U.S. Democratic Representative Adam Schiff is running to be California’s newest senator. He holds a 22-point lead over Steve Garvey, a Republican and former baseball star. The Burbank congressman made a name for himself going after former President Donald Trump, who as recently as Sunday, continued to attack Schiff and suggested using the military to go after political enemies.
In an interview with KCRW on Thursday, Schiff says Trump seems “increasingly unhinged,” and that his comments appear more erratic, dangerous, and authoritarian.
“To suggest that his political opponents, that he might send the military out after them, it’s the kind of talk of dictators. On the one hand, it's crazy. It's nuts. On the other, we have to take it seriously,” Schiff says. “Yet another guardrail [is] coming down with this unhinged former president.”
Schiff describes the former president as even less tethered to the rule of law than he was during his four years in the White House. He adds that Trump was bolstered by the U.S. Supreme Court, which he says has given him the immunity to commit criminal acts.
Why is it that half of the U.S. appears willing to reelect Trump? Schiff says it's a combination of factors, including Americans who are struggling economically and are looking for help, plus those living in their own information ecosystems and are “fed a firehose of misinformation.”
“What we need to keep reminding people is he had four years, and the only thing he did in his four years was a tax cut to very wealthy people and large corporations that made their lot worse. And people need to be reminded of that. And the disastrous pandemic that he mismanaged and cost so many lives and also ruined the economy.”
He adds, “What we're seeing is, really, a replay of a historic cycle we see so often, in which Republican presidents dig the country in a terrible economic hole, as Donald Trump did. And handed off to Joe Biden, who has, I think, done an extraordinary job in helping America recover from those twin body blows, and we've recovered faster than most of the rest of the country.”
Working with Trump
If Trump gets reelected, Schiff says there are ways to work together. “Even during those four terrible Trump years, there were ways to cooperate that I, in fact, even raised with Donald Trump. Like infrastructure, which he was always talking about, but never actually very serious about. I was able to get intelligence bills passed out of our committee on a bipartisan basis.”
He says that now, it’s going to be important for California's next senator to be able to accomplish two tasks. “One: to deliver for the state. To make sure we're bringing down the housing costs and food costs and medicine costs, building a lot more affordable housing in the state. But at the same time, Californians expect their senator to stand up and defend our democracy, to fight for our rights and our freedoms, for the restoration of reproductive freedom. And if Donald Trump is president again and is tearing down the walls or democracy again, then yes, I'm going to stand up to him, and Californians are going to want me to and need me to.”
Ending the filibuster
Schiff has previously called for an end to the filibuster, making it easier to pass legislation.
“We should do away with a filibuster, regardless of who controls which House, because I think that a governing party needs to be able to govern. I'm also confident that, first of all, the things that I want to get done that are so important to constituents California — can't get done while there's a filibuster. We're not going to restore reproductive freedom while there's a filibuster. We're not going to finally have universal background checks and assault weapons ban while there's a filibuster. We're not going to be able to restore voting rights while there's a filibuster. We're not going to take even more aggressive action against climate while there's a filibuster.”
He continues, “So for what I want to get done, reforming the Supreme Court, it's going to require eliminating the filibuster. If Republicans have a filibuster-free environment, their policies are so deeply unpopular, backward, and retrograde, they'll be thrown out.”
U.S. support of Israel
This week, President Joe Biden warned Israel that the U.S. would withhold military aid if Israel doesn’t take steps to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza within 30 days.
Schiff says he does not favor cutting military support: “No country could endure that kind of attack without defending itself, without making sure that the terrorist group responsible, Hamas, was not allowed to continue governing, was not allowed to continue to be a military force capable of threatening Israel in that way again. I also think that it would be unsupportable for any country to have tens of thousands of its citizens, as Israel has in the north, who can't go back to their homes because Hezbollah made common cause with Hamas on October 8. I do think that we continue pressing Israel to make sure that humanitarian aid gets to people in Gaza. I think there are more effective ways to do that than by threatening to cut off military aid.”
He adds that he believes Israel is observing international laws. “But there are duties that are more stringent than international law, including our moral obligations. And I think that there are tools that we can use in persuading Israel to make sure that every effort is being made to meet the humanitarian needs of people in Gaza. But let's not forget where the responsibility primarily lies for the circumstances in Gaza, and it lies with Hamas.”
During KCRW’s interview with Schiff, Israel confirmed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar died in battle. Upon hearing the update, the congressman says, “I think that is great news from the perspective of justice for all those raped, tortured, murdered — but also great news because it will hopefully accelerate the end of the war. Sinwar had no interest in a ceasefire, had no interest in an end to the war. Sinwar believed that the higher the Palestinian death toll, the greater propaganda victory against Israel. Good riddance to that terrorist.”
He adds, “This may be — when we view this period in hindsight, later — the beginning of the end of the war, because he was an implacable opponent of bringing this war to a conclusion, and more than anyone else responsible for the tragic loss of life.”