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You a Telerico fan? Oh yeah, big fan. Are you giving me like early Obama vibes? Are you interviewing me right now? Yeah. Awesome. Let's do it. Is this the first time you ever come to a political rally? Yes, it is. Yeah. All of us, right? All of you are first time. Okay. There's a lot of energy around it. Yeah. And it's a good time for change. There's a lot of excitement. I've been coming to Texas for the past 6 to 8 years every now and again doing a story about how Democrats going to win statewide. Never happens.
Not since I was in high school. was different by this time. Uh I don't know. You just feel it more. From our next US winner. On November 3rd, we are going to do something extraordinary. We are going to end 30 years of one party rule in the school. This is like Hollywood, right? It's not just about optics. It's about money. millions of dollars going into this Senate race. This year's race for the US Senate seat in Texas could be the midterm's most decisive election. I've come to San Antonio, a vital battleground in the race between Democrat James Talerico and MAGA loyalist Ken Paxton, who has faced
allegations of corruption, was impeached by his own party, and was recently caught partying with wanted fugitives in Dubai. The Journal says he was there with a woman who is not his wife while also alongside two US fugitives. But Trump has unapologetically backed his campaign. And by THE WAY, YOU'VE GOT TO elect Ken Paxton. You got to do it. The prospect of a progressive turn in this deep red state is igniting passions on both sides. He gets in life as we know it's over. And it's all happening against the backdrop of the world's richest person donating over $150 million to keep the Democrats out. Elon Musk is trying to buy this Senate seat in Texas.
Wants his own personal senator. Our first stop is a Paxton rally at a suburban banquet hall. Not fans of Paxton? No. All right, we doing this. Yeah. Guess it's hour before it starts, but half full, I would say, generously. Thank the Guardian in England. Mind have a quick chat with you? No, we're good. You want to talk? I know what the Guardian does. No, we're good. What brought you out to see Ken Paxton today?
He's been a great attorney general. So, he wasn't impeached by his own party. Yeah. His opponent calls him the most corrupt politician in the history of Texas. Please tell me who other than Jesus Christ was the perfect human being to walk on the face of the planet. I mean, nobody is perfect. You know what? We're not voting for a pastor, a preacher. We're not. We're in politics. It's dirty. He's going to win. What do you think about him, though?
It doesn't matter what I think about him. It's what he's going to do and what he's done for the state of Texas. What do you make about how much money Elon Musk has donated to his campaign? Almost $200 million. It's about time somebody donated to conservatives and the amount they donate to liberals. It's like this. If it's my money, I can do what I want with it. Let me ask you, what's happening in your country? Nothing in my country. In London and other places in England, can little girls walk down the street safely?
Yes. Really? Yeah. What I don't like about England right now though is that it seems like the nation's falling apart and I could go to jail for posting something on Facebook. Where are you hearing? Everybody's saying this to us. Where are you hearing this about England? It's on X. That right-wing conspiratorial thinking was mirrored on stage. These are the people who have facilitated the Islamic invasion of Texas. I know that James Tyler Rico disappeared for two weeks and was probably on a movie binge watching Brokeback Mountain or whatever else was on his blood in the water and the sharks are circling and they're counting on you to not go boat.
James Telerico, you've heard this, calls himself a Christian who hates Christianity. But when asked what he loves most outside of his family, he says trans kids. I mean, this guy is really obsessed with transitions. He wants to transition our kids. He wants to transition Texas off of oil and gas. How about we transition him and his crazy idea right out of Texas? All of this base level culture war politics is central to Republican attempts to hold on to power. But even in areas that lean more conservative, there's been a grassroots response.
We go for a drive just outside San Antonio. It is a no kings day protest day. No kings, just voters. What do you make of the two years that Trump has been in office? Not much. Quick slide off a really tall cliff. It's kind of repulsive. It's been horrible. It's been scary. Losing rights, losing democracy. I don't know how we can ever get back from this, honestly. This is a very Republican county, but a lot of Republicans are mad. What do you make of Elon Musk and how much money he's been donating in this race?
It's sickening that somebody should have that much money in the first place. That is unfair. I think it should be unconstitutional somewhere in there and it should be against the law. I think you should go to the moon. Not come back. Don't come back. People are angry. You can tell, right? Throwing everything away if you go blue. I'm telling you, I've been there. Why do you say that? Because what Talerico and what they want to do is they want to take away your rights to be a parent.
