Billionaire Tom Steyer is on track to spend more on his campaign to succeed Gavin Newsom than any other gubernatorial candidate in California history. Steyer is running on a progressive agenda to build one million homes, ban corporate PAC money from state elections, and prosecute ICE agents. He’s polling near the top of a tight race.
In this ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi Hasan asks Steyer about his promises, Eric Swalwell dropping out of the race, how he would grade Gavin Newsom as governor, and Trump calling him a ‘SLEAZEBAG’ and a ‘LOSER.’
Watch the full video to hear Mehdi press Steyer about his past, his policies, and his billionaire status.
This interview was released a week earlier exclusively to paid subscribers on Zeteo.com. For early access to hard-hitting content, subscribe to our Substack here: https://zeteo.com/subscribe
Point of debate: Is Tom Steyer looking to Fetterman progressives again?
I wouldn’t call Fetterman supporters progressives.
If he even has any.
He won because his opponent was a daytime talk show crony of Donald’s, not because of his progressive bona fides.
Fetterman? You’re being ahistorical if you claim that Fetterman didn’t run as a progressive or didn’t have the support of progressives during their initial, pre-stroke run.
What were his progressive policies? Unwavering support for Israel?
Do you have any data that shows support for him based on his supposed progressive policies? It seemed very obvious to me that his win was more a rejection of Donald and his acolytes.
Medicare for All, wealth taxes, legalizing cannabis, raising the minimum hourly wage to $15, abortion rights, pro-union legislation, among other progressive causes, were all part of their policy platform.
Please. Just, like, drop this. Because you’re out to lunch on the claim that Fetterman didn’t run as a progressive. As a progressive they were endorsed by Bernie Sanders. Then they had a stroke and radically changed practically all of their policy positions. Its up for debate if we were always being lied to or if they genuinely had a personality transformation due to the stroke. But its just a matter of history that Fetterman initially ran as a progressive. Its not really debatable.
That can only be the case if you only have a fictional version of the past in your mind.
He said he was a progressive and it was a lie. Nothing up for debate about it.
I’ve also read an essay about his time as mayor of Braddock. It seems he used family money to do things outside of the democratic process that had a vernier of progressivism (like run a charity store). But nothing much progressives would really claim as their own policy.
And aside from some cheap words during his senate campaign, I don’t see any real bona fides.
I stand by what I said. Some cheap promises and running agains Mehmet Oz got him (barely) over the finish line. And the cheap promises turned out to be conscious lies.
So, kind of the same as Steyer who also says progressive things and doesn’t have any bona fides?
That’s going to be every outsider candidate. Some are going to be full of shit, some are going to change once in office, and some are actually going to pursue what they say they believe.
Probably. Haven’t dug into Steyer’s past.
I’d say Graham Platner reminds me superficially of Fetterman. Saying the right things, but doesn’t have a track record.
Doesn’t mean I don’t support him. Just in proportion to his qualifications.
It’s hard to vote for someone who might be tricking you. Especially if you’ve been tricked before. But there’s some value in signaling that you at least support people saying progressive things.
Too many people considered voting for Cuomo because he was the devil they knew. Some wondered aloud if Mamdani was a plant. I don’t think he spent years at the DSA just to trick us, but it’s possible.
All you can do is do your homework and weigh your options, and not let the perfect be the enemy of the better.
I’ve outlined how what you said was ahistorical and how even the tent-poles of the progressive movement got Fetterman wrong. So since you’ve got a magical wizard-mind that is able to go backwards in time to to rewrite history, please tell us how we get it wrong: Should we trust Steyer? Are they another Fetterman?