Wajahat Ali of The Left Hook is sitting in for Dean Blundell, who’s away. Before the countdown, Zev and Waj tore into Donald Trump’s escalating holy war with Pope Leo — the blasphemous AI image of Trump as a healing Christ-figure, his tarmac slam calling the first American Pope “a very liberal person” who “likes crime,” and his press conference insistence that the image was just “me as a doctor.” As Waj put it, “this man is the most blasphemous, hedonistic vulgarian we’ve seen in a long time.” The broader picture: allies are walking away. Chrystia Freeland told MSNBC that America is “behaving in ways that are very hard for us to understand.” Canadian tourism to the U.S. is down 35%. Denmark is hardening around Greenland. NATO refused to help force open the Strait of Hormuz. “If this mother-effer did nothing except play golf for the past year and a half,” Waj said, “America would be better off.”

5️⃣ Swalwell’s Campaign Collapses in 48 Hours

California Congressman Eric Swalwell, 45, was the frontrunner to replace Gavin Newsom until Friday, when the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN published sexual misconduct allegations from four women, including a former staffer. By Sunday night his campaign was suspended. “Even milk from Saturday is more fresh than Eric Swalwell,” Waj said. “If someone suspends their campaign, that means there’s a there there.” The bigger question is whether he stays in Congress. Zev noted the obvious hypocrisy: “It’s very difficult to explain how you can keep him in office when you’re also asking for complete transparency on Epstein. Those two things can’t coexist.” Waj connected it to the larger pattern — Weinstein, Diddy, the Epstein class, Madison Cawthorn getting axed the moment he mentioned Republican orgies. “You scratch my back, I scratch your back, you hide my scandal, I’ll hide your scandal.” The demand: a culling.

4️⃣ Bondi Refuses Epstein Subpoena in Open Cover-Up

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi was subpoenaed to testify tomorrow before the House Oversight Committee on the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files. She won’t show. The DOJ says she doesn’t have to because she’s a private citizen now — a dodge Zev called “absolute ridiculous.” Former presidents testify. Former First Ladies testify. Former Secretaries of State testify. “Now we’re saying a former Attorney General somehow doesn’t have to, if they’re involved in the crime that is the cover-up?” Waj called it bigger than Watergate: “This Epstein cover-up is the biggest political cover-up I’ve seen because it spans years, multiple players, foreign countries, banks, so many powerful people. And the person mentioned the most in the Epstein files is Donald Trump.” Zev and Waj also dug into Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez reporting on Zorro Ranch, and circled back to Melania’s unprompted six-minute podium denial — the Barbra Streisand effect in real time.

3️⃣ Orban Falls in Historic Hungarian Landslide

Sunday in Budapest, 16-year authoritarian Viktor Orban — Steve Bannon’s original “Trump before Trump” — was voted out in the biggest democratic rebuke of the global far-right in years. Peter Magyar’s center-right Tisza party took 138 of 199 parliamentary seats, a constitutional-majority wipeout. JD Vance was sent to rally for Orban. Netanyahu’s son was sent. Russia meddled. None of it worked. “Fascism, Orban, Netanyahu, MAGA, Trump, and strongmen are not inevitable,” Waj said. The winning message wasn’t identity politics — it was anti-oligarchy, anti-corruption, anti-brogarchy. Zev flagged the precursor signal for November: Magyar came out of nowhere in two years, and American voters are sick of the same thing. “The Epstein story is the Rosetta Stone that shows people it’s a big international cabal of powerful wealthy men raping girls and getting richer.”

2️⃣ Turkey Charges Netanyahu With Genocide — 4,596 Years

Istanbul prosecutors formally charged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 34 senior Israeli officials with genocide and crimes against humanity over the October 2025 interception of the Sumud Gaza aid flotilla — the one carrying Greta Thunberg. The indictment could carry 4,596 years in prison. Waj pointed out what mainstream coverage missed: the week before Israel’s illegal war with Trump kicked off, former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett openly said “Erdogan’s next,” and Ben-Gvir doubled down. “So Erdogan’s like, all right, mother-effers, this is my retort.” The Turkish military is not a paper threat — effective in Libya, effective in Syria. “You don’t want to mess around with Turkey, folks.”

1️⃣ U.S. Navy Blockades Iran as Allies Refuse to Join

At 10 a.m. Eastern this morning, the U.S. Navy began enforcing a full maritime blockade of all Iranian ports at the Strait of Hormuz — one of the most consequential military actions in the Middle East in decades. The trigger: failed peace talks in Istanbul, handled again by JD Vance. Iran called the bluff. NATO refused to join. The allies said no. “If the world’s most powerful superpower cannot force Iran to open up the Strait through threats of force, that makes us look weak,” Waj said. “If Iran is not flinching to our threats, that makes us look weak. And the fact that our allies are not coming to our aid — it makes us look weak and unreliable.” Enter China. Zev’s closing read: Netanyahu needs a forever war to stay out of jail, Trump needs a forever distraction to stay out of the Epstein files, and the world is quietly choosing a different superpower to align with.

A Jewish journalist and a Pakistani-American Muslim lawyer, teaming up against fascism, corruption, and rapists — on a Monday afternoon in April 2026.

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