Loading summary
Transcript244 lines
- [00:00]
Shopify Advertiser
If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your own business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Shopify's got you from the get go with beautiful ready to go templates to match your brand style. Tackle all the important tasks in one place. From inventory to payments to analytics and more. Spread your brand's word with built in marketing and email tools to find and keep new customers. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already love it. If you want to see less cards being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start sell selling today at shopify.com betches go to shopify.com betches shopify.com.
- [01:04]
Sammy Sage
Betches.
- [01:12]
V. Speer
Rise and shine, fever dreamers. Look alive, my friends. I'm V. Speer.
- [01:15]
Sammy Sage
And I'm Sammy Sage.
- [01:16]
V. Speer
And this is American Fever Dream, presented by Betches News, the show that wants.
- [01:21]
Sammy Sage
To celebrate the first pope that has done the nasty. I can't believe he let me that joke, Carolyn.
- [01:26]
V. Speer
Wait, no, I. The first Pope that has directly survived the Reagan administration. Ooh.
- [01:33]
Sammy Sage
Okay, okay. The first pope who thinks ketchup on a hot dog is a sin and that holy water is malort.
- [01:42]
V. Speer
Okay, we're done with the Pope for now. Tara, Paul, Mary. Welcome to the show, friend. We had you on on account of you are a Catholic, I believe. And we're. We're doing only Catholic news now, so welcome.
- [01:52]
Tara Palmeri
I'm a Catholic school girl. My parents made me suffer through that shit forever.
- [01:57]
V. Speer
Okay, I have a question for you then, actually. Have you that Gen Z is like, they're becoming Catholic, right? And they're getting confirmed.
- [02:03]
Tara Palmeri
It's bizarre.
- [02:03]
V. Speer
It's bizarre.
- [02:04]
Tara Palmeri
I've been running away from it.
- [02:06]
V. Speer
But they've been wearing. Their shoulders are showing in church. They have short skirts. I'm like, okay, Gen Z, that's not what I remember from Catholic school. What are your thoughts?
- [02:15]
Tara Palmeri
No, you had to stand tall and show where your fingertips dropped. And that's where the length of your skirt was. And I have, like, abnormally long arms. It's like some weird former. Like, you're trying to, like, shrug. Yeah. Or I can, like, walk on my arms. And so my. My skirt was always the longest, so I had to roll it up when I got off campus. And then, like, you know, it was like, Britney Spears back in the day.
- [02:39]
V. Speer
I know.
- [02:40]
Tara Palmeri
No, these girls are sassy. But, you know, the. I'm sure the church is, like, just happy to have somebody. Like, land fillers or. What am I saying? People filling their pews. Because it has been so dead in there. I just think it's weird.
- [02:54]
V. Speer
They wear the rosaries. I was like, you don't wear the rosary. Yeah.
- [02:57]
Tara Palmeri
It's never.
- [02:58]
V. Speer
I don't know how they're getting confirmed because the rules are so strict, and it was so hard. And now I'm like, okay, we're just.
- [03:04]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, Francis. He was like, all are welcome. Come in just short skirts and all. Drop the Bibles, Go to confession, whatever.
- [03:13]
Sammy Sage
My theory is that these. That these people were inspired by, like, the Met Gala theme. Like, they thought that it was all heavenly bodies, Catholicism, Selena Gomez, hair in a halo. Like, they. They didn't realize that has all this other stuff. The guilt, the. You know, they're seeing stained glass and. And rosaries that look like chic necklaces. They're not seeing, like, opulence.
- [03:36]
V. Speer
Yeah.
- [03:36]
Sammy Sage
They're not seeing, like, young birth control, the celibacy.
- [03:39]
V. Speer
Women don't have a voice in the church. Really? Yeah. Yeah.
- [03:43]
Tara Palmeri
They got three votes. V. Okay.
- [03:45]
V. Speer
Yeah.
- [03:45]
Tara Palmeri
Three votes. Millennial.
- [03:49]
V. Speer
We'll take it. We'll take it. We'll take our three votes for women in the Catholic Church. I think the Pope is cool. I like this one so far. I'm good with him. He walked back. Some of the stuff he said about the gays in 2012, and, you know, it's a Catholic church. I don't expect it to be progressive or super liberal or whatever, but as a person who was raised Catholic, I feel less trauma related to it than I did maybe previously. And I think if they would have went with, like, a much more conservative Pope, I'm not sure that there would have been this window that I'm seeing on TikTok of people being like, maybe I should give it another try.
- [04:23]
Tara Palmeri
Maybe.
- [04:23]
V. Speer
Maybe it is a good place to find community for me and my kids or try to, like, have an appointment where every Sunday, at least I know I'm going somewhere with some of the same people from my neighborhood. And Try to, like, rebuild a little bit of community.
- [04:33]
Tara Palmeri
I'm like, I mean, when you say it like that, it doesn't sound so bad anymore.
- [04:37]
V. Speer
It sounds good. Yeah.
- [04:38]
Tara Palmeri
But when I was, you know, when we were kids, there was so many rules and like, if you were a miscreant, like, if you missed Mass, you were reminded and you had to go to confession. And I just think they've, like, they've opened up the community. But then you have, like, these hardcore people who are into, like, the Opus Dei. It's kind of. That's the J.D. vance sort of like alliance. Right.
- [04:58]
V. Speer
What do you know about Opus dei?
- [04:59]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, I mean, Opus dei, they're the ones that you always see in the movies where they beat themselves up and, like, it's dark. Yeah, it's. Yeah, the whipping, the boardwalk empire. Yeah. Opus DEI is the extreme version.
- [05:12]
V. Speer
I have always said that Republicans, Republicans have a humiliation kink. And this tracks. If they're doing all of this kind of like self flagellation stuff.
- [05:20]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. They're going into, like, Catholicism in the most hardcore way. Whereas, like, Franciscans, like, I know I weirdly know about all the sex, but like, the Franciscans, which I believe Pope Francis was, they were like, all are welcome. Like, it's a party. You know what I mean? Don't beat yourself up. Yeah, don't beat yourself up. But then, like, there's been this, like, conservative movement where, like, if we're going to be Catholic, we're going to be the most hardcore Catholic you could possibly be. Like, the ones that were Catholics are kind of like, they took it a little too far and now it's being made into weird Dan Brown movies.
- [05:51]
V. Speer
Can only hope they bring back investing in art. You know, I mean, if we're gonna go super hardcore Catholic, let's. Let's invest in massive art projects.
- [05:58]
Sammy Sage
Let's commission some artists.
- [05:59]
Tara Palmeri
It's just like, amazing how much power the United States has because, like, the Catholic Church is the richest institution in the world when you think about it, like the properties they own, the churches, all of it. And now an American is on top of that institution. It's just like the vast global scale of American influence is incredible. Religion and politics, like, what is going on right now?
- [06:22]
Sammy Sage
Well, did you see that quote from one of Trump's, I believe, one of his religious advisors where he basically said that he wouldn't think that he. He didn't think that, that there would be an American Pope until America's political influence started waning. And he had said that like a few weeks ago. Or something. And then we have an American Pope.
- [06:43]
Tara Palmeri
Does that mean our influence is waning? I think so.
