Amo is the favorite since the district is overwhelmingly Democratic. The son of African immigrants, Amo grew up in Pawtucket and he’s worked for years as a political staffer in Rhode Island and at the White House. What would it mean to him to become the first person of color elected to Congress from Rhode Island? What does he make of the violence in Israel? And as a former aide to President Biden, how does Amo explain the low approval ratings for the president as he gears up for another campaign with Donald Trump? I’m Ian Donnis and this week I’m going in depth with the Democratic nominee in Rhode Island’s First District, Gabe Amo.
Transcript:
Ian Donnis: Voters will choose between you and Republican Gary Leonard on Tuesday What makes you the better choice?
Gabe Amo: Well, I am so excited to be a candidate and honored to be a candidate for congress here in the first congressional district And as i’ve shared with folks in the past, I have humble roots.
I’m the son of Pawtucket and the shared Rhode Island values that we have of grit, resilience, determination that I’ve had in my life when driven by my parents. And also the experience that I’ve had at the federal level working for two presidents gives me an opportunity to work hard for people of this district and also make sure that we are not sending someone to Congress who is going to be part of the caucus of chaos and be part of that house, a Republican majority that is frankly not aligned with what people want in the first district
Ian Donnis: If you win, you will be the first person of color to represent Rhode Island in Congress. What would that mean to you on a personal level?
Gabe Amo: Well, on a personal level, I am honored [00:01:00] at all aspects of this. I would say I did not run to make history. I got into this race to make a difference. But there are so many people who came before me, people of color, women.
Other path breaking individuals with whom I share a strong determination to overcome challenges and do our best for people here. And that alone is an honor for me.
Ian Donnis: Let’s switch gears to talk about some international and national issues. Thousands of Palestinians are being killed and injured as part of Israel’s effort to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas.
Do you support this approach by Israel?
Gabe Amo: Well, let me zoom out. I stand with Israel. I believe Israel has a right to defend itself. I, I believe the horrible terrorist attacks by Hamas are, are unconscionable. Just last night I was at the Jewish – actually I was at Temple Beth El an event sponsored by the Jewish Alliance and others and heard about the horrible tragedies and the hostages that have been taken.
I would also say it’s terribly important that we have a humanitarian concern and that we have a consideration for things like a humanitarian pause to make sure that we are having the impact on routing out terrorism instead of the innocent civilians who have been killed and so I as a –
Ian Donnis: As a supporter of Israel, are you concerned that international opinion is really turned against Israel due to the volume of violence. Are you concerned that Israel’s approach is going to have more negative than positive consequences?
Gabe Amo: Well, first I would say anti-semitism at all levels is a bad thing. I would say it’s also, you know, it’s also very clear that the more innocent lives are lost are not in the interest of anybody.
They’re not in the interest of anybody. Israel, they’re not in the interest of our global community. So that is why I encourage our leaders to think about the humanitarian imperative that exists for us in the response here while rooting out the horrific terrorism that we’ve witnessed from Hamas.
Ian Donnis: Hundreds of people attended a recent pro-Palestinian demonstration at the statehouse. Some people chanted “from the river to the sea,” which can be interpreted as a call for the elimination of Israel. Is there a place in the Democratic Party for people who support that chant?
Gabe Amo: Absolutely not. I do not believe that we have space for hate in our politics. We don’t have space for hate in our language. We should not have and invite anti-Semitism and certainly not invite Islamophobia. These are real big challenges and words matter at this moment. And all of our leaders need to be very precise, need to speak with clarity and need to be mindful of the, the people who are hurt by words and actions that often result from those words
Ian Donnis: The Alliance Defending Freedom, which is a Christian conservative group, was a driving force in the campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade, and it has won 15 U. S. Supreme Court cases. Does this show that Christian conservatives are having a disproportionate effect on the kind of laws that govern life in America?
Gabe Amo: Yeah, it’s unfortunate that we are having the personal beliefs of people driven into our politics. I believe in reproductive freedom, and that’s why it’s unfortunate that we have a Speaker of the House, new Speaker Mike Johnson, who speaks to those extremes. He was an architect of legal arguments to take away reproductive freedoms in the Dobbs case. He’s also an election denier. He’s also someone who was against same sex marriage. That is something that Rhode Islanders here in the First District can’t support and can’t support someone who is going to join that form of leadership and support that form of leadership.
Ian Donnis: If Christian conservatives like Speaker Johnson and the Alliance Defending Freedom are so influential and so ascendant in their influence, how do Democrats respond?
Gabe Amo: Well, I think we respond by being forthright and clear with our principles. One of those driving principles is freedom. And it’s freedom to ensure that we have a democracy that is protected. It’s freedom to make sure that people can live their most authentic selves no matter how they identify and freedom for those reproductive choices where no lawmaker, or aspiring lawmaker in me, should not be in that room for those most difficult of decisions. And so the way that we speak out is, has to be purposeful, has to be about the destructive impact of that ideological bent to our politics.
Ian Donnis: AR style guns were designed initially for the military. Gun rights supporters say the second amendment includes the right for people to own those sorts of guns. Do you agree or disagree?
