Summary:

In this episode of The Zekely Podcast, host Zeke interviews Chris Deluzio who shares his journey from military service to Congressman in Pennsylvania. They discuss challenges of losing Democratic control in D.C., implementing economic populism, and getting the Trifecta in Pennsylvania.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Congressman Chris Deluzio

02:35 90's Rap

04:55 No Catch

07:26 Democrat

09:03 Sourdough

11:08 Threats

13:38 Economic Populism

16:15 Based

19:37 Israel

21:33 Baseball

25:59 Friendship

26:44 Told You

28:33 Hope

29:50 The Future

30:45 Wrap-Up

Chris Deluzio: https://chrisforpa.com/

Full Video Episode Available On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheZekelyPodcast

Short Clips Can Be Found On TikTok: @drzeketayler/@thezekelypodcast and Instagram: @thezekelypodcast

www.thezekelypodcast.com

Hello, I'm Zeke, and welcome to The Zekely Podcast. Let's talk, Pennsylvania. The guest I have today resides in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and has been living a life of service, both foreign and domestic. He's a decorated veteran, civil rights attorney, and now he's running for a third term in PA's 17th Congressional District. Thank you so much for being here, Congressman Chris Deluzio.

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Zeke, thanks for having me on.

Look, Chris, it's my birthday today. Okay. I I am four I'm forty two years old today and my wife asked me, What do you want to do today? I say, I want to interview a congressman in Pennsylvania. So I really appreciate your time. Thank you.

Well, number one, happy birthday. Number two, I hope

you have something far more fun and exciting than this, but we'll get into it. But enjoy your day. Forty-two is a

I have some dinner plans, but this this is a present, so thank you so much.

great age.

I just turned 42,

so you're in for something fun.

I I feel good still. I hope you do too. I wanna thank you, first of all, for everything you're doing to help the important flippable congressional seats in PA. Bob Brooks, Janelle Stelson, Paige Cognetti,

Yeah. Yeah.

Bob Harvey. Because again, the path to taking back Congress runs right through the Keystone State. So thank you for that.

Course. And and by the way, you know, yes, those are the most competitive races, but there are candidates in the even tougher districts who are really doing some party building. Rachel Wallace, for instance. so it's really important and I and I've seen more momentum and more volunteer work in those districts that are really tough than than I've

Yeah.

seen since my time in Congress.

Yeah. I absolutely every Democrat running is an important race. And of

Yeah.

course, this year we're gonna get the trifecta in Pennsylvania. It's been over thirty years, and thank you for supporting people like James Malone running to flip that state Senate seat permanently. So thank you very much. But this

You bet.

episode is all about you, Chris. So let's play some games and have some fun. Are you ready?

All

Ready.

right, Chris, I believe you and I share a love for 90s rap. Is that correct?

Yeah.

Okay, so so who what's your favorite rap group?

Well, okay, hold on. I would've if

From the n from the nineties.

if if it was if you had said rapper, I'd have said Tupac.

Okay.

man, favorite rap group.

Yeah.

Can I do it this way? My favorite collaboration was

Okay.

probably Dre and Tupac on California Love.

Yeah, yeah. I'll take I'll take it. Mine is Outkast Okay. Outcast is my favorite rap group. Yeah, yeah. I

I was debating I was debating Outcast 'cause they're a little

I was little older when they popped, but all right.

Mm-hmm. They were

great. I went to their concert. It was the governor's ball in New York City when I was in anesthesia residency. I drove down. They were the

No kidding.

last act of the day. I stood there for five hours. It was an injection of nostalgia. You have no idea.

That's cool.

But we're gonna play a game called It's a Rap, okay? Because of copyright laws, I can't play you the clips. So I'm gonna start singing the song, and the torture ends when you can jump in and name the song, okay? You ready? Sure to get down, good lord.

Baby got him open all over town.

No diggity.

No diggity. There you go. Black Street, 1996. God, we

I had that C D.

are old, Chris, but it's okay. Classics. We're classics now. We're seasoned. All right, here's another one. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there's nothing left. Cause I've been blasting and laughing so long that. Yeah, cool. That's right. No, it's okay.