- [06:45]
Sammy Sage
I think that was what it was. I think that was what was implied by the by bat prediction. But I don't know. We'll see. I'm very excited to see how Pope Leo takes the church and what he does. And I think that it's been, you know, it's been very memeable having an American Pope. At least it's fun. But, Tara, we have you on, like, with the best timing ever. I know we ended up getting rescheduled and honestly, I could not be happier because you just had an awesome interview on Thursday, I believe, with Lindy Lee.
- [07:17]
V. Speer
The watched it four times.
- [07:19]
Sammy Sage
Former Democrat.
- [07:21]
V. Speer
I watch it like before I go to bed to literally calm myself down and believe that the world is healing. I'm so serious.
- [07:28]
Tara Palmeri
Some people were like, it gave me so much anxiety I had to pop a Klonopin. And now I'm so happy to hear that. On the flip side, some people feel like there is truth, there is light.
- [07:37]
V. Speer
There is journalism, there is just like, it was phenomenal. But Sami, tell folks about it in case they haven't watched it yet.
- [07:43]
Tara Palmeri
Thank you, guys. That's very sweet.
- [07:45]
Sammy Sage
So if people are unfamiliar with Lindy Lee, she is a woman who was very active in Democratic politics. She was a fundraiser for the campaign. She said she raised tens of millions of dollars for Biden and Kamala. She was, you know, I had been following her. I think we had been following each other. So we had, you know, maybe been, you know, in touch over social media back in, like, years ago. And she basically, like days after the election, after, you know, defending Biden, defending Kamala, she basically, like, goes full MAGA and starts like, talking about the Democrats saying how they like, covered up and lied and like calling them up, just literally calling it a cult all of a sudden, talking about how she hates, you know, how she is like anti trans people and like anti immigration and starts really, like, doubling down on these culture war issues. And now she, you know, she's been right. Interviewed on right wing media channels a lot. And now she has her. Has a show with, I would think, like five other conservative women where they, you know, essentially do like, culture war, red meat kind of stuff. So, Tara, tell us, how did you end up interviewing her?
- [09:02]
Tara Palmeri
It's a weird world we live in. Yeah.
- [09:04]
Sammy Sage
And like, did you. Did you think it was gonna go this way?
- [09:08]
Tara Palmeri
Thank you for that gracious setup. Yeah. Lindy Lee is a mind blower in so many Ways I think she actually converted days after the minutes. Sorry, after the election's results. Yeah, she had. Exactly. I mean, she was out there liter, literally, like, defending Biden to the death, being like, if you even mention his age, how dare you? You should be apologizing now. I mean, if you look at the former tweets from her and the communications, she claimed at that time that she was privately telling the party that she was concerned about him. But publicly, she was out there, like, whipping it up, like, the worst of them. And so I asked my producer to, like, try to help me book some, like, more conservative voices, because I really do just want, like, a mix of people on my show. Like, I really felt like, you know what? I want everyone to feel like they can come have a conversation. And he mentioned to me that there's this woman, Lindy Lee, that is getting millions and millions of views on YouTube, and she was on Dr. Phil and Dave Rubin and all these places, and she claims that she has receipts. She knows where the bodies are buried. She was a Biden world insider, and she knows everything. And, you know, I interviewed a bunch of people about the Biden books. You know, Jonathan Allen, Amy Parnes, Chris Whipple, Alex Thompson, and Jake Tapper have one coming out. So I'm like, all right, sure. I will be full disclosure, honest with the audience. I did not do my full vetting of Lindy Lee because I was good. I just launched my show, the Tower Palmeri show, like, last week, and it was just, like, craziness. So but the night before I started looking at her tweets, I started watching some of her videos. I like, you know, was like, this is a little weird. The fervor, the way she was speaking about immigrants and as if they were parasites. And just, like, it was such a 180 from November that just something felt off. I asked my producer to have her send us some excerpts from her book because, like, I was gonna interview her about this book that will burn down the Democratic establishment in her own words, saying, like, you should be worried. So I was like, okay, let me just see the book. So I get, like, a PDF version with pictures of Kamala and all this stuff, and there's always a picture of her next to the president, the former President Biden, or next to the vice president. And she looks like, you know, she's in the crush. There are people around her, but she's. She says she's a personal friend of Biden. She said it on my show. Like, she said that she was allowed in places in the White House that others weren't. In the. The first few pages of the book, which I read, like, she says she's taking calls from the Lincoln Bedroom. I'm like, isn't that for, like, top, top, top, top, top donors? She, like.
- [11:40]
Sammy Sage
Or anyone. I don't think.
- [11:43]
V. Speer
Anybody'S really been in there. Yeah. Geez. Oh, my God.
- [11:46]
Tara Palmeri
It was. It was like. And there were just, like, other, like, details about, like, how she was at, like, the Kamala. Like, outside of the Kamala Harris party, but then decided that she would go and do media instead because, like, her life breathes off of media and that, like, she saw it as political capital. And, like, it was kind of like a. To me, it was a little deranged. Like, the way that she was looking at the entire political complex. And, like, a very way of, like, how to. How it. To insert herself so it becomes about her so she can write the book that's about her life. And I kept asking her, like, what makes your book so different than the many other Biden books that are out there? I doubt there's much left in these books to will, like, blow the roof open or anything like that. And she was like, it was about me. Like, I have firsthand knowledge. They don't. There's a secondhand. Like, I talked to Valerie. I talked. That's. That's the president's sister. I talked to Ashley, his daughter. And I was like, really?
- [12:36]
Sammy Sage
How do I.
- [12:36]
Tara Palmeri
How did I never hear about you before? How is the first time I'm hearing about you? Through my producer. And so I just became, like, very suspicious upon, like, the. When I. And also I asked her, like, who's publishing your book? First question, it's going to become a movie. Nobody's going near these books.
- [12:59]
Sammy Sage
I thought you were actually, like, really well versed in her. Because that was your first question. Because that would have been my first question. Because she's written about how, like, she has, you know, this book coming out and how there's, like, a movie attached to it. And I'm like, first of all, in no world is it, like, you get a producer who wants to do your movie before you even know who's writing your book. If there's multiple publishers vying for it and she's been writing it, it would already have been, like, scooped up. It's not like. Like, it wouldn't have been after all these other books are coming out. And the other thing that I thought that you really called. That you actually didn't necessarily call her on, but I Have a question. Just sort of, like, logically, she talked about how she wasn't being paid and how, like. Because, like, she wasn't being paid. She's more credible because she wasn't being paid. But in my view, I'm like, well, then, now you're less credible because you were saying this without actually needing to say it, and then you immediately switched. So at the time, you must have really believed it. The fact that she wasn't paid is actually, like, worse for the fact that she was saying those things, because it's not like she was employed by the campaign. She could have just stopped if she thought that they were covering something up.
- [14:12]
V. Speer
Well, you say that to her, right?
- [14:14]
Tara Palmeri
You.
- [14:14]
V. Speer
I mean, let's. Let's play that clip where Tara says to her, you didn't have to do this.
- [14:20]
Tara Palmeri
People can totally change. But the question is, you worked for the. You worked for a campaign.
- [14:25]
Lindy Lee
You didn't have a choice because I was a.
- [14:28]
Tara Palmeri
Nobody has to work that.
- [14:30]
Lindy Lee
You're not getting it. Politics is my entire life.
- [14:33]
V. Speer
What do I do?
- [14:34]
Lindy Lee
Without pause.
- [14:34]
Tara Palmeri
So you don't believe.
