Ladies and gentlemen, we are five days away from what could be one of the most consequential midterm elections in American history.
And according to a remarkable New York Times report, things inside Donald Trump’s White House are getting downright bizarre.
Now, I’ve been watching American politics for almost seventy years.
I’ve lived through Vietnam, Watergate, Nixon’s resignation, the Clinton impeachment, January 6th, and enough political scandals to fill the Library of Congress.
But I’ve never seen anything quite like this.
And I’ve got to tell you something.
I think the emperor is finally running out of clothes.
Apparently, Donald Trump spends a considerable amount of time in his private dining room, just off the Oval Office, watching television, making phone calls, and reviewing stacks of articles that his loyal assistants bring him.
Not exactly the Situation Room.
More like a retirement community with nuclear weapons.
And who’s helping him?
Well, there’s Natalie Harp, a devoted aide who reportedly sits in the dining room surrounded by documents.
And then there’s Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Now, you would think the head of the federal housing agency might be busy trying to figure out why young Americans can’t afford a house.
Apparently, he’s also busy making posters and showing the president AI-generated memes.
Posters!
We have an entire generation of young people who can’t afford to buy their first home, and the guy running the housing agency is reportedly making arts and crafts for Donald Trump.
You cannot make this shit up.
And here’s where it gets interesting.
According to the Times, Republican strategists are privately worried that Trump showing up to campaign for their candidates might actually hurt them.
Think about that.
The leader of the Republican Party has become someone Republican candidates may not want anywhere near their campaigns.
That’s like having a restaurant owner who scares away the customers.
“Welcome to Trump’s Steakhouse! Please don’t tell anybody who owns it!”
And yet Trump apparently believes that this entire election should be about him.
Of course he does!
In Donald Trump’s universe, everything is about Donald Trump.
The economy? Trump.
Immigration? Trump.
Foreign policy? Trump.
The price of eggs? Somehow, still Trump.
He’s the only politician I know who could attend somebody else’s funeral and complain that the deceased got more attention.
But there’s something much more serious happening here.
The walls of the political echo chamber appear to be closing in.
According to this reporting, Trump is increasingly surrounded by people who bring him flattering news, favorable photographs, and material that reinforces what he already believes.
And when he encounters criticism?
He lashes out.
Apparently, Bill Maher made some jokes about Trump, and the president responded with a roughly 1,300-word social media tirade.
Thirteen hundred words!
That’s not a social media post.
That’s a hostage situation involving a keyboard.
Imagine being president of the United States, with wars, economic problems, housing shortages, and international crises demanding your attention, and spending your evening dictating an essay about a comedian who hurt your feelings.
I mean, come on!
But here’s the problem.
When powerful people surround themselves exclusively with people who agree with them, they eventually stop hearing the truth.
And when the president of the United States stops hearing the truth, that becomes everybody’s problem.
Because democracy depends on something very simple.
The people in power have to be willing to hear things they don’t want to hear.
And that brings me to something I’ve been learning right here in Greensboro, North Carolina.
I’m running for mayor in 2028.
And I’ve started a project to interview one thousand people in this city.
Not politicians.
Not lobbyists.
Not wealthy donors.
Ordinary people.
People sitting in coffee shops.
People walking down Elm Street.
Students.
Teachers.
Retirees.
People who are struggling.
People who are succeeding.
People who have something to say but feel like nobody gives a damn.
And I’ve discovered something extraordinary.
Everybody has a story. And almost everybody wants somebody to listen.
Now, I’ve got ideas about what Greensboro needs.
Lots of ideas.
But I’ve realized something.
My ideas don’t mean a damn thing if I’m not willing to listen to yours.
That’s what leadership is supposed to be.
Not surrounding yourself with people who tell you how wonderful you are.
Not demanding loyalty.
Not punishing people who disagree with you.
Leadership means being willing to walk into a room full of strangers and say:
“Tell me what I’m missing.”
And sometimes, the answer isn’t going to be pleasant.
Sometimes, somebody’s going to tell you your idea sucks.
