EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Behind the scenes on the campaign trail with Donald Trump Jr.

August 19, 2020

Writer

The year 2020 has been one for the record books, that's for sure. Any election year gets especially feisty at this point in the calendar, but you mix in a worldwide pandemic, chaos and rioting in the streets, and oh yeah, an asteroid that barely missed Earth, and you get history in the making.

With all that going on in such a short period of time, the last presidential election seems like a lifetime ago. In the lead-up to November 2016, many conservatives — Glenn Beck included — had reservations about what a Donald Trump presidency would look like. Considering how contentious and heated the rhetoric got, you might expect those closest to President Trump to hold a grudge — but not Donald Trump Jr.

"I get it. In 2016 I totally understand why people didn't believe he'd follow through on his promises," Trump Jr. said. "Especially when it comes to pro-life and religious liberty issues. He was a New York guy that had to work with liberals to get things done. But now he's got a track record and he's doing what he said he'd do. He's accomplished so much and has followed through on what he promised. I think the people in this country are really responding to it and will come out and support him on Election Day even stronger this time around."

"Now he's got a track record and he's doing what he said he'd do."

Once in office, it didn't take long before President Trump started to fulfill his campaign promises. In 2016, without any history in public service and with celebrity as his main source of recognition, it's easy to understand why his primary opponents and later Hillary Clinton didn't see him as a serious threat — at first. Luckily for him, they made the fatal mistake of miscalculating how well he connects with the average American.

"My dad spent his formative years walking construction sites, talking with the workers and the contractors, and he got to know all kinds of people. He's always been very hands-on with his projects, and it gave him the opportunity to get to know what people care about and what issues are important to them. That was key for him to understand the problems the people of our country face right now," Trump Jr. said.

Aside from connecting with the common man, Don Jr. shared how his dad's time working in "the lion's den" of New York City helped him govern once he took office.

"As a businessman and a developer, my dad has always had to deal with bureaucracies and red tape, so he's had hands-on experience dealing with politics — especially as a conservative in New York," Trump Jr. said.

"Unlike Joe Biden, who's been an elected official since he was in his 20s, my dad has real-world experience and knows how to get things done."

"My dad has real-world experience and knows how to get things done."

Watching Don Jr. in front of a crowd or one on one with an individual, you can see he has some of the same abilities as his father to relate to the people he meets. Sincerity is often lacking in politics, but Don Jr. credits one very simple reason why both he and his father resonate with the people.

"The reason we connect with people and appear genuine is because we are genuine. It's easy to appear genuine when you aren't a phony and you are just yourself," Trump Jr. said.

If you follow Don Jr. on Instagram, you can see he enjoys "poking the bear" as the president does on Twitter. The memes and quips he posts often highlight the hypocrisy in government and show a side of him that many thought didn't exist.

"If you were to ask people before all of this, even family, they would say I've been the member of the family least like my father my whole life. But now I realize our personalities are much more similar than I thought," Trump Jr. said.

The similarities between Don Jr. and the president don't end there. Neither will back down from a fight, but like to take on bullies head-on, something the president's base had been longing for. After years of being silenced during the Obama administration, Republicans found their champion in Trump. Now as the president's top surrogate, Don Jr. has joined the fight and is taking on the enemy head-on, just like his dad.

"There are certain traits you are born with, but a lot does come from the way we were raised," Trump Jr. said. "We grew up around business and real-world problems, and he definitely helped shape who we are and how we view things."

When you are an outspoken member of the first family, you become subject to attacks and criticism. For Republicans, that criticism often comes from the mainstream media. The latest such attack on Don Jr. was a CBS News story blasting him for appearing in promotional images for a rifle company.

"I've been a lifelong conservative and a big supporter of the Second Amendment, and a guy asked me to go shooting with him when I was in town. Now the media is smearing him and throwing out all kinds of accusations. The guy had a contract with the military and went through that approval process, but I'm supposed to do a deep dive into his past and vet him even further? Give me a break," Trump Jr. said.

