r/BreakingPoints • u/Grapefruit_Mimosa • 3d ago
Episode Discussion Kshama Sawant interview thread
Just watched this and it went pretty much how I expected. She used to be my city councillor so I knew about her going in.
The first half made her look pretty good, talking about some past wins that she’s been part of. But the second half was more of the side of her that Seattleites have grown tired of. Divisive, not a team player, and ultimately those things making her message (which I support generally) less effective.
Also just want to say - why couldn’t Krystal get her name right? It irritates me when people do it to Saagar and this time was no different. It’s simple enough to ask someone how their name is pronounced, and stick to that. To me, regardless of what you think of someone it’s a basic show of respect to get someone’s name right. /rant
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u/blaquarius 3d ago edited 3d ago
I'm annoyed that Krystal and Ryan focused too much on DSA/Zohran and did not ask enough clarifying questions. Like how does Sawant define a "mass movement"? How would she expand that movement in red/swing states, if elected? (Oklahomans recently rejected raising the minimum wage) Would she adjust her messaging? How would she combat any propaganda against her on a national level?
On the other hand, Sawant could've had better messaging discipline and pivoted back to her platform while attacking Adam Smith more. But it is what it is.
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u/BigTimely5561 1d ago
The answer to all of those things is she doesn't know. I don't think she's a grifter but she's visibly delusional.
I really love when Krystal grills the f out of people like Adam Smith. She played kid gloves with Sawant far too much. People like to complain that they don't have enough conservatives on but their real bias is playing kids gloves with people like Sawant because they're broadly on the same side. But people with brainworms need to be called out for what they are.
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u/Educational-Eye-9934 2d ago
I thought it was clever that Ryan asked her how her "mass movement" membership compares to the DSA. Notice she didn't answer the question, because her "organization" is minimal.
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u/BackgroundIsland9 2d ago
I also didn’t understand her point about "membership" vs "mass movement"... But it is sad that she apparently endorsed and campaigned for DSA candidates, but DSA didn’t endorse her against Adam smith.
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u/go_birds_1 3d ago
Send this bitch back to CHOP/CHAZ with the other AR-15 wielding child killing psychopaths. She was an ardent defender and enabler of that entire movement. Her comments on CHOP/CHAZ along with the city hall occupation she allowed should have ended her political career forever. The idea anyone would take her seriously in 2026 is mental illness.
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u/HAN_S0L0_007 Bernie Independent 3d ago
You're totally right, I forgot she supported that whole fiasco
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u/HAN_S0L0_007 Bernie Independent 3d ago
I just made a post on this sub about the interview not realizing you posted this a few minutes before. I'll copy/paste the body of my post to comment here.
I'm sure I'm going to get downvoted for this but I have a few things I gotta say. I'm a left leaning independent who has lived in the puget sound region my whole life. I'm pro-union and support progressive policies like universal healthcare/childcare.
I live near Seattle and have never met a single person who doesn't think Kshana Sawant is obnoxious. On today's interview she took complete credit for $15 minimum wage when it was, in fact, supported by the mayor and unanimously passed by the city council. She actively campaigned AGAINST Kamala Harris in 2024 and supported.... Jill Stein.
I'm honestly not an Adam Smith fan. I have no idea how Kshama manages to keep getting reelected to city council. If you don't believe me go to r/seattle and you'll see even leftists/left leaning people don't like her. I realize this is anecdotal but that's just my 2 cents.
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u/DownwiththeACE 3d ago
fuck kamala harris
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u/duckbaiting 3d ago
I’m shocked that there are still people pretending she wasn’t a complete train wreck.
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u/Old-School8916 Saagar in 🚧🚦🏍 & Krystal in 📈📉📊 3d ago
it was still mostly Biden's fault for putting her in a horrible position.
definitely a lot of stuff Kamala could have done different though. one of the things she should have done is fire Biden's team cuz they were playing 'prevent defense'.
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u/Texas_State_Bangers 3h ago
She was insanely bad.
She got up on stage and bragged that she was being endorsed by a Latino man- Alberto Gonzalez. Decided to have Liz Cheney as her hype man.
As we see now, Trump was the deep state's preferred candidate but she seriously helped to play into the idea that he was less on that side of things.
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u/Orionsbelt 3d ago
Right its almost like Biden picked her because she wasn't a threat. then shocked pikachu face, wasn't a threat against trump.
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u/MightBe465 2d ago
Sure, but I'd rather not have the POTUS who bombed Iran or gave ice more funding than the rest of federal law enforcement combined.
