Healthcare on the Ballot: Flipping California's Sixth District

Dr. Richard Pan is running for Congress in California's Sixth District and proudly stands as a Transcend PAC champion.

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[Transcript edited for clarity, flow and length]

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Mary Trump: Hey everybody. I am so excited to have with me Dr. Richard Pan, who is running for an open congressional seat in California’s Sixth District. Dr. Pan, it is so great to be here with you because I think you have a massive opportunity out there to flip a red district blue. So first of all, I want to start by asking you how it’s going.

Dr. Richard Pan: Well, it’s going well. I like to tell people that my opponent got so scared of me that he left his own party. He will term himself the only independent in Congress, but the reality is he was Donald Trump’s MAGA champion when he first got elected to Congress. He voted with your uncle Donald 98% of the time when he was in Congress, and he continued to vote with his policies even after he declared himself an independent last spring, when he knew he was going to be running against me in this new district. So I feel good, but we can’t take anything for granted. As we’re campaigning, we have to be sure we make our closing arguments before election day, which is Nov. 3rd. Having the resources to get our message on the air and in the mail, and to support all our phone bankers and walkers, is what we’re still working on. We want that final argument to land because we don’t want to have any regrets or leave anything on the table on election day.

Mary Trump: Yeah, and that’s really important. Regardless of where the numbers are right now, we always want to run as if we’re a little bit behind. As you said, we need resources because it’s not over. Those resources can be used in critical ways to get out the vote, to educate people, and to get people knocking on doors, because it is 12 days out and every single little bit helps.

Visit and donate to Dr. Pan’s campaign HERE

Dr. Richard Pan: Yeah. Let’s just point out that part of the reason people are so frustrated is because your uncle Donald is helping out all the billionaires. My opponent voted for the permanent tax cuts for the billionaires. We need to look at the corruption that’s happening in the federal government, particularly at the White House, but also sometimes in Congress as well. By the way, some of that money gets used in campaigns. We are up against a financial disadvantage, but we will win because we will have the voter advantage. Your help will ensure we have that voter advantage on election day, so we can flip the House, hopefully flip the Senate as well, and finally have some accountability in our government.

Mary Trump: That is one of the many reasons we here at Transcend PAC have been honored to call you a Transcend champion, because far too often people get into office and say this phrase that makes my head explode: “We need to look forward, not back.”

Actually, holding people accountable does both, I think. We cannot move forward in the way we need to unless there is accountability. So you’re willing to pledge to fight for accountability.

Dr. Richard Pan: Of course.

Mary Trump: I also think you are a medical doctor, and the issues confronting us with the egregious policies of the Trump regime and of Robert Kennedy, who tragically is Secretary of Health and Human Services, are enormous. You have a long history of public service that you bring to the table. How important do you think it is for people to start waking up to the fact that those currently in power do not have our best interests at heart, and that they are turning their backs, thereby endangering our health and the health of our children by rejecting science and vaccines? And what is the best way to convince people that we have a better way, and that you in particular have a better way to do things?

Dr. Richard Pan: As a doctor, I take care of patients. I don’t ask them what their party is. What’s most important is that we take care of people. There’s a saying in medicine that the secret to caring for the patient is caring for the patient, caring what happens to them. What has been most frustrating to me, and frankly what fuels my anger, is that we have an administration and a president, and people who support him, who literally don’t seem to care about what happens to people. They don’t care. In fact, some people have said the cruelty is the point.

When Uncle Donald said, “I have this bill, this big beautiful bill,” as he calls it, the HR1, my opponent, Kevin Kiley, voted for it, and he still says he’s proud of that vote. Let’s look at what that bill actually does. It is one of the biggest cuts to healthcare for the poorest Americans, through the Medicaid program. But it’s not just people who are poor who are affected. Because it gave permanent tax cuts to billionaires, it is actually driving up our federal deficit, and that forces cuts to Medicare. If you’re on Medicare, I’d be pretty worried about what’s happening to it. And because there are going to be more uninsured people, even private insurance rates are up. Open enrollment is coming up for many people. Last year, people saw their insurance rates go up by double digits, and we’re expecting another large hike this year, certainly more than your paycheck is growing.