When CBS News asked for a quote for its story, Don Jr.'s spokesperson, Andrew Surabian, provided a statement that called out the journalistic double standard of assigning two investigative reporters to Don Jr.'s story and none to cover the recent Bill Clinton/Epstein allegations. CBS ultimately published a clipped version of the statement, omitting the part that highlighted its own hypocrisy.

You can read the full statement here:

Dishonest gutter level smear by @CBSNews. Don didn't appear in a promotion, he got invited to go shooting & they posted a pic of it on their instagram.

PS: They also refused to run my full statement. Maybe because I called CBS out for protecting Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein? https://t.co/OTGyyoJmB4 pic.twitter.com/t8ZcrLR0CS
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) August 19, 2020

"I can't go shooting at a range for half an hour because they dug up info about a guy I hadn't met before, but it's totally cool for Bill Clinton to sign off from his Secret Service detail 28 times to visit Jeffrey Epstein on 'pedophile island' — I mean, come on," Trump Jr. said.

For the amount of hate directed at President Trump, there is a part of the country that loves and supports him as well. This was evidenced by Don Jr.'s July appearance in Utah to help Burgess Owens' congressional bid. To conclude the day's events, he was asked to participate in a special tribute to Gold Star widow Jennie Taylor at a local rodeo. Taylor's husband, Major Brent Taylor of the Army National Guard, gave the ultimate sacrifice in the service of his country. After Trump Jr. was announced, he walked out to a standing ovation and chants of "USA." Following his remarks to the crowd, he presented Mrs. Taylor with a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol building.

"We love the crowds and the support has been amazing, but there was something different about this one. Obviously with the COVID situation, we haven't been around as many people as we'd like. When they asked me to present a flag to the widow of the mayor [of North Ogden, Utah] who died in combat overseas, I was totally humbled," Trump Jr. said.

"Obviously the stump speech went out the window and I was just honored to be able to present that flag to her."

Due to the current pandemic, President Trump faces a hurdle that hits him right in his wheelhouse — limiting in-person events. His advantage of connecting with the average Joe appears to be hamstrung, and this should be detrimental to the campaign, but Don Jr. explained the Trump campaign has something the Biden campaign doesn't.

"Obviously we love the crowds and we haven't been able to hold the rallies that we'd hoped to, but we're confident about our ground game. Especially considering we actually have a ground game. We have over a million trained volunteers to help with the campaign, and Biden just doesn't have that kind of grassroots support," Trump Jr. said.

"We have over a million trained volunteers to help with the campaign, and Biden just doesn't have that kind of grassroots support."

It's this grassroots movement that won the 2016 election, and it's what the campaign is counting on to pull off the win this year, Trump Jr. said. The mainstream media would have you believe Trump is way behind Biden in the polls and that he's so power-hungry he will go to any lengths to stay in office. They claim he will rig the election via the postal service or that he'll hold on to power and refuse to leave office.

Conspiracy theories aside, Don Jr. says their concern is not Joe Biden as president; it's what the radical left has planned for his administration.

"First off, we know it's not actually Joe Biden who will be president. The Democrat Party has gone completely to the left and people like AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and Bernie Sanders are going to be pushing their radical agenda, and we'll have a totally different country if Biden wins. That's why we're so passionate about this election," Trump Jr. said.

Vitriol is at an all-time high, and it's not just left vs. right or Democrat vs. Republican any more. It's anti-Trumpers vs. pro-Trumpers. If there's one thing separating President Trump from his predecessors, it's the amount of hate coming from his own side.

"They are a bunch of losers that haven't been able to accomplish anything, and it pays better to be anti-Trump right now. So we aren't concerned about what they are doing," Trump Jr. said.

But not even this level of hate seems to stick to the "Teflon Dons."

