Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez on Wisconsin Governor’s Race
2/17/202620 mincomplete
0:00Talk about a rude awakening on President's Day.
0:03Donald Trump is getting some new polling data fresh out of places like Wisconsin, where
0:09his approval is at all -time lows.
0:11You just take a look right here at Wisconsin.
0:14He has a net negative approval of 19 .4%.
0:20In a swing state like Wisconsin, Donald Trump's net negative is net negative 0 .4%.
0:28The people in Wisconsin, like the rest of this country, is livid at Donald Trump's
0:34lies, his cover -up of a child sex trafficking ring, his provoking more wars across
0:41the world, and just the grift from he and his right -wing oligarchs stealing from
0:47the people, depriving people of homes, taking away people's future, literally taking away people's healthcare
0:53to give it over to his right -wing oligarch friends.
0:56I'm not sure if you saw this GOP headquarters in Wisconsin.
1:01I mean, just to show you the people's rage is labeled pedophile protectors over the
1:08GOP offices right there. We've just learned that Cargill Meat Solutions is now laying off
1:16its entire staff. It's shutting down factories there.
1:20Wisconsin workers paying the price of Donald Trump's failed economic policies and erratic trade war.
1:26Yep, Cargill Meat Solutions, which has been around forever, announced the closure of a protein
1:32processing facility in Milwaukee. Wisconsin has lost over 2 ,000 manufacturing jobs as Trump has
1:41catapulted the United States into a manufacturing recession.
1:47In addition, one of the things that Donald Trump's recent executive orders overturning these findings
1:56that global warming creates health problems, one of the main issues that are being caused
2:03is that we're seeing huge amounts of jobs being lost as well.
2:08Wisconsinites could see almost $19 billion in fuel costs, $5 billion in health harms through
2:162025 based on the repeal of the finding that greenhouse gases cause harm.
2:2539 ,000 more asthma attacks, potentially up to 1 ,700 deaths.
2:30I mean, just in terms of the economic impact of what Trump's EPA, which is
2:36really anti -EPA, anti -protection, is doing.
2:40I mean, Trump's attack on universities like University of Wisconsin, it's crushing the ability of
2:47foreign students to transfer to 10 schools here in the United States.
2:53I mean, we're seeing a drop, what, over the past year, about 25 % drop
2:58of new international students to our universities.
3:02And then just take a look at this letter right here that was sent by
3:05a bipartisan group right here of farmers and farm leaders.
3:11It was sent to the House Agriculture Committee, as well as the Senate Committee on
3:16Agriculture. And, you know, you have former leaders from the U .S.
3:21agriculture, leaders and former leaders from all the top U .S.
3:25agriculture commodity associations, biofuel organizations, farm leaders, ex -USDA, United States Department of Agriculture members.
3:34Look at this list of people.
3:35It's all the top people spanning multiple administrations, Democrats, Republicans, independents.
3:41I mean, you have people like the National Corn Growers Association, the Renewable Fuels Association,
3:49the National Barley Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Milk Producers Federation.
3:57Who else is on this list?
3:58More National Corn Growers, U .S.
4:00Grains Council, Renewable Fuels Association, the Illinois Pork Producers, the Farm Bureaus, you know, and
4:08all these different farm states.
4:10Here's what they're saying is going down right here regarding the Trump regime.
4:15Again, this is not some partisan letter from the Dems or the liberals.
4:19This is coming from these bipartisan groups, and it's being sent to the United States
4:24House and the Senate Agriculture Committees.
4:26We are writing today to express our significant concerns about the state of America's farm
4:31economy and the harmful and compounding effect that the administration policies are having on our
4:37farmers and on the long -term competitiveness of U .S.
4:40agriculture. We are also writing to thank each of your efforts to advance a farm
4:44bill and farm labor legislation, your success in securing increase in agricultural conservation funding, and
4:51for your ongoing efforts to secure additional financial aid for farmers.
4:55We write as a group of bipartisan former leaders of American Agriculture Commodity and Biofuels
5:02Associations, farm leaders, and former USDA officials.
5:05We have spent our entire careers working to build U .S.
5:09agriculture and are dismayed at the I remember pulling the U .S.
5:11immediately to me down the amount of pressure so I can afford this damage that
5:12is being done to American farmers.
