There's no question about it. If you look at the map, there's hardly any [Democrats representing rural districts]. There's me, [Rick] Nolan, [Tim] Walz, [Dave] Loebsack and Cheri Bustos. So that's five. And all the rest of them are in urban cities. That's a problem.

What's happened is the Republicans have been smart.

I agree with [Donald] Trump: These trade agreements have not been good deals for America, and they need to be fixed.

The only thing I can think to do is if the Democratic Party can do what the Republicans have done, which is go in there and take control of these legislatures and governors' areas.

The [Democratic] party's become an urban party, and they don't get rural America. They don't get agriculture.

It was kind of interesting: [People] didn't really want to talk about it too much. And then after the election, it's kind of like they've been unleashed.

I've tried to maintain my independence in Congress. Sometimes that has meant opposing my own party leaders.