We’re so lucky to have Richard Ojeda on the show with us this week to explain his candidacy to support all the residents of North Carolina’s ninth congressional district— not just, as Bernie would say, the wealthy few. Richard gives us insight into the political landscape of West Virginia and North Carolina, two states to which he’s deeply connected and which include crucial MAGA strongholds. How can politicians like Richard take these parts of the country in a different direction? We get into it below:

How is Donald Trump, an exploitative billionaire, able to go to coal miners’ communities in WV and sell hard-working people empty promises? Richard takes us through the history of those communities and what they faced at the hands of company owners just like Trump. From the start of mining jobs in the U.S. as basically “legalized slavery,” with wages paid in company scrip and goods bought at company stores, miners have always had to fight uphill for survival. Now, Trump is able to play on these narratives and speak to the fear and anger people feel at their lack of mobility in order to win support for his deeply anti-worker politics. He’s always portrayed blue-collar workers as a cornerstone of the MAGA coalition. Is there any way for these workers to be won back in favor of policies that actually center their needs?

That’s exactly the mission Richard’s on, seeking to offer something other than mainstream Democrats’ stock response to the loss of the party’s working-class base. He wants to overturn Citizens United to deal with the issue of money in politics. He wants to fight for better pay for teachers and better healthcare for everyone. He wants to remove the cap on Social Security. He also tells us about the role that the media (he calls out Fox News) has played in misleading working people, fearmongering, and creating false narratives about who the enemies of the working class really are. In this episode, Richard outlines his plan to win his congressional race and contextualizes this plan with insightful analysis of how an emboldened MAGA is reshaping our government and narrowing out its political opponents. We truly wish him the best, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on that race.

Thanks for tuning in to Krystal Kyle & Friends. You can listen to this episode as a podcast when it’s released tomorrow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more.