- [14:36]
Lindy Lee
Are you, like, should I become a teacher or something? Are you asking me to change my profession?
- [14:40]
Tara Palmeri
I actually think that if you're going to stand up and speak for other people as a surrogate, if you're going to work for campaign, you know, and now you're going to come out with a book, like, you should believe in what you're saying. Like, if you didn't believe in it, then, how are we supposed to believe you now?
- [14:55]
Lindy Lee
This is my truth. Take it or leave it. I don't need you, Tara Palmeri. I don't need you to believe me. This is just my truth. And I have the receipts. It's up to the American people. And I increasingly. I know that people know that I'm telling the truth. Like, I have the receipts, and every single day, the facts and reality vindicate me to me.
- [15:13]
Tara Palmeri
The most shocking moment in that clip is when she goes, well, could I be a teacher? Oh, God forbid. As if being a teacher is such a terrible thing. Politics is the highest calling in life, by the way. You know, if you heard that or not.
- [15:28]
Sammy Sage
No, I'd much rather be a political consultant who, like, tries to fleece the American people into thinking that this. This nominee or that someone is someone that they're not. Like, it's so such a higher. It's such a higher standard.
- [15:40]
V. Speer
Where did she come from, though? I mean, she's fairly young, right? She was born in, like, 1990s. She's fairly young. And she did. She was on TV a ton during the. This last campaign. I know it's, like, pretty easy to book media interviews. I'm like, who's your publicist? How did you get to be a surrogate? Because everything that I've seen, she was at, like, large gatherings, right? Like, okay, sure, maybe you got to take a picture with the president at Christmas, or maybe you got to take a picture with Kamala at any number of the events where there's a photo line. But as far as being in any. I never heard of her being in the Oval Office. She was never at any of the creator stuff that got special access. So I'm like, who. Where did she come from? And how did she become this voice?
- [16:21]
Tara Palmeri
Okay, here's what I've pieced together based on her own comments and what I've heard from my reporting. Cause I had to do some reporting on this before I had her on. So I called some people, right? They. One person who works in the White House under the Biden administration kind of described her as like a political tourist. She comes from a wealthy family. She raised some money, and because of that, she's able to go in and get, like, pictures at, like, the, you know, White House events that when they open up the. The, like, you know, Easter egg roll, whatever. Yeah, yeah, Easter egg hole. Like, the picture of her in her. I think her YouTube handle or her ex animal is her standing the. At White House press briefing, like, in the podium as the press secretary. I mean, I'm sure that was her dream.
- [17:02]
Sammy Sage
Like, we all take that. I've had that was part of her.
- [17:05]
Tara Palmeri
Dream to be, like, the White House press secretary. I think this was, to her a way of becoming famous, of being associated with famous people. She probably liked being on cable news. She probably liked people thinking she was important. She. She claims she's wealthy. She comes from a wealthy family that owns real estate in Philadelphia. She says, I'm talking from my penthouse. Like, I'm a wealthy woman. I don't need to be doing any of this.
- [17:27]
Sammy Sage
But didn't she say that she grew up with not nothing? And she's very fiscally conservative because she doesn't like to spend anything. I mean, and I understand people can make money during. During life, you know, over their lifetime, but, yeah, that doesn't.
- [17:42]
Tara Palmeri
Like, her father, she said, has buildings, and they. And they donated that space to the Biden team. So apparently her family, like, maybe they started off with no money coming from China, and now they have, you know, properties. But, like, regardless, it's it's just like, I think she would have actually liked to have been hired by the campaign. Yeah, I think her dream would have been to be the press secretary. I think if Kamala won, she would have never become conservative. No, she would not have stayed exactly where she was. And I.
- [18:08]
V. Speer
She is another one of Princeton's finest. She graduated from Princeton, which is getting a bad rap now with, like, Pete Hegseth having gone there, Lindy Lee having gone there. I'm like, Princeton, we gotta start putting Nelson alumni right now.
- [18:21]
Sammy Sage
They're standing up to the administration, though, so Harvard.
- [18:24]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. Well, you know, the Lindy Lee story is, like, a very fascinating one. I just. It's just a certain type of, like, political actor who can make it in this entertainment complex that exists online. Like, she does get millions and millions and millions of views. There is an entire world out there that looks at her, and when she speaks, they're like, she was there in the room. She knew everything. And they may have never heard my podcast. They've never. May have heard what we know are concerning for her.
- [18:56]
V. Speer
Is it, like. Because I know Democrats obviously see through that. This is, like, a mess and whatnot, largely. But where she's going with this conservative sort of grift that she's on now, are they accepting her, or is this part of, like, the show? Like, how much are Republicans actually even wanting her on their team?
- [19:11]
Tara Palmeri
She was on Dr. Phil. She was on Dave Rubin Show. She's got a show on Patrick David. David Patrick Betts network. So I think, like, there's, like, entertainment value in her. Like, it's very. Everybody, every party loves a convert, right? Yeah, but, like, this is like, some, like, like, intense conversion, I think her first. Their first show of the Talk 4 or whatever it's called. Yeah, it was last week. Her take. That's it. Her take. Her take. And. Yeah, and she spent a lot of the time calling immigrants parasites.
- [19:43]
V. Speer
Cultural work.
- [19:44]
Tara Palmeri
Is it?
- [19:44]
Sammy Sage
But she is an immigrant because she said, oh, my family did the right way. Okay. Well, the. A lot of people who, quote, unquote, did it the right way are people who are being persecuted by this administration, who came legally, who, you know, came under the policies, but, you know, we're not here to litigate immigration. But what I do want to kind of ask you about, like, this story and how it's kind of emblematic of this, like, almost like this parasite ring that forms around the actual, like, political actors. And you've been around them a lot. You know, you obviously came up in trad Media. That's what we call it on here. And are you seeing, like, media. Are you seeing, like. Like, I feel like there's a kind of a mixing of those two. Of those, you know, two industries. You know, like, the cottage consultant industry and sort of the, like, pundit cable news industry. How. And you have obviously decided to go independent. How have you sort of, like, observed those worlds merging together and, like, you know, kind of disconnecting from the actual American electorate? And, like, how did that play into your decision to separate from it?
- [20:55]
Tara Palmeri
It's a really good question. Like, I just would come home and see my father who's, like, in his 60s, watching YouTube, like, all day long. My cousin's 39. She's like, I get my news from TikTok. Everyone I loved and cared for, like, they were not get. Exactly. She follows UV like, everybody I know and love that is not in this, like, political industrial complex of news, whatever you want to call it. Legacy media consulting class. They were not getting their news from the places that these people were so focused on, frankly, during the election. They were getting their news from. From socials, essentially, social media. And so it just made me realize I started this, like, about a year ago. Like, even though I just launched this company a few months ago, I. I came to UV And I asked you for advice. I was like, how do I get into your world? Like, how do I start talking to the people that you speak to? Because they are where you are, where the audience is right now. And so it sort of prepared me from leaving Puck, which is new media, but it, like, still has some legacy, like, feels to it. And because you're really never, like, truly like you until you create your own thing and you go out into this space. And we are so reliant right now on social media to even just, like, bring eyeballs and traffic and, like, get our message out there. So I just felt like everyone was missing the mark, especially during the election, too, to be so focused on legacy media, where now, I'll tell you, it is so much easier to book guests for podcasts. I'm sure you feel the same way, too, especially from Democrats who, like, we're sort of like, we'll take the Meet the Press interview. I feel like now I'm being hounded by them. Yeah, and I would rather have, like, a Republican on my show. Although I think Republicans are a little bit, like, nervous now about going on podcasts because even they realize, like, it's just. It's not necessarily, like, a safe space or, like, they want to have control. Because ultimately, like, with the legacy media, there was a feeling of, like, when I walk into that room and sit down on that couch, like, I have control over the conversation. Whereas when we have conversations with people, like, it can go anywhere. And this is, like, real. This is real life. We don't have 100 producers in our ears. We don't have all this stuff going on. Like, this is our conversation. So it became real and authentic. And that's. That can be really hard for people who live in a space of talking points and, like, stage moments. You know, Lindy, she has an entire place that she exists, but she was first really propped up by Fox News. Right now. I doubt that she's going to be on there much more. But, like, she first was, like, a creation of like. Like, oh, wait, we have this person who was a Biden insider who now wants to come out. She comes out on Fox. But in some ways, like, more people probably have seen her online.