Correct. Okay. They want your kids to be able to get change their sexes without parents knowing it. He gets in life as we know it's over. All we're saying is vote. That's all. Well, and what I'm saying, all I'm saying is research before you vote. I'm a veteran, right? How do you like that war that's costing you and me $1 billion a day? But here's the other thing. But here's Are you a veteran? I am so sorry. I'm 90% ashamed of what that negative because had they not done what they did, we would be dealing with them possibly already having the new Trump is a puppet to Putin.
The fight for this Senate seat is happening against a backdrop of shifting demographics. In Texas, the number of eligible Latino voters has more than doubled in the past two decades to 6.3 million. And if Democrats are going to win here, they need to swing back many of those who chose Donald Trump in 2024. So, we're just driving out of San Antonio to go and meet a Democrat running for Congress, guy called Johnny Garcia in the 35th district of Texas. He's a law enforcement professional and he's running a kind of centrist campaign to try and win over Latino voters. It's a majority Latino district. I guess in normal times it probably wouldn't have been that competitive, but what we're seeing is it is competitive.
What happened to Total Wireless? I think I need to replace. Okay. Yeah. It's funny, huh? Hey, how's it going, Johnny? I'm Oliver. Nice to meet you. Everybody's from Chicago for the most part. Los Angeles. Johnny took us campaigning in a lower income Latino neighborhood nearby. It's a very tall gate. Donald Trump. No good. I think that reaction says all of her. When someone says that they're afraid in their own home, how does that affect you? What do you think?
I mean, it angers me. Do you know people who voted for him in 24? For who? Trump. Uh, yeah, a couple. And how are they feeling about it now? Uh, I'm pretty sure they have regrets. Yeah. You know what I mean? What do you think they should do to ICE? I don't know. I don't want to say abolish it because there is people that need to be reviewed. You know what I mean? Uh, we can't just give citizenship to everybody. Are you going to vote? I would like to. I actually never voted. You never voted before? No. You got someone running for Congress right here.
Johnny Garcia, brother. All right. I'm running for Congress, obviously, uh, to make life more affordable, to keep our streets safe, and make sure that we're electing some common sense to DC. Why do you think so many Latino voters swung to Donald Trump in 2024, and what can you actually do to bring them back? Going back to that voter, he was a big litmus test of everything that we had discussed. This is why Latinos are coming back to the party. They wanted a strong border. They wanted uh safer communities. uh they were tired of seeing this uh border crisis happening literally 2 hours away from us. But at the same time, we didn't want our communities being attacked for having
brown skin uh for being able to talk Spanish in our communities. And these are the issues that ultimately are making Latinos leave the Republican party and come back to vote for Democrats. Terrio's campaign here is relying on winning that support back, too. And despite all the heightened rhetoric, he's trying to pitch a more centrist tone. So, we're just heading to a press conference that James Tarico is holding at a taco restaurant in San Antonio. And we have been told very generously there is a chance we may get to ask a question.
Filming a press conference. James Telerico, you have a question. Perfect. Oliver, you have a question? I do have a question. Wonderful. We were told he had an important announcement to make. Well, thank you all for being here. I really appreciate it. Chips and salsa are sacred in Texas, but these crazy tariffs mean that a lot of restaurants can no longer offer chips and salsa for free. You maybe think tips and salsa seems frivolous, but it is an example of what happens when leaders serve themselves instead of serving us. I will fight in the US Senate for free chuks and salsa. In the US Senate, no problem
will be too big to take on and no appetizer will be too small to care about. Oliver, Elon Musk has donated almost $200 million to your opponent's campaign. Do you feel like you are running against Ken Paxton and Elon Musk? And do you think that Elon Musk is a threat to American democracy? I am running against the most corrupt politician in Texas and now the richest man in the world. Elon Musk is trying to buy this Senate seat in Texas. He wants our land. He wants our water. He wants his own personal senator. But in 18 days, we are going to show Elon Musk that Texas is not for sale. What about the threat to democracy question?
Do you think he's a threat to democracy? I think this much influence from a trillionaire in our politics is absolutely a threat to our democratic system. Thank you very much everyone. Thank you all. Appreciate you. I remember in 2024 trying to ask Democrats running a competitive race against Elon Musk and they would not answer the question. Didn't perceive him as a threat. It's a marked departure to some extent. And I think now given what we've lived through for the past 2 years, we've gotten our hopes up in the past for candidates like a Wendy Davis or a Betto AOR, you get excited and then it feels like intense disappointment, but
it feels a little bit different this time and like very exciting. is kind of weird, isn't it? Cuz on the one hand, this feels like relatively kind of conventional campaign cycle that we're in. you know, candidate doing a stop, delivering a cheesy press conference, that sort of thing. But actually, you think about what's at stake. This is not a normal election at all. The stakes are elevated really beyond certainly many that we've covered. Anyway,