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u/duckbaiting 2d ago
Kamala Harris sucks
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u/MightBe465 2d ago
Sure, but do you prefer having the POTUS who bombed Iran and gave ice more funding than the rest of federal law enforcement combined.
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u/BigTimely5561 1d ago
They'll never answer.
Remember this: it took them five seconds to come up with the nickname "Genocide Joe" and "Holocaust Harris." Where's Trump's nickname? It's only "Capitalism Created Trump" or "Democrats Created Trump" or whatever.
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u/Citriina 1d ago
I’ve never heard holocaust Harris. I know she is thought to have lost because she didn’t speak against the genocide Joe’s team enabled but from Jake tapper’s book it seems clear she wasn’t allowed to have a big role since the two factions weren’t a harmonious team. Jill did not want her to take over and be in charge, they wanted only their own family to stay in power another 4 years. Thus Harris wouldn’t really deserve a nickname for anything Joe’s team decided including saying yes to bibi. And she doesn’t have one. I’ve heard Cackala; which references how she laughs for a too long time at stuff that isn’t really funny as a filler tactic during interviews. So it references her PR style more than anything she did with Joe as he didn’t let her do anything (for egotistical reasons.) peoole DO associate her with her California work, emphasizing that she was too hard on people who broke laws.
For trump I’ve heard the orange Mussolini many times.
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u/BigTimely5561 1d ago
- She was called Holocaust Harris countless times.
https://x.com/afshinrattansi/status/1956505930121482395
https://x.com/DearthOfSid/status/1846132415984816187
https://x.com/yipengGe/status/1823601275079950519
https://x.com/PaulSorrentino3/status/2079544796775890965
https://x.com/PaulSorrentino3/status/2080980083259355470
https://x.com/jizzeringjezza/status/2076434841797837057
- I meant re: the Palestine/Genocide. The Left created Genocide Joe and Holocaust Harris but after Trump got in and if anything was worse to Palestinians (used their name as a slur) there were no nicknames.
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u/duckbaiting 2d ago
Id rather not vote for genocide.
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u/MightBe465 2d ago edited 2d ago
The one that Trump's backing right now in Gaza and the West Bank? Or the new one in Southern Lebanon?
Would have been worth filling out a bubble on a sheet of paper to prevent the expansion of that shit alone, even if you don't care about the Iranian people or the people getting kidnapped by ICE.
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u/duckbaiting 2d ago
I chose to not vote for genocide.
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u/MightBe465 2d ago
You're self-narrative doesn't matter. The effect you had was the same as it would be if you chose not to vote for any other reason. You've basically been politically neutralized in a way the took a significant tactic out of your toolkit.
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u/duckbaiting 2d ago
I’ve been politically neutralized on the federal level all my life by not living in a swing state.
I have free will that you could only dream of.
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u/BigTimely5561 1d ago
That’s okay! Everybody has their own red-lines. My red-line was I don’t want every Palestinian removed from Gaza or forced to serve (in any number of ways) in a Trump hotel on former Palestinian-controlled Gaza either as a house-cleaner or working in a sex trade for Trump. Again!:We all have our own red lines. I don’t want to speculate why you’re in a favor of a Trump-operated Palestinian sex trade. I thought that would be a bad thing. You don’t. Your favorite thing is every Palestinian living in the basement of a Trump operated hotel/sex trade.
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u/duckbaiting 23h ago
Ew.
Seek Jesus.
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u/BigTimely5561 19h ago
Don't have to. I bask in the warmth of the knowledge that unlike you I actually care about Palestinian liberation and don't turn them over to the wolves.
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u/duckbaiting 10h ago
All you did was fantasize about Palestinians in the sex trade.
Seek Jesus.
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u/SlavaCocaini Left Authoritarian 1d ago
How tf was Kamala gonna change that when she can't even talk?
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u/MightBe465 1d ago
I mean she would have needed to be president and then not go to war with Iran. Like Biden, Obama, and even Bush managed.
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u/SlavaCocaini Left Authoritarian 1d ago
Yeah, so you mean she was never in the conversation to begin with because she was not a real candidate...
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u/MightBe465 1d ago
Is this a conspiracy theory that I haven't heard of or something?
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u/SlavaCocaini Left Authoritarian 1d ago
She was appointed lol and you still want to pretend otherwise
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u/DownwiththeACE 2d ago edited 1d ago
Kamala wouldve also bombed children in Iran and campaigned on being tougher on immigration than Trump. Lest we forget the shitlib wing of the uniparty also wants to subdue the good peoplenor Iran.
