11/11/24: Bernie Shreds Pelosi On Worker Abandonment, Media Lies On Amsterdam Soccer Clash, Bibi Waiting For Hostages To Die, Cable News Implosion, Biden Coverup Of Electoral Wipeout

Summary

Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar: Detailed Summary of the 11/11/24 Episode

Release Date: November 11, 2024
Hosted by Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti
Produced by iHeartPodcasts

---

1. Bernie Sanders Criticizes Nancy Pelosi on Democratic Party's Abandonment of the Working Class

Timestamp: 01:55 - 04:10

In this segment, Saagar Enjeti discusses an article he wrote for Dropsite, emphasizing that voter groups historically aligned with Bernie Sanders are rapidly departing the Democratic Party. He attributes this shift to Bernie’s clear and coherent vision, which contrasts sharply with what he terms the "neoliberal laundry list" policies promoted by leaders like Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Enjeti highlights that Nancy Pelosi responded strongly to Bernie’s criticism, prompting Bernie to defend his stance on the Democratic Party failing to support working-class families.

Notable Quote:

• Krystal Ball (02:54): “...I don't respect him [Bernie] saying that the Democrats have abandoned the working class families.”

Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti criticize the Democratic Party for not advancing key legislation such as raising the minimum wage, facilitating unionization, and ensuring Social Security solvency. They argue that the party remains too influenced by the donor class, hindering its ability to advocate effectively for average Americans.

Timestamp: 04:10 - 05:36

Saagar elaborates on the Democratic Party's shortcomings, stating, “...they are, you know, way too beholden to the donor class.” He further critiques Senator Chris Murphy for acknowledging Bernie’s valid points but suggests that the Democratic establishment remains unwilling to challenge its donor base.

2. Media Misrepresentation of Amsterdam Soccer Clash

Timestamp: 18:02 - 24:45

Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti delve into a violent incident in Amsterdam involving supporters of the Israeli football club Maccabee Tel Aviv and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. They argue that the media, particularly outlets like Sky News, portrayed the Israeli fans as innocent victims, omitting provocations from their side such as tearing down Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Arab slogans.

Notable Quote:

• Saagar Enjeti (22:55): “...to describe it as one way is just simply inaccurate. It's literally false.”

They criticize the media for lacking context, suggesting that if the roles were reversed with Muslims attacking Jews, the coverage would differ significantly. The hosts cite internal reporting that shows both sides engaged in violence, challenging narratives that exclusively blame one group.

3. Netanyahu’s Stance on Hostages and Gaza

Timestamp: 29:11 - 37:10

The discussion shifts to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi) and his policies regarding hostages taken by Hamas. Enjeti references a UN report detailing the casualties in Gaza and Netanyahu’s apparent indifference to the fate of hostages, suggesting that Bibi prefers hostages to perish to quell public anger against Hamas.

Notable Quote:

• Saagar Enjeti (32:58): “It is impossible to argue it at this point that Biden and Harris drew any hard red lines that they ever enforced.”

They critique the Israeli government’s aggressive military actions in Gaza, noting Netanyahu’s ambitions to establish settlements and his lack of commitment to ceasefire negotiations. Krystal Ball remarks on the inefficacy of Biden’s so-called "red lines," asserting that the current Israeli actions reflect a continuation of unchecked policies irrespective of U.S. administration stances.

4. Cable News’s Declining Influence and Shift to New Media

Timestamp: 40:17 - 58:54

Krystal Ball presents alarming Nielsen data showing a 25% drop in cable news viewership during the 2024 election night compared to four years earlier. This decline is juxtaposed with the explosive growth of podcast consumption, particularly among Americans under 54, who now prefer podcasts and platforms like TikTok for news. She notes that traditional cable networks like CNN and MSNBC suffer from an aging demographic, with median viewers aged around 70.

Notable Quote:

• Krystal Ball (45:25): “...the median age is 70.”

Saagar supports this by attributing Trump’s electoral success to a strategic focus on podcasts and new media, particularly targeting young men and women who are disengaged from traditional cable news. The hosts emphasize the necessity for the White House to adapt to these new media landscapes, suggesting that clinging to outdated press briefing models will alienate the younger electorate that predominantly consumes news through digital platforms.

5. Biden’s Electoral Performance and Democratic Party’s Future

Timestamp: 48:07 - 53:27

The conversation turns critical of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign strategies, asserting that internal polling predicted a disastrous 400 electoral college vote defeat—a scenario that materialized. Krystal Ball emphasizes Biden’s administration’s failure to address inflation and the rollback of COVID-era social safety nets, which significantly impacted the working class.

Notable Quote:

• Saagar Enjeti (58:54): “...their legacy is now genocide, plus ushering an unrestrained Trump back into the White House.”

They argue that the Democratic Party is facing an existential crisis, with shifting demographics and voter realignments pushing it towards extinction as a formidable opposition party. The hosts highlight the increasing polarization and the party’s inability to adapt, suggesting that without major reforms prioritizing working-class interests over donor influences, the Democrats are headed for long-term decline.

6. Conclusion and Future Directions for the Democratic Party

Timestamp: 53:27 - End

Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti conclude by urging the Democratic Party to undergo a dramatic turnaround to survive the current political landscape. They criticize party elites and consultants for perpetuating ineffective strategies and failing to address the core issues affecting the working class. The hosts advocate for a complete overhaul, emphasizing the necessity for the party to reconnect with its foundational principles and prioritize economic populism over maintaining the status quo favored by the donor class.

Notable Quote:

• Krystal Ball (54:38): “...the long term trajectory is death. If the trends that the party saw between 2016 and now continue unmitigated, it will be utterly catastrophic in a way that is probably unrecoverable now.”

---

Key Takeaways:

• Democratic Party's Internal Struggles: Bernie Sanders’ criticism of Nancy Pelosi highlights deep fractures within the party regarding its commitment to the working class.

• Media Bias and Misrepresentation: The hosts argue that mainstream media often misrepresents events, particularly those involving Israeli and Palestinian tensions, by omitting crucial context.

• Shift in Media Consumption: A significant decline in cable news viewership contrasts sharply with the rise of podcasts and new media platforms, reshaping how political narratives are formed and disseminated.

• Biden Administration’s Shortcomings: Internal polling and actual electoral outcomes demonstrate the administration’s failure to effectively address economic issues, weakening the Democratic Party’s position.

• Future of the Democratic Party: Without substantial reforms and a renewed focus on working-class interests, the Democratic Party faces a potential decline into irrelevance.

---

This episode of Breaking Points provides a critical analysis of the Democratic Party’s current challenges, media biases in reporting international conflicts, the shifting landscape of political media consumption, and the implications of Biden’s electoral performance on future politics. Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti advocate for significant structural changes within the Democratic Party to reclaim its influence and effectively represent the working class in a rapidly evolving political environment.

Transcript

[Krystal Ball]

After investing billions to light up our network, T Mobile is America's largest 5G network.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Plus right now you can switch keep.

[Krystal Ball]

Your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan vs Verizon and at&t@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlocked device, credit service ported 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime, play anywhere. Play on the train, play at the store, play at home, play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in.

[Sagar Enjeti]

So what are you waiting for?