- [23:29]
V. Speer
Yeah.
- [23:30]
Tara Palmeri
Than they've seen her on Fox.
- [23:32]
Sammy Sage
I found her as, like, resistance lib person who was just, like, tweeting out, like, things that were very. Just pro Dem, almost in, like, a. A factory way, in a propaganda way.
- [23:48]
V. Speer
And that's where she lives. Right. So she's living in this world of collecting things that perform well online and repeating them and repeating them and repeating them and repeating them. Same thing with her even drop. I knew she was a liar when she said, well, I talked to Valerie because that is an insider's way. Joe Biden's sister. That is an insider's way of proving that you were close to the president is to drop Valerie's name or Ashley's name.
- [24:08]
Tara Palmeri
Right.
- [24:09]
V. Speer
It wasn't. She didn't say, oh, I spoke to Jill Biden. Because that could have been posed. She was trying to make it seem like she was, like, second level, very involved with the family. And. And I am making it my personal effort to get your interview with her in front of as many people as possible, because I think one is a great. I mean, this seriously. It's a great lesson in curious journalism, which I think is what people are asking for. You just were asking her questions about things that she had said were true, and then she was falling apart. And I thought for one second she almost started to cry. And I was like, she's gonna stop the interview. But then she kept going.
- [24:41]
Sammy Sage
What parts?
- [24:41]
V. Speer
She was so addicted to the attention. It was when she. After the teacher comment, when she was like, this is my life. This is about me. And when you were, like, $37 million. And she's like, oh, it's a ghostwriter.
- [24:51]
Tara Palmeri
You were also a fundraiser. You said that you raised $37 million.
- [24:56]
Lindy Lee
No, that was a placeholder number.
- [25:00]
Tara Palmeri
Oh. How much did you actually raise?
- [25:02]
Lindy Lee
And that was a draft of the book that I told your producer not to share.
- [25:06]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, no, I found that online, actually.
- [25:08]
Lindy Lee
No, really. Diana was at 37.
- [25:11]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, okay. Well, let's say it again. How much money did you. You were a fundraiser and you were a surrogate. A surrogate for everyone who is just listening is someone who goes on TV and supports and promotes the candidate, the party, or on podcasts, et cetera, radio, but fundraiser. How much money did you actually raise for Harris and the Biden campaign?
- [25:32]
Lindy Lee
Millions. And I didn't just raise for the campaign RV, for the super PACs, too.
- [25:37]
V. Speer
You have to watch it, because watching it is, I'm telling you, I've watched it like four times, if not more. 1. It's a lesson in, like, curious journalism for all the people out there who are trying to do this work and have only ever watched TV as their example for how to do journalism. I think this is phenomenal lesson for people. And then, in addition, it destroys this narrative of these type of propaganda social media grifter people. And there are many of them out there, not just in my opinion, her and the way she operates, but there are millions of them on TikTok who come out and say crazy stuff. They lie about access they had or didn't have. They took a picture on the photo line with Kamala Harris and then they tried to say that they were a part of the campaign and they weren't, or they're trying to use moments that were from the public and make them seem private to like raise their profile. And this interview, I think really breaks down or at least pulls the curtain back a little bit for the public on what is true and what actually happens. And the way that other people might be misusing photos or moments to make themselves seem more credible than they are as well.
- [26:35]
Tara Palmeri
Totally. And Jamie Harrison, who is the former DNC chairman, tweeted after the interview came out the receipts, cuz, you know, Lindy said she has receipts that will burn down the establishment. And in one of his receipts, days before the election, by the way, days before her conversion, you know, dear Jamie, can I please get in the photo line to have a picture with Vice President Kamala Harris. This doesn't sound like someone who's telling the party like, we're gonna go down. You guys are a bunch of crooks. This is nefarious, as she claims that she now has now says, like, honestly, it was just like, even. It was. It was. It wasn't an inquisition. And the fact that she became so enraged was the sign. It was a tell.
- [27:19]
V. Speer
How did you hold yourself? Like, how did. Cause so many people confront narcissists who are gaslighters.
- [27:24]
Sammy Sage
Did you know it was gonna be, like, really good when you're too.
- [27:27]
V. Speer
Yeah, because you really held your face and you held your energy and you gave her the space to hang herself in many ways. But, like, what was.
- [27:35]
Sammy Sage
How is she holding her face?
- [27:36]
V. Speer
Like this?
- [27:37]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. Honest. Can I be completely honest with you guys? You're gonna think I'm nuts. I thought it was such a train wreck of an interview that I, like, I did keep my face, like, pretty, like, neutral because, like, I'm a journalist. Like, I'm not there for a fight. You know what I mean? She might want to, like, have, like, a tantrum and whatever, lose it on my camera. I mean, on my show. But I sent it to some friends. I'm like, guys, is this. Is this too much of an. A train wreck to put on, like, on. On the Internet? Is this too much? And they were like, no, this is like a Law and Order episode in which you sit the person down and you expose what, like, is real. And I was like, okay, phew. Because I was like, is this too, like, is this too much, I thought, even for people to see a human being completely unravel the nar. The narrative of their life and who they. And I didn't intend on doing that. Like, I really wasn't a. Gotcha. I really. I'm telling you, I am. I was, in a way, like, it. That was sort of the beauty of the moment was the fact that I've been so overwhelmed with trying to, like, build this new product of, like, the Tara Palmeri Show. The red letter, that one. Like, by the time this came across my desk, I probably had two or three hours preparing Time to. Time to repair. And it was late at night, and I think I had, like, just had gotten, like, a cease and desist or something from Sean Spicer for zero reason at all. So I was, like, doubly so. By the time I was talking to her, I was just like, wait, you, like, what? The Lincoln Bedroom? You know what I mean? What parts of the White House were. You know, it was like, my brain.
- [29:07]
V. Speer
That was my favorite part.
- [29:07]
Tara Palmeri
That was another level. Yeah, I was like. I was on, like, another level of, like. I was just like, okay, I'M gonna deal with another person that I consider to be sort of like grifting off of the political ecosystem that we live in right now. You know, making a career based on, like, what I would consider things that they probably don't believe in to just, I mean, listen, it's her truth in her own words. Don't want to take it away from her. I'm just, I'm just asking questions. But when someone says to you, this is my truth, you can take it or leave it. Like, that's not the, that's never a good line.