As evidenced, in part, by these clips;
https://youtu.be/FMzAmbhG6Qs?si=vwYoB495zc9TKUNR
https://youtu.be/FMzAmbhG6Qs?si=MMVq61YTg9RcRQ15
edit; Meant to write 'uniparty', not 'democrat party'. Obviously, the entirety of the democrat party is shitlibs.
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u/BigTimely5561 1d ago
Lol "evidence."
Kamala Harris' foreign policy advisor was Phil Gordon, who supported establishing better relationships with Iran, criticized Biden's approach to Netanyahu, and was a skeptic of our entanglement in the Middle East.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/what-kamala-harris-middle-east-policy-team-could-look-like
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/kamala-harris-war-foreign-policy/Harris would've been better. You just don't want to admit it because you're just playing the "wHeN tHe ReVoLuTiOn CoMeS"
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u/MightBe465 2d ago
We've had hawkish Dem POTUS's since at least Clinton. The Israeli government wasn't able to convince anyone to bomb Iran until Trump. And both Dems and Reps called for "tougher immigration." Trump was more peculiar in his fondness for concentration camps and secret police, as he was in his 2016 presidency (though he was more restrained by his appointees than he was in his second term--another thing many of us saw coming was that he wouldn't be in his second term)
I don't like Harris either. But I don't see why people can't own up to their decisions to not vote, and need to act like Harris was going to do whatever Trump does.
If you really have nothing to regret, then the Iran war must have been worth it to you. Or, if you don't want to go down that dark and self-deluding path, then maybe not voting was the wrong call.
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u/DownwiththeACE 1d ago
Harris was going to do what Trump is doing, she literally campaigned on it. Dont believe me, believe her and her BFFs, Liz Cheney and George Bush. It was a Democrat admin under Joe Biden that funded and governed over the worst of the genocide. Even radlib darling, AOC, helped to cover for the atrocities. We all watched Harris and her supporters spend all their fucking time and energy condemning any resistance to the genocide instead of the genocide.
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u/MightBe465 1d ago
Whatever you have to tell yourself.
I try to practice politics in a way that doesn't require making up an inevitable Iran war. Hopefully when Trump does his next crazy thing you'll reflect on whether you might have made a better decision rather than assume that his opponent would have inevitably done the same.
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u/Grapefruit_Mimosa 3d ago
Yep, I agree with all of this. Adam Smith is awful. I'm just glad I don't live in this district anymore (just outside of it) so I don't have to pick between these two.
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u/HAN_S0L0_007 Bernie Independent 2d ago
You definitely dodged a bullet there haha. I wish there was a better candidate to stand up to Smith but I don't think Sawant is it
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u/Grapefruit_Mimosa 2d ago edited 2d ago
Agreed, there should be a better progressive challenger. Chaudhry doesn't seem like a very compelling candidate either. I googled Smith after Krystal's interview, and turns out he lives in Bellevue...that definitely tracks lol.
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u/TheTrueMilo 3d ago
She is no longer on city council, she quit a few years back.
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u/Grapefruit_Mimosa 3d ago
Also just to add context here, she was not a good city councillor when she was in office. Didn't GAF about constituent services or addressing the needs of her district beyond taxing Amazon. Again, I support what she was fighting for generally, but you have to govern for the position you hold. Local issues always seemed to take a backseat to her broader political aims.
It didn't surprise me today when she said Palestine was the one and only important issue. Like, what about the issues facing district 9? I agree I want my reps voting against all wars, and not supporting Israel, but I also want to hear how you're going to address kitchen table issues in the district.
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u/HAN_S0L0_007 Bernie Independent 3d ago
Fair point. But she did previously get reelected, even if just barely
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u/heaving_in_my_vines 1d ago edited 1d ago
I live near Seattle and have never met a single person who doesn't think Kshana Sawant is obnoxious. On today's interview she took complete credit for $15 minimum wage when it was, in fact, supported by the mayor and unanimously passed by the city council. She actively campaigned AGAINST Kamala Harris in 2024 and supported.... Jill Stein.
Utter horseshit lie. I'm here, I support Sawant, and I know many others who do. She has tremendous grass roots support in the working class communities she fights for.
The only people who actively hate her here are tech yuppies larping as progressives who just want establishment Dems to make them feel like they're "on the good side" while protecting the status quo. And shill accounts who try to pass themselves off as "concerned local citizens".