[Krystal Ball]

Don't delay. Chumba Casino is free to play. Experience social gameplay like never before. Go to Chumba Casino right now to play hundreds of games including online slots, bingo, Slingo and more. Live the chumba [e-mail] VGW Group purchase necessary void were prohibited by law. See terms and conditions 18 + this.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Holiday season, surprise everyone on your list with the best gifts tickets to see their favorite artists live. Choose from thousands of concerts and comedy shows including Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Matt Matthews, Metallica, Thomas Rhett, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Sarah Silverman and so many more. Share a memory together or give a gift they'll never forget. Find the most exciting gift for every [e-mail] gifts that's live nation nation.com gifts hey guys, ready or not. 2024 is here and we here at Breaking Points are already thinking of ways we can up our game for this critical election.

[Krystal Ball]

We rely on our premium subs to expand coverage, upgrade the studio, add staff, give you guys the best independent coverage that is possible. If you like what we're all about, it just means the absolute world to have your support. But enough with that. Let's get to the show.

[Sagar Enjeti]

I made this case in an article for Dropsite last week that basically the coalitions, the groups of voters that are fleeing the Democratic Party the fastest, are the exact groups of voters that where Bernie Sanders was the strongest. And it's because of what I just laid out about how he has a coherent narrative vision of the world. He has a coherent divisive politics versus this dumb neoliberal laundry list crap that Kamala and Biden and all these people run with. And so he wrote out a pretty scathing indictment of the Democratic Party which we covered last week where he said They've abandoned working class people, which I think is, you know, undeniably the case when you look at the way that the COVID era social safety net was stripped, rolled back under Joe Biden. Yes, they did good stuff on antitrust, good stuff on labor. That is not helping people's material conditions today. So he put that out and Nancy Pelosi shot back at him. Here is Bernie getting asked about Pelosi's comments and responding. Let's take a listen. Bernie Sanders has not won.

[Krystal Ball]

Let me, with all due respect, and I have a great deal of respect for him for what he stands for, but I don't respect him saying that the Democrats Democratic Party has abandoned the working class families.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Senator, how do you respond to Nancy Pelosi? Well, Nancy is a friend of mine and we've worked together on many issues.

[Krystal Ball]

But here is the reality I have to say to Nancy in the Senate.

[Sagar Enjeti]

In the last two years, we have.

[Krystal Ball]

Not even brought forth legislation to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Despite the fact that some 20 million.

[Krystal Ball]

People in this country are working for less than $15 an hour in America today.

[Sagar Enjeti]

We have not brought in the Senate.

[Krystal Ball]

We have not brought to the floor the pro act to make it easier for workers to join unions. We're not talking about defined benefit pension.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Plans so that our elderly can retire with security.

[Krystal Ball]

We're not talking about lifting the cap on Social Security so that we can extend the solvency of Social Security and raise benefits. Bottom line, if you're an average working person out there, do you really think that the Democratic Party is going to the mats taking on powerful special interest and fighting for you? I think the overwhelming answer is no. And that is what has got to change.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Some real talk there from Bernie. If you are your average voter, you really think the Democratic Party is going to help to help you? No, you don't. No, you don't. Because they are, you know, way too beholden to the donor class. And we'll probably cover this tomorrow, but even Senator Chris Murphy put out a long tweet thr where he was like, you know what, Bernie had a point. And the fact of the matter is the reason that we attacked him so vociferously is because what he says is uncomfortable for our donor base.

[Krystal Ball]

Yeah, I mean, I was gonna say in terms of the accountability stuff, this one is almost like too insane to believe. We'll put it up there on the screen. Jamie Harrison.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Oh my God.

[Krystal Ball]

The DNC saying that Bernie is quote, straight up B.S. biden was the most pro worker president of my lifetime, et cetera, et cetera. He said there are a lot of post election takes and this one ain't a good one. Yeah, which is really funny because, I mean, I don't know, you know, I have a weird thing where, you know, in some ways Jaime Harrison is not necessarily wrong, like in terms of the individual, like checklist politics. But that's kind of why I think culture and immigration did reign so supreme, because clearly, you know, that type of checklist politics is totally rejected, you know, by a lot of these multiracial working class voters who decided to do, to go and to swing for Trump. Whereas I think Harrison and them are in this world where they think that they can laundry list, you know, box check things, and that people will just come along with them when it's pretty clear there's a much bigger story that is at play.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Right. And it's also the fact, I mean, Biden is literally incapable of articulating what he did and laying out. I mean, because I think that the antitrust stuff, the labor stuff, like the, all of that has been very solid. The industrial policy, the Biden administration, all very, very good. Okay. Maybe if you had someone who was capable of selling that and of portraying it as like, you know, these are some of the ways that we're pushing back against these economic elites, perhaps it would have mattered more. But I think more to the point of the idea that you hear from liberals of like, oh, well, actually the economy is great under Biden. It's like, no, it wasn't for most ordinary people. Guess what? Inflation hit them really hard. Prices still are quite high. Just because inflation slowed doesn't mean the prices went back down. And under Trump, there was a huge expansion of the social safety net to deal with. COVID Biden had his highest approval ratings and the Democratic Party was the most popular at the beginning of his administration when he was passing the expansive American Rescue plan. The story of his administration vis a vis most regular people is Covid era social safety net protections being rolled back. Child tax credit, gone. Rent forbearance, gone. Student loan debt, forbearance, gone. All of these things that were incredibly important to people that really help them, those are going away at the same time that inflation is spiking. So that's how most ordinary people are experiencing this. I hope Lina Khan stays. I think that that direction, I'm very confident she won't. But anyway, I think that direction is really important. The labor stuff, super important. But again, this doesn't hit right now, today. So to pretend like, oh, this is an indictment of deliveryism or whatever, I think is just foolish. And to pretend like the economy was so great for regular people under Joe Biden is just a complete fantasy world. So, in any case, Jaime Harrison right now is taking a lot of heat because his stewardship of the DNC is a disaster. And so he's trying to blame shift and pretend like Bernie doesn't have any kind of a point here. But there's a reason why Bernie Sanders continues to be, even though he's quote, unquote, the furthest left in the Democratic Party, he continues to be one of the most popular politicians on either side of the aisle in the entire country with independence. Because it's not about this left, right spectrum. It's about top versus bottom. And that's something Bernie instinctively gets. And to your point, Sagar, almost no one else in the Democratic Party does. So we'll see where things go from here. You do have, bizarrely, a few people on MSNBC and CNN and Chris Murphy and David Brooks being like, hey, you know what? Maybe Bernie had a point. But honestly, can I imagine them going to war with their donor class? No, I can't imagine that. I think more likely what you're going to get is more of the Seth Moulton direction of. Let me just agree with the Republicans and their narrative framing of the world and capitulate on those issues. Be a kindler, gentler version, hope that when Trump is gone, that the next Republican candidate is less charismatic and we've got a shot against them. And, you know, that's. That's what I think is the most likely direction for the future of the Democratic Party possible.

[Krystal Ball]

Yeah, let's go ahead and play the next one here, just to give some more color on that. Joe Rogan, very popular podcaster. He endorsed Donald Trump in the final days of the election four years ago. You went on his podcast.

[Sagar Enjeti]

You got a lot of blowback for.

[Krystal Ball]

Doing that and for touting that he endorsed you. So is this the kind of example of Democrats perhaps shunning or vilifying people who don't totally agree with them? Yeah, I think that's fair enough. Look, you can have an argument with Rogan, agree with him, disagree with him, but what's the problem going on those shows? It's hard for me to understand that. So I think we've got to get. And clearly you have an alternative media out there. A lot of podcasts that have millions and millions of viewers get on the show. Disagree with you here.