- [29:42]
V. Speer
The truth.
- [29:43]
Tara Palmeri
That's never a good line. The truth is a different line.
- [29:46]
Sammy Sage
So question about the actual, like, so this is all around Biden and the quote, unquote, she's calling it a cover up. I hear a lot of people calling it a quote, unquote cover up. And I think that there's different, you know, when I think when the broader public, like, say, outside the Beltway hears that, I think they think about that as like this big conspiracy where like, everybody in the Democratic Party knew and was like, kind of hot, like, quote, unquote, hiding it and just because they wanted him to run. And you've obviously spoken to pretty much all the people who are doing, like, real sourcing on this and talking about, like, what was going on with Biden between 2023 and 2024. So based on what you've been, you know, hearing about, because, you know, Lindy Lee is an important fixture, but there is also this fact of, like, what was going on in the Biden administration and what happened with 2024. So for all, from all the people you've been speaking to, like, like, when people say cover up, what do they mean by that? And like, do you feel that there was a quote, unquote, cover up? Like, what do you really feel like went on here?
- [30:55]
Tara Palmeri
I don't think this was like some sort of comet pizza conspiracy thing going on where, like, you know what I mean? Like, this isn't like some QAnon thing that happened. But I do think that there were a lot of people at the highest levels of power who wanted President Biden to run again and to win the White House for whatever reasons they told themselves that helped them go to sleep at night, which was, was, we do not want Donald Trump to win again. He's the only person who can beat Donald Trump. Which is something that I'm sure that President Biden has said publicly and probably told himself privately as he went to bed every night knowing that he was 81 years old still says it. Exactly. And probably in his mind uses that. And it's amazing how you can convince yourself that you're doing the right thing over and over and over again. I do think there were a lot of people that were close to him that should have spoken out and said something and said like, you know what, when Dean Phillips came out, like, everybody should have been like, okay, let's do the primary, let it happen. And like, that didn't happen. And the fact that like Gavin Newsom was like, no, he's good, he's great. He did that years before. And after the debate, people still like, vociferously, like, they back to him and they should have just said like, okay, those six weeks were so critical. And I think if like decisions were made during those six weeks that people were just waiting on Biden. And I do think a lot of people saw Biden and they saw not even think. I know, I know that people saw Biden. As much as his team kept him closed off from the public. They saw him and they were like, I don't know, it isn't great. But the American people, more importantly saw Biden. Two thirds of them said in poll after poll after poll after poll, he's too old to run. And nobody listened to that. And that's a problem. So that's not even really a cover up. It's just like a. It's like we're feeding you dog food and you have to eat it.
- [32:50]
Sammy Sage
So when you say like a lot of people. Cause I think about this and I'm like, okay, we saw Biden at an event where he looked like quite feeble. But like, my feeling is like, okay, I see him like that that day. Then you see him at the State of the Union and he was doing okay. And so it's like, yeah, we're like. When you say a lot of people, is it like hundreds of people or is it like the five people around him that like, were knew that it was like he was consistently unable to perform and, or like to the level that the American people expected. And they were the ones who were just like, making sure that people only saw like glimpses of it. Because you're right, like, the American people saw no different than like what you we saw. Like, the difference is that they were just like not giving the benefit of the doubt. And I think a lot of people who are closer to it were like, okay, well his people say he can, he can stay up till nine. Like, you know, it's just very, you know, so I Guess it's like, how do they get that trust back when you know, it was so. It's so kind of paints. It hates the party with a broad brush.
- [33:57]
Tara Palmeri
It's what's not great. Like when Robert her came out with his conclusion that like, like Biden couldn't be prosecuted because he would be just seen as a feeble old man. Like, that should have been a moment too, in time that the trumpets went out and people who would be interested came out because. And then instead though, the party attacked Robert her, someone that they held up as like a beacon of like being a fair person. And like they were like, he's always been a conservative hack. It's like, well then why did you guys choose him as a special counsel? There were a lot of moments that were passed when people could have actually suggested like maybe a sign of on State of the Union. Yes. It's an example in which Joe Biden was former president, got through a speech and he delivered it an hour long speech, which is hard even for me. I'm like, my voice is cracking right now. But here's the problem. We shouldn't be sitting on the edge of our seats as Americans wondering if our president is going to get through an hour speech. And so like the standard was so much lower. As a member of the press, he did not give any access to journalists. No access at all. Like, it was incredible. And people that worked in the press office will talk about this openly. That there was a no, they didn't do the super bowl interview. That's a tale, that's a telltale sign.
- [35:08]
V. Speer
He did have creators though. And this is my problem. Even with the way Caroline Levitt does it, he did have creator interviews, Right. That he knew were going to be super hyper friendlies because they were short. You get 8 minutes, 10 minutes. You already had to say what your question was going to be. You got to do your picture and you got to leave. Right. And so I think that that in some ways affected things certainly, like where we say he wasn't doing press interviews, but he was doing these creator friendly things. And even in those, it was like, okay, he's slower, but he's not. He's with it, but he's slower, but, man, he really looks old. Are you guys, you sure this is gonna be okay? This is all right. All right. And I think that's my problem with Caroline Levitt also is the idea that the creators were supposed to be auxiliary to the press. Right. And like just grow the amount of audience we have. And there's been a replacement, especially with what she's doing right now with this press briefing seat where 35 of them are just straight loyalist creator propagandists. Right. And I think there may have been a small permission structure that started with Biden administration around, like giving creators all of this super exclusive and cutting the press out. And at this point it's sort of like, okay, the press and creators need to work together to ensure that we're telling the most whole truth and that, that it doesn't get any kind of more partisan or worse.
- [36:27]
Tara Palmeri
I think it's interesting too, the way that they're using creators. It was really crazy to see Sean Spicer sitting in the front row asking Caroline Levitt, how dare you have the establishment press in your briefing room. Like, what is going on here? You are.
- [36:41]
V. Speer
You are crazy and too old. And also, we're on Dancing with the Stars. Sean Spicer, don't think I forgot about your rumba sleeves. And why are you so like this? Like, you're a professional person and Marjorie Taylor Greene's boyfriend being in there who's way too old to be in there. Like, and by old, I don't mean age wise, because there are older people who are really interesting, wonderful creators. I mean old in the industry. This man's been in D.C. for all of these years. You shouldn't be taking a creator seat that's meant for actual new media, which might be someone younger in their career or new to independent or whatever.
- [37:12]
Tara Palmeri
Have you thought about going in there and sitting in the new media seat?
- [37:16]
V. Speer
Absolutely not. And I would never get paid picked because the process of getting picked requires you to pre screen questions and have her look at your whole account. And I'm not trying to put my name on any list that's in the Trump Warehouse. Oh, my God, the Trump Warehouse, though.
- [37:29]
Tara Palmeri
They put someone forward.
- [37:30]
V. Speer
I think that they would. And, and that makes sense to me. I think that Axios is certainly in there and they're like pretty, pretty new media. But as far as creators go, they're not going to put Harry Sisson in there. They're not going to put me in there. They're not going to put.
- [37:42]
Sammy Sage
They should put Harry Sisson in there. If I were them, I would put Harry Sisson in there, like as a foil kind of. It's the thing that bothers me about the, about this is that like, I think from, you know, the older generation, I think that they don't really know what to make of like, creators versus independent media versus, like, like, like what you're Doing basically versus, like trad media, quote unquote. That's someone like Axios, where they. There's this perception that like the creators or someone who's independent should be kind of like a megaphone for them. Like, that they're just there to like amplify their. At least that's how like the Biden administration treated creators. I feel like. I think that's kind of how the Democrats are treating creators.
