Voters Are Fed Up With Political Division and Washington Dysfunction

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday morning with us today is Congressman Tom Suozzi, and he’s a winner, a winner in Nassau County where Bruce Blakeman was running for governor. And Tom Suozzi, tell us what happened this Tuesday with the election day. A lot of people are scratching their head. Was it a bigger win than you expected? Was it a smaller win than

0:22 you expected? You tell us.

0:26 Speaker 2 Oh, I think it was much bigger. It’s much bigger than anybody thought it would be. And I think that people are just, you know, they’re rejecting the idea of everybody just fighting with each other, attacking each other. They’ve got real concerns about the cost of living. They’re concerned about the war. They’re concerned about AI. They’re concerned about,

0:44 you know, the storms. They’re concerned about all these different things. And they’re wondering, what are you guys in Washington doing for us? Why are you just fighting with each other? What are you doing for me? So I think that there was a rejection of the politics as usual in the division, and they want people to work together. It

1:00 wasn’t because, you know, we love the Democrats and we hate the Republicans. It’s that they’re upset with the status quo and they want change.

1:09 Speaker 1 Well, I agree with you on that. I put a full-page ad in the newspaper this week saying that Democrats and Republicans should come together. And.... And you think we have a shot at coming together?

1:28 Speaker 2 We have to. That’s what the people want. I think it’s one of the reasons I got elected as big as I did. I mean, the president came after me. Johnson came after me. Vice President Vance came after me.

1:37 They spent a lot of money against me. And I think the people in my district are rejecting this negativity. They just want people to work together to get things done. I just wrote an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal this week where I said, listen, The Democrats have got to not squander this opportunity. They won.

1:56 Speaker 1 Now what?

1:57 Speaker 2 You’ve got to spend 75% of your time on affordability and fixing the problems we face and 25% of your time on your constitutional mandate to do oversight. But it would be stupid to rush into impeachment or something like that.

2:12 That would be a waste of time. It would turn everybody off. Focus on solving problems that affect real people’s lives. And I think that’s what we need to do.

2:23 Speaker 1 Do you feel that, I guess, Hakeem Jeffries is going to keep the speakership? Or do you think that the socialists will try to chase him out?

2:35 Speaker 2 Well, that would be a big mistake. Hakeem Jeffries is a very competent, capable, talented leader. I support him. I think he’s a very good guy for the job. It’s great for New York, obviously, to have Jeffries and Schumer and Trump. I know Trump, when I was county executive at Nassau County, actually contributed to my campaign when I

2:56 was Nassau County executive. And I’ve known Schumer and I’ve known Jeffries for years. And this is a great opportunity for New York to get things done. So the socialists, you know, I came out hard against the socialists. I wrote an op-ed piece and I started a group called The Promise to America. And it could fit on the

3:18 index card what it stands for. It says we’re capitalists, not socialists. We’re for safety, not lawlessness. We’re mainstream, not extreme. We’re proud, not ashamed of America. Democrats have got to get back to their basic traditional values. I always say my team hates when I say it, but this is what I believe. I’m a new kind of old-fashioned Democrat.

3:40 We’ve got to get back to rebuilding the middle class so that everybody in America, whether you’re a left-wing progressive or a right-wing conservative, everybody in America should believe that in return for working hard, you make enough money so you can afford to buy a house, raise your family.

3:55 have health insurance, and retire without being scared. We have to get back to a place where we reward hard work. Hard work means a good life. And right now, too many people are working hard every day, and they just can’t get by. We’ve got to get everybody back on track with the idea of supporting that idea.

4:11 Speaker 1 I agree with you that we should get everybody going, working as Americans, not as Republicans and not as Democrats, but as Americans.

4:22 Speaker 2 Yeah, it’s not red versus blue. It’s red, white, and blue. Everybody’s got to work together. As you say all the time, I’ve said it in my previous campaigns, we’ve got to use common sense. What will help people make their lives better?

4:34 You know, every problem we face in the country is complicated. Nothing is simple. Anybody who says, why don’t you just, doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about. You need people of goodwill who may disagree with each other, but they want to help people to sit down with each other and say, well, I think this. And the other

4:48 person says, well, I think that. Well, how about this?

4:50 Speaker 1 Well, how about that?

4:51 Speaker 2 And try to find common ground. Try to figure out... We don’t have to agree on everything, but let’s agree on basic things like how do we reduce people’s grocery prices? How do we reduce gas prices? How do we deal with this debt that is killing America? How do we reduce health insurance costs? How do we reduce energy costs?

5:09 Let’s find common ground to solve the problems that people face in their lives.

5:15 Speaker 1 Well, thank you so much on coming on and... Let’s fight for common sense, and I look forward to working together.

5:24 Speaker 2 Well, listen, John, my brother Chris sees you all the time at your PA all the time. He thinks you’re a great guy, and I really look forward to working together with you to try and help make our country a better place.

5:35 Speaker 1 Look forward. Thank you so much. Thanks, John.