[Sagar Enjeti]

I agree with you there.

[Krystal Ball]

I don't see a problem in doing that. And you're right.

[Sagar Enjeti]

I got vilified by some of the.

[Krystal Ball]

Democratic establishment because I went on Rogan show. Now a lot of other people are doing just that. Yeah, I mean, I thought that was. It's funny too, because Dana Bash now, it's almost sheepishly being like, well, you got a little blowback for going on there. And he's like, yeah, there was something wrong going on there.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of that was on her network.

[Krystal Ball]

Yes.

[Sagar Enjeti]

She didn't have anything to say about it then. Yeah, it's like, yeah, it's too late now. Right. I mean, way too late. You know, and Rogan is kind of like, kind of emblematic of the Bernie to Trump pipeline. Right. And that's what happens when you don't have a coherent worldview. You shrink from every fight. You're terrified of picking big fights. You're terrified of divisive politics. Again, Donald Trump is like the most divisive figure. He is not afraid of picking fights. He's not afraid of being controversial. He's not afraid of saying things that don't focus group and poll test. Well, like, take a lesson from that. Take a lesson from that, because that is actually the politics that are most successful. This was interesting. We wanted to show people this, put this up on the screen in terms of AOC's performance. So her district actually was one of the biggest swings in the country towards Donald Trump. Now it's in the Bronx, very overwhelmingly Democratic. So it's not like he came close to winning. But There was a 24% swing, almost a quarter percent swing at the presidential level. And AOC basically stayed exactly where she was, which means you have this very. It's sort of confounding for a lot of the analyses that are out there, especially the Lego Democrats were two woke analyses because AOC is probably one of the most woke members of Congress. Right. Fair to say. Right. Of all the Democrats are out there, you know, she. She probably is most comfortable talking about transgender issues and, you know, doing land acknowledge, like she does all that stuff. I think her language lately has been a little bit better and more accessible, but she definitely fell prey to, like, the very academic language, all of those things. And yet now there exists out there, by the tens of thousands, people who voted for Donald Trump and then voted for Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. And I am bound and determined Saga to find some of those votes.

[Krystal Ball]

We are on a mission here at bp. If you voted for AOC in the Bronx and you voted for Donald Trump. Please contact us and we will have you on the show. I mean, no troll. How would we have proof? What's the proof? You think people out there took pictures of their ballots? There's probably enough people out there who did.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Somebody has to.

[Krystal Ball]

Yeah, somebody. You gotta have proof about how you did it. We'll vet you. It's not just anybody who will be allowed on this program, but I'm very curious to see who those people are. I really am. As you said too, there's some acknowledgement here on MSNBC also around this. Crystal, Jen Psaki, let's take a listen. There is sexism, there's racism, all of that is true. But I also think there is a real question I hope people start looking.

[Sagar Enjeti]

At about who people are listening to.

[Krystal Ball]

In my view, there was an over.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Listening to and an over lifting up.

[Krystal Ball]

Of people who left Trump, not people.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Who left the Democratic Party.

[Krystal Ball]

The people who left the Democratic Party are the people who are going to win in the future. The people who left Trump, the Never Trumpers who have important voices and have. That is not the winning coalition.

[Sagar Enjeti]

It's funny for her to say that on Morning Joe in particular because that is like that's their Never Trump HQ right there, right? I mean that's who, Joe Scarborough in particular, that's who he is. So she's saying that to his face, which is quite extraordinary. And you know, I was just recalling, Remember back in 2020 saga when it looked like Bernie would actually win, he was like winning Nevada and there was no one who was running.

[Krystal Ball]

There was a two week period, there.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Was like a short period and CNN kind of freaked out because they realized like, oh shit, this guy could be the Democratic nominee. And we don't have really any, anyone in our roster who is part of this coalition who can speak to it, who has any sort of access to it, whatever. And so they started booking myself and several, several other like Bernie type lefties. And then the second that, you know, Clyburn moves in and Joe wins South Carolina, Obama makes this move, all the candidates drop out, whatever. Like obviously I've never been invited back. And it is noteworthy that almost with Annex, you can point to a few, Nina's on there a few times, Mehdi Hassan's on there now and then. But, but by and large CNN and MSNBC have completely locked down the Bernie left perspective from their airwaves. You are much more likely as a Trump Republican to make it on CNN than you are truly.

[Krystal Ball]

Yes, you are.

[Sagar Enjeti]

And you are certainly much more likely as a never Trump Republican. And those people basically only exist in cable news green rooms.

[Krystal Ball]

Yes, that's right.

[Sagar Enjeti]

So if your whole worldview is being shaped by the ideology of Joe Scarborough and Cole Wallace, then yeah, you're gonna come up with a very skewed understanding of what is actually making voters tick. And I don't think it's an accident that the one ideology that really is basically completely shut out of any of these networks and completely invisibilized on any of these networks and smear dismissed, et cetera, et cetera, is the one that maybe would actually threaten Capital's bottom line. But do I expect any of this to change? Even as you have a few people on there who are like, yeah, maybe Bernie had a point. Not really, but I guess it's like, I'm glad to hear it. Better late than never. But it is where it is. The world has moved on. People have evolved their political views. Certain things will be very difficult to shake people off of. The coalition that was there for Bernie is not a Bernie coalition.

[Krystal Ball]

Yeah, they've moved on.

[Sagar Enjeti]

That's right. The world has moved on. So to just try to now, in retrospect, recreate that from scratch, I'm just not even sure it's possible.

[Krystal Ball]

After investing billions to light up our network, T Mobile is America's largest 5G network.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Plus right now you can switch keep.

[Krystal Ball]

Your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon and at&t@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service ported 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Attention parents and grandparents. Are you searching for the perfect gift for your kids this holiday season? Give the gift of adventure that will last all year long. A Guardian Bike the easiest, safest and quickest bikes for kids to learn on Kids are learning to ride in just one day. No training wheels needed. What sets Guardian bikes apart? Designed especially for stability, they're low to the ground with a wide wheelbase and ultra lightweight frames. Offering superior control and balance, this design gives young riders the ability to learn in just one day without tears or frustration. Guardian Bikes are the only kids bikes designed and assembled in a USA factory, ensuring top notch quality and durability. They were also featured on Shark Tank and are the New York Times Wirecutter Top Kids bike pick for 2024. Join the hundreds of thousands of happy families by getting a Guardian bike. Today their holiday sales have begun offering the biggest deal of the year. Save up to 33% on bikes, no code needed plus get free shipping and a free bike. Lock and pump with your first purchase. After signing up for their newsletter, visit guardianbikes.com to take advantage of these deals and secure your holiday gifts today. Happy riding. Black Friday is coming. And for the adults in your life who love the coolest toys, well, there's something for them this year too. Bartisian is the premier craft cocktail maker that automatically makes more than 60 seasonal and classic cocktails each in under 30 seconds at the push of a button. And right now Bartisian is having a huge site wide sale. You can get $100 off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker bundle when you spend $400 or more. So if the cocktail lover in your life has been good this year or the right kind of bad, get them Bartesian at the push of a button. Make bar quality Cosmopolitans, Martinis, Manhattan and more all in just 30 seconds. All for 100 off. Amazing toys aren't just for kids. Get 100 off a cocktail maker when you spend 400 through Cyber Monday. Visit bartesian.com cocktail that's B A R T E S I A N dot com cocktail.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Let'S talk about this chain of events that went down in Amsterdam. So there was a soccer game between with one of the clubs being this sort of like you know, hard right wing Israeli football club. It's so weird to me, I was saying to you, like I don't understand soccer hooligan culture. Cause it's so weird to me that there's like politics associated with these different soccer teams.