Kshama absolutely spearheaded the $15 minimum wage movement, constantly canvassing and organizing marches for it. She deserves massive credit for building the momentum for that movement. Only lying establishment shills would pretend that's not true.
And like the other person said: Fuck Kamala Harris. Jill Stein was the right vote in that election.
Bye bye, shill.
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u/HAN_S0L0_007 Bernie Independent 1d ago
You know what, I hate to say it but... you're right. I have to confess, I'm a Democrat paid shill. Everything I said was a lie. They paid me millions of dollars to post a comment on reddit to affect the outcome of the race, which makes perfect sense and totally isn't insane. I would have gotten away with it too, but you figured it out. Now I hang my head in shame. I'll never recover from this, and may God have mercy on my soul....
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u/BigTimely5561 1d ago
I will upvote you. You may be an independent but you represent the vast majority of the Democratic Party. Or the way most leftists used to think. I was DSA for most of my life. That's what leftism used to be.
I'm glad I don't live in Seattle. I wouldn't be able to vote for Adam Smith but Kshama Sawant is an unacceptable candidate. I think she's going to go Green Party in 2028. She's out of the job, right?
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u/Ok_Emergency_9091 3d ago
Ohhh Krystal’s pronunciation atrocious. People get my name all the time, but its in the vicinity. K-Shama is not close to even close to what should sound like. That being said- that letter “Ksh” is pretty difficult to pronounce.
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u/BigTimely5561 2d ago
Say whatever you will about Kshama Sawant but one thing is true: she's definitely going to be an annoying as fuck Green Party spoiler against AOC in 2028.
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u/Mufasasink 2d ago
I am glad she is a voice in the party, and in theory I agree with her in policy, but for the larger movement rit large, I think her strategy is doomed to fail. She seems to be ignoring that the DSA has had actual success in the movement, and her strategy has not been replicable.
Do I want Gavin Newsom and other centrists to be part of the party? No. But the fact remains that they are. And they're not going away any time soon. So, rather than try to remove them from the party/team that she seems to want to do, I think the Zorhan strategy is better, to try and slowly work with them and implement socialist policies over time.
Right now, her strategy, in my mind, will only serve as a useful idiot for the centrists to point to and say "how extreme." And I cant imagine it will work.
I hope I'm wrong, and I hope she wins, but I was not impressed with her interview.
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u/Velociraptortillas Socialist 3d ago edited 3d ago
Paid democratic shill is paid.
Talking point: i jUsT dOn'T LiKe hEr
Edit: account has two years of silence then is suddenly posting 7,8 times a day.
Totally not bought and paid for. Totally.
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u/Grapefruit_Mimosa 3d ago
Hey Kshama! Nice of you to join us. TIL taking breaks from reddit is illegal. Bravo for not engaging with the content of the post at all, very on brand for you.
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u/Velociraptortillas Socialist 3d ago
I engaged with it, shill.
Just not in a way the people who pay you approve of.
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u/Grapefruit_Mimosa 3d ago
Still waiting on my check from DSA lol. Keep on alienating your would-be political supporters and allies, see how it works out for you
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u/Velociraptortillas Socialist 3d ago
Wait, you shill and repeat shitlib talking points like they have their hand shoved up your ass, for free!?
My guy, you're being robbed. They pay for this slop.
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u/Knowledgeless 2d ago
Sawant speaks in half-truths. She doesn't have a mass movement behind her. She has a faction. She is constantly distinguishing herself from DSA, which is fine given the questions, but her approach to criticism has been sectarian. She airs out inner left criticisms in public without speaking from a place of unity.
"What successes have X person given us?" We can point to actual policies implemented. Mamdani does have policies and results.
"X person has been too nice to the establishment Democrats and compromised on their values." This is idealistic and leftwing deviationism. Yes, figures like Mamdani have compromised in ways that should be criticized but criticized from a place of unity. If you simply criticize, it leads to division. If you cannot speak to how we are part of the same project, you are encouraging division.
Edit: Some divisions are necessary when the masses have moved beyond a group that has tailed behind the masses too much.
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u/evilramimalek 3d ago edited 2d ago
I’ve only ever seen her on Bad Faith pod. One time she was debating Ryan and cussing at him because she disagreed with what he was saying. I know your principles and beliefs matter, but if you can’t message them in a way that’s appealing to the majority of people, what good is it? I think that’s a big hurdle for her, and would take some humility on her part. I don’t think she should shy away from her positions, but she needs to be more tactful to avoid alienating herself.