We can’t keep having that happen. We can’t have people falling farther and farther behind, and also having people go without healthcare so they show up sicker, which is more expensive. We really ought to think about how government actually works for people. It can only work for people when people who actually care about what happens to them are leading the government. That is something I hope people think about this election. This is a president who is not focused on the struggles of the American people. We’re struggling to make ends meet. We’re struggling to be sure we can see a doctor. And he’s worried about his ballroom, his revoking pool, and why he didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize. That is not what government should be. The bigger problem, though, is not just him worrying about that.

So what happened to Congress? The Republicans control Congress. They have majorities in both the Senate and the House, and they’re just going along. They’re not putting a check on him. They’re not saying, “Hey, wait a minute. We need to focus on the American people.” This election cycle is the opportunity to say, “You know what? We want a different kind of leadership. We want people who actually care about what happens to Americans. What happens to Americans under this government? We need a government that works for people.” That is what I want to bring to Congress, because as a doctor, I care for people. I worry about people who can’t get healthcare, but I also worry when they can’t get other things and they’re suffering. We need more people who actually care that people aren’t doing so well here in the United States.

Mary Trump: It is sort of a testament to how far we’ve fallen that all of that needs to be said, and none of it is guaranteed. Your approach is so refreshing in this dark time in which we live, when the most powerful among us are trying to convince Americans that cruelty is somehow the only way to be strong in this world, and that things like kindness and empathy are weaknesses that need to be stamped out. The way you talk about caring, and the way you talk about making sure Americans are okay, is a wonderful antidote to what we’re all living through every day. It’s all connected, because the economy is also about what’s happening with immigration.

It’s also about what’s happening with our incredibly important social services and our infrastructure. You are indeed a champion in all of these areas, including keeping people safe, whether it’s from gun violence or the deleterious impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. As a medical doctor, you understand the toll it takes on individuals, families, communities, and us as a people when we allow one party to undo the entire social safety net and put ahead of individual Americans the interests of the obscenely wealthy and the corporations. So again, are you finding that your message is resonant? It certainly resonates with me, but I’m over here in New York. Is it resonating in California? Are people finally beginning to understand that the Kevin Kileys of the world do not care about their constituents, and that they care about protecting Donald Trump?

Dr. Richard Pan: I think this message certainly resonates. That’s also why my opponent, Kevin Kiley, has abandoned the Republican Party. The reality is that he still votes with them, but he realizes that this message of cruelty and not caring for people isn’t going to work in this district. He’s trying to separate himself from that, but his actions unfortunately don’t reflect it. That’s really the choice people have. For me, this election is about making sure people know my record compared to my opponent’s record, not what he says about who he is. Frankly, you don’t have to listen to what I say about who I am. Let’s look at what I’ve done. Does that line up with what I’m saying? When we’re able to get that message out to people, we win, because my opponent is someone who has voted with the Trump agenda.

He is also someone who, from hearing from his constituents, only wants to listen to people who support him and who are aligned with his ideology. He even blocks the door and calls the police on people who want to come say something like this: “Can you please consider another point of view?”

That is not the kind of representation people want from their congressperson. The other thing we need to think about, because you brought up facts and data, is that we need to look at the facts and outcomes when we decide what kind of world we want. For example, in the United States right now, because you mentioned gun violence, the leading cause of death in children is gun violence. That is only true in America, not in the rest of the developed world. I would define that as a problem. Anything that is the leading killer of children is something we need to address. We can have debates about how we go about doing that, but we need to agree that it is a problem that needs to be solved. It is not acceptable to continue letting guns be the leading cause of death of children.

When we talk about preventable disease, we have to come back to RFK Jr. The really tragic thing about this administration is what Uncle Donald decided to do: he put a known conspiracy theorist in charge of our health. What do we see? Since he became Secretary of Health and Human Services, we’ve had, I think, nine deaths from measles. We hadn’t had any for over a decade. We now have thousands of cases of measles, and the state of Pennsylvania is trying to educate people about congenital measles. Wait a minute. Congenital measles means babies getting measles from their mothers, and we never had to deal with that for decades. Besides, it’s not all just about vaccines. We’re worried about the food we eat. First of all, it’s too expensive. Thank you, Uncle Donald. But it’s also not as safe anymore. All the recalls, and the number of people who have gotten sick, are what happens when you ignore science and facts. I hope we all want to live longer and healthier lives, which is supposedly what RFK Jr. claims. But the reality is that maternal mortality is increasing, particularly in states that have banned abortion, because it’s not just about abortion. It’s about prenatal care being hurt. When we ask whether life is getting better, not only is it more expensive, but we’re getting much worse outcomes, and people are living shorter lives because of it.