[Krystal Ball]

Well, it goes back to the original like brawling days in Europe, right? So like, you know, remember, I mean if you read a lot of the history about post World War I Europe, there was like a real fuse of outside gangs, soccer hooligans and others who would be explicitly affiliated like with the fascists or with the socialists or the communists or the other side. It's actually very, very interesting. If anybody's like Peaky Blinders goes into it a little bit, if anybody watches that show, it's very distinct. It's a Euro thing. It does not exist here at all.

[Sagar Enjeti]

So anyway, it was somewhat predictable because there is a large pro Palestine population in the Netherlands and specifically among the Muslims in the Netherlands, of which there is a significant number that this could be cause for trouble. And in fact there were some politicians who were like Guys, we gotta take steps. Like this could be a real issue, because it's not like these Israeli football f just show up and mind their business. As we will show you in some future videos, they were out chanting death to Arabs and bragging about how many Palestinians they murdered and vandalizing and burning Palestinian flags and attacking Muslim cab drivers and etc. And so there was a ugly and violent response to that. And I'm not justifying any of this violence all the way around, but by and large, the way the media covered this was as if the perfect little angel. Israeli football fans minding their own business came to town and then they were viciously hunted in the streets simply because of their religion. And obviously that lacks a whole lot of context. And you can imagine, imagine if the shoe was on the other foot and it was a group of Muslims who went to a town and were marching around chanting, death to all the Jews and we're going to murder your children. I don't think that same context would probably be missing from the events that ultimately unfolded. So emblematic of this whole situation that went down and turned extremely violent and led to hospitalizations and the Israeli fans having to be airlifted out by the Israeli government. Sky News aired a video that was actually somewhat honest about what unfolded and what led to the events. And then after they posted it, they had to take it down because providing that context and telling the truth about all of the events and how they unfolded was apparently too much. Let's take a listen. Violence in Amsterdam left at least five people injured and dozens have been arrested. But what happened?

[Krystal Ball]

Supporters of Israeli football club Maccabee Tel.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Aviv arrived in Amsterdam ahead of their UEFA Europa League match against Amsterdam club Ajax on Wednesday.

[Krystal Ball]

Social media videos verified by Sky News show Maccabee Tel Aviv fans tearing down Palestinian flags from outside of homes. Other social media videos appear to show residents chasing Maccabee Tel Aviv fans on Thursday, just before the game. Crowds of Maccabee fans were filmed singing.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Racist and anti Arab songs.

[Krystal Ball]

While a.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Pro Palestinian demonstration had been banned by the mayor over fears there would be.

[Krystal Ball]

Clashes later that evening.

[Sagar Enjeti]

During the match, Israeli supporters appeared to.

[Krystal Ball]

Disrupt the minute silence for Valencia flood.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Victims with chants, whistles and fireworks. Maccabi fans were seen attacking locals as.

[Krystal Ball]

A police car can be seen driving by. People with Palestinian flags were seen marching on the streets. Muccabi supporters say they were beaten and attacked on the streets of the Dutch capital with videos showing some of the violence.

[Sagar Enjeti]

So in any case, ugly actions taken all around. But because this piece from Sky News actually showed Some of the provocations and some of the violence from the Israeli side that had to be pulled. Predictably, the reaction has been insanely hyperbolic from and dishonest from American politicians and influencers. We can put up a little sampling. We got some highlights here from Richie Torres, who says that Mehdi Hasan is justifying a pogrom against Jews in Amsterdam. Very well. There's a pogrom unfolding right now. They all got the pogrom message right away. President Biden, the antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans are despicable. Echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted. No one asked Sager why. The Jewish people who were living in Amsterdam, they don't seem to be having too much of a problem. It's kind of weird. If they're just hunting Jews on the streets now in Amsterdam, you would think they might have some issues that preceded this particular event.

[Krystal Ball]

The whole thing is wild. And at first I was like, oh, wow. I mean, look, it's like semi plausible that the Arab populations who live in Europe who have longstanding, like, Islamist beliefs would be anti Israel. So I guess, you know, whatever. And then, you know, the more I looked and read into it, I was like, wait, hold on. I was like, none of this shit makes any sense at all. And this is part of the problem is in terms of the rhetoric also that people throw out for, you know, pogrom is. Pogrom is a term that has a specific meaning, right? It's like state sanctioned mob violence against Jews to expel them from land. Even a clash would have been a better way to describe it.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Yeah, I actually think that would be fair. I think that's fair.

[Krystal Ball]

I think that's accurate, right? Yeah, we could say accurate. It's like there was a clash on the streets where a bunch of Israeli soccer hooligans basically brought a lot of attention to themselves. And then a bunch of people who were pro Palestine were like, hey, screw that. And then they got into a fight. Okay, whatever. I mean, by the way, that's quite the norm for like anything in terms of Liverpool versus Manchester or whatever. But to. To describe it as one way is just simply inaccurate. It's literally false. And that's part of the victim complex that pervades so much of this within the media too. And we were talking to our producer Griffin, who was watching cnn and he was like, guys, this Amsterdam story is as big as the election over on cnn. And it's like, absolutely. And that's the only reason I even feel insane. That's another question. Why is the President of the United States tweeting out about whatever, some bullshit clash in the streets of Amsterdam? We have way bigger shit going on in this country. Okay, Israel, sure. That's your country you deal with. Well, like, why do we have to get involved? And then people are like, oh, we should cut off. Like, we should cut off relations with the Netherlands. Like, what is going on here? Yeah, yeah, I saw somebody say that. I was like, what the fuck is happening here?

[Sagar Enjeti]

Oh, my God. I just can't look.

[Krystal Ball]

By the way, Amsterdam, it's a cool place. I don't, you know, never been. I hate the weed, hate the drugs and all that. But other than the fact they've ruined it for themselves with their drug policy. Beautiful city, Love it.

[Sagar Enjeti]

So you actually had this young Dutch journalist. I saw that he was like 14 years old. Go ahead and start playing this. Who actually did some on the ground reporting that has been important for people to be able to push back and actually show some of the events that preceded the worst of the violence. And in the video, as this person writes, they can be seen carrying steel pipes, throwing stones at homes. So you can see these were not just a little innocent. I'm just coming to watch the game and have a good time. And then after they were airlift. I'll put the next one up on the screen. After they were flown out by the Israeli government back to Israel. Here they are arriving at Tel Aviv Airport, and guess what? They're singing, IDF will f the Arabs. Why is school out in Gaza? There are no children left there. So again, like, even after all of this, like, this is who we're talking about, okay? These are not some just, like, innocent, minding their own business people. This was part of the provocation along with actual violence, vandalism, et cetera. So just a thoroughly, thoroughly dishonest telling of events and reporting of events that has the impact of. If you're just like a regular Jewish person taking in this narrative, regular person in general, you would feel much. You would feel it. Oh, my God. People are just being hunted out there for no reason. And it doesn't help people make sense of the world and understand cause and effect and how this all ultimately unfolded. And again, I am not like, I think violence all the way around abhorrent. I don't think it's the way to respond to even the ugliest of provocations such as these. But you have to be honest about the events that actually unfolded.

