If Jasmine Crockett wins, she wants to do it her way

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US Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) is a bona fide political star. In just two terms in the House of Representatives, she’s turned herself into a national name, known for her sharp attacks against President Donald Trump, her Republican colleagues, and even some Democrats.

This has earned her millions of social media followers, but it’s also turned her into a lightning rod, a favorite target of some Republicans, and a nuisance to some Democrats who argue that she could be putting her brand above the party’s. Crockett remains unapologetic about how she’s gotten here, telling me, “I think that in this moment you have to understand that politics has changed. And one thing that the Democrats have struggled with is that they continue to be viewed as the doormat for the Republicans. [Voters] continue to say, where’s the opposition? Where’s the fight?”

Crockett’s decision to run for Senate this year was controversial; she’s now locked in a neck-and-neck primary race against Texas state Rep. James Talarico. But the differences in their race so far have not really been about policy. They’ve been about candidate preference — which one of them is best positioned to win the general election, and whether Crockett has enough substance to go with all her style. Crockett believes she can beat the Republican candidate in November — and that she can do it her way. 

Below is an excerpt of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

How would you describe your base? Who is a Jasmine Crockett voter?

I think a Jasmine Crockett voter is anyone that is frustrated with everything that they’re seeing in politics. Whether you identify as a Democrat or Republican or independent, there are a lot of people that have found themselves frustrated and feel as if it doesn’t matter which party is in power. There’s no one that sees them, hears them, or feels them or advocates for them. I am the type of person that real people can relate to. I am not the type of person that politicos get excited about. And so my voter is real people.

You are a relatively new member of Congress, but you exploded in popularity in May 2024 when you had a famous exchange with Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House Oversight Committee. She talked about your eyelashes, and you replied that Greene had a “bleach blonde, bad built butch body.” 

Did you practice that, or was it off the cuff?

No, I did not practice that.

You didn’t have that in your back pocket? This was off the top?

People have asked that over and over. You know, I actually sat there, I did write it down as we were going through this back and forth about whether or not she was going to be allowed to continue on in the hearing. I finally got word that they were going to allow her to disrespect me. And I basically understood the rules, because as a lawyer, the first thing that you’re supposed to figure out is: What are the rules? And then I wanted to illustrate how quickly something like this could devolve if we set this precedent, while also making sure I didn’t violate the rules.

But in showing how things can devolve if that space is opened up, I wonder if there is any cost. As much as the phrase blew up, should we want our politicians to be clapback artists?

I think that in this moment you have to understand that politics has changed. And one thing that the Democrats have struggled with is that they continue to be viewed as the doormat for the Republicans. [Voters] continue to say, “Where’s the opposition? Where’s the fight?” And instead we continue to say, “These are the rules and we try to play by the rules,” as they literally are shooting people dead in the middle of the street. And there’s no accountability. 

And so the reason I personally believe that the Democratic brand has been struggling as it relates to their popularity is because people feel as if the Democrats play by the rules. And frankly, I think Americans want everybody to play by the rules. I think whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or independent, they actually want a government that is very boring and just plays by the rules. That keeps things going. 

But unfortunately that’s not where we are. That’s why there is this fierce urgency of now; this is why you see a historic number of both Democrats and Republicans, in my opinion, that are retiring both from the House and Senate. Because this environment is not a normal environment. To respond to it in a normal way — Democrats have tried that. It’s not worked out very well for us. And right now we’re wondering whether or not our democracy is even going to survive.

You spent much of your earlier parts of your career as a public defender, a civil rights attorney. I wanted to know how that shaped your worldview. What were you seeing at that time that said, “Hey, I want to get into elected office.”

Listen, I wake up every day scratching my head about elected office. I don’t know that there’s ever been a point where I just said like, “Oh, my gosh.” 

I’ve always been the type of person that has wanted to solve for problems. I mean, that’s what lawyers are supposed to do. Someone has an issue; they come to you; they want you to help them. And so as I worked as a public defender, I became acutely aware of how broken our system is. 

I have so many stories of my experiences as a public defender that have stuck with me. What people don’t understand is that when you are a public defender, you’re representing indigent people, and you’re starting to learn the source of why certain things happened. You start to learn how poverty can play a role in some people ending up in the system.

How do you view the question of political authenticity? You’re someone who comes up when people talk about authentic candidates, and people who are willing to be themselves. But politics is a performance in some ways. What does being yourself even mean? 

When you think about how you show up to politics, is this the authentic version? Are we seeing Jasmine Crockett — the real one? 

