For this week’s episode of the Genesis Brand Politics podcast, we interviewed Rep. Will Hurd of Texas”s 23rd Congressional District. And as you’ll hear in the podcast, and read in the selected excerpts below, we covered a lot of ground, including whether School will cast their vote for President, the Trump in November.
The transcript below has been lightly edited.
On whether Hurd will vote for Trump:
Galen Druke: I want to talk about all that strategy and what the future of the party looks like. But are you going to vote for Trump, this woman’s work?
Will Hurd: Like a lot of Americans, I wish I had different options on the ballot. And my plan is always to support the Republican nominee and we’re going to be making those decisions over the next 98 days.
GD: So you’re going to decide whether or not to vote for him over the next 98 days?
T: That is how I always change my election. I’m just like everybody else.
GD: Well, you previously said that you will vote for Trump, this woman’s work. So I’m just embracing the newness and the excitement of the if you’re hesitant a little bit now?
T: I think that’s accurate.
Your polling is showing that. “I’m like everybody else. I don’t want to vote for Joe Biden because in the end, some of the policies, I think that a unified Democratic Party is going to pass … would be hard for the country, and the things that I don’t support and haven’t supported during my time in Congress. And as somebody who’s represented a large, competitive district, and I know something about “competitive” districts, and what needs to be done in order to win.
GD: I understand that desire not to vote for Joe Biden, but I guess, more specifically on whether or not you’ll vote for Trump, what could change your mind in the next 98 days that would make you view him and his presidency differently than what he’s shown us so far?
T: It’s a good question and who knows. I don’t think a year ago we would have been thinking about a global pandemic that would have impact for the whole world and brought the world economy to a standstill. And so, who knows what can happen over these next few weeks.
But in the end, what I think that I’ve been trying to preach to my colleagues is that we have to change the Republican Party. We have to start appealing to broader groups of people. And if we don’t, and also if the Republican Party doesn’t start looking like America, we’re not going to have the Republican Party in America.
GD: Everything you’re saying here makes it sound like you aren’t voting for Trump. Is that the case?
T: As I said, I don’t like either one of my choices. And in the end, we’re going to evaluate this over the next 90 days, or 96 days.
On delaying the election:
GD: The President, Trump suggested delaying the presidential election, which the Congress has the power to do your branch of government. If you would like to support delaying the election?
T: We are not an authoritarian government where the head of state also gets to decide on a whim when an election happens. So no, this is Congress”s role, as you said. It should go forward, ace has been established. And ultimately, look, I’m of the opinion that we should be increasing the ways for the people to vote for the right, the more people that vote, the better off it is. And this is something that I’ve been able to prove, during my time in Congress, that means that if you have to take the message to more people, you can get it to resonate with more people, and we shouldn’t be afraid.
On the U. s. response to the COVID-19:
GD: Overall, do you think the country is doing good job in combating the pandemic?
WHNo. “We have been increasing the death rate, right? We have the world wide web and the number of people that are dealing with this, right? I think the impact it’s had on the United States of America versus other countries is still … we’re dealing with one of the worst cases. We’re having debates on whether you should be wearing a mask or not. – Wear a mask! Right? The mask is to protect yourself but also to protect the people around you. So why are we debating that? In This discussion, and struggle around whether school should open or not — we should be talking about, ‘how do we work together in order to enhance the CDC guidelines, it is on the end of our school?’, not whether or not it should happen.
And so yeah, there are all kinds of problems. But I’m always trying to work with these folks to deal with the problem as it is right now. I know in Texas, a third of the deaths of the coronavirus have been in nursing homes. That’s outrageous. And then also in the prisons. And so if we couldn’t handle this in nursing homes or in prisons, how are we going to be handling it in an educational environment where it is even more chaotic than those other places? So yeah, we have a long way to go.”
On the future of the Republican party:
GD: Let’s talk about where the Republican Party is headed. You said that the Republican Party needs to look more like America. And, you know, right now, it doesn t. You’re the only Black lawmaker on the Republican side in the House. Why do you think there are so few Black lawmakers in the caucus Republicans in the house?
T: Everybody asked me when I first got elected, how does a Black Republican and represent the 71 percent Latino district? And I say it’s because, you know, I work hard and I show up to class in a regular school that had never seen a Republican show up, and you do that multiple times. If you’re showing up as 90 days before an election, that’s called pandering.
You have to be in those communities. Showing up is half the battle. And unfortunately, I think, over time, the professional political consultants, talk about focusing on your likely “x ” voter” — whether that’s a Republican primary voter or the Democratic primary voter — rather than trying to grow and appeal to a broader group of people. “It’s hard.
GD: If you would like to think that’s part of the reason has to do with Republicans actively appealing to white identity?
T: Look, I think when you look at a person like Steve King and, you know, Steve King losing his, is the primary ultimately a good thing — but when you know folks that that have been elected, the Republicans say that this is racist or misogynistic or homophobic things, that hurts all of us that identify with with with being a Republican.
… But what I found is that’s not for everybody. But yeah, over time, have those things been said? Yes. And Does that hurt? Yes. And that’s why we have to speak out when those things do happen.