I'm jumping whenever. I'm sorry, Coolio, Gangsters Paradise. Whenever. I'm sorry. I you're you're waiting on me.

I'm waiting on you.

And you know, this song is particularly close to me because when Weird Al Yankovich came out with his parody, they said, and even Ezekiel thinks that my mind is gone. So like with a name like Ezekiel, that's very rare. I did,

I think I had both of those CDs too, by the way.

I totally did on the bus listening. But here's the last one. This is my favorite rap song of all time. Okay. Well, it's the I Crooked Leta and No One Better. And when I'm on the microphone, you best to wear your sweater because I'm cooler than a polar bear's toenails. hell, there he go again, talking that shit.

Bend corners like I was a curve, I struck a nerve, and now you're about to see the Southern play a serve. Anything?

n help me out.

Okay, well it is Outcast, okay? AT Ellions. That that bite like when I heard that song with the governor's ball, I lost my mind, Chris. It was so amazing. So if they ever come back, we'll go together, okay? All right,

Brutal. Cool.

Chris, you left a lucrative job in a law firm to defend voting rights and run for Congress. What's the catch?

What's the catch? I mean, look, I think our democracy has been under pretty tremendous stress now for years. And I I get there's like some back and forth of how much should democrats who are worried about the democracy talk about that.

To shore up public trust in our democracy and take corruption out of our government. Like I I think you you have to earn the public support to do this thing. And I think you got to tackle the economic fight. So your question, what's the catch? There isn't one. Like I, you know, I was military earlier in my life, and to me, I draw a direct line.

to what motivated me as you know a seventeen year old to go to the naval academy, to what motivates me to try to make our government better and fix it and defend our constitution. Like it is the same patriotic impulse about why you wanna go if you've got the right motivation. I'm not alone in that, but I I think it's it's fundamentally because you want the country to be better. That's a that's a coming from a place of love.

I I appreciate that I love my country so much as well, always trying to make it better. That's part of the process. But you don't always see people leave those types of jobs to go into the government. I mean, look, some people are breaking the rules, like Rob Bresnahan, and you know, doing inside stock trading, but you are going into it for all the right reasons. So I'm very appreciative that you are still staying true to yourself, but doing it in Congress.

And by the way, we should ban congressional stock trading and actually ban it. The Republicans passed some baloney bill this week that is not a congressional stock trading ban. It just isn't.

And I will tell you at it could be at a senior center town hall, it could be at you name it. If I bring up banning congressional stock trading, I mean, everybody claps for it, including I've had the guys with the MAGA hats clapping. Like it's crooked. They know it is. Voters are smart. We should actually ban this. And the Republicans most certainly did not do that this week.

They're not

gonna do That's why we need you to get the majority again after this November.

Chris,

why are you a Democrat? And why do you choose to represent the Democratic Party?

Well, I'm a Democrat fundamentally because I believe that in this country, your hard work should pay off, that our rights ought to be something that aren't negotiable, our freedoms should not be negotiable, and there ought to be dignity for everybody in this country. I mean, that that's what I deeply believe. And I think the Democratic Party from our New Deal roots onward has never been perfect. But my goodness, like that that should be the foundation we build on. And when I I said a little bit about this.

There's all this talk about affordability, which for folks like me who've been talking about cost of living for a long time, that's great. That's like the floor, okay? That cannot be the end of our ambition. J you just getting by, that's not enough. You know, I I talk about a good life or restoring the American dream. Like if you're working hard, you should be able to afford all the things in America, right? That is a roof over your head, going to the doctor doc when you're sick, having fun things to do with your kids.

Can be going to a ballgame, putting them in activities and youth sports, and I'll talk about that. Retiring. I mean, I could go on and on. These should not be luxuries in America. And it is so much more than just affording your life. That should be where our ambition is.

Those values, those ideals the Democratic platform shares, and I'm just very grateful that you take those in Pennsylvania down to DC as much as you can.

Hey, thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Zekely Podcast. And if you're enjoying yourself, please take a moment to rate my Podcast. Five stars would be great and leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. OK, back to the show.

Chris, I understand you are a bit of a chef and enjoy sourdough bread making. Is this correct?

