(CBS, KYMA/KECY) – Representative Maxwell Frost (D-FL) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the upcoming presidential election.
Brennan brought up a previous CBS News poll from this past summer, saying 40% of young people said “politics over the last few years makes them feel like there’s nothing else they can do” while another 40% say “they want to tune out and watch something else,” with Brennan adding that young people “may not be apathetic, but they certainly don’t seem to be excited about the political system as a way to affect change.”
When asked how Frost would change that, he said:
“It’s not just up to me…t’s up to all of our leaders, all of our organizers, people on the ground, to make sure that young people understand that if they step away from their civic power that they have, there’s people who don’t have their best interests at heart that are more than happy to step into that power for them. I mean, you mentioned, you know, a number that comes before Kamala Harris being the top of our ticket. I’ve seen, as I’ve traveled this country, I did a back to school tour just a few weeks ago, a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around this election, especially with young voters wanting to vote for Kamala Harris. And, you know, there’s this notion that young people are not being involved in the political system, and we can do better, but people should know that young people are voting at the highest numbers in our country’s history. 2020 was the highest youth voter turnout in the history of our country. 2018 and 2022 are the highest youth voter turnout in a midterm in the history of our country, too. So we’re really…we’re trending in the right direction. We just need to continue to reach out to young people, not take those votes for granted.”
During the interview, Brennan brought up a quote from former President Barack Obama during a rally in Pittsburgh to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris saying, “Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president,” to which Brennan asked Frost if he shares the same concern as Obama and how much of an issue is it for the vice president.
“I think it is an issue with a lot of different voters across this country, and it’s something that our country, you know, we’ve come a long way, as in terms of women’s suffrage, we’ve come a long way in terms of making sure of equity in this country. But there’s still a lot of this bigotry in this country in terms of sexism, in terms of racism. And we still have to work at getting over that. Those things are still here. They still exist in a lot of communities. And we still have a lot of work to do here. And so I think President Obama was just having some very serious, tough talk, right, tough love, with a lot of- especially he was speaking directly to young black voters, young black men specifically and making sure that they understand. Look, sometimes you have to take a step back and look at your own bias. What’s the bias you have? What are the real reasons you’re voting against someone or for someone? Is it a legitimate policy thing, or does it have to do more with the vibe of something and then look more into that as well. I think it’s really important. This, like, politics of vibes. We see it a lot here in Florida with someone like Ron DeSantis, who claims to be someone who’s for the people and for democracy. Yet every chance he gets, he acts like an authoritarian. Then I go to voters who have family members, who have escaped countries with authoritarian leaders, and I ask them, why are you voting for someone who’s emulating what your parents escaped? And they can’t quite explain it. It has to do with the vibes, with the atmosphere the politician has created. And I think we still have to contend with that as a country. And that’s what the president was talking about.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL)
To watch more of Brennan’s interview with Frost, click here.
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