- [38:24]
V. Speer
That's why I haven't done it, because it's still like that, where it's like, hey, we're going to line you up at State of the Union in the basement and have 15 different creators do the same interview with the same politicians and like it's the same thing over and over and over, or do a trend over and over. I think it's actually sort of like bastardized the creator and independent media experience the way that they're treating it right now. And it's also greatly taking away from the truth that the American public is getting.
- [38:48]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, I guess this is what they always thought was gonna. They thought. They were hopeful that it would be like a press that would be more, you know, I guess, open to their friendly ideologies. I thought that the Epstein binders, what they did when they handed out those allegedly classified binders, just binders said the word classified and they were all Virginia Giuffre Roberts court documents, public documents, and they had used the creators as props. And that's what it's starting to look like, that they're using them like props. But inside there was nothing classified about it. And we still haven't gotten anything new since I've covered this story, like the Epstein story. And like, I worked with Julie K. Brown, who was like, we actually copied. Co produced a podcast together called Broken on Jeffrey Epstein. And we were both kind of in agreement that we think that Jeffrey Epstein was killed. I think it was the cop, like the person. I mean, the person that CBS identified as a possible person who would have killed him on 60 Minutes. There were a lot of things that happened during that period of time where like the guards were gone, the tape was missing. He wasn't the type of guy to kill himself. Like, he just wasn't. He believed he was bigger than God, like he had all the money in the world. He probably thought he could get out of it again, just like he did the first time.
- [40:00]
V. Speer
Time.
- [40:01]
Tara Palmeri
And you know, pedophiles, first of all, do not do well in prison. So whether someone was paid or not paid to kill him is a. Is. Is you know what it is. And if there was anyone that was paid, you know, it happens. Or where people are paid in prison to kill people.
- [40:18]
Sammy Sage
Also, the. It was in so many people's interests for him to be dead. Like, there was almost no one who, like, would be better, maybe, like, the victims that they would get, like, some sort of justice. But there was. There were so many more powerful people who could have arranged for his demise, who needed that to happen. So it's just, like, when you look at the likelihood of it, especially against what I think is, like, kind of the most important, that his likelihood of actually taking his own life was very small, because, like, that's kind of the. The crux of it.
- [40:53]
Tara Palmeri
It's.
- [40:54]
Sammy Sage
Yeah, I think it's like you have to kind of suspend disbelief to think that there weren't more people who would have wanted him to be dead than himself wanting to be dead.
- [41:05]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. I mean, also, the way that he got off the first time around where he just, like, literally had an ankle bracelet and got to hang out and.
- [41:12]
Sammy Sage
He could go to work.
- [41:14]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. It was like, he knows that the justice system works in a different way for him than the rest of the world and for the rich and powerful, so why would he think that he wouldn't get off this time, too?
- [41:23]
V. Speer
I think you make a good point, though, that it doesn't necessarily mean it was like a. From the top down deep state kill could have just been that they kill pedophiles in prison, and that's.
- [41:32]
Tara Palmeri
They do. They don't do.
- [41:33]
V. Speer
Well decided. You know what? I'm not letting this guy out, or I'm gonna do my own version of vigilante justice or somebody holding.
- [41:41]
Sammy Sage
He was in, like. He wasn't in prison yet, right?
- [41:44]
V. Speer
He was in prison.
- [41:45]
Tara Palmeri
No, he was in. He was in El Chapo's jail in downtown.
- [41:47]
Sammy Sage
Oh, he was?
- [41:49]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. In downtown Brooklyn. Oh, no, sorry. Downtown Manhattan. Ghislaine was in Brooklyn. I used to always walk by because I live in Brooklyn, and I feel like, hey, Ghislaine. Knowing she was right there on the other side while I was working on Ghislaine Maxwell podcast about her.
- [42:03]
V. Speer
Yeah. Well, the fact that she's still alive, I think is indicative that they didn't just take out the whole operation. Right.
- [42:09]
Sammy Sage
But, I mean, there's so many things we will maybe never know, but I would love to know is this. Tara, this will kind of, like, motivates you. Like, do you want to just, like, get to, like, get to the bottom of it? Like, why did you want to Be a journalist.
- [42:25]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that I live for. Like, I. That was the best. That investigation to Jeffrey Epstein was like, the most fulfilling year or so of my life working with the. With the victims. Like Virginia, we traveled all over the country together trying to stand up her story. And a lot of the people that we spoke to ended up being used as. As witnesses in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell. And they're just, like, issues that I, like, really deeply believe in. And one of them is essentially justice for people who are women, children, poor, sexual abuse survivors. And it's just my heart. I like politics. I love politics in the sense that I'm fascinated by powerful people and the people that exist around them and that equality ecosystem. And I think, like, we need to talk about issues, but, like, I am passionate about investigative journalism that helps people that, like, don't have access to the resources to defend themselves. And I. I like to get down to the bottom. I mean, I feel like we live in a. In a world that is gray and there are so many grave things. And I think we have to acknowledge that more, especially as journalists, because otherwise people come to us being like, I want the answers and make me feel safe, but, like, the world is not a safe place. And like, actually, V, I think you do a really great job of unpacking really complicated topics and making people feel like that they're accessible in a way that. Actually, I think you're far superior at it than I am. I'm kind of more of, like, I call my sources, I try to get the information that I think other people don't have, or I try to get people together that maybe don't normally want to talk, or I speak to people that don't normally talk to journalists. And that's. I try to do that to contribute to, like, the wealth of, like, information in the. In the public domain. I think we all have our own skills and passions, and we try to follow it. And honestly, I'm. I'm in, like, a experimental stage of my life right now. I'm having fun. Like, I just left being. Having a boss for the first time in my entire life, essentially. And it feels free. Like, I thought it felt for so long like I was in some sort of, like, cage, and it feels like, oh, I can just kind of go with my gut and just ask the kind of questions I want and write the things I want to write. Like, I found. I find this person to be fascinating. I want to sit down and talk to this person.
- [44:38]
V. Speer
Yeah.
- [44:38]
Tara Palmeri
I like this topic. I want to go into that topic. Whether the audience wants to come along for the ride. You know, that's the risk I take. But, you know, you've created so many amazing things through betches like V. Like, you're like, you know, international superstar, just following your gut and where you want to go. And I just think, like, that's the beautiful moment that we're in right now, is that, like, people will come along for the ride with you as you're exploring and following your passions.
- [45:03]
V. Speer
And I'm like a gateway drug to the Tara Palmieri style of journalism, right? Like, we all have our place. I'm like, I consider myself very top of the funnel, right? Get you interested, make you feel smart, give you the language you need, make you feel safe. Then maybe you go to Sammy. Sammy gives you a little bit more deeper on the morning announcements and the big deal of the day. Then now we're really feeling. Now we're ready for the Tara Paul Mary show because we've heard Lindy Lee up here. We've learned a little bit more here. Now we're ready for the interview. But it all is working. This is what I like about this new.
- [45:32]
Sammy Sage
Let me go to the later world.