Gabe Amo: Look, I think that separate from the conversation about the amendment, which, you know, the Second Amendment gets all sorts of interpretations, that we have to drive at some values. An assault weapons ban is necessary to me because we need to make sure that the harm inflicted on communities, on people’s lives, as we sit here, we think about the people in Lewiston is not something that’s repeated over and over and over again. We know the common denominator here, yet our politics as such because of the power of the gun lobby and because of some legislators where we aren’t doing as much. You see Jared Golden, the congressman from the Lewiston Maine area who said he has now changed his position on being against assault weapons, but it should not take mass death for the solutions that we require.
Ian Donnis: We’re talking here with Gabe Amo, Democratic candidate in the 1st Congressional District, and your campaign declined requests for you to participate in some debates and forums, including one planned by The Public’s Radio and the Providence Journal. Why do you support limiting to two TV debates, the opportunities for voters to see you go head to head with your Republican opponent, Gerry Leonard.
Gabe Amo: Well, Ian, I’m excited to be part of any venue that, where I can share ideas. This is the third time I’ve been here on Political Roundtable, and I think it’s been a great set of conversations.
Ian Donnis: And we’re very happy to have you here, but that’s still different from voters having the chance to see you and your Republican rival in the same format.
Gabe Amo: Yes. And, and Ian voters across the district have been engaged in this campaign. I’ve participated in forums across the primary season, and I look forward to the debates that I will have on television to widely available formats for voters. To make their judgment, to look and see whether we should send someone to join the Republican caucus that has our government on the brink of shutdown and is too extreme, or send someone who is a solutions-oriented leader who is focused on Rhode Island and serving a community that has done so much for me.
Ian Donnis: You worked in the White House with President Biden, so it’s probably not escaped your notice that Biden’s approval rating is underwater in 40 states, including every battleground state, according to a new survey out this week by Morning Consult, a group in Washington, D. C. If President Biden’s record is as good as you and other Democrats say, why is he so unpopular?
Gabe Amo: Yeah, I think it sometimes takes a while for everybody to feel the impact of legislation takes a while for people to be connected to the progress that we’ve made. Under president Trump, we saw us at the depths of the COVID 19 pandemic and an economy on the brink of collapse and real questions of our democracy on January 6th and insurrection under president Biden.
And I was proud to serve at the white house and help get things done. Like the bipartisan infrastructure law, like the inflation reduction app, the chips and science act to invest here in Rhode Island. You see the recent announcement of a tech hub, real big things that will create jobs, but we have to do a better job telling the story. And I hope to do that if successful as a member of Congress.
Ian Donnis: On the other side of the aisle, people can cite a litany of outrages about former President Donald Trump from threatening General Mark Milley, the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cozying up to autocrats, on and on and on. Given this, why does Trump maintain such a commanding lead among Republican voters on the Republican side?
Gabe Amo: I wish I could tell you I understood how Republican voters work. I don’t know. But what I would say is there’s a clear contrast and people will have a clear choice next November in a likely matchup with Current President Biden and former President Trump. But what I will say is we as a country have to move forward away from the divisiveness that we saw in the Trump administration away from the rhetoric of hate and into one where everybody can thrive and have opportunity in our economy and beyond.
Ian Donnis: You epitomize the American dream as a son of immigrants from Liberia and Ghana, but Rhode Island has struggled for decades to improve public schools. You formerly worked for Governor Raimondo. Why have Democrats who’ve led the state for close to a century not done a better job of improving public education?
Gabe Amo: Yeah, I think public education is one of our sacred institutions that we need to continue to invest in. And I think a lot of our children as they enter the classroom have a multitude of challenges that disrupt that progress. Things like child hunger, which has grown in our country. Things like unstable housing. Things like the mental health crisis that we experience. And so, our teachers are champions and we need to continue to support them in all sorts of ways. And as a member of Congress, what I would focus on is some of those determinants of outcomes that happen outside of the classroom and make sure that we are working as hard as we can to equip our school systems with what they need.
Ian Donnis: Very briefly, if you win Tuesday, you’ll be the most junior member of Congress. You’ll struggle for years to win influence. How will you try and overcome that?
Gabe Amo: Well, I don’t think I’ll struggle for influence, Ian. I think I have a unique position having served for two presidents of the United States and I will take advantage of every opportunity to help Rhode Islanders from day one. I feel ready for the job.
Ian Donnis: Gabe Amo, Democrat running in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, thank you for joining us.
Gabe Amo: Thank you so much for having me, Ian.
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When it comes to dramatic and significant news, our current moment can be measured in dog years. The war in Israel, the clash in Ukraine, China’s rise, and Donald Trump’s remaking of the Republican Party are stories with far-reaching consequences. Given that, you might be surprised to learn that Americans are following the news less closely than they used to, according to Pew. Maybe that’s not an unusual response to depressing headlines from near and far. But if people don’t follow the news, how will they make informed decisions? You can read more about that in my Friday TGIF column posting around 4 this afternoon on what used to be known as Twitter @IanDon and the publics radio dot org.
That’s our show for this week. Our producer is James Baumgartner.
I’m Ian Donnis and I’ll see you on the radio.