5:14Farmer bankruptcies have doubled. Barely half of all farms will be profitable this year, and
5:19the U .S. is running a historic agriculture trade deficit.
5:22These metrics reflect a sharp reversal from record farm export surpluses and farm incomes experienced
5:29just a few years ago.
5:31There are a few tragedies greater than the loss of a family farm, representing not
5:36just the loss of a livelihood, but a loss of a way of life for
5:40rural families. And again, it talks about all things under the Trump regime.
5:45They're causing increased cost of farm inputs, lost of market access as a result of
5:50Trump's trade war against the world, weakening international trade partnerships, cuts to foreign and domestic
5:57food aid. Just think about it.
6:00USAID used a lot of agricultural produce, a lot of produce from American farmers that
6:06were just burned and incinerated and the farmers were never paid.
6:09Failure to adequately support biofuels, disruption of farm labor with ice raids, for example, cuts
6:16to USDA staffing and agricultural research.
6:19And it says, look, this again, bipartisan folks.
6:22And this is, of course, is crushing Wisconsin where you have Wisconsin farmers.
6:26And this is what the farmers are saying.
6:28The policies of this administration have caused tremendous harm to U .S.
6:32agriculture, but it is not too late to turn this around.
6:35We ask Congress, take the following actions to begin restoring America's farm economy to stable,
6:41dependable footing, immediately exempt all farm inputs from tariffs, repeal tariffs that are disrupting agricultural
6:48export markets, pass trade promotion authority to enable the administration to pursue and secure meaningful,
6:56enforceable free trade agreements that can be passed by Congress and have the full force
7:00and effective law. Direct the administration to prioritize the negotiation of binding trade agreements with
7:07countries that need our agricultural products that can help offset other market disruptions.
7:12Notice they use the word binding because Trump's making up fake deals that don't exist
7:18with random areas and they're not binding.
7:21So no one's actually doing the things that Trump claims they're doing.
7:24It's all a fugazi, a fake, a fraud.
7:26These bipartisan group of farmers go on to say, encourage the administration to expeditiously complete
7:32the review of the USMCA, the United States, Mexico, Canada agreement, favorably resolve the pending
7:40dairy dispute settlement case with Canada and ensure the USMCA is extended for the next
7:4616 years. Pass legislation to enable nationwide E15 year round ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel,
7:54pass a new farm bill, pass farm labor reform, including reform to the H -2A
7:58program, restore funding for land grant agricultural research, critical USDA staffing and domestic international food
8:06aid programs. And again, what these farmers are saying is don't play us like fools.
8:11Don't think we're idiots. Don't come into our towns and say, oh, I love the
8:15farmers. The farmers love me.
8:16The farmers love Trump. They're like, no, you're not helping the farmers.
8:20You are screwing the farmers and we're not stupid.
8:23Stop treating farmers like we're dumb.
8:25We know what you're doing and you're crushing states like Wisconsin.
8:29I want to bring in Sarah Rodriguez.
8:32She's the Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin.
8:34She's running for Governor of Wisconsin against a guy by the name of Tom Tiffany.
8:39Tom Tiffany is an ultra MAGA Congress member who Donald Trump is putting in there
8:45in order to do more ice raids on Wisconsin, to attack the farmers of Wisconsin,
8:51to do golden ballrooms and to institute Donald Trump's radical extremist agenda.
8:58I mean, Tom, Tom Tiffany is Mr.
9:00Tom Tiffany MAGA. Look at, look at Donald Trump's endorsement.
9:03He goes, we're doing great with the farmers.
9:05Me and Tom Tiffany is what he says in his endorsement.
9:08No, you're not. No, there's a reason why y 'all are negative 19 .4.
9:12All right. I want to bring in Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez, who is running
9:16for governor in the Democratic primary.
9:19Lieutenant Governor, it is great to see you.
9:21I mean, look, all states are under attack right now from this Trump regime, and
9:26especially when it comes to health care costs.
9:30But I just know when I speak with people in Wisconsin, they tell me over
9:34and over again, you know, it's at a crisis point where people are dying and
9:41feel that they're about to die.
9:44And I don't know how, I don't want to mince words about what this is.
