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Blue Virginia @bluevirginia.bsky.social
Jul 12, 09:49 AM

Also, on the Platner fiasco, @repwalkinshaw.bsky.social (D-VA11) says "a lot of folks are going to need to be honest with themselves about their role in recruiting & supporting...Platner despite what was known about him," but that Dems will come out of this stronger. bluevirginia.us/2026/07/vide...

🎀 Whisper Transcript (en) ⏱ 180s

"There were three other men in that van that crashed into the ICE vehicle. They're being held in detention right now, but when they're released, what they have to say might indeed be very revealing. Lindsay? We'll ask you to keep us posted on that, John. Thank you. Joining us now is Democratic representative from Virginia, James Walkinshaw, who also sits on the House Oversight Committee. Representative Walkinshaw, so good to have you tonight. You also sit on the Homeland Security Committee responsible for overseeing ICE. We just heard our John Quinones report on the death of Mexican national Lorenzo Salvador Araujo in Houston. The FBI says that they're treating the case as an assault on law enforcement officers. Have you seen any evidence so far that says otherwise? The administration, ICE, DHS, FBI, have presented not one ounce of evidence to support their description of the events, and I think it's incumbent upon them to do so. We know in previous incidents that when camera footage has come out, when eyewitness footage has come out, this administration, this Department of Homeland Security has been found to have lied over and over and over again, so we have to assume that's the case here until they can produce evidence otherwise. We also heard from our Jay O'Brien reporting on how the main Democratic party will replace Graham Plattner on the ballot. Clearly, it's a bad look when a candidate drops out so late. How can your party prevent this from happening again? Well, look, I think a lot of folks are gonna need to be honest with themselves about their role in recruiting and supporting Graham Plattner despite what was known about him, but at the end of the day, look, I think Democrats are gonna come out of this in a stronger position with a candidate who doesn't have the baggage that he had. It's gonna be a challenge to make that happen between now and July 27th, but that candidate will have an opportunity between July 27th and November to make the case that Susan Collins has been, Susan Collins has been a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. I think they'll be able to do that without the baggage that Plattner clearly has. And moving on to the war with Iran. On Tuesday, the president doubled down pushing Republican leadership to pass his Save America Act and pair it with a tremendous increase in defense spending. He's asking for $1.1 trillion for the Department of Defense, an increase of $350 billion in part to help his war efforts in Iran. Your thoughts on that? Yeah, the American people are struggling right now to make ends meet. They can't afford healthcare because of the Republican cuts. They can't afford groceries because of Trump's tariffs. They can't afford gas because of Trump's war in Iran. We need to be focusing our time, our energy, and our resources on solving the problems of the American people, not continuing this reckless, failed war in Iran that, as we speak, is raging once again. And lastly, the Secret Service yesterday urged the president to depart the NATO summit in Turkey on an old Air Force One plane, ditching the new one that he flew in on that was gifted by Qatar. It was a security precaution given the escalation with Iran. Does the security of the new Air Force One plane concern you? Clearly, I think we need to be concerned about that. And this highlights that there was no practical reason, no national security reason for the president to accept this 400-"

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Blue Virginia @bluevirginia.bsky.social Β· Jul 10, 05:36 PM

Also, on the Platner fiasco, @repwalkinshaw.bsky.social (D-VA11) says "a lot of folks are going to need to be honest with themselves about their role in recruiting & supporting...Platner despite what was known about him," but that Dems will come out of this stronger. bluevirginia.us/2026/07/vide...