- [45:33]
V. Speer
Then you Atlantic, right? But the emerging creator world in new journalism and the way this intersecting the way that we do, I think, is hopefully what people start to invest in and sort of raise up out of, you know, sort of the muck of where we're all kind of trying to raise up out of right now, which is that it can work together and that there is not one authority, one voice, one channel you listen to. It's a collection. And you get a little bit from everyone, and then you start to realize, like, who's in community with each other. And do you want to be a part of that community? Like, a lot of folks who listen to our show are like, I like your show. I learn a lot. But I like you and Sammy's friendship, and I like being a part of it for the week. And I like just listening and, like, kind of taking a break and, like, you know, having it on while I'm walking around home goods or while I'm like, commuting or doing something. It's like a very low stakes listen. But if you hear something here that you're really interested in, maybe then you do go listen to Kara Swisher's take on it, right? Which is gonna be much more hard and, like, have more details or whatever. But I think women are certainly leading the creator Space and this run into new media and what that means to have community and build something fresh.
- [46:33]
Tara Palmeri
Fresh.
- [46:34]
V. Speer
And I'm excited about it.
- [46:36]
Tara Palmeri
It's so true. I mean, I talk to people, obviously, like, the. The executives in, like, the corporate world, and they're like. They say it's really hard to find women that are in the political space right now. And I hope that, like, what we're doing, the three of us, like, I hope it encourages more women to come forward because there are enough bro pods out there. Okay. Yeah, there are enough of them.
- [46:54]
V. Speer
We don't need a Joe Rogan of the left. Okay. We've got plenty of Damien.
- [46:59]
Sammy Sage
Maybe if we add all the women together, we could get one Joe Rogan of the left.
- [47:03]
V. Speer
Yeah, there we go. And then she would get canceled for doing something toxic, I'm sure, because that's a toxic style of.
- [47:10]
Sammy Sage
But Joe Rogan won't.
- [47:11]
V. Speer
No.
- [47:11]
Sammy Sage
Yeah. Wendy Lee is Joe Rogan of the former left.
- [47:14]
V. Speer
She might be. She might be Voltaire. We have a game before you go that I. Oh, God. Okay. It's. I was digging into your past, and way back in the beginning of your career, it's your game. It was called Yay or nay.
- [47:33]
Tara Palmeri
Yeas or nay's.
- [47:35]
V. Speer
Okay, so how did you. Tell us about when you play the game?
- [47:38]
Tara Palmeri
I'll explain this a little bit. So back when I was, like, 22 years old, I graduated from college early, and I start working at the CNN as a news assistant, which means you run around and give everyone coffee and, like, scripts and, you know, whatever, and.
- [47:53]
Sammy Sage
So oiling the machine.
- [47:54]
V. Speer
Yes.
- [47:55]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, yeah. Taking everyone's cards in the green room. Like, I'm 22 years old. I've got, like, my little, you know, got my website with my blog, and my. My investigative journalism. I was doing investigative journalism at the time. I was, like, going on the Hill and like, being like, look, lobbyists are hiring land, like, line standards to help them cut lines for health care hearings. And like, I was. I was always a little bit of, like, a, you know, shitster, as you might say. So I was. But it was 2009. The economy was falling apart, and I was like, I need a job. So the editor for the Washington examiner comes in. He's on frequently. His name is Chris Style. Style Walt. Now he's got a show on News Nation. He was fired from Fox for calling Arizona for Biden, by the way. Oh, that's.
- [48:38]
Sammy Sage
I was like, I know that name.
- [48:39]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, he's a good guy. He's a really good guy. And so I Was like, like Chris or Mr. Stirewalt. I was like, I could be a freelance journalist for you. Like, I can write, I can do this, I can do that. I just need a job, please. And he, he never called me for like six months. And I was mortified. And he would come on all the time and I have to be like, hi. And I, I was so mortified.
- [49:02]
Sammy Sage
I'm the one who wants a job.
- [49:04]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, I was so mortified. But I, I didn't stop. And then he called me one day and I was like, in a mall in New Jersey, which is where I. All Jersey girls hang out when they go home to tell their parents. Like, I think it's over for me. I think my jaunt in journalism is about to end.
- [49:18]
V. Speer
Was it the Palisades or the Freehold Mall? Which one were you?
- [49:22]
Tara Palmeri
It was the one. I, I mean, I, this was a special one because I was bringing my 10 year old brother at the time to this, like, tropical cafe. So I have to think it was.
- [49:32]
Sammy Sage
Like the Green Forest Cafe.
- [49:34]
Tara Palmeri
Yes, the Green Forest Cafe. We actually crossed the border from Jersey to New York for this.
- [49:38]
V. Speer
Wow. Okay.
- [49:39]
Tara Palmeri
And I lived on the border. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I get, I open the fortune cookie and it says, take the next offer you receive. I still have that fortune cookie. And I get a call from none other than Chris Sauerwalt. Within a few hours, I'm in the mall walking my brother around, and it says, and he says, would you ever want to write a column? It's like, about celebrities that come through Washington D.C. we're calling it yeas and nays. It's not a big deal, whatever. And I was like, he kind of downplayed it. And I was like, it would be a dream. And so I thought in my mind, he says, it's about celebrities coming through D.C. and I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. You have just given me a Page Six column. Yes, I am going to write about everyone in town, the most powerful people, and I'm going to write items. And like, the stuff was getting picked up by the real Page Six and by Drudge and all these other places. And I was like getting Gawker, and everybody was like, who's this girl in D.C. who's like becoming like a little Wonka? Ish. And so then I got a job at the real Page Six. But I did that for about a year and it was really, really fun. And so I turned what was like kind of like a, you know, a page in a newspaper you probably haven't even read or listened to in so long into, like, a fun place and for some mischief. Yes, that's great. So I got. I ended up moving to the New York Post from there. And it was. It was a weird pit stop in the way. And people were like, how did you end up as a gossip communist? Like, I took whatever job I could get and I turned it into what I thought would be the best way to break through, especially in the time of the Internet. Actually, you would appreciate this. V. One of my pieces where I was widely mocked but got to become friends with the founder of Grindr was when Grindr came out, I had heard that, like, Bernie. Barney Frank was on it and he was using it at the gym. And like, I. I was like, I'm not going to write about that. Cause it's just rude, you know what I mean, to out somebody on Grindr, especially when it was so new. And this is like during don't ask, don't tell it era of Obama years. And people were talking about, like, whether this should still be a thing. And so I started. I went around to the Pentagon, the White House, and the Capitol with my Grinder and being like, well, there's a hotbed of activity on Grindr right now in the White House. And, like, it turned into this viral video where everyone was just mocking me mercilessly. But, like, in the end, the Grindr guys were like, this is amazing. We love it.
- [51:59]
V. Speer
We love it.
- [52:00]
Tara Palmeri
And that was just like a flavor of the kind of stuff I did. I didn't out anyone, but I just thought, like, why the hell. But I made it a bigger point. I'm like, why do we have don't ask, don't tell when everyone's clearly on Grindr, like, this is absurd.
- [52:12]
V. Speer
You gotta get the girls and the gays. That's the best audience. That's the best audience. It's the most joyful. Plays. Well, we're gonna play a version of yay or nay, which is our version of just asking you yay or nay to certain things that are going on around the world. So here we go. So first, yay or nay, Airline safety.
- [52:30]
Sammy Sage
Are they going? Well, that. That's the.
- [52:31]
V. Speer
Is it going.