This is true, though I don't do it much more because I'm like, you know, I have to go to DC and then I'm home. I still do

Yeah. Okay.

it a little bit. My favorite thing, though, is like Sunday sauce where I can get all the kids together and the my family.

Okay. Yeah.

part of being a perfectionist a little bit is, you know, when you're cooking on a recipe, you got to get it right. And I've

Yes.

learned, you know, the baking side of things, you gotta get it right.

Yeah, I mean you don't have any sourdough starters in any of your office cabinets or anything. You got one? Yeah, I got a D C blend. D C blend. no okay, I got it, got

I got yeah, I keep one. Yeah, I've got I got starter. Yeah. But No, I don't have one. No, not not down here. I got it at home. But it's

it.

it's years old at this point, so I've been keeping it going for a while.

I love it. I've never done it, but we're gonna play a game called sour do or sour don't, okay? So questions on how you run your kitchen. after you knew use a knife for peanut butter, do you leave it at the edge of the sink in case you're gonna use it later or do you just goes in the sink right away? Right in the dishwasher? Yeah, is he?

it goes right in the dishwasher. I mean

we're licking it up. We're licking it first to make sure we got it all, but yeah.

Telling you, in my household, there's a knife at the edge of the sink, you know it was used for peanut butter. I mean, we never use it again, but it's always there just in case for that Yeah, exactly. Do you rinse your hands off intermittently when you cook? 'Cause I'm a chronic rinser. Do you do that a lot?

yeah.

If I'm deal especially like if I'm making, you know, chicken or something like that, we're washing hands like ten times. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

I do that as well. I have an egg pan that I use for omelets. It's cast iron and I don't wash it that much because I feel like you're washing the flavors away. Do you have like a pan in your house as well?

I have

a very well seasoned, like lodge cast iron that probably costs thirty bucks whenever I bought it. And that thing is no one's allowed to really mess with it.

Exactly.

Yeah, don't touch that pan. Here's the last one. Do you throw things away right away when the expiration day passes or or or do you just kinda do the sniff test a little bit? You have four kids. I'm not judging you. Four kids.

Yeah. No, it depends what it is.

Yeah.

'Cause some of those expiration dates I think aren't right.

Yeah, they're garbage.

Yeah. And I have to say, I we use lactate milk, it lasts forever. Okay. Just a little snippet there.

Chris, you and half a dozen Democrats in Congress with military and intelligence backgrounds urged service members to ignore the chain of command if they're given unlawful orders. And in response, Trump said you should be put to death for seditious behavior. Coming from someone who encouraged a seditious insurrection in twenty twenty, it's like every accusation is a confession with this guy.

Yeah, it's crazy stuff. And I you know, anyone who's served or been around people who are in military will know this, but learning that you have to follow lawful orders and that no one can force you to follow illegal ones is something that happens at boot camp at

The Naval Academy, as it did for me at Officer Candidate School or ROTC. It's something commanders train on. It's like a basic bedrock principle. and some of the worst things that have ever happened in our military, take the Me Lai Massacre, for instance, are case studies that officers and enlisted train on to understand your obligations again to follow lawful orders and that no one can force you to follow illegal ones.

And the fact that this president's response was, as you say, it tells me more about him than than anything else.

It's very on brand. And to me, when you put out that statement with the other members of Congress, I mean, you have a spine. You know, people are saying,

Well

you know, where are the where are the leaders in the Democratic Party? Where's the spine? I'm looking at I'm talking to one. I'm looking one right now.

Yeah. And

look, Zeke, I mean, those that that crew, including a fellow Pennsylvanian, Chrissy Hoolihan, some tough folks, right? And I think

Yeah.

a clear message you heard from all of us and from me was I'm not gonna be intimidated, not for a second. I was elected to do a job and I'm gonna see it through. And look, and I I will say this again, as as a guy who they tried to throw in prison, by the way, and called for hanging.

I believe deeply that Donald Trump has failed. Life has become more expensive. His administration is corrupt. I could go on and on. For Democrats to win back the trust and be given the power to govern, it is inadequate to just be opposed to Donald Trump. That that is not enough. You have to have that affirmative case for what you're going to do to turn this ship around in this country, to build that good life for people who've earned it.

to restore the American dream. Like I and I say that again as a guy who this he came after me and others. And

Yeah.

and I really deeply believe it is just inadequate for the party if people are just defining themselves in opposition to Donald Trump. It's just not enough.

