Before becoming the president of Congress’ freshman Democratic class, Rep. Robert Garcia was the youngest, first Latino, and first openly gay mayor of Long Beach.
He was also once a registered Republican.
“When my family and I immigrated here, we came here because of Ronald Reagan's immigration bill in the ‘80s,” Garcia explained on KNX News’ daily political show Countdown 2024. “His work as a Republican president put us on a pathway to citizenship. My whole family became Republicans.”
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But as he got older, he said, “that party changed.”
“We all realized that the non-support of gay people, the attacks on women, the attacks on working people and immigrants like ourselves, just no longer welcome in that party. So we all became Democrats” he said. “And today you can't even recognize that Ronald Reagan party. It doesn't exist anymore.”
Garcia, now considered among the most liberal members of Congress, defended Vice President Kamala Harris’ ”common sense” economic plan against attacks from former President Donald Trump.
“I think Donald Trump is just very desperate to attack the vice president,” he said. “He calls her all sorts of names, says all sorts of inappropriate things, and I think he just doesn't want to live up to the fact that his economic plan is essentially tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations.”
He also said Harris’ support of abortion access is among the reasons why the vice president polls higher with women.
“I think that obviously women for a long time have been, you know, a base of support for the Democratic Party,” Garcia said. “I think clearly the issue of, for example, of abortion is really important. Women want to have choices over their health, over their reproductive choices.”
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Garcia said he believes Harris is “on track to win the electoral college race.”
“We have been concerned about Trump winning this race for a long time, and those aren't new [concerns]. Everyone now should know the danger of Donald Trump as president,” he said. “But I also think that we should look at the facts. One is grassroots fundraising for the vice president is through the roof, historic levels, outpacing Donald Trump. Volunteers across the country are pouring into democratic offices, you know, in every state. She has a message that is winning for voters, and she had a knockout performance at the debate.”
Listen to the full episode above to hear from former Trump advisor David Urban, and catch new episodes of Countdown 2024 live at 2:30 p.m. every weekday through Election Day.
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