Love the Trumps or hate 'em, there is no denying they have something special. Whether it's connecting with the average American, having real-world experience, or just an ability to recognize the issues people are most passionate about, they've got it in spades.

Hopefully that's enough to defeat Biden come November.

Watch Glenn's interview from radio Thursday with Donald Trump Jr. here:

DONALD TRUMP JR: We Can't Let the Media Cover for Biden's "Mental Decline"www.youtube.com

POLL: Is K2-18b proof of alien LIFE in the cosmos?

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Are we alone in the universe?

It's no secret that Glenn keeps one eye on the cosmos, searching for any signs of ET. Late last week, a team of astronomers at the University of Cambridge made an exciting discovery that could change how we view the universe. The astronomers were monitoring a distant planet, K2-18b, when the James Webb Space Telescope detected dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide, two atmospheric gases believed only to be generated by living organisms. The planet, which is just over two and a half times larger than Earth, orbits within the "habitable zone" of its star, meaning the presence of liquid water on its surface is possible, further supporting the possibility that life exists on this distant world.

Unfortunately, humans won't be able to visit K2-18b to see for ourselves anytime soon, as the planet is about 124 light-years from Earth. This means that even if we had rockets that could travel at the speed of light, it would still take 124 years to reach the potentially verdant planet. Even if humans made the long trek to K2-18b, they would be faced with an even more intense challenge upon arrival: Gravity. Assuming K2-18b has a similar density to Earth, its increased size would also mean it would have increased gravity, two and a half times as much gravity, to be exact. This would make it very difficult, if not impossible, for humans to live or explore the surface without serious technological support. But who knows, give Elon Musk and SpaceX a few years, and we might be ready to seek out new life (and maybe even new civilizations).

But Glenn wants to know what you think. Could K2-18b harbor life on its distant surface? Could alien astronomers be peering back at us from across the cosmos? Would you be willing to boldly go where no man has gone before? Let us know in the poll below:

Could there be life on K2-18b?

Could there be an alien civilization thriving on K2-18b?

Will humans develop the technology to one day explore distant worlds?

Would you sign up for a trip to an alien world?

Is K2-18b just another cold rock in space?

Big Pharma’s role in rising neurological disorders: Will RFK Jr. uncover the truth?

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Our children are sick, and Big Pharma claims to be the cure, but is RFK Jr. closer to proving they are the disease?

For years, neurological disorders in our children have been on the rise. One in nine children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with ADHD, and between 2016 and 2022, more than one million kids were told they suffer from the disorder. Similarly, autism diagnoses have increased by 175 percent over the past decade. RFK Jr. pledged to investigate the rising rates of neurological disorders as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and this week, he announced a major initiative.

Earlier this week, RFK Jr. announced that the HHS has embarked on a massive testing and research effort to uncover the root causes of autism and the sharp spike in recent diagnoses. The HHS Secretary vowed that the results will be available by September of this year, leaving many skeptical about the study's rigor. Conversely, some speculate that the HHS may have unpublished studies revealing critical insights into these disorders, just waiting to see the light of day.

Glenn brought up a recent article by the Daily Wire referencing a New York Times piece in which experts questioned the legitimacy of ADHD diagnoses. Glenn agreed and suggested that people are just wired differently; they learn, work, and study differently, and the cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all school system simply fails to accommodate everyone.

New York Times' ADHD Admission

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Earlier this week, the New York Times published an article that made a shocking admission: there are no concrete biological markers for ADHD. The clinical definition of ADHD is no longer supported by the evidence, and there are no physical, genetic, or chemical identifiers for the disorder, nor is there any real way to test for it. The paper also admitted that people diagnosed with ADHD would suddenly find that they no longer had any symptoms after a change of environment, profession, or field of study. This suggests that "ADHD" might simply be a matter of interests and skills, not a chronic brain sickness.

