To me, the problem with the president is that he takes very authoritarian actions in terms of attacking democratic institutions and then just uttering a large number of false and misleading statements that then make it hard sometimes for the people to know what is true and what is false.

Ted Lieu

It is important to show up. Showing up at marches and rallies and town halls and protests. I remember I was really quite sad from Election Night last year until Jan. 20. And then I remember waking up Jan. 21 and seeing these amazing Women's Marches across America, and I thought to myself, That's the country that I know. And that's a larger populist movement that I'm seeing than Donald Trump's relatively small populist movement. And that gave me a lot of hope and energy, and from that day forward, I've taken a view that we'll flip the House next year.

Ted Lieu

taken night country

I tell the truth and I don't try to sugarcoat things. But I also decided that if you don't use humor or satire, then it's just too dark all the time. And one of my favorite literary works is A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. As you know, that was an enormously famous satire piece that was able to point out, you know, things to people in a different way. And I do believe that satire and humor can reveal truth in a way that sometimes doesn't get revealed through other means. And so I decided to, every now and then, use satire and humor as well.

Ted Lieu

dark mean believe

North Korea. Not only does North Korean have nuclear weapons, but their leadership appears to not be rational.

Ted Lieu

korea weapons doe

Like tens of millions of Americans, my parents were immigrants. They were poor and did not speak English well. They went to flea markets and sold gifts to make ends meet. Eventually, through hard work, they opened six gift stores in shopping malls. My parents achieved the American dream; they went from being poor to a home and gave my brother and me an amazing education. I wanted to serve the country that gave so much to my family.

Ted Lieu

brother dream country

If you don’t have a good idea of what to do next after using military force, then don’t use it in the first place.

Ted Lieu

next military ideas

Trump was so different - in a bad way - that I thought the best thing I could do was to resist him. And that's because he was attacking the institutions of our democracy, from the First Amendment and the free press to the judiciary. He was stifling internal dissent, and then he was making false and misleading statements routinely. And to me, that's what takes us down the road to authoritarianism and that's why I decided to start resisting him.

Ted Lieu

first-amendment democracy different

You cannot have 300-some million Americans - and really, right, the global citizenry be at risk of having their phone conversations intercepted with a known flaw, simply because some intelligence agencies might get some data. That is not acceptable.

Ted Lieu

data agency phones

When I wake up, I'll read something and I'll feel angry. And then I'll calm down a little bit. I'll think about it. And then I'll tweet something that talks about the issue, and if I can inject some satire and humor, I'll try to do that.

Ted Lieu

wake-up trying thinking

And to me, that is the greatest danger, that people start questioning basic facts and start not understanding the importance of democratic institutions such as the free press. I mean, to call the press the enemy is dangerous and just remarkably bizarre. The press is the only profession protected in the Constitution because of how important the framers viewed the press. But in authoritarian regimes, they control the press. And to me, going down an authoritarian path is the greatest danger that we face as a republic.

Ted Lieu

understanding mean people

It was very damning for the president.

Ted Lieu

top-news

You took an oath to the Constitution, not to @realDonaldTrump.

Ted Lieu

top-news

He doesn't seem to understand that his allegiance is to America not a foreign power. He should be defending the rights of Americans to travel to other countries.

Ted Lieu

top-news

I believe he fully understood my question. It was a logical extension of me getting him to establish the three elements of obstruction of justice were met and I think it's what he actually believes.

Ted Lieu

politics

You have the five minute rule of the House — that means every member, you can't just ignore that rule.

Ted Lieu

politics

The emergency declaration is nothing more than an egregious abuse of power by an Administration that doesn't like being told,' No.' There is no emergency, but there is a conflict in Yemen that has killed thousands of civilians with US-made weapons and a Congress that is tired of being complicit, the Trump Administration knows that these sales would not meet that standard, so they decided to declare a fake emergency in order to bypass Congress. The Trump Administration's a tactic they've used before. This legislation sends a strong signal that we will not tolerate the Trump Administration's blatant abuse of power.

Ted Lieu

politics

Congress' power will not be abdicated. We will enforce it, we can start imposing fines on that person immediately upon contempt off the House floor. And we will go there if he does not cooperate.

Ted Lieu

top-news

What makes America great is we get to say stuff and not have the government intervene, this is a stupid and ridiculous hearing.

Ted Lieu

technology

It is completely technologically unworkable for individual states to mandate different encryption standards in consumer products, apple can't make a different smartphone for California and New York and the rest of the country.

Ted Lieu

politics

My view is that this should be even more serious than tobacco, if it's the whole world that's being harmed.

Ted Lieu

business

This is a ridiculous waste of precious federal resources, especially when multiple states and jurisdictions have already legalized marijuana, it is time for the federal government to stop making marijuana use or possession a federal crime.

Ted Lieu

politics