9:47People are worried they're about to die because they can't access health care.
9:50Yeah. You know, I'm a nurse by background.
9:52I have spent my entire career in health care.
9:55I ran for office because I was so disappointed in the COVID response here in
10:00Wisconsin. And as Lieutenant Governor, I've gone to all 72 counties every year I've been
10:05Lieutenant Governor. And you're right, people are really scared right now about what's happening within
10:10health care. I've talked to small business owners who are basically not going to be
10:15re -upping their insurance on the exchange because they simply can't afford the premiums without
10:21the tax credit subsidies. And so they're just holding on and crossing their fingers and
10:27hoping that they're going to be okay for a year or two and hope the
10:30next Congress comes in and fixes this.
10:33These things that Trump and, you know, the Republican like Tom Tiffany here in Wisconsin
10:38that they've broken. And these costs are just going up exponentially for people, you know,
10:45and it's especially where Trump has destroyed the people who collect the data.
10:50But the thing that it's hard to know is because you always hear I've heard
10:55tons of stories like this.
10:57My neighbor was feeling sick and they said, you know what, I'm not going to
11:02go. I can't go to that.
11:03I can't afford going to the doctor.
11:05And so they didn't go.
11:06It developed into something. And then somebody, you know, in their forties or fifties dies.
11:12And that's directly traceable to this.
11:16And when other countries are looking at what's happening here, how cruel and unusual it
11:22is that in the United States of America in 2026, frankly, any timeframe, we let
11:28people, we let people die instead of giving them access to healthcare in this country.
11:34And then you have Trump and Dr.
11:36Oz and RFK Jr. doing pull -ups and doing weird voice, whatever.
11:41And he's out, he's out there, you know, saying it's great.
11:45We've, we've saved your healthcare.
11:48And, you know, as you're telling me, the people aren't buying them.
11:52No, they're not. They're not.
11:53Cause they can see what their bills are.
11:55They can see they've got eyes, they've got ears, they're able to do math.
11:59They know that their healthcare bills are increasing.
12:01They know that their premiums have gone up exponentially.
12:05I mean, I was an emergency room nurse prior to the Affordable Care Act passing.
12:11And I still remember this man coming in, single dad, it was newly diagnosed with
12:16congestive heart failure. He should have been in the hospital and he left.
12:20He signed out against medical advice, AMA, because he said he couldn't afford to miss
12:25work. And there was no way that he could afford a hospital stay because he
12:30didn't have the insurance to be able to pay for it.
12:33And that's where the Republicans like Trump, Tom Tiffany here in Wisconsin, they just want
12:37to drag us back to that era where people weren't able to afford their medications.
12:42We're not able to afford a hospital stay.
12:45And really things that could have been solved earlier with a primary care visit with
12:49your doctor now become emergencies because they're not able to access the care that they
12:54need. Right. And then on top of that, you have the nursing profession under attack
13:01as well. Nurses, very vocal after Trump won about RFK.
13:08Yep. Giving lots of warnings.
13:10We featured stories of nurses here about what was going to happen.
13:14And it just seems like when Trump and this regime is thinking about like, you
13:19know, while other people are thinking about, we'll talk about, you know, your platform going
13:23forward for Wisconsin, like, what can I do to help people access healthcare, access education,
13:28afford homes, do things for the Trump regime that they sit around and they're just
13:32like, no, we should do.
13:34Let's not call nursing a profession anymore.
13:37And let's just make sure that how can we use the department of education to
13:42screw over nurses or, you know, what can we do to hurt the children?
13:46Should we take away their lunches?
13:48Let's take away their lunch.
13:49And you're like, what are you doing?
13:51Shouldn't the government be helping and not inflicting pain?
13:55But nurses, the profession of nurses is just entirely under attack by this regime.
14:00Yeah. I mean, I could not believe it when they came out that said nurses
14:03were not a profession. I mean, come on.
14:06Right. We are able to take care of so many different people across the healthcare
14:10system. Anybody who's accessed the healthcare system knows how much nurses care.
14:16And how much work we do to make sure that people stay healthy.
14:20And so it was so rude and honestly, shockingly stupid for them to do this
14:25because we already have a nursing shortage.
14:28And then to come out and say, we're not professionals and that we can't access
14:32either loans or dollars to be able to get an advanced education.