[Krystal Ball]

It's better over here now, at T Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Trade ratings all on America's largest 5G network.

[Krystal Ball]

Minimum of 4 lines for $25 per line per month with auto pay discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without autopay plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge phones via 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement due bill credits end if you pay off devices early. CT mobile.com attention parents and Grandparents. Are you searching for the perfect gift for your kids this holiday season? Give the gift of adventure that will last all year long. A Guardian Bike the easiest, safest and quickest bikes for kids to learn on. Kids are learning to ride in just one day. No training wheels needed. What makes Guardian Bikes special? They're the easiest to ride thanks to the thoughtful engineering, lightweight frames and kid friendly components. Kids love how fun and easy they are to ride and parents appreciate the safety features like the patented braking system that prevents head over handlebar accidents. Guardian Bikes are the only kids bikes designed and assembled in a USA factory, ensuring top notch quality and durability. They're built to last and make perfect hand me downs. Join the hundreds of thousands of happy families by getting a Guardian Bike today. Their holiday sales have begun offering the biggest deal of the year. Save up to 33% on bikes, no code needed plus get free shipping and a free bike lock and pump with your first purchase. After signing up for their newsletter. Visit guardianbikes.com to take advantage of these deals and secure your holiday gifts today. Happy riding. Black Friday is coming and for the adults in your life who love the coolest toys, well, there's something for them this year too. Bartisian is the premier craft cocktail maker that automatically makes more than 60 seasonal and classic cocktails each in under 30 seconds at the push of a button. And right now Bartisian is having a huge site wide sale. You can get $100 off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker bundle when you spend $400 or more. So if the cocktail lover in your life has been good this year or the right kind of bad, get them Bartesian at the push of a button. Make bar quality Cosmopolitans, Martinis, Manhattans and more all in just 30 seconds. All for a hundred off amazing toys.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Not just for kids.

[Krystal Ball]

Get 100 off a cocktail maker when you spend 400 through Cyber Monday. Visit bartesian.com cocktail that's B A R T E S I A N dot com cocktail.

[Sagar Enjeti]

At the same time, I wanted to update everyone on a UN report that has come out that has laid out in horrific detail exactly who is being killed by the IDF in Gaza Strip. We can put this up on the screen. So. So this is a graph that shows by age and also by gender who has been killed in residential buildings in Gaza since October 7th. And as this person opines, the base of this pyramid of death are babies and toddlers. So those largest bars that you see at the bottom, the single largest age group that was killed were 5 to 9 year olds. 5 to 9 year olds. If you add up all these numbers, you'll find that some 70% of those killed that you know are confirmed. And still a lot of questions about exactly how many people have been killed, but 70% of them females and children, women and children. So that's what we're talking about here in terms of the prosecution of this war. Also, let's put this next piece up on the screen because this is also significant and totally something we've predicted and has been obvious to anyone who is following. But YNET is now admitting that Netanyahu, Smotrich, Ben GVIR and the type, they do not want the hostages back. They say that the problem of the hostages will be solved naturally and tragically because they will be killed. The deaths in captivity, they write in ynet of another 20 to 30 hostages will be swallowed up in the sea of mourning for the fallen soldiers. Then, when public anger is channeled against Hamas, the Israeli leadership will not be in a hurry to withdraw from the Gaza territory that the IDF captured from the terrorist organization. Ministers and MKs on the right do not hide their ambitions to establish settlements there. And Bibi basically placed a bet that Trump would be victorious. He was correct. He fired. Now you have Gallant, who is not a good guy. He was the one who was talking about Palestinians are human animals, we need to treat them as such. But he was within the government interested in pursuing some sort of a ceasefire deal and hostage negotiation deal. He has now been axed. The quote, unquote, general's plan is in full effect where they're sealing off northern Gaza. Anyone left there, no aid, is just gonna be murdered and massacred. Strikes continue within the Gaza Strip that continue, you know, are devastating. And Bibi definitely feels now like he has a completely free hand, not that he didn't before. And by now he has a completely free hand, including to do things like just reestablished settlements in the Gaza Strip, which is something that's very important to his coalition partners. Where he may have had a fear that Biden, Harris administration might have drawn some sort of a red line there. We can be damn sure that now there will be no red line. And he'll have his friend Elise Stefanik.

[Krystal Ball]

In the UN on the whole red line thing though. Like, Biden didn't have a red line. He let him invade Lebanon, he let him take over the west bank and he let him level Gaza. So, like, you know, substantively, will there really be any difference? I think it will just be rhetoric. It's hard to say, to be honest.

[Sagar Enjeti]

I mean, I think certain things I do think are different. For example, like Miriam Adelson, who is one of Trump's top donors, one of the things she wants is to allow them to annex the west bank as well. So I think it's clear actually in that McCabe soccer video that we played, one of the soccer hooligans was running around with a Trump sign. Israelis overwhelmingly wanted Trump because they're not even going to get any tut tutting, any pressure, no, nothing whatsoever. So I do think it's somewhat different, but it's impossible to argue it at this point that it's not like Biden and Harris drew any hard red lines that they ever enforced.

[Krystal Ball]

That's kind of what I mean. Look, in practice, this is also where the farce, it's like, well, Israel has officially gonna annex the West. It's like, okay, well, they literally occupy it, they run it. It's in terms of militarily occupying, arresting and have total impunity right now. Is there any difference between that and official annexation? Not really. I mean, I guess in terms of internal administration, but I mean, I'm not seeing that much different. You know, the one thing people should hope don't forget this. So the reporting is, is that Trump has talked to Netanyahu three times already. He was elected six days ago, so no, actually really five days ago. In terms of the number of calories are three times they've been on the phone. Remember that reporting. And behind the scenes where he was like, look, you do what you gotta do, but you need to wrap this up. By that time that you're over one thing that is a thing against Netanyahu is that because Netanyahu was one of the first leaders to congratulate Biden on Biden's election, Trump never forgave him for that and still is very upset. So there is possibility of some like, look, I'm not gonna Paint some pro Palestine picture. Any of that, all the policy stuff is gonna go in Israel's direction. I could see him saying something along the lines of, listen, you've had your fun, but now it's over. Like, we cannot deal with all of these bombings and this anti aircraft defense just from a sheer like aesthetic perspective that he doesn't want to deal with it. That is. And the other thing is BB and them, if they do give them the west bank and all this other. Maybe they say with the firing of UF Galant and all this, maybe we don't expand the war. We've gotten. I mean, look, they've gotten everything they've ever wanted. They have total control of Gaza, they have total control of the west bank, and they literally are militarily occupying half the sovereign nation of Lebanon. What else could you want other than regime change in Iran? That's not going to happen. At least we can hope so.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Well, I don't know why you're so confident about that one. I mean, he put in charge of, of filling out some of his foreign policy positions. This Brian Hook's guy, who's very pro. Hook is on.

[Krystal Ball]

Hook is on the fence right now. He's not in charge per se. He's up for NSA and he's part of the transition. But there is still a fight going on.