- [52:34]
Tara Palmeri
Terrifying?
- [52:35]
V. Speer
So scary. Are you flying or are you driving more now?
- [52:38]
Tara Palmeri
I have to fly on Friday, but I get. I get really nervous, especially because I have friends that work in aviation. They're like, it's bad, girl. It's worse than you think. Yeah, I drive Newark Airport. I would use a fly. Yeah, don't go to New York from there.
- [52:51]
V. Speer
No, no. I drove to New York, and I drive to Harvard every time because I just. Yeah. Airline.
- [52:57]
Tara Palmeri
Congratulations on that, by the way.
- [52:59]
V. Speer
Thank you.
- [53:00]
Tara Palmeri
A fellow. Very fan at Harvard.
- [53:03]
V. Speer
Fellow university girl. Okay.
- [53:06]
Tara Palmeri
A faculty.
- [53:10]
Sammy Sage
Okay, next one. How are the tariffs going?
- [53:13]
Tara Palmeri
Nay.
- [53:14]
V. Speer
Nay.
- [53:15]
Tara Palmeri
I know.
- [53:15]
V. Speer
Just.
- [53:15]
Tara Palmeri
Just for now. I went to, like, an Apple store in Delaware and just started buying things.
- [53:20]
Sammy Sage
Oh, yeah. I bought a new computer because I'm like, this is going to be double the price.
- [53:25]
V. Speer
I got microphones, and I upgraded my phone a couple weeks ago because I was like, well, you know, we'll see. But he did drop those tariffs to 30% with China now, which is still too much. All right, yay or nay?
- [53:35]
Tara Palmeri
Housing prices, they're always a nay for me. I mean, I live in New York. It's horrible.
- [53:40]
V. Speer
It is.
- [53:40]
Tara Palmeri
It's just been, like, a bitch. It's been bad for a while, though. I can't blame this one just on Trump.
- [53:45]
V. Speer
True.
- [53:46]
Sammy Sage
Yay or nay? Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Lawsuit.
- [53:50]
Tara Palmeri
I'm pro Blake. I know that sounds weird. Not many people are, but, like, I feel like she got slimed so hard, and there's, like, a whole media industrial complex. Like, I keep saying it over and over again, that same phrase. But, like, to slime women, they're, like, just hated on the Internet. So maybe Blake hasn't been, like, perfect in this, but, like, rarely do people handle human interactions perfectly, especially when it involves a boss. But I just think, like. Like, the way that she's being, like, destroyed and how much the Internet loves to hate women. It bothers me a lot.
- [54:21]
V. Speer
We should have you back for an update on this, because I feel like I tried to keep out of this topic and now I'm deeply in it, but it's like a whole other episode to go through the whole thing.
- [54:31]
Tara Palmeri
You can't help it. It draws you in.
- [54:33]
Sammy Sage
I hate that this has become, like, a political thing. And also, I mean, largely in part thanks to Candace Owens pulling people in through her coverage of this case. But it's. It really shouldn't be political. This is, like, such a workplace issue that has now become, like, a culture war thing, which drives me crazy.
- [54:53]
Tara Palmeri
Blake doesn't help herself. She's not the perfect victim, but no one is who is the.
- [54:59]
Sammy Sage
Yeah, it's also like, her husband's involved. Like, there's. It's so much more than just like her. And, like, that was Taylor Swift's getting subpoenaed and it.
- [55:08]
V. Speer
Too much.
- [55:09]
Sammy Sage
I'm looking forward to hearing of how that goes.
- [55:12]
V. Speer
All right, last One making news for good news. Yay or nay? Do you think it's important to force good news stories into the overall coverage?
- [55:20]
Tara Palmeri
Listen, I'd like to hear whiffs of good stuff. I heard on SNL that America that the New York is the happiest place of all cities. I don't know if that's true. I mean, it was on Saturday Night Live, so probably not.
- [55:30]
Sammy Sage
That sounds like it's a lie.
- [55:33]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, I hear things from time to time. That sounds happy, but I don't. I don't think we should be placating ourselves or others into, like, delusions of happiness. Like, that sounds like propaganda, and we get enough of that fact.
- [55:43]
Sammy Sage
Occasionally there's a good news story.
- [55:46]
Tara Palmeri
Like, oh, yeah, that is fair. Okay, good news. I don't want. But, like, I wouldn't want to tell people, like, things are better than you think, America.
- [55:54]
V. Speer
Oh, no, things are bad, America. And also this cool science thing happened. Well, what didn't we get to ask a journalist question. What? Is there anything that we didn't get to talk about today that you'd like to talk about?
- [56:04]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, me. Aw. Thanks for asking. I feel like we hit a lot of interesting topics. I mean, this. This airplane that Trump is going to inherit.
- [56:15]
V. Speer
Yay OR Nay. The $400 million Flying Palace.
- [56:19]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, it looks dope, but it's probably covered in bugs.
- [56:22]
Sammy Sage
That was my question for you with your friends in aviation. Did they. Or, you know, I don't know if you've, like, started to look into this, but my first question is, like, okay, so what's the security piece of that? Like, how do that? There's not a giant speakerphone underneath the carpeting installed in all of, like, the seats.
- [56:40]
Tara Palmeri
How do you room? Yeah, yeah.
- [56:43]
Sammy Sage
Like, how do they.
- [56:45]
V. Speer
I don't know.
- [56:45]
Sammy Sage
It just seems like you don't. You don't accept the flying object that your president flies through the air in from a foreign country.
- [56:53]
Tara Palmeri
Also, as it moves, they could track it as well. Like, it could be. It could purposely include something that would make it false. Like, to take out the entire. The president and all of his senior staff would completely weaken America on the world stage. We could be completely collapsed. Like, we should not be on anything that is, like, foreign made. It has to be completely debugged, probably taken apart and put back together. So add another $100 million to do that. It's just. And it's just like, it's such a bad look. It's such a bad grift look. Like, even Laura Loomer is saying this looks bad. You lost Laura Loomer that she will take a bullet for Trump.
- [57:30]
V. Speer
Sarah Palmeri, thank you for being here. I'm sure you'll be a frequent guest here on the American Fever Dream as we continue to navigate the pitfalls of America. Tell folks where they can find you.
- [57:39]
Tara Palmeri
Thanks for having me, guys. I've been fans of both of yours. So you can find me at Tara Palmieri. That's a R a P a L M E r I Only1i on YouTube. And now I've got the Tara Palmeri show, where you can listen to the YouTube shows on audio. So that's on Spotify, that's on Apple. Tara Palmieri show. All the fun in my head and really focusing on news and politics. But yeah, she's on subscribe. Yes, I must have said the red letter. How could I forget the red letter? I write a column with exclusive news and you get it straight to your inbox if you sign up.
- [58:15]
V. Speer
Perfect.
- [58:16]
Tara Palmeri
Thank you.
- [58:16]
Sammy Sage
And you've all got to watch the Lindy Lee episode and then the Steve Schmidt conversation that followed it because I thought it was really important to, you know, especially for some Democrats to hear.
- [58:27]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, yeah. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.
- [58:29]
V. Speer
Well, until next time, I'm V. Speer.
- [58:31]
Sammy Sage
And I'm Sammy Sage.
- [58:32]
V. Speer
And this is American Fever Dream.
- [58:34]
Tara Palmeri
Good night, Betches.