U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo on where Democrats went wrong, what’s next, and his expectations for the Trump administration
Rhode Island’s two-member U.S. House delegation has turned over in the last few years. In the Second District, Congressman Jim Langevin dropped a surprise announcement in 2022 that he would not seek re-election after 22 years in office. Then First District Congressman David Cicilline, initially elected in 2010, made his unexpected departure last year. That latter move opened the door for Gabe Amo, a son of West African immigrants, to become the first person of color to represent Rhode Island in Congress.
Along the way, the moderate pro-business candidate beat 10 primary rivals.
But Amo now faces being part of the minority party in Washington as Democrats adjust to the new reality of Donald Trump’s second term in the White House. What does this Pawtucket native think his party needs to do differently to find its way back? How does Amo expect the Trump administration to affect the federal government? And what level of responsibility does he assign Democrats for the party’s struggles?
This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with First District U.S. Representative Gabe Amo.
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Ian Donnis: You formerly worked in the Biden White House before running for Congress and you remain very supportive of President Biden, but I wonder, do you think President Biden undermined Democratic hopes of retaining the White House by waiting too long to pull out of the race?
U.S. Representative Gabe Amo: Well, look, ultimately that was a decision that he had to make. My objective in this election was to do everything I could to make sure a Democrat was in the White House and that Democrat was Joe Biden for a period of time, and then it was Kamala Harris. And so, you know, hindsight’s 20/20. We weren’t successful for a whole host of reasons, and I’m focused on being laser targeted on our future as a party and the work that we need to do to win back votes that we weren’t successful in getting this past November,
Ian Donnis: A Democratic report warned in 2023 that the party’s brand was, quote, pretty damaged, unquote, in areas hit by deindustrialization in states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Considering that, why did Kamala Harris’s campaign fail to focus on voters’ economic concerns, particularly in working class communities?
Rep. Amo: Well, I don’t agree with that premise. If you heard the vice president throughout the campaign, as you probably remember, I was a big surrogate for the campaign. I talked about economic messaging; she talked about an opportunity agenda that focused on access to housing and home ownership, that focused on lowering prices and costs, that focused on a lot of the kitchen table issues, but ultimately, those did not resonate because, you know, people can’t necessarily feel a policy plan, but they can feel the impact on their bank accounts when they are at the grocery store. And we have to do a better job of being connected to those feelings of economic insecurity that so many have experienced throughout the country, including in those states.
Ian Donnis: To pick up on what you’re saying, and you worked for President Obama also and he was criticized for not doing enough to sell his accomplishments. There was recently an article in the New Yorker by Nicholas Lemann in which he argued that President Biden’s economic policies are really improving America significantly, even if people don’t appreciate that, but that Biden did not do a good job selling these policies. If this was an issue for President Obama, how come the Biden administration didn’t learn how to better sell their economic policies?
Rep. Amo: Well, look, I think we all have realized that the media landscape has changed dramatically from the Obama administration to the Biden administration, and look in this moment we have podcasts as a major source of news for people. TikTok as a major source of news for people. We have to keep up with the times and meet people where they are. And I think that is really one of the narratives that we’ll have to take away from this election. In addition, you know, policy plans and the acronym soup of legislation just sometimes doesn’t connect. And if people are facing reality where there is a disconnect, that can be a major challenge.
Ian Donnis: In terms of President Biden’s pardon for his son Hunter, you said no one is above the law. You also noted how President elect Trump has vowed revenge and retribution. Doesn’t the pardon after President Biden said he would not do that reflect badly on the president’s ability to keep his word?
Rep. Amo: Well, look, I certainly know that this was a tough decision. And I also know that these are unprecedented times where you have people entering positions like that, potentially of the FBI director at the DOJ who are pledging to wage campaigns of retribution. And I also think Joe Biden’s a dad. I think about the other side of this. If Joe Biden had not pardoned his son, how would we be viewing him then? And so I do think it’s complicated. But what is even more important is that the president uses his pardon and clemency power just like he announced actually this morning for thousands of people who are caught up in the criminal justice system. We can’t just stay focused on an analysis of about one person. We need to think about the thousands of people who could benefit from the president’s clemency power to have a second chance. And that is what I am proud that the president has done. Something that I called on him to do along with other members of Congress in a letter just a couple weeks ago.
Ian Donnis: Speaking of unprecedented times, President-elect Trump has followed through on trying to bring unconventional people like Robert Kennedy and Elon Musk into influential roles in the federal government. He’s made clear his desire to replace many thousands of career government employees with loyalists who will answer to him. Is the federal government going to be fundamentally changed and very different by the time Donald Trump is done with it?