[Sagar Enjeti]

I mean, almost uniformly throughout the Republican coalition. There's a good divide on Ukraine, on Iran. There's really not a divide. No, I think that's fair. Trump himself was out and saying, hey, they should strike Iranian nuclear facilities. And the track record of his first administration was extremely hawkish vis a vis Iran. So I think it's very light that you're going to see a hawkish foreign policy vis a vis.

[Krystal Ball]

I think you will see heavy sanctions. Look, sanctions piece, no question. All right. In terms of choking the Iranian economy. That's gonna happen. There's no doubt about it. The actual war, though, I wouldn't be so sure. So Bridge Colby, who's up for national security adviser, he was just on Tucker Carlson's show yesterday making the case against war with Iran. Why it would be a disaster. There are several, and that was one of the first sections actually that Tucker talked about with him. It's a big priority for Tucker. It's also a big Don Jr thing. Also in terms of, in terms of the coalition for how it all looks like. You're not wrong in terms of them being more hawkish, like on the nuclear deal and all that, but for actual regime change, it's More figures like Hook and others who may push that. But they're, as far as I can tell right now, a little bit more in the minority. I don't wanna overstate the case. For example, heavy sanctions on Iran could still lead to a conflagration because of the nuclear program. Who knows? The Iranians also get a vote. I don't know what they're gonna do. They could decide, just say, fuck this, I'm going nuclear. After the way that we've been treated over the last five years.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Honestly, logical thing for them to do. Well, it's controversial to say, but I mean, that's the sum total of our foreign policy makes that the logical direction for our audience.

[Krystal Ball]

And nobody wants to hear it. But look at Kim Jong Un. The best thing that they ever did was get a nuclear weapon. That was correct. Every time we tell the Kim regime, we're like, hey, you guys should give up your nukes. They're like, are you kidding me? Look at Gaddafi. They shoved a rod up his ass. It's never happening.

[Sagar Enjeti]

With regard to Russia, the reason there's been any reluctance to just go in there and crush them is because they haven't.

[Krystal Ball]

Exactly right.

[Sagar Enjeti]

So that's the foreign policy. I'm not saying it's good. I think there's, you know, I'm in favor of like, you know, getting rid of the nukes altogether. But that's the logic that we've laid out in terms of our foreign policy. So, yeah, if I was Iranian, not just them, we should have all of them.

[Krystal Ball]

Look at India, Pakistan, right? You know, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Israel. Everybody knows Israel has a nuclear weapon. I mean, these people all do it for a reason. So it is highly rational for them to pursue. I don't disagree with you. The only question is whether they can withstand the economic pressure. I'm not sure. I mean, their economy, it's a problem. And you know, obviously they've got. They've already come off of years of issues, so it's really up to them and to their own regime on how they want to decide. It's better over here. ATT customers switching to T Mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Give you a new one free.

[Krystal Ball]

All on America's largest 5G network. Visit t mobile.com carrier freedom to switch today. Pay off up to $650 via virtual prepaid MasterCard in 15 days. Free phone up to $830 via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax. Qualifying port and trade and service on go 5G next and credit required. Contact us before canceling entire account. To continue, bill credits or credit stop and balance and required finance agreement is due. Attention parents and grandparents, Are you searching for the perfect gift for your kids this holiday season? Give the gift of adventure that will last all year long. A Guardian Bike the easiest, safest and quickest bikes for kids to learn on Kids are learning to ride in just one day. No training wheels needed. What makes Guardian Bikes special? They're the easiest to ride thanks to the thoughtful engineering, lightweight frames and kid friendly components. Kids love how fun and easy they are to ride and parents appreciate the safety features like the patented braking system that prevents head over handlebar accidents. Guardian Bikes are the only kids bikes designed and assembled in the USA factory ensuring top notch quality and durability. They're built to last and make perfect hand me downs. Join the hundreds of thousands of happy families by getting a Guardian Bike today. Their holiday sales have begun offering the biggest deal of the year. Save up to 33% on bikes, no code needed plus get free shipping and a free bike lock and pump with your first purchase after signing up for their newsletter. Visit guardianbikes.com to take advantage of these deals and secure your holiday gifts today. Happy writing. Black Friday is coming and for the adults in your life who love the coolest toys, well, there's something for them this year too. Bartisian is the premier craft cocktail maker that automatically makes more than 60 seasonal and classic cocktails each in under 30 seconds at the push of a button. And right now Bartisian is having a huge site wide sale. You can get $100 off any cocktail maker or cocktail make. Make a bundle when you spend $400 or more. So if the cocktail lover in your life has been good this year or the right kind of bad, get them Bartesian at the push of a button. Make bar quality Cosmopolitans, Martinis, Manhattans and more all in just 30 seconds. All for 100 off. Amazing toys aren't just for kids. Get a hundred off a cocktail maker when you spend 400 through Cyber Monday. Visit bartesian.com cocktail that's B A R T E S I A N dot com cocktail.

[Sagar Enjeti]

All right Cy, what are you looking at?

[Krystal Ball]

Well, election night 2024 was historic for many reasons that we have covered and we will continue to cover on this show. But one of the great shocks of them all, even to someone like me who has observed and participated in those trends for the better part of a decade, is how many of you spent Election night. It used to be really not that long ago, election night was synonymous with cable news. It was one of the few monopolies that they had left. They had the data, they have the analysts, they have the poll to project and to call races. I'd say even a decade ago, they had a near total monopoly on all of it, despite the rise of social media. But within the last decade, it has almost flipped completely. And even I was shocked at the statistics that came out showing how precipitous the drop in ratings for cable news Networks on election 2024 was. Nielsen data released after the election shows that some 42 million Americans tuned in to watch election night coverage last Tuesday. That is a full 25% drop from four years prior. Internalize that 25% drop in just four years for literally the most important night in cable news history, an election where more than 100 million people voted and where more than half of them were not watching cable television. Juxtapose that with the sheer numbers that we were talking about in terms of people who are consuming new media. A new Wall Street Journal analysis finds that nearly 47% of US adults have now listened to a podcast in the last month of 2024. With hockey stick growth growing every single year since 2010, what's even more astonishing are the numbers with Americans below the age of 54. That same analysis finds that more than 50% of Americans below the age of 54 regularly consume podcasts with a slightly higher share of men than women. Compare that with the lightning growth, that lightning growth with the median age of cable TV. On MSNBC, the median age is 70. On Fox, it's 69. On CNN, it's 68. So remember that the median age, that's the median. Which means there's a group of 80 and 90 year olds who are also watching their fair share of cable tv. All of this data even tracks what we are doing here. Election night was our biggest ever livestream viewers, viewers downloads and we are just a small slice of a pie that includes dozens of independent shows out there, all of whom, at least that I've spoken to. They all had major record ratings and nights after the election. This is incredibly important for a number of reasons. One is it validates a central bet that the Trump campaign made about three months ago to go on as many podcasts as possible to reach as many people as possible, especially for young men, and hope that they drive out to vote. There was a lot of discussion around this, but on the other side of this election, we can say confidently it worked. Trump won more voters under the age of 30 than any Republican candidate since 2008. But the headline is not just that he blew Kamala Harris out with young men under the age of 30. It's also that he improved his vote margin significantly with young women. Here too, there are some very interesting explanations. It's not just podcasts that young people are consuming, but also TikTok, Instagram and short form content. Trump racked up an astonishing 14.3 million followers on TikTok versus Kamala Harris, who only had 9.3 million. And the same journal analysis finds that some 40% of Americans under the age of 30 use TikTok as a regular source of news, especially young women in basically every way. Across all platforms, Trump dominated new media. It's not an accident that it's also the same election where he won the popular vote for the first time. It is not an accident that it's the same election where he won a majority of Latino men and dramatically improved his margins with young black men. There are almost no demographic groups in the United States that did not shift towards Donald Trump. So I will end with a recommendation then to the Trump White House. The biggest mistake that you can make is to fall into the traditions of Washington. As I described in detail here in a post on Twitter, the entire White House Correspondents association is a cartel. It is designed to keep out new entrants, not just conservatives, but people like our very own Ryan Grimm. They run the credentialing process, the seating chart, and they have in place a million rules to stop new media from coming in. The Trump White House actually owes its win to new media in a way that nobody has before and to the Internet, unlike any candidate since Barack Obama. So it is vital they shake things up, do away with the current White House press briefing as we know it. Seats in the room should not, they should be rotated. Preference should be given actually to those with audience rather than the aging television networks who have preference for traditions that go back to the 1980s. Left and right wing journalists of all stripes and audience should be invited and the briefing itself should have the pace of a longer YouTube video rather than the current cable TV style food fight debate that those people turn it into. This will require a lot of work and it will piss off the traditional press royally. But all the data I have presented here makes the case that to not do so would actually be against the interests of the Trump White House, but it would also be against disservice to the American people. As traditional media is losing its relevance and its viewership, it is imperative for the People's House to actually meet Americans where they are at. And we can say confidently, they're definitely not on mainstream media, at least not anymore. I think it's crazy, Crystal.

