Who?
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
LISTEN: Laslo & Cuellar
Ask a Pol asks:
Curious your thoughts on your friends in the Squad. A couple of them are getting primaried this year. This whole Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) fire alarm thing. Are they on the ropes?
Key Cuellar:
“I don’t know. But, you know, they’re being primaried, where in the past they primaried me, [former Rep.] Dan Lipinski, [former Rep.] Kurt Schrader, a whole bunch of folks. And, y’know, they should be focusing on — I’ve always said they oughta focus their resources on the other party, but they didn’t,” Rep. Cuellar exclusively told Ask a Pol. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t say ‘payback’, but yeah… Not getting involved, even though a few of them got involved with mine, but I’m not getting involved. I don’t do that.”
Caught our ear:
“Some of the positions they took — like ‘Defund the Police’, ‘No to ICE’, y’know, ‘No to Border Patrol’ — all that affected the Democratic Party,” Cuellar told us. “It affected the brand of the Democratic Party, and this is why they need to understand that, y’know, if you're going to build a big tent, you need to have progressives and you gotta have moderates, conservative Democrats. That’s how you do it. You add to make it bigger, you don’t subtract to make it bigger on it. So, y’know, hopefully, y’know, as they spend a little bit of time here, they now understand the importance of being team players with the Democratic Caucus.”
Don’t miss AOC’s response!
Go Deeper:
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Henry Cuellar
Matt Laslo: “How you doing, boss?”
Henry Cuellar: “Hey, I’m doing fine. How are you?”
ML: “Livin’ the dream.”
HC: “Yeah. So what’s the latest?”
ML: “I don’t know anything ‘cause y’all don’t seem to know anything, but I think we put that on Speaker Johnson.”
Both laugh.
HC: “I was just saying that.”
Laughs.
ML: “I was curious your thoughts, though, on your friends in the Squad. A couple of them are getting primaried this year. This whole Bowman thing. Like, are they on the ropes?”
HC: “I don’t know. But, you know, they’re being primaried, where in the past they primaried me, [former Rep.] Dan Lipinski, [former Rep.] Kurt Schrader, a whole bunch of folks. And, y’know, they should be focusing on — I’ve always said they oughta focus their resources on the other party, but they didn’t.”
ML: “Yeah.”
HC: “You know, so now they’re getting the same type of…”
ML: “Little payback?”
HC: “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t say ‘payback’, but yeah.”
ML: “You…”
HC: “Not getting involved, even though a few of them got involved with mine, but I’m not getting involved. I don’t do that. But they…”
ML: “And they didn’t primary as much this cycle as they did in the past. Do you think they’re learning as they go or not quite?”
HC: “One is they’re running out of money.”
ML: “Yeah?”
HC: “Yeah. That’s a big one. I think you saw backlash.”
“First floor, going up,” elevator says.
HC: “You don’t mind…?”
ML: “Nope.”
HC: “Y’know, there was a big article how the Justice Democrats laid off half of their national staff. They don’t have the resources, so now they’re playing more defense than offense on it.”
ML: “What role do you think they’ve played for the party? Do you think they’ve pulled the party too far to the progressive left? ‘Cause you're one of the last moderates standing. If not the last.”
Rep. Cuellar laughs.
HC: “Yeah, I think what they, y’know, just, y’know, our party has the…”
Cuellar’s with a group of what seem to be interns from his office, and he sends them along to the Member’s Only dining room underneath the House floor as he talks to Ask a Pol in the hall.
HC: “If y’all wanna go in and I’ll join you in a second.”
Cuellar staffer: “Okay. Yes, we’re all good sir.”
HC: “Yeah, I’ll be right there ‘cause they’re gonna call votes.”
HC: “I think one of the things they, y’know, the far-left and the far-right are the loudest, and they’re the ones that push the — y’know, we’re seeing the same thing right now with the Republican Caucus.”
ML: “Yeah?”
HC: “We saw that where they pushed us. And, y’know, some of the positions they took — like ‘Defund the Police’, ‘No to ICE’, y’know, ‘No to Border Patrol’ — all that affected the Democratic Party..”
ML: “Yeah?”
HC: “It affected the brand of the Democratic Party, and this is why they need to understand that, y’know, if you're going to build a big tent, you need to have progressives and you gotta have moderates, conservative Democrats. That’s how you do it. You add to make it bigger, you don’t subtract to make it bigger on it. So, y’know, hopefully, y’know, as they spend a little bit of time here, they now understand the importance of being team players with the Democratic Caucus.”
ML: “Yeah?”
HC: “Y’know, I'm a conservative, but y’know, in the past, I used to be the number one, first person to pay all my dues. Of course, I've been busy with the last two primaries.
Laslo laughs.
HC: “But I've done that. And, y’know, they spent, I think, combined everything, about $20 million the last two primaries. But the voters — it was close, yeah, with $20 million, that's a lot — but the voters said I'm doing a good job so here I am.”
ML: “Yeah?”
HC: “So that is, I think they probably are learning, and I hope that they work with us to be team players.”
ML: “As always, preciate ya. I know you gotta get to your staff.”
HC: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
ML: “Good to see you, brother. Be well.”
HC: “See ya later.”
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Rep. Henry Cuellar accuses AOC's Squad of hurting "the brand of the Democratic Party"