-Thank you for being here on such a busy week.
I know they're all sort of busy at this point.
But, you know, we were talking backstage, all of us have to be
careful about our hygiene right now.
You're obviously a politician
who enjoys interacting with your constituents.
There's a lot of handshakes, a lot of hugging.
Is it overwhelming for you?
-It can be overwhelming.
I'm trying to make sure that I'm practicing great hygiene.
Everyone, learn how to wash your hands.
-Yeah.
-I retweeted a handwashing tutorial.
And I was shocked by how many people were like,
"Oh, wait, what?
We were supposed to be doing this 20 seconds?"
[ Laughter ]
-I will say when I heard 20 seconds,
I thought I'm just going to do normal and see where I get to.
And it was -- I definitely didn't break double digits.
I know that. [ Laughter ]
You know, you guys -- the House voted to approve $8 billion
in coronavirus aid, which is great.
Matt Gaetz -- we mentioned him in the monologue --
he's one of your colleagues.
He's a Republican, and he wore a gas mask.
-Yes, he did. With matching shoes.
-With the matching shoes. Yeah, I feel like nobody --
Nobody who's ever worn that mask has worn those shoes.
[ Laughter ] -No. No.
-That's a real first.
-I will say, I have days in Congress
where I feel like wearing a mask like that.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
Just not for, like, corona or anything, just for the --
-No, no, just the debates. -Yeah.
-The toxicity. -Yeah.
Is it helpful when somebody goes to an important vote
like that wearing a gas mask?
-No, of course it's not helpful. [ Laughter ]
We're not here to incite panic. -Yeah.
I will say, he doesn't look panicked.
He's just fully texting. -Yeah, he doesn't.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
-I do want to ask Representative Gaetz
how often he washes his hands.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
That would be a good question
because then you don't need the gas mask
if you just do that basic stuff.
One of the things that, you know, a lot of people
are discussing is who the President has chosen to put
in charge of this task force.
He chose Vice President Pence.
Is it safe to assume that you do not think
that's the best of his options?
-No, no. -Yeah.
-I think that we should have a person who believes in science.
-Sure. That sounds good.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Ideally, what we have is a person who believes in
universal healthcare and paid sick leave
and an agenda that actually... [ Cheers and applause ]
...can help prevent the transmission of disease.
-Well, it's interesting you mention paid sick leave
because one of the things that's been pointed out
by a lot of people is especially in the food-service industry,
these are people with jobs that are very important to them.
You know, they're just making ends meet as it is.
And, you know, they are the ones who are most likely to pass on
whatever illness they have to other people.
And yet they don't have that opportunity.
-Exactly, and the other issue, too, to compound on that,
especially in food service, you know, a lot of people know
that I used to work in a restaurant.
And that just a couple weeks ago,
Stephen Miller and the Trump administration rolled out
a public-charge rule against undocumented people,
many of whom we know work in the food-service industry.
And basically what it says is that
if you are seeking medical care,
that could be used against you in deportation proceedings.
And so the people who feed us
are now scared to seek medical care.
This is not a situation that befits us as a country.
And it's one that, frankly, I think shows that we are
as strong as the most vulnerable --
who we allow to be vulnerable
and most vulnerable in our society.
-You mentioned universal healthcare.
You mentioned paid sick leave.
I think these are probably some of the reasons
that you have chosen to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders.
-Yes. [ Cheers and applause ]
-While I have you, though, I want to get your take
on the fact that Elizabeth Warren
suspended her campaign today. -Absolutely.
Well, first and foremost, I think that we should all
take a moment to acknowledge the historic candidacy
that Elizabeth Warren represented.
[ Cheers and applause ]
She's a champion.
And I think that she ran
an absolutely stunning, incredible race.
I support and I'm looking forward to continuing this fight
for Bernie as well.
Tomorrow -- Or rather next week we have contests
in Michigan and many other states.
And we need right now, I think what we are seeing
in the primary contest is that this is a generational battle
and that we need young people to turn out to vote.
It is young people that will champion student-loan debt,
Medicare for all, paid sick leave, a living wage.
And as well as our elders that have been in this fight
for generations as well,
fighting for progressive future
for the United States of America,
which, by the way, is a winning future
for the United States of America.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-You mentioned the youth vote, and, obviously, you know,
when you look at the demographics of how people
are voting, young people are flocking to Bernie Sanders.
And yet it does seem like what happened on Super Tuesday,
maybe how we didn't meet his expectations,
were that young people were voting less than they need to
for Bernie's path.
Why do you think young people are not coming out
in the way that you would hope?
-I think we're seeing kind of a wax and wane.
In Iowa, we saw about, I believe,
a 30% increase in youth turnout.
And as we saw in Iowa, Bernie Sanders came in either,
depending on who you're asking,
he came in first or quite nearly first.
Similar phenomena in New Hampshire
with very high turnout.
I think with Super Tuesday with so many states voting at once,
we have to reiterate that message
because it is going to be now and in November, I believe,
turnout of young people that will have a huge determination
in our future as a country.
And this is an enormous responsibility.
And we got to really, really turn up or else --
you know, we get what -- you get what you fight for.
And you get what you vote for.
And I think it's so incredibly important that we fight
for a future that will work for us,
that we fight for a Green New Deal,
that we fight for action on climate,
that we fight for ending our system of mass incarceration.