Good!
Maybe it does!
That’s how we learn.
That’s how we grow.
That’s how democracy is supposed to work.
Now, let’s talk about next Tuesday.
November 3rd.
The midterm elections.
The polls and political reporting suggest Republicans could face serious losses.
Possibly the House.
Possibly the Senate.
Possibly both.
But let me be very clear.
An election isn’t over until the votes are counted.
And nobody should confuse a prediction with a result.
We’ve seen enough surprises in American politics to know better.
But suppose Republicans do lose control of Congress.
What happens then?
Well, the first thing that changes is accountability.
A Democratic-controlled House could launch investigations, issue subpoenas, and demand answers from administration officials.
If Democrats also controlled the Senate, the balance of power in Washington would shift even further.
And after nearly two years of a presidency characterized by extraordinary assertions of executive power, Congress could become a much more significant check on the White House.
Now, that doesn’t mean every allegation suddenly becomes a proven crime.
It doesn’t mean impeachment automatically happens.
And it certainly doesn’t mean all our problems magically disappear.
But it could mean something we desperately need.
Real oversight.
Real questions.
Real consequences when wrongdoing is established.
And maybe, just maybe, a reminder that the president works for the American people.
Not the other way around.
But here’s something I want everybody to understand.
Even if Democrats win both chambers of Congress, that doesn’t mean democracy has been saved.
Not by a long shot.
Because democracy isn’t something you fix once every two years by pulling a lever.
It’s something you practice.
Every single day.
And that’s where I think America has gotten into trouble.
We’ve become a nation of spectators.
We watch politics like it’s a football game.
Red team versus blue team.
We cheer.
We boo.
We scream at the television.
We post something outrageous on social media.
And then we go back to our lives.
Meanwhile, the people we’ve elected make decisions that determine whether we can afford housing, whether our children get a decent education, whether we can see a doctor, and whether we feel safe in our own communities.
And too often, we don’t even know who those elected officials are.
That’s not citizenship.
That’s spectatorship.
And that’s exactly why I started the Truth Party.
Not because I believe I have all the answers.
Quite the opposite.
Because I’m becoming increasingly convinced that the answers are out there among the people we’ve stopped listening to.
The twenty-three-year-old working two jobs who still can’t afford an apartment.
The seventy-year-old wondering whether retirement savings will last.
The teacher who spends her own money buying supplies for her students.
The small-business owner trying to keep the doors open.
Those people understand something about America that you will never learn from a stack of flattering news clippings in a private dining room.
They understand what life actually costs.
And they understand what happens when government stops paying attention.
So here’s my message as we approach November 3rd.
I don’t care whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent.
I don’t care whether you’re twenty years old or ninety.
I don’t care whether you agree with me about Donald Trump.
I care whether you’re participating in your democracy.
Because the Constitution doesn’t begin with “We the Republicans.”
It doesn’t begin with “We the Democrats.”
And it sure as hell doesn’t begin with “We the President.”
It begins with three of the most powerful words ever written.
WE THE PEOPLE.
And those words mean something.
They mean that the power in this country belongs to us.
Not to the politicians.
Not to the billionaires.
Not to the lobbyists.
And not to some guy sitting in the White House looking at AI-generated pictures of himself.
It belongs to us.
So next Tuesday, get off the couch.
Turn off the television.
Put down the phone.
And vote.
Then stay involved.
Show up at city council meetings.
Ask questions.
Demand answers.
And for God’s sake, talk to somebody who doesn’t agree with you.
You might actually learn something.
I know I have.
Because after almost seventy years on this planet, I’ve discovered something that should have been obvious all along.
The truth doesn’t come from surrounding yourself with people who agree with you.
It comes from having the courage to listen to people who don’t.
And if we can rediscover that simple idea, maybe we can start fixing this country.
One conversation.
One community.
One election at a time.
Because the future of America isn’t sitting in Donald Trump’s private dining room.
It’s standing in line at the voting booth.
We have the power.
We’ve always had the power.
But first, we show up.
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