Welcome to the Empire Files podcast. This is Abby Martin. This is the audio version of each episode of the Empire Files hosted on Telesaur English. You can watch every episode at the EmpireFiles. TV.

Most people know Ralph Nader as the insurgent third-party presidential candidate in the 2000 elections, where the popularity of his

stand against corporate hegemony struck fear into establishment politics, but hundreds of millions

experienced Nader's legacy every day. Most notably, how virtually every automobile safety measure,

from seatbelts to airbags, is the product of his relentless campaign against auto industry giants, saving millions of lives.

A long-time political figure and consumer advocate with a unique experience fighting from the center of Washington,

I wanted to hear what he had to say about today's political climate.

So your main focus early on, of course, in your political career was

the auto industry, where you heavily critique their safety standards. General Motors went after

you pretty hard. I wanted you to outline the insane tactics that the industry employed against you.

Well, they had a habit. They had hired former FBI agents who retire on their security staff.

So anybody who criticized them and got it through the media, they'd send a detective to get dirt on them.

So I guess I was just in line, and they sent detectives to trail me.

They trailed me to Iowa, where the Attorney General of Iowa was holding auto safety hearings.

They stubbed their toe, though, when they trailed me up to the new Senate office building,

and I was scheduled to testify for Congress in a few days. And you see, if you obstruct a congressional

witness, that's a felony. So the guard caught, he caught them. And Senator

Rilkoff had hearings. Senator Bobby Kennedy was on the show, on the hearings rather, and

they summoned the President of General Motors, who admitted it. And that created a huge wave

to enact the 1960s

motor vehicle highway safety laws, which irregularly enforced to save over 3 million lives.

How hard would it be to pass similar legislation today?

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