E08: Corbin Trent- A fight worth having
Standing Tall with Gloria Johnson
Corbin Trent- A fight worth having
Air Date: 08/25/2026
Guest: Corbin Trent, co-founder, Brand New Congress and former Communications Director for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; founder of A Fight Worth Having
Host: State Rep. Gloria Johnson
Episode Summary
Gloria talks with Corbin Trent, the East Tennessee organizer behind Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, who helped recruit and elect AOC before working as her first communications director. They trace Corbin's path from food trucks in Morristown to the Bernie Sanders 2016 and 2020 campaigns to Capitol Hill, then dig into the state of the Democratic Party, disinformation and the "socialist/communist" label problem, healthcare and housing supply, immigration policy, and Corbin's current project, a super PAC called "A Fight Worth Having" aimed at building a team-based, cross-country progressive movement.
Topics Covered
Corbin's political origin story: the Obama campaign, then Bernie Sanders 2016, co-founding Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, and recruiting/working for AOC
Why Tennessee's shift away from Democrats wasn't as dramatic as commonly assumed (Obama nearly matched Bill Clinton's performance in the state)
How Republican supermajorities have stripped power from Tennessee cities and counties and centralized it in Nashville
The meaningless, overused "socialist/communist" label in political discourse, including a viral clip involving commentator Scott Jennings and a discussion of TVA
Healthcare and housing as supply-side problems, not just funding problems (the "voucher for a Ferrari" analogy)
Why mass deportation isn't a policy solution, and the economic role undocumented immigrants actually play
Corbin's critique of both parties' disconnect from constituents, and a personal anecdote about internal Democratic Party pressure not to push abortion rights codification in 2019
Rep. Tim Burchett: a candid, critical take on his "man of the people" image versus his actual background
Corbin's current project, "A Fight Worth Having"- a transparent super PAC funding research, polling, and support for progressive congressional candidates nationally
Closing thoughts on hope: rising engagement, primary wins nationally, and aggressive GOP gerrymandering potentially backfiring long-termGuests Follow/Tag
Follow Corbin on Substack!
Check out his amazing work:corbintrent.com | americasundoing.com | afightworthhaving.com
Gloria Johnson:Facebook | Instagram
Notable People Mentioned:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN)
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries
Marshall Ganz (organizer, referenced re: 2008 Obama campaign training)
Saikat Chakrabarti (AOC's former chief of staff, referenced)