Mary Trump: It is comprehensive. Part of what we’re dealing with is the outcome of the Republican project to convince people for decades that government is the problem, when in fact government is us, and the people we elect are supposed to represent us and our interests. As dark as everything is and as hard as everything is, this is a real opportunity to affect the kind of change that could create the circumstances in which this country realizes its potential, which we have never done. Toward that end, we need to elect people like you. I always want to end with some optimism.

Dr. Richard Pan: Sure.

Mary Trump: We are looking at a wave election here. Of course, don’t get complacent, everybody. They’re going to try to interfere. They’re going to try to undermine people’s faith in free and fair outcomes if Democrats win, because that’s Donald’s playbook. But we are looking at a very incredible opportunity to get Democratic majorities, certainly in the House and possibly in the Senate. Dr. Pan, I wanted to end by getting your sense of what is possible if that happens. Or I should say, when that happens.

Dr. Richard Pan: When that happens. I was at a town hall, and someone said this to me: “The billionaires have so much money and they’re spending so much of it to control our government. What can we do about that? How can we fight back against that?”

I looked at them and said, “Money isn’t what finally wins elections. Votes are.” What they want to do is use their money to convince you that things can’t be better, that whatever you do, nothing will change, and that you should just stay home. That’s the playbook, right? Negative campaigning is often as much about getting people to stay home as it is about getting people to vote for a candidate. It’s about trying to make you stay home. So when you see that kind of negative campaigning, you want to think very carefully about how much truth is in it, and how much of it is just meant to make you so disgusted and annoyed that you think it wears everybody down and doesn’t make a difference.

You can make a difference. When I first ran for the state legislature, my first race in politics, I was in a safe Republican seat, and people thought I had no chance of winning. I was a first-time candidate, a Democrat in a safe Republican seat. By the way, that was a Republican wave year. That was 2010. Go back and look that up.

Mary Trump: Oh wow. Yeah. The shellacking year.

Dr. Richard Pan: The shellacking year. Guess what? I won that race. I flipped that seat because people said, “You know what? We are going to turn out and vote, because we have a candidate who we think is going to actually work on our issues.” People did not despair, and they voted. I flipped that seat in a wave year against Democrats, a wave that was against us. This is our wave year. So we’re going to see even more activity. We have MAGA Inc., and Uncle Donald’s personal money is pouring in, and they think they can get their weak candidates like Paxton across the finish line. They think they can corrupt the worst people sometimes. They think that as long as they put in enough money, they can confuse voters, get the good ones to stay home, and then get their candidates over the line.

We cannot let that happen. We can’t let the liars and the corrupt people win. So let’s be sure that we cast our vote. That’s most important. Secondarily, even as you cast your vote, if you’re able to help our campaigns get the resources to chase down all those other people and convince them to cast their votes, that’s how we’re going to turn this into a real wave. The real wave is when people vote, and we are going to be able to do that with your help.

Mary Trump: Absolutely. Dr. Pan, it has been such a pleasure to talk with you, especially during crunch time, when I know you’re incredibly busy. First of all, I want to make sure everybody out there is registered to vote. If you aren’t, go register. If you are, please check your registration. Keep checking it until you actually cast your vote. Okay? Secondly, please donate whatever you can to Dr. Pan’s campaign, because we have 12 days, we’re less than two weeks out, let’s put it that way. Every little bit helps.

Visit and donate to Dr. Pan’s campaign HERE

Dr. Richard Pan: Yes.

Mary Trump: So thank you, Dr. Pan, so much, and good luck in the home stretch. We cannot wait to see you become the newest member of Congress from California’s Sixth District.

Dr. Richard Pan: Thank you so much, Mary. I really appreciate being here and your support. We’re going to win this with your help, and thank you, thank you, thank you.

Visit and donate to Dr. Pan’s campaign page HERE