14:36You're just going to make the whole healthcare system worse.
14:40Talk to us about this primary though.
14:43It's a crowded field. Spoke with some of the other candidates.
14:47It's a field rich with qualified fighters, including yourself.
14:54And so as you're out there making the pitch to voters, what's your agenda that
14:59you think sets you apart?
15:01So number one, I think this is going to be a healthcare election.
15:04I think that healthcare is going to be central to this election and it is
15:07such a complicated space. And to have somebody like myself who has worked within healthcare
15:11for decades, I think that's going to be a plus to be able to know
15:15which levers we can pull to try to lower costs.
15:18Secondly, I'm the only one in that primary field who actually won in a red
15:23district. I live in Waukesha County, which is not exactly a bastion of liberalism.
15:28And I was able to flip an assembly district from red to blue.
15:32We know Wisconsin is one on the margins.
15:34And so we are going to have to have somebody in November who can speak
15:38to the entire state and make sure we do not have a Republican governor.
15:42Because if we get Tom Tiffany as our governor, all that chaos and crazy that's
15:47happening in Washington, DC, that's just going to trickle right down to Wisconsin.
15:52And I know Wisconsinites don't want that.
15:54So we've got to be clear, you know, who we're going to be picking.
15:57They need to be able to win in November.
16:00You know, what I appreciate, you know, something you did recently where you acknowledge that
16:06you misspoke on something. You just said, I misspoke.
16:09I really didn't. And most politicians don't say that.
16:13They either double down or they say something different.
16:16You said, I didn't mean that.
16:18And the question was framed about administrative warrants and your overall view of it.
16:25And you gave kind of a technical answer.
16:27And people said, well, are you embracing this idea of administrative warrants?
16:32And I think you understood, like my own view, and that doesn't mean others have
16:36to share my view, but my view on the show is that ICE and Border
16:39Patrol, frankly, need to be abolished on their current constitution.
16:43This is not what ICE is supposed to do.
16:45This is not what Border Patrol is supposed to do.
16:47It needs to go. But I think what you were hearing, and I want you
16:52can address it, is that people feel this is an existential moment because it is.
16:56And people don't view this as politics as normal.
16:59They see a fascist regime out there that is invading states and doing it unconstitutionally.
17:06And so, you know, and I think as you're seeing people thinking about governors, it's
17:11which governor is going to fight back against the fascism.
17:15So can you address that and assure the people, you know, in Wisconsin that you
17:20understand the fascist threat and that you're going to fight back against it?
17:24Absolutely. I was actually the first primary candidate here in Wisconsin to issue a statement
17:31and a plan of how we could proactively defend ourselves against these lawless ICE agents
17:37and federal agents. So I called upon the legislature to be able to make sure
17:42that they were unmasked, that they wore clear identification, they wore body cameras, they should
17:49not be doing raids in places like churches, schools, healthcare systems, courthouses, any place that
17:55where people actually need to access services and that they should be able to use,
17:59they need a judicial warrant to do arrests.
18:02And so, yes, I misspoke, but I just want to be clear about that.
18:06And I did this actually before Alex Preddy was killed.
18:10I could see that we needed to have a proactive stance in Wisconsin before they
18:15came in. And so I just want to be clear about that.
18:19And then before we go, where could people learn more about the campaign?
18:24And what else do you want to say?
18:25We have 6 million subscribers out there who are watching it.
18:28People in Wisconsin know the work you do as a lieutenant governor.
18:31But for those who are being introduced to you for the first time, what's kind
18:35of your final message and your pitch to everybody?
18:39Well, you know, politicians aren't so trusted right now, but nurses are.
18:43And I think that this is a way that we can have leadership where we
18:47can get more trust in government.
18:49If you want to learn more about my campaign, you can go to Sarah, S
18:52-A -R -A -4 -W -I -F -O -R -W -I .com.
18:56Learn more about my stances, my healthcare plan.
18:58We're rolling out different initiatives and would love people's support along the way.
19:03Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez, we appreciate you sharing.
19:08Come back and let's chat more.
19:10All right. Thank you so much.
19:11I appreciate it. Everybody hit subscribe.
19:13Let's get to 6 million subscribers.