The most horrifying implication of this admission is that millions of people, including children, have been prescribed heavy mind-altering drugs for years for a disorder that lacks real evidence of its very existence. These drugs are serious business and include products such as Adderall, Ritalin, and Desoxyn. All of these drugs are considered "Schedule II," which is a drug classification that puts them on the same level as cocaine, PCP, and fentanyl. Notably, Desoxyn is chemically identical to methamphetamine, differing only in its production in regulated laboratories rather than illegal settings.

Worse yet, studies show that these medications, like Desoxyn, often provide no long-term benefits. Testing demonstrated that in the short term, there were some positive effects, but after 36 months, there was no discernible difference in symptoms between people who were medicated and those who were not. For decades, we have been giving our children hardcore drugs with no evidence of them working or even that the disorder exists.

RFK Jr's Autism Study

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Autism rates are on the rise, and RFK Jr. is going to get to the bottom of it. In the year 2000, approximately one in 150 children was diagnosed with autism, but only 20 years later, the rate had increased to one in 36. While some claim that this is simply due to more accurate testing, RFK Jr. doesn't buy it and is determined to discover what is the underlying cause. He is an outspoken critic of vaccines, asserting that the true scope of their side effects has been buried by greed and corruption to sell more vaccines.

RFK Jr. doesn't plan on stopping at vaccines. Similar to ADHD, RFK Jr. suspects other environmental factors could increase of autism or exacerbate symptoms. Factors like diet, water quality, air pollution, and parenting approaches are all under investigation. It's time to bring clarity to the neurological disorders that plague our nation, cut through the corruption, and reveal the healing truth.

Neurological Intervention

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Big Pharma has been all too happy to sit back and watch as the rate of neurological disorders climbs, adding to the ever-growing list of permanent patients who are led to believe that their only choice is to shell out endless money for treatments, prescriptions, and doctor visits. Rather than encouraging lifestyle changes to improve our well-being, they push ongoing medication and costly treatments.

All RFK Jr. is doing is asking questions, and yet the backlash from the "experts" is so immense that one can't help but wonder what they could be hiding. Both Glenn and RFK Jr. have their suspicions of Big Pharma, and the upcoming HHS study might be one of the most important steps to making America healthy again.

Why do planes keep crashing?

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Last week, two more serious air travel incidents occurred, adding to the mounting number of aviation disasters this year. Is flying safe?

Over the past year, the number of aviation disasters that have been blasted across the media has been steadily rising, with February alone having a half dozen incidents. It begs the question: Is air travel becoming more dangerous? Or has the media just increased its coverage of a "normal" amount of crashes?

If you look at the data, it suggests that flying has been—and remains—safe. The number of accidents and fatalities has been steadily decreasing year over year and remains a small percentage of total flights. In 2024, out of the approximate 16 million flights recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. every year, there were 1,150 accidents resulting in 304 fatalities, meaning that the average flight in America has a 0.007% chance of an accident. In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board records a decrease in both fatal and non-fatal aviation accidents when compared to 2024. By this time last year, there were already 399 crashes and accidents, while this year has only clocked in 271.

That being said, Sean Duffy, Trump's new transportation secretary, admitted that America's air traffic control system needs an overhaul. Duffy pointed toward dated air traffic control equipment, overregulation, and radical DEI as the culprits behind many recent aviation accidents.

But what do the crashes suggest? We've gathered details about the major aviation accidents this year so you can decide for yourself why planes keep crashing:

American Airlines Blackhawk collision over D.C.

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In one of the deadliest U.S. aviation accidents in the last decade, an American Airlines plane collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The American Airlines flight was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport carrying 60 passengers and four crew when it collided midair with the Army helicopter, crewed by three, killing all 67 people involved.

The exact cause behind the mid-air collision is still under investigation, but it is believed that the Black Hawk was up too high and outside of its designated flight path. A report from the New York Times suggests that the air control tower at the Ronald Regan Washington Airport has suffered years of understaffing, which seems to be a result of DEI hiring practices. Investigators are piecing through the wreckage, and the exact cause of the crash is still unknown.