It’s me. You know, we recently had a fundraiser down in Houston, and one of my classmates from law school was the one that was hosting it, and she’s like, “This is what Jasmine has always been.” I’ve always been someone who has been intellectual. I was top 10 percent of my class, at Texas Southern, my first year in law school. I was always very much digging in and wanted to understand. I was always the person that would bring the receipts and wouldn’t back down. 

Were you always clapping back too? 

I was always, I was always, yeah. There was always a push back. [When] I feel like I am right on something, I have always been very clear about that.

I want to think more, also, about your strategy to win. The Houston Chronicle this week endorsed your opponent in the primary and said that, when you were asked about your path to victory, you pointed to celebrity endorsements and turnout operations. 

I know that you have said that the reason that you should be the preferred Democratic nominee is that you plan to expand the electorate. But how do you expand the electorate past the efforts we’ve already seen for many Democrats that haven’t worked?

Yeah. I don’t know what efforts we’ve seen.

If we’re talking about celebrity endorsements and turnout operations, we certainly heard that in 2024.

The way that I evaluate this is that I’m starting moreso at third base instead of starting at first base, when you are trying to engage people that have not been engaged with. It does [require] keeping an excitement and enthusiasm, and the idea that one person can do that in a state of 30 million people, a state that has some of the most expensive media markets in the country.

What you need to do is make sure that you can communicate to people that normally aren’t communicated to. And so yeah, you go to CNN all day long. You can go on MSNOW all day long. And you’re going to communicate to the same kind of group of people. 

“My authenticity is not about me trying to do the bidding of a party. It is me understanding the anger, the fear, the trauma that is being inflicted on real people.”

Texas has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the entire country. But the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. The goal has consistently been to go and get people that aren’t a part of the base. And then what happens is: The base feels like they are not getting courted, and instead they’re being ignored. And there’s an assumption that they will come out. 

So for me to do what we’ve consistently done that has consistently not worked, I don’t think that that makes very much sense. Now, does that mean that there are Republicans, and I’m like doing like what we saw in Arizona and saying, “No, no Republicans”? That’s absolutely crazy.

Your focus, if I hear correctly, is kind of the loyal base of Democrats — the people who feel as if the party hasn’t been focused toward them, particularly Black voters, and then to reach people who have not traditionally voted. And you’re saying in Texas, that is a majority minority community.

Absolutely. 

Okay. But even in that strategy, you would still need to activate those nonvoters. 

There has been some controversy with previous statements where you’ve said that Latinos seem to have a “slave mentality” when it comes to supporting anti-immigration Republicans.

Would it be easier to win those people over to your side if statements like that hadn’t been made?

Yeah so, I think we absolutely will be fine, because here’s the thing: You know, when you’re running in elections, people love to just, like, go and cherry-pick, and not get full context of statements. Number one. 

Number two, one of the things that I talked about is: I’m like, listen, we know that when it came down to Donald Trump, Donald Trump was like, “Oh, they’re poisoning the blood. And oh they’re criminals; they’re rapists.” [Trump] said all these things, and it did not impact it. To the extent that he actually got more support amongst Latinos than any Republican ever has. But the one thing that is impacting him is his policies. 

And when it comes down to it, I have a very strong record, specifically as a civil rights lawyer.  I’ve been very clear that for me as a Black woman and the lens that I see things, it is in the lens of the Black experience. I see a lot of the same hate that is spewed towards Latinos, is hate that historically has been skewed towards African Americans. So my goal will be to make sure that we understand that there’s more that unites us than divides us. But the third best demographic that I have is Latinas. 

There are those that want to make inflammatory types of feelings take place. And then there are those that know me because they’ve seen my work. And so I think that they are like, “You know who she is.”

Part of what’s made this race more contentious is the question of racism and sexism that seems to be swirling around it. I’ve gotten into some Twitter fights with folks on your behalf, because the intensity of their opposition feels so wild at some times. 

But I wanted to also put the critique to you directly from what I hear from — maybe a certain group of a consultant class. Their argument has been that you represent the Democratic Party that has sometimes used race and gender as a shield, and in doing things like comparing Trump’s ICE to slave patrols, that you’ve engaged in some language that have driven people toward Republicans. 

They say that this may serve your interest personally, but not the interest of the Democratic Party. Can you respond to that?

Listen — again, my authenticity is not about me trying to do the bidding of a party. It is me understanding the anger, the fear, the trauma that is being inflicted on real people. I think that we know that I’m not the party pick. I’ve always been the people’s pick.