I agree.

Yeah, I agree. You're you are laser focused on the mission of what the Democratic platform offers. This is a great segue into Max question, because you have spoken about and embraced economic populism, which is an approach to economic policy making that prioritizes the immediate interests and well-being of the working and middle classes over corporate and financial elites. And I I love that. And I just want to know when the Democrats, when, not if, when the Democrats get back power in the House, how are we going to translate that to economic policy?

So look, I I could it'd be very easy just to make it up, but we don't have to, because we've got legislation we've put out, there's an affordability agenda that the CPC put out that I really like. but at its core, these are a bunch of bills that number one, look to weaken corporate power and its

Mm-hmm.

stranglehold over all of us, right? That's antitrust breaking up monopolies. I just put out a bill with Pat Ryan and Pramela Jayapal to break up the meat packing monopolies that are putting the screws to all of us as consumers.

That are jamming farmers, and we're all paying for it. And that's just one example. You know, I think we have a problem in this country of people who make billions of dollars, billions, that pay lower tax rates than someone who's a working class or middle class person earning a paycheck that we tax in this country, our government taxes paycheck income less than or more than it taxes investment income. And that's a part of this.

I look, I you're a doctor. I too many people in this country have to make horrible decisions about whether they go get healthcare because they can't afford it. And I I just think it's wrong.

Yeah. Right. A hundred percent.

I'm a Medicare for all person. I know we've got a big tent of where Democrats are, but man, the Republican solutions, they don't

exist. In fact, they've

They don't exist.

made

it worse. And so

Yeah, they don't

to

me, you know, you've got to be willing to take on that corporate power. I think rejecting corporate PAC money is a big part of it.

as I do and and more and more Democrats do. But I think this fight against corruption and this power that's really hurt people is is really the fight of our moment and it's one we gotta win.

I agree. I appreciate that you're not carrying water for the billionaires of this country. I mean, look, as a doctor I care very deeply that everyone should have safe access to health care and people

Don't really understand that you have a much higher likelihood of needing Medicare or Medicaid in your lifetime than ever becoming a billionaire. Like there's a 50% chance that you may need food stamps in your life in America or Medicaid. You're not gonna become the billionaire. So people need to support people like you and other Democrats because we want to support the middle class and make sure everyone has access to clean water, health care, a good job, a roof over their heads, and that starts with the Democratic majority in Congress.

Chris, we're gonna play get based or get lost, okay? So getting based means being unapologetically yourself and true to your own values, which I believe you very much are. And the term was popularized by rapper Lil B, okay? So I'm gonna list off some items and you if you like it, say get based. If not, say get lost, okay? Unfettered development of data centers in Pennsylvania. Get

Yeah, I get lost.

lost, right? I mean, I know that a lot of these things are happening at the state and local levels, you know, in municipalities.

Yeah.

But I I do hope that Congress can at least put some guardrails up for these data centers around the country.

Yeah, and look, like there's

there's a lot I I had some discussions even just this week with some of the building trades workers.

These projects are all over the map in terms of even good labor standards or not, protecting water resources or not, affecting electricity prices. So no rules is just crazy to me. Yeah.

That's crazy. I appreciate that. Here's

another one. Student loan forgiveness.

Git based or Okay. Git based. Git based. Okay. I forgot which were the options.

get based is good. Get based or get lost. Get based. All right, good. Yes. I mean, I have no, it's

okay, it's okay. This is particularly personal to me because my mother needed

Yeah.

to go back to school after many, many years of being married, and she took out loans to become a nurse. And she had a ton of debt, and Joe Biden forgave that debt. Forgave it, and it was gonna go away. And then when Trump came back in, it all went away. And now she owes all this debt again. She's not a greedy person. She worked her ass off.

to become a nurse and support herself. And the fact that that was ripped away from her and so many other millions of Americans around the country is just wrong. So I really hope that someday we can help build generational wealth for Americans and have student loan forgiveness.

