How to fix Washington's 'reality TV' politics (with Rep. Sarah McBride)

The Conversation with Dasha Burns

POLITICO

News, Government, Politics

4.0 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Freshman Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) is the first out transgender member of Congress. Within days of her election this past November, she faced attacks from Republican colleagues who tried to draw her into a public conflict. Nevertheless, McBride has continued to find ways to forge ties across the aisle. In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Rep. McBride tells POLITICO’s Dasha Burns why she has prioritized bipartisanship: “Every person in this country goes to work in a workplace where there are people who think differently, live differently, look differently than they do. They figure out how to make it work. They treat one another with respect. This is the one place where we seem to not be able to muster the same maturity and mutual respect that Americans across this country muster every single day when they go into the workplace.” McBride says she hopes to bring “a sense of kindness and grace” to Congress despite the “reality TV show nature” of today’s politics. The two also discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, how the Democratic Party can rebuild its coalition without “reinforcing right-wing framing” over culture war issues and why her pursuit of bipartisan legislation is in part a direct response to President Trump. “If we can't figure out how to solve problems across our political divide,” she tells Burns, “then I believe Trumpism only grows and worsens in this country.” Plus, White House reporter Myah Ward on Trump’s trip to Scotland and what it revealed about the working relationship between the president and European leaders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Today's episode is sponsored by pharma.
0:02.7	Pharma member companies are answering President Trump's call to put America first.
0:07.2	As part of the biopharmaceutical industry's commitment to American patients and workers,
0:12.2	they are making historic investments in U.S.-based manufacturing and infrastructure,
0:16.5	providing financial assistance to millions of patients, and will be launching America'smedicons.com, which will connect patients and businesses with manufacturer direct purchase
0:26.0	programs. Learn more at Americasmedicons.com.
0:30.7	We have to get back into the business of public persuasion, and that means being willing
0:35.7	and able to meet people where they are. It doesn't mean
0:38.7	always fighting fights in ways that feel viscerally comforting to ourselves as scared as we may be.
0:45.9	Hello, hello, and welcome to the conversation. Every week on this show, I invite one of the
0:50.9	most compelling and sometimes unexpected power players in for a chat
0:55.9	to find out how they're navigating and shaping this incredible era of American politics.
1:02.2	This week was another big one.
1:03.8	We had President Trump over in Scotland negotiating trade deals.
1:07.4	We had more fallout from the Epstein saga.
1:10.7	And the humanitarian crisis in Gaza
1:13.2	really took over the conversation in Washington and the country really in the world because
1:17.7	it has reached new levels to the point where even President Trump, who has touted a strong
1:23.3	relationship and a lot of support for Israel has started to break with Netanyahu, and it is starting
1:28.9	to split the Republican Party a little bit. It had already been splitting Democrats over the course
1:34.2	of the 2024 election cycle. We saw that firsthand. And my guess this week is a perfect person
1:40.3	to talk about this and so much more. Congresswoman Sarah McBride joins the conversation this
	...

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