[Sagar Enjeti]

And if you want to hear my reaction to Sagra's monologue, become a premium subscriber today at BreakingPoints.com it's better over here now.

[Krystal Ball]

@T mobile get four 5G phones on.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Us and four lines for 25 a.

[Krystal Ball]

Line per month when you switch with eligible trade ins.

[Sagar Enjeti]

All on America's largest 5G network.

[Krystal Ball]

Minimum of 4 lines for 25 per line per month with auto pay discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without autopay plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge phones via 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement due bill credits end if you pay off devices early. CT mobile.com attention parents and grandparents. Are you searching for the perfect gift for your kids this holiday season? Give the gift of adventure that will last all year long. A Guardian Bike the easiest, safest and quickest bikes for kids to learn on. Kids are learning to ride in just one day. No training wheels need needed. What sets Guardian Bikes apart? Designed especially for stability, they're low to the ground with a wide wheelbase and ultra lightweight frames. Offering superior control and balance, this design gives young riders the ability to learn in just one day without tears or frustration. Guardian Bikes are the only kids bikes designed and assembled in a USA factory, ensuring top notch quality and durability. They were also featured on Shark Tank and are the New York Times Wirecutter. Top Kids bike pick for 2024. Join the hundreds of thousands happy families by getting a Guardian Bike today. Their holiday sales have begun offering the biggest deal of the year. Save up to 33% on bikes. No code needed plus get free shipping and a free bike lock and pump with your first purchase. After signing up for their newsletter, visit guardianbikes.com to take advantage of these deals and secure your holiday gifts today. Happy riding. Black Friday is coming and for the adults in your life who love the coolest toys, well, there's something for them this year too. Bartisian is the premier craft cocktail maker that automatically makes more than 60 seasonal and classic cocktails each in under 30 seconds at the push of a button. And right now Bartisian is having a huge site wide sale. You can get $100 off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker bundle when you spend $400 or more. So if the cocktail lover in your life has been good this year or the right kind of bath, get them Bartesian at the push of a button. Make bar quality cosmopolitans, martinis, Manhattans and more all in just 30 seconds. All for a hundred off. Amazing toys aren't just for kids. Get 100 off a cocktail maker when you spend 400 through Cyber Monday. Visit bartesian.com cocktail that's B A R T E S I A N dot com cocktail.

[Sagar Enjeti]

In the wake of Donald Trump's sweeping battleground state victory, the Pod Save America Bros. Made a pretty stunning revelation for Democrats. Actually, it could have been so much worse. Here is Jon Favreau. Joe Biden's decision to run for president again was a catastrophic mistake. It just was. And he and his inner circle, they refused to believe the polls. They refused to believe he was unpopular. They refused to acknowledge until very late that anyone could be upset about inflation. And they just kept telling us that.

[Krystal Ball]

His presidency was historic and it was.

[Sagar Enjeti]

The greatest economy ever. We just heard him again say that it's the greatest economy ever. Clearly 70, 80% of voters don't believe that.

[Krystal Ball]

They don't believe that about their own.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Personal financial situation, but they just keep telling us that. And then after the debate, the Biden.

[Krystal Ball]

People told us that the polls were.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Fine and Biden was still the strongest candidate. They were privately telling reporters at the time that Kamala Harris couldn't win.

[Krystal Ball]

So they were shiving Kamala Harris to.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Reporters while they told everyone else, not a time for an open process and his vice president can't win, so he's the strongest candidate. Then we find out when the Biden campaign becomes the Harris campaign, that the Biden campaign's own internal polling at the time when they were telling us he was the strongest candidate showed that Donald Trump was going to win 400 electoral votes.

[Krystal Ball]

That's what their own internal polling said.

[Sagar Enjeti]

400 electoral college votes. Do you understand what that looks like? With the actual results, Dems took a real shellacking, losing the Senate, almost certainly failing to win back the House. But they kept it close enough that they probably lived to fight another day. A Joe Biden 400 electoral college vote defeat means Republicans at or close to a filibuster proof supermajority in the Senate, a gigantic margin in the House. It means the Democratic Party completely burned to ashes with nothing but a post apocalyptic landscape roaming the mandate. And the power of Trump's Republican Party would be unmatched. Not even close in modern politics. After all, Reagan still had to contend with the Democratic House even as he notched landslide Electoral college victories. The 400 electoral college vote revelation is important though for a number of reasons. First of all, obviously an indictment of Joe Biden himself, whose legacy is now genocide, plus ushering an unrestrained Trump back into the White House. The arrogance and delusion of this man is truly stunning. It's also clearly an absolute indictment of every single party official and elite who circled the wagons to keep Joe Biden in the race and to prohibit any sort of real Democratic primary. You people claimed you thought Trump was an existential threat. You sure as shit didn't act like it did you. Instead you marched delusionally forward claiming the president in a clear state of advance decline was really a secret political genius. But this alternative timeline 400 electoral college vote defeat is also a potential forecast of what could come should the Democratic Party not make a dramatic turn now. Because as bad as this election was, Democrats haven't even come close to hitting rock bottom. Dem saw dramatic shifts against them among Latino men and Gen Z young men in particular. The class divide was quite stark. Harris won voters earning over 100k and Trump won those earning under 100. Kamala lost ground among voters of color of all education levels. And what's more, there is absolutely no reason to think that any of these shifts and realignments are complete or that Democrats have found their actual floor. It is entirely possible that the 400 electoral college defeat is where the presently constituted Democrats are headed, and fast. Just think about it pretty simply. Roughly speaking, only about a third of the adult population has college degrees. Massachusetts actually has the highest percent of college grads in the country, and even there, college graduates do not comprise a majority of the adult population. This leads to a pretty simple conclusion. If non college educated voters continue fleeing the Democratic Party, that party is cooked, relegated to a powerless permanent minority party status. There is nothing written in law or nature that requires the country to be an evenly divided roughly 50 50. In our own country's history we can see periods of disproportionate one party dominance. And no one should fool themselves either about the measures fully empowered Republicans with a stacked Supreme Court would take to ensure that the Democratic Party could never meaningfully fully compete again. Trump just won on a genuinely anti Democratic message. After all, he literally called for abolishing the Constitution, acting as a dictator on day one. Supreme Court has granted him immunity for all official actions and Republicans have a clear roadmap to follow in the program of Hungary's Viktor Orban, where he has used the veneer of democracy to successfully permanently entrench his own regime. Before a stunning landslide victory, Orban described how to effectively gain permanent control of a so called democracy, saying, quote, it was enough to win just once, but decisively. That was the way. Now Republicans may be one more cycle with this level of realignment away from winning just such a crushing victory. Now, as the initial shock of Kamala's loss wears off, don't be surprised if the Democratic consultant establishment donor classes begin to quickly reassert themselves and claim there's no real need for a course correction, let alone a dramatic overhaul. It's already happening. In fact, that's what the Bernie vs Pelosi fight we covered earlier is all about. Just listen to Jim Clyburn, the man most responsible for propping up Biden and putting Kamala on the ticket, saying there's no point in playing the blame game.