Medevac explosion in Philadelphia

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On the night of Friday, March 31st, a medevac plane with six people on board crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood, killing everyone on board, along with one man on the ground. The small jet departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 6 pm, and according to the FAA, it crashed less than a minute later after reaching an elevation of 1,650 feet. The ensuing explosion cast a massive fireball into the sky and wounded 19 people on the ground, killing one.

The six people on board the jet were Mexican nationals, including a mother and her sick daughter who was receiving treatment from Shriners Children’s Hospital in northeast Philadelphia. As of now, there is no official cause of the crash, but much of the plane has been recovered, and the incident is being investigated.

Alaskan flight disappearance outside of Nome

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At approximately 3:16 pm, on Thursday, February 6th, a small commuter plane working for Bering Air, carrying 10 passengers, took off from the town of Unalakeet, Alaska, destined for the nearby town of Nome. After a few hours, Nome lost contact with the small plane as weather conditions worsened. The following day, the Coast Guard discovered the remains of the plane, all 10 occupants were dead.

The wreckage of the aircraft, along with the remains of the passengers and crew, have been recovered and are under investigation. While there has been no official explanation given for the crash, the poor weather is believed to be a major contributing factor.

Small jet collision in Scottsdale

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The pilot of a small jet died after the aircraft crashed into a larger plane in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Monday, February 10th. The owner of the jet that crashed was Vince Neil, the frontman of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, but Neil was not on board at the time of the accident. The jet had just landed in Scottsdale, where it appeared to veer out of control and smash into a parked Gulfstream at high speed. The plane was carrying four people: two pilots and two passengers. One of the pilots was killed, and the other three were seriously injured. There was only one person aboard the Gulfstream at the time of the crash, they suffered injuries but refused treatment.

It is believed that the landing gear failed upon landing, which caused the jet to skitter out of control and smash into the parked plane.

Delta crash in Toronto

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On Monday, February 17th, a Delta aircraft flipped while landing and slid upside down across the runway while ablaze at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Fortunately, all 80 people aboard survived, and only three people suffered critical (though not life-threatening) injuries. First responders were quickly on the scene, extinguishing the fires and assisting the grateful survivors out of the wreckage.

The crash is believed to have been caused in part by the extreme weather in Toronto, which included a powerful crosswind and potential ice on the runway. It is also suspected that the landing gear failed to deploy properly, causing the plane to flip in the severe wind.

Small plane collision north of Tucson

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On Wednesday, February 19th, yet another small plane crash occurred in the skies above Arizona. Two small aircraft collided midair near Tusosn, Arizona at Marana Regional Airport. There were two people in each of the small planes, two of which from the same aircraft died, while the other two managed to walk away with little injury.

Marana Regional Airport is an uncontrolled field, which means there is no active air traffic control present on site. Instead, pilots rely on communication with each other through a "Common Traffic Advisory Frequency" (CTAF) to safely take off and land.

Hudson helicopter crash

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A helicopter tour out of New York City took a tragic turn on Thursday, April 10th, when the Bell 206 broke apart mid-flight and plunged into the Hudson River. All six people aboard perished in the crash, which included the pilot and a tourist family of five.

New York Helicopter Tours, the operator of the flight, announced it would cease operations following the accident. The decision comes amid scrutiny of the company’s safety record, which includes a prior emergency water landing and another incident where a helicopter was forced to land shortly after takeoff due to mechanical issues. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Upstate New York family tragedy

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Days after the tragic Hudson crash, a small private plane carrying an NCAA athlete crashed in upstate New York, killing all six passengers. On Saturday, April 12, 2025, Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player and 2022 Woman of the Year, was aboard her father's Mitsubishi MU-2B with her parents, boyfriend, brother, and his partner when the plane went down in a muddy field in Copake, New York.

