and then-President Joe Biden’s support for Israel despite the budding genocide in Gaza.
“[It] unfortunately results in people being treated in a sub-human way,” says Casar. “That’s why getting big money out of politics [and] tarnishing AIPAC’s brand and name the way we have, I think will save kid’s lives.”
He also has some harsh words for ICE: “We are talking about a rogue federal force with a budget bigger than the United States Marine Corps, a budget bigger than the military of most nations.”
Watch above to see Casar and Mehdi talk about:
His visit with Wilbur Rafael Perez, a DoorDash driver shot by an ICE agent in Austin, at a federal detention center
His bill with Sen. Bernie Sanders to ban artificial superintelligence and pause AI development
Whether AOC should run for president in 2028.
Paid subscribers can watch the full 40-minute conversation, while free subscribers can watch a 3-minute preview. If you want early access to live events like this one, upgrade to a paid subscription today to unlock discounted tickets and never hit another paywall on Zeteo again!
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