[Krystal Ball]

Right, guys, I just think that as we take an assessment of all of this, we ought to just chill out for a while, get in touch with each other. Don't worry about blaming anybody. You know what they say, success has a thousand parents, failure is an offering. And so when you really successful, everybody claims credit. When you come up short, everybody seems to scatter and assign blame. I think that all of us will be taking stock of exactly where we are as a party, what happened in this election, and then go from there. I don't want this election to define how we go about treating candidates of color or candidates who may be women. I think we all just take the stock of who and what we are and not get caught up in pointing fingers and assigning blame.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Yes, I'm quite sure that Jim Clyburn does not want finger pointing because a good number of those fingers would be pointed right at him. Absolutely incredible. You're gonna hear a lot of it, though. You're gonna hear it wasn't really so bad. Look at the three battleground states. Trump only won by a narrow margin and almost all of the swing state Democrats kept their seats. These types will point to the losses suffered by incumbent parties globally. And they'll say, see, we just were facing really tough headwinds, guys. Wasn't really our fault. They'll offer some limited critiques of some small ball tactics. Hey, Kamala should have gone on with Joe Rogan. They'll invent things completely like claiming Kamala was too woke when she spent the entire campaign studiously avoiding wokeness. Or they'll blame a singular individual like Biden or Pelosi or Kamala herself. Not depending on merit, but depending on their own intra party tribal affiliations. Now, in a sense these critiques have merit. It was close in the industrial Midwest after all. I think it is plausible to imagine maybe a Gavin Newsom, maybe maybe Mayor Pete or even Big Gretsch could have pulled off the election victory. The exact place where Dems find themselves today is still in the ballgame enough that it is conceivable some small adjustment could have been sufficient to win this particular election. The current status of the Democratic Party isn't a complete catastrophe. But make no mistake, the long term trajectory is death. If the trends that the party saw between 2016 and now continue unmitigated, it will be utterly catastrophic in a way that is probably unrecoverable now. After Hillary loss in 2016, Democrats had a chance to actually learn some real lessons about their abandonment of working people, to see the writing on the wall about their future electoral prospects. Instead they chose denial. It was sexism, it was culminated. It was Russia. Hillary herself self interested in blame shifting of course led the charge. Biden's extremely narrow victory was taken as vindication. But once again the alarm bells were ringing. The continued shift of Latinos towards Trump, the widening of the education divide, the fact that Biden was barely able to win while Trump was literally getting people killed in the middle of a pandemic. It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement for the Democratic Party. Do not underestimate that party's desire and self interest in once again learning nothing and changing nothing. Just think about it. Conla's campaign was a multibillion dollar. Industry consultants received multimillion dollar contracts. The checks cash. Whether those ads worked or not. The dnc, it's a cartel, protects its chosen consultants and allied politicians. CNN and MSNBC exist to carry the establishment party line. It's a racist and it won't be disrupted by a few establishment types meekly whispering. You know what guys? Maybe Bernie was right. So for anyone who is left of maga, from my libs and my lefties alike, we gotta be crystal clear about a few critical things. Number one, third parties are a waste of frickin time and energy. I'm sorry, I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. Ranked choice voting just got beaten even more badly than the Democratic party and state referendums. I wish it wasn't true. The most credible third party candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, she got less than 1% of the vote. It wasn't even enough votes for Demps to try to blame her and call her a spoiler the only electoral vehicle for opposing Trumpism is the Democratic Party. Number two, the Democratic Party itself is in danger of extinction as meaningful opposition. Everyone who's been steering the ship over the past eight years, they should all be fired. Every brain dead consultant, contract terminated. And crucially, crucially, the working class must be put ahead of the party's donors. Senator Chris Murphy, to my surprise, actually got a lot right in a recent tweet thread where he wrote, in part, when progressives like Bernie aggressively go after the elites that hold people down, they are shunned as dangerous populists. Why? Maybe because true economic populism is bad for our high income base. Yes. Yeah, you think. Now look, Trump is done in four years time. His successors don't have nearly the juice that he does, as evidenced by the fact that he outperformed nearly every Republican in the country. Democrats may have kept the margins close enough in the House and the Senate to stay in the game for now, but it is time for a dramatic Turnaround. Or that 400 electoral college wipeout that Joe Biden was heading for could be just around the next four year quarter. So yeah, yeah, it's pretty dire for them and I'm not sure that and.

[Krystal Ball]

If you want to hear my reaction to Crystal's monologue, become a Premium subscriber today at BreakingPoints.com thank you guys so much for watching. We appreciate you obviously as you got a big policy show today. Loved it. It was a lot of fun to talk about and we'll continue to have that going. So breakingpoints.com otherwise we'll see you all tomorrow. Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime. Play anywhere. Play on the train. Play at the store. Play at home.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Play when you're bored.

[Krystal Ball]

Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in.

[Sagar Enjeti]

So what are you waiting for?

[Krystal Ball]

Don't delay. Chumba Casino is free to play. Experience social gameplay like never before. Go to Chumba Casino right now to play hundreds of games, including online slots, bingo, Slingo and more. Live the chumba [e-mail] VGW Group no.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Purchase necessary Void work prohibited by law.

[Krystal Ball]

See terms and conditions 18 + this.

[Sagar Enjeti]

Holiday season, surprise everyone on your list with the best gifts tickets to see their favorite artists live. Choose from thousands of concerts and comedy shows, including Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Matt Matthews, Metallica, Thomas Rhett, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Sarah Silverman and so many more. Share a memory together or give a gift they'll never forget. Find the most exciting gift for every [e-mail] gift that's livenation.com gifts.

[Krystal Ball]

Odoo is business management made so simple a kid could explain it. Sometimes business software can't talk to other programs.

[Sagar Enjeti]

But Odoo, funny word, has every program.

[Krystal Ball]

From CRM to HR to accounting in one platform.

[Sagar Enjeti]

It should cost a lot, but it doesn't.

[Krystal Ball]

So you should use Odoo because they save you money. Odoo makes a lot of sense, but doesn't cost a lot of sense. Sign up [e-mail] that's o d o o dot com. Good job. Thanks.