The aircraft was reportedly in good condition, and Michael Groff, Karenna's father, was an experienced pilot. While the official cause of the crash has not been determined, low visibility at the time of the incident is suspected to have been a contributing factor.

The recent string of aviation incidents underscores a troubling trend in air travel safety, raising urgent questions about the systems and policies governing the industry. While data suggests flying remains statistically safe, the alarming frequency of crashes, near misses, and systemic issues like outdated technology and questionable hiring practices cannot be ignored. BlazeTV's own Stu Burguiere did a deep dive into the recent crashes in the Blaze Originals documentary, Countdown to the Next Aviation Disaster, uncovering the truth behind the FAA’s shift toward DEI hiring and its impact on aviation safety. Featuring exclusive interviews with former air traffic controllers, lawyers, and Robert Poole—the inventor of TSA PreCheck—this documentary exposes how the Biden-Harris administration’s policies, under Pete Buttigieg’s leadership, have contributed to making air travel more dangerous than ever.

Did Democrats just betray fair elections? The SAVE Act controversy explained

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One of President Trump’s key campaign promises, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, faces fierce opposition from Democrats in the Senate.

The SAVE Act recently passed Congress for the second time and is now headed to the Senate. This voter security bill mandates proof of U.S. citizenship for all federal elections. It garnered unanimous Republican support in Congress but was backed by only four Democrats, consistent with last year’s Senate rejection of the bill.

Glenn has repeatedly emphasized the urgency of securing our elections, warning that without reform in the next four years, free and fair elections may become a thing of the past. However, the SAVE Act faces significant hurdles. Republicans lack the Senate votes to overcome a filibuster, meaning the bill’s fate hinges on bipartisan support—something Democrats have been reluctant to offer.

So, what exactly does the SAVE Act do? Why are Democrats opposing it? And how can you help ensure its passage?

What the SAVE Act Entails

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The SAVE Act is straightforward: it requires voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship before casting a ballot in federal elections. This measure responds to reports of voter fraud, including allegations of noncitizens, such as illegal immigrants, voting in past presidential elections. Acceptable forms of identification include a REAL ID, U.S. passport, military ID, birth certificate, or other specified documents.

Additionally, the bill mandates that states remove noncitizens from voter rolls and lists of eligible voters. It also establishes criminal penalties for officials who fail to comply with these new guidelines.

Democrats’ Opposition to the SAVE Act

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Democrats have strongly criticized the SAVE Act, arguing it discriminates against women, transgender individuals, and minorities. They claim that people who have changed their names—such as women after marriage or transgender individuals—may struggle to vote if their current ID doesn’t match their birth certificate. However, the bill allows multiple forms of identification beyond birth certificates, meaning affected individuals can use updated IDs like a REAL ID or passport.

The argument that minorities are disproportionately harmed is slightly more substantiated. A recent survey showed that 93 percent of voting-age Black Americans, 94 percent of voting-age Hispanics, and 95 percent of voting-age Native Americans have valid photo IDs, compared to 97% of voting-age whites and 98 percent of voting-age Asians. However, in 2024, only about 58 percent of the voting-age population cast ballots—a trend that has been consistent for decades. There’s little evidence that Americans are prevented from voting due to a lack of ID. Instead of opposing the bill, a more constructive approach would be to assist the small percentage of Americans without IDs in obtaining proper documentation.

How You Can Make a Difference

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The stakes couldn’t be higher—free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. Conservatives must rally to ensure the SAVE Act becomes law. Contact your Senators to express your support for the bill and highlight its importance in safeguarding electoral integrity. Grassroots efforts, such as sharing accurate information about the SAVE Act on social media or discussing it with friends and family, can amplify its visibility. Local advocacy groups may also offer opportunities to organize or participate in campaigns that pressure lawmakers to act. Every voice counts, and collective action could tip the scales in favor of this critical legislation.