Yeah, and like by the way, it even if it happens, it it it just becomes a temporary fix if we don't fix the underlying thing of are you gonna invest in making education something people don't have to take huge amounts of debt for? Same thing with the trades, right? I mean, it can't just be the only path that you give people is four-year college. So I I think all these things are linked. And again, if if you're just dealing with existing loan and not the investment to make it so that society says you can go to college or you can learn a trade.

And come out without all this debt. Like, come on. You you gotta do both of those things. Yeah.

It's insane. All right, here's the last one. The Save Act.

get lost.

Get lost, right? It's terri- I look, I'm grateful that it's stalling in the Senate. But my God, I mean, can you imagine that half of the women in this nation would possibly not be able to vote? I mean, I can, that's what Republicans want, but it's just terrifying.

And and by the way, one of the things that could work under this for a f acceptable ID passport, okay, like half of Americans don't have one.

They don't have

and as you pointed out, if you've changed your name and marriage, so a lot of adult women in this country, you know, your birth certificate and your driver's license together won't work. And so it's it's just it's a cockamamie thing. And it's why you've got even Republican senators like Lisa Murkowski pointing out that it's just crazy to tell people, and I think she's talked about this.

You gotta get on a plane to go to Juneau to get on the voter rolls. Like that's that's just nuts.

It's

insane. I mean, look, voting is safe and secure in Pennsylvania and around the country. There's no massive fraud. That's a lie. And I'm just grateful that you're there protecting our right to vote in Congress. But yeah, I mean you're amazing, Chris. You are definitely a based congressman, true to your word.

Wow, you're still listening. Thank you so much. I want to make sure as many people in Pennsylvania as possible get to experience The Zekely Podcast. So to help spread the word, please take a moment to rate my podcast. Five stars would be great. Leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. Enjoy the rest of the show.

Chris, I'm one of millions of Americans who did not vote for Trump or want to be where we are today. And yet I don't want the rest of the free world to abandon support of this country.

How can you as a member of Congress support the Israeli people without enabling Netanyahu, who clearly does not have the

Yeah.

Israelis or Palestinians best interests at heart?

Yeah, look, I on one level it's a very complicated question, but really it's not, because I think this Iran war, which was a joint US Israeli war, for instance,

Mm-hmm.

has been disastrous. I mean the Congress didn't vote for the war in the first place. We shouldn't be funding continuing this war, and we shouldn't be doing it through the Israelis and the Israeli government. And I think Netanyahu's government has has been horrible.

and so I think you can have tough talks with allies, you can have talk tough talks with friends, even look at NATO. You know, I think there's been a bipartisan push for years to say to NATO allies, hey, you've got to step up and sh carry more of the defense burden. It can't be all on the American people. That's how allies should talk to each other when

Right.

there's a place of mutual respect. And I think you can have tough conversations with traditional allies.

When they're doing something that hurts your interests and hurts the American people, as I think Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have done in particular with this Iran war.

Yeah.

I mean diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy. That is how we move the needle forward. And I'm just grateful because again, we're all struggling in this country right now. And there are lots of us who are in the streets. We're helping Democrats get elected and the countries and around the world see us in a certain light. But we're fighting. And I know and I believe there are people in Israel who are fighting that same fight there against Netanyahu. So I appreciate that very much, Chris.

Chris, friends of yours describe you as someone who naturally gravitates towards collaborative roles rather than seeking the spotlight. did your love of baseball growing up play into that team mentality?

I'll say yes. I don't you know, I it's a great question actually. And maybe maybe the better part of it is being a Pirates fan as a kid who, you know, I was born in the mid eighties meant I I got to see the ninety two NLCS and the Pirates be so close and then, you know, twenty years of horrible suffering as a fan, which builds something in you, number one. And yeah, baseball's a great team sport.

you gotta you gotta make it about your team and not yourself. And and look, honestly, my military experience is a big part of that too. I I talk about one of the mottos I learned at the Naval Academy, which is ship, shipmate self. The idea is the mission comes first and those around you matter more than yourself. That's not a bad way to go about doing the job in Congress. and by the way, if you don't care about getting the credit, you can get a lot more done.