Rep. Amo: Well, this is one of my big fears. I don’t want a government run by oligarchs, by the richest man in the world who gets a front row seat at decision making, where we didn’t elect him. No one who cast a ballot was voting for Elon Musk and so that is a cause of great concern for me. It’s a cause of great concern to have a vaccine skeptic in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a position of authority that would affect so many lives. I worked on the response to COVID 19 when I was at the White House. I worked on the response to the Ebola pandemic, worked on the response to M-POX. I know that we need people who believe in science. and not crockpot theories that are not pushing forward conspiracies and that want to leave us all better off. So I am worried about the personnel that the president-elect has put forward and where they fail to meet the moment, we need to hold them accountable.
Ian Donnis: In the new Congress, Republicans will have a very narrow majority. In terms of holding the GOP and President elect Trump accountable, what will that look like for Democrats like you in the new Congress?
Rep. Amo: Well, we’ve got to go directly to people. We have to use the bully pulpit. We have to use every venue. We spoke earlier about all of the way that the media has changed. And we have to shout from the mountaintops where they are coming up short in supporting the American people in pushing forward an agenda that’s about lowering costs instead of what I had to do this week in voting about appliances you know, and the, the sort of deregulatory nature of a lot of the plans that the House Republicans, the Congressional Republicans, and Donald Trump want to put forward. So what we need to do is make the American people very, very aware of what’s transpiring and work towards what Hakeem Jeffries has called Project 2026 which is working towards winning back that House majority in two years.
Ian Donnis: You voted this week against the National Defense Authorization Act because of a provision banning gender-affirming care for minors. What is your takeaway on why some Republicans are aggressively pushing this as an issue, even with Donald Trump poised to return to the White House?
Rep. Amo: Look, it is unfortunate in the case of the NDAA, which is a generally a bipartisan bill, the Democrats and Republicans come together on to set policy for the Department of Defense and so many of our national security priorities to insert partisan politics that aren’t germane to keeping our country safe or taking care of our troops. We saw in the NDAA good things, things like expanding submarine construction, things like working towards increased military pay, and those are valuable and will impact Rhode Island for good. But at the same time, we have legislators who want to pretend to be doctors when we look at the Republicans, and that was driven by Speaker Johnson and that Republican leadership in the House to divide us.
Ian Donnis: You’ve taken an interest in the blue economy in Rhode Island. How would you quantify its impact right now, and what is necessary to take it to the next level?
Rep. Amo: Well, what’s necessary is real robust investments. That’s why I have the Blue Economy Innovation Act that is focused on what we can do to improve the funding for ocean science to work towards catalyzing research and investments cross you know, cross the federal government working to identify what opportunities have within our Narragansett Bay within our proximity to the ocean, and that’s everything from boat building to ocean mapping to clean energy and obviously our defense economy. All of those things will create jobs, and the Rhode Island economy certainly needs it. It’s us to continually be focused on innovation, and that’s what I’m hoping to do in my Blue Economy work.
Ian Donnis: Speaking of the economy, it looks like Hasbro, the venerable toy and entertainment company, will leave Pawtucket and probably leave Rhode Island. I’m sure this strikes close to home for you as a Pawtucket native. What is your perspective on what can be done to improve Rhode Island’s economy in the midst of that kind of development?
Rep. Amo: Well, we have so many strengths. And I am hopeful that Hasbro maintains a presence of substance here in Rhode Island. I had an opportunity to speak to the CEO and told him that I have personal connection. I remember buying, you know, WWF action figures that were Hasbro-made in Pawtucket as a kid. And I always took so much pride in that. And we have to focus on our virtues, our assets. People want to live in Rhode Island. If you’ve been to an open house anywhere in Rhode Island lately, you see a lot of those plates coming from other states. We are an appealing place to live. We need to reinforce that time and time again. And I’m hopeful that as leaders across the state, we will be able to work together to do that.
Ian Donnis: You celebrated your birthday this week. It happened to come on the one year anniversary of the shutdown of the westbound Washington Bridge. Is that ever, is that going to be forever burned in your memory?
Rep. Amo: Look, my birthday will always be connected to the bridge, but not because of what it means in my life, but because it reminds me that this job, working for Rhode Islanders, is important. Who serves and who leads matters, and I will continue to fight alongside the delegation to bring back resources to make sure we rebuild the Washington Bridge and restore the normalcy to so many lives that have been impacted.
Ian Donnis: We’ve got to leave it there. The 1st District Congressman from Rhode Island, Gabe Amo, thank you very much for joining us.
Rep. Amo: Thanks for having me, Ian.
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A subtle but significant shift on the part of Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee was on display this week as he marked the one-year anniversary of the westbound Washington Bridge shutdown. That shows how the bridge debacle is starting to intersect more with the next race for governor. You can read more about that in my Friday TGIF politics column, posting by around 4 this afternoon on X, Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and at thepublicsradio.org/TGIF.
That’s it for our show. Political Roundtable is a production of The Public’s Radio. Our producer is James Baumgartner and our editor is Alex Nunes. I’m Ian Donnis, and I’ll see you on the radio.