Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in The Spin Room following Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz meeting during the CBS News vice presidential debate moderated by CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell and Face the Nation moderator and chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan.
Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas doesn’t mince words — not when it comes to the government shutdown, the Biden administration’s negotiations with Republicans, or even her own party’s shortcomings. Speaking from California this week, where she’s been campaigning for Proposition 50, Crockett offered a blunt diagnosis of the Democratic Party’s biggest political challenge: “We are not perceived as fighters,” she said. “We are perceived as weak.”
Crockett Wants Democrats To Hold The Line
The comment came during a wide-ranging conversation about the shutdown, which has now stretched into its fourth week and left millions of Americans at risk of losing food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Crockett, one of the party’s most vocal new members, said Democrats must resist pressure to fold, even as the economic pain intensifies. “We’re fighting for the basic humanity of all Americans,” she said. “And I think that’s why we find ourselves in this very weird situation — because basically, the Republicans want us to choose between two impossible situations.”
She Says Air Traffic Controllers Will End The Shutdown
Air traffic controller Derick Hines is using the new Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) at the Nashville International Airport on July 21, 2005. The upgrade system improvements could boots safety and reduce travel delays.
Asked how the shutdown might end, Crockett pointed to history — and leverage. “The last time Trump shut down the government, it was air traffic controllers that brought it to an end,” she said. “This government doesn’t run without the people who work in it. Maybe they need a reminder.” Still, Crockett was equally candid about her party’s image problem. “Democrats are the party of empathy,” she said. “We care. We fight for healthcare because we care. We fight for working people because we care. But too many people see that empathy as weakness.” Crockett contrasted that with the GOP’s rhetoric of aggression and division. “They’ve sold this idea that being cruel is being strong — that you’ve got to crush immigrants, mock the poor, call teachers and federal workers lazy. That’s their definition of leadership,” she said. “We’ve got to redefine what strength looks like.”
Crockett Wants To Be Seen As A Threat
For Crockett, that means channeling her courtroom experience as a trial lawyer into plainspoken advocacy — meeting people “where they are,” she said, rather than only talking to political media. It’s an approach that has made her a rising star — and a target. Trump and right-wing outlets have singled her out repeatedly, something she says only reinforces her impact. “They’re not wasting energy on anyone who isn’t relevant,” she said. “They see me, and AOC, and others as threats — and they should.”
It’s Time For Dems To Fight
Crockett said she’s focused on reclaiming the language of power for her party. “People want fighters,” she said. “They want someone who’s not afraid to say what’s real. I can’t make people comfortable with my tone. But I can make sure they know I’m fighting for them — and not because anyone told me to.” For Democrats, she added, that the only way to shed the label of weakness is to be willing to fight like their lives depend on it, because for a lot of people, they actually do.