That's right.

and that's I think that's the responsibility you owe to the constituents who send you anyway.

Absolutely. I mean, I think it's embarrass I as a physician, I'm the medical director of an ICU, and you're only as good as your team. And I

Yeah.

like to surround myself with people who are smarter than me, which is not what Donald Trump does. He's gone on the record by saying, I don't enjoy being around other smart people because they just aren't interested in me. So I just appreciate and clearly your colleagues see that you're a team player and you look out for what's best for everyone. So I had to I wanted to highlight that.

And we're gonna play a game called Black and Gold. Okay, I had to I know you're you bleed black and gold. I know you're a huge Pirates fan, so I wanna get your take on the following. And I just wanna let you know I know nothing about baseball. Okay. So so

Okay.

this should be easy for you. Should Paul Skenes be traded now? No.

No, no.

They should listen, the Pirates are coming up on the deadline, trade deadline for the season. They got to fix the bullpen. Offense

Okay.

has been great. Skeen's struggled a little bit, but I mean, look, the guy is a generational talent. They got to show him that they can put together a team they're trying to win, and they should do everything they can to sign this guy.

Okay, because what I was reading and I did I don't research on this 'cause I don't know off the top my head, you know, if they if they dealt him a package similar to what the Nationals got for Juan Soto, it could set up a th the franchise for sustained World Series window. Do you agree with that at all?

Look, I think they signed Connor Griffin in the way that I was impressed by. And

Mm-hmm.

I think we've been dealt this hand where we have Paul Skins, they drafted him, they were they managed to sign him out the gate. We should not squander that. And I I understand the value that will exist on the free agency market for him. The other thing that looms here, there may be a strike after the season or a lockout by the owners, which the owners have been pretty bad, frankly, with negotiating with the players association.

And that's a wrinkle on all this of a season maybe lost or part of a season, who knows, for a lot of talented players. So uncertainty, I just think if you're Bob Nutting and the owners, get Skeen signed, make a deal.

All right, Paul Schienes is gonna stay. All here's another one. In regard to the pi to the pirates' bullpen, do you think the development pipeline or the front office's roster construction is to blame for underperformance?

I don't know. On I I I don't know. I mean, the performance has been bad. I saw a stat before the all star break of, you know, if games ended in the seventh inning, what the record would have been. And the point was our record would be much better because we're blowing leads late in the game, which is on the bullpen. I don't know if it's about who's in the minor league pipeline for us or just the way they're managing existing guys, or just we don't have enough major league talent, which we clearly don't right now in the bullpen. So they gotta make some changes. And I think the

Mm-hmm.

the quickest way is they make some trades before the deadline.

Well, here we go. Should the Pirates cash in on O'Neal Cruz's high trade value with contenders to bring in transformational, controllable, top of the rotation starting pitcher?

Yeah, maybe, which breaks my heart because he's been such an offensive power. His defense has been a little tough. And so I think longer term he's a D H probably. Great hitter, great talent. but the way our offense is generating our weak spot right now, as you say, it's it's bullpen and maybe a little bit help. your research was decent.

Well, obviously I knew that, Chris, because I'm a huge baseball fan. You

like that? Okay, I did my best. But thank you for playing.

And he and you know he's

he had a bit of injury problem. So, you know, I I don't know. I think maybe maybe making a move for him makes sense.

I'm hopeful for Chris. I want I want you to get some joy out of this game.

Chris, what's the most unexpected friendship you formed in Washington?

Ooh, most unexpected friendship. I mean, well, this is not that unexpected, but one of the guys I'm I I work most closely with is Congressman from New York, Pat Ryan, who's a West Pointer. I'm an Annapolis guy. So,

Hmm. Okay.

you know, we're like like the brothers who fight. That's like how that rivalry works. So not that unexpected, but we've we've gotten close and collaborated on a bunch of stuff. And frankly

There have been a bunch of the veterans of my vintage, you know, post nine eleven era who have really on the dem side been out in front in opposition to the Iran war, which has been pretty powerful, pretty important. And Pat has been one of those guys. So been been great to get to to know him, become friends with him.

