CNN Congressional correspondent Manu Raju fancies himself as the kind of reporter who will chase congressmen and senators up and down the halls of Congress to ask them the tough questions of the day. However, when he guest hosted Inside Politics on Wednesday, he asked Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio just how concerned he is that Donald Trump is seeking to appeal to Taylor Swift fans.
Deluzio was part of a Tuesday Zoom call called Swifties for Kamala that featured Massachusetts Senators, and noticeably not young people, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey. After hyping the call, Raju introduced Deluzio and asked, “So obviously, Taylor Swift fans, they make up a large number of young people, my daughter included, although she is not of voting age, but Trump is trying to tap into that same base of young voters. He's posting about Swifties for Trump and the like. So, what is your level of concern about Trump successfully tapping into this voting bloc?”
Hard hitting questions from the guy who CNN got offended on behalf of when former Sen. Martha McSally called him a “liberal hack.”
As for Deluzio, he responded, “Yeah, I don't think he's going to. I think the numbers speak for themselves. You saw that the call last night, more than 30,000 people, I think were on that thing, raised, as you said, more than $130,000. And there's real energy and enthusiasm and look, what I heard, and what I continue to hear, not just on calls like that, but all over my district, people want to have their freedom protected.”
He continued to give the typical Democratic stump speech, “They want to have a shot to afford their life and Democrats up and down the ticket are offering real answers there. Donald Trump is completely the opposite for so many folks. He's attacked women's reproductive freedom, did nothing, but give handouts to big corporations and the ultra-rich. That is not something that I think most young people have any interest in and certainly not folks who are fired up to take that enthusiasm and do the work that you saw in a call like last night.”
Later, Raju worried, “So what would be the impact, Congressman, if she decided not to endorse a candidate and sat out this election?”
Deluzio claimed it probably won’t have too big of an impact and proceeded to essentially repeat his earlier talking points.
Here is a transcript for the August 28 show:
CNN Inside Politics with Dana Bash
8/28/2024
12:42 PM ET
MANU RAJU: Congressman, thank you so much for joining me today. So obviously, Taylor Swift fans, they make up a large number of young people, my daughter included, although she is not of voting age, but Trump is trying to tap into that same base of young voters. He's posting about Swifties for Trump and the like. So, what is your level of concern about Trump successfully tapping into this voting bloc?
CHRIS DELUZIO Yeah, I don't think he's going to. I think the numbers speak for themselves. You saw that the call last night, more than 30,000 people, I think were on that thing, raised, as you said, more than $130,000. And there's real energy and enthusiasm and look, what I heard, and what I continue to hear, not just on calls like that, but all over my district, people want to have their freedom protected.
They want to have a shot to afford their life and Democrats up and down the ticket are offering real answers there. Donald Trump is completely the opposite for so many folks. He's attacked women's reproductive freedom, did nothing, but give handouts to big corporations and the ultra-rich. That is not something that I think most young people have any interest in and certainly not folks who are fired up to take that enthusiasm and do the work that you saw in a call like last night.
…
RAJU: So what would be the impact, Congressman, if she decided not to endorse a candidate and sat out this election?
DELUZIO: I don't know that it would have much of an impact in that direction because I think the facts and the nature of these candidates speak for themselves. When you've got someone like Donald Trump who didn't just take away women's freedom, didn't just pass tax handouts to big corporations, but actively tried to overthrow our democracy, rip our Constitution to shreds I think he's going to lose and I say that as a guy represents a competitive district in Western Pennsylvania, I see the enthusiasm on the ground.
I saw it with Governor Walz and Vice President Harris in Beaver County, in the West Hills of Allegheny County last week or so. There is real energy to make sure that Donald Trump gets nowhere near the White House and the nuclear codes ever again.