Chris, nobody likes and I told you so. but losing all three branches of government to Republicans seems to have played out exactly like many of us expected. what has been your response to people when they ask or beg you to do something to address the madness in DC and how it's affecting people back home?

I would say, you know, I was on the floor, I don't know, about an hour or so ago and we did one a war powers resolution vote, which when this war started, that would have seemed impossible. You still had Democrats

Mm-hmm.

even voting for some of these. I think, and I say this again as a guy who's been crystal clear that we have to take the Democratic Party's vision to the voters

Mm-hmm.

as broader.

than opposing Trump. But my goodness, there's a lot of harm he has been and can continue to cause in the meantime. And I think I've shown my willingness personally, put myself out there when the time comes to to be it to be

Yes.

it be opposed. so I think we can't lose sight of in the short term

Using every lever we have. And remember, the senators, while the filibuster still exists over there, have much more leverage that they can be using and they should

Right.

be using. You know, I I disagreed with some of the Democratic senators, including John Fetterman, when they when they funded last year the government through a pretty irresponsible continuing resolution the Republicans pushed through when we were holding out

for healthcare, if you remember to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits. So when

Yeah, of course, of course.

we have those moments where there's some power to push back on something bad the majorities the Republicans have or are are doing, we should use it.

Yeah.

And I just want to remind everyone, you know, in a democracy, and I hope to live in one for a very long time, the buck has always and will always stop with the voter. So we have to be the ones to give people like you the power to bring sanity back to DC. And I look forward to doing that this November third.

Thank you. I'm in.

Chris, what gives you hope?

A lot. I mean, I've got kids. My family gives me hope. See in the future for them. And and look, for we're talking electoral politics and elections, so I I'm I'll make it about that. I have a lot of hope in Pennsylvania. In twenty twenty five and those judicial and school board of municipal races, Democrats did really well and showed up and have continued that. You mentioned Senator Malone and Lancaster.

Mm-hmm. That's

You know, we

right.

we are we have seen some really strong candidates.

Overperform in some big ways in some tough districts for Democrats traditionally. And and James is a maybe the best example we have in Pennsylvania of that. So I've got a lot of hope going into November. And I've been out helping the congressional candidates in the districts like the Lehigh Valley, Bob Brooks, for instance. I was with Janelle Stelson last week. I'm gonna keep doing that. Number one, because I want those folks to win. But number two, the votes of the Republican members of Congress affect my constituents. When

Right, right.

when healthcare gets taken away from people, it affects

Affects Americans all over the country. And so their votes affect all of us. And it is a big part of why I'm helping our candidates try to win those races.

you give me hope, Chris. when people like you go out every day to try and make Pennsylvania and this country a better place, it's hard not to have hope. So I'm just very grateful for you.

Chris, my last question for you is what plans do you have to get yourself through these next few years in America?

I mean, look, I I'm doing this job in Congress, and I think if the voters will send me back, and if I think I can be of of service and be useful, I'm doing it. I think in this time in our country's history, this is a a pretty important moment. And I think it is fundamentally patriotic to want to make your country better, to make your country live up to our founding ideals, which we haven't always. And we should never be naive or blind to that. But the story of America, like at our founding.

Despite not meeting them, talking about, yearning about the idea that all are created equal, that's pretty awesome. And I think when you dissent from our government doing something bad, not meeting those ideals, that is fundamentally patriotic. So I'm gonna keep serving and trying to do this job well and try to make our country live up to those ideals.

Lean into the work. That's what I'm hearing, Chris. Lean into the work. Well, Chris Deluzio, Democrat running for Congress in Pennsylvania, what is your website?

Chris for PA dot com.

If you live in Beaver County or Northwestern Allegheny County, get off your ass. Go to Chris's website, sign up to Doorknock, Phone Bank, make a donation, get involved. Every election is the most important election. And I want to bring sanity back to DC. It runs right through the Keystone State. And as you've heard, Chris is doing everything he can, not just for his own race, other races across the Commonwealth. Chris, again, I'm so grateful for you in so many ways. And I will do everything I can to help you win this November third. And I just can't wait to congratulate you.

Thank you, Zeke. Thanks for having me on.

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining me here on The Zekely Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved. And until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.