The Democratic Party Has Fallen

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Democratic Party Has Fallen" Free Thinking Through the Fourth Turning with Sasha Stone Release Date: June 30, 2025

---

Introduction

In the episode titled "The Democratic Party Has Fallen," host Sasha Stone delves into the decline of the Democratic Party, attributing its downfall to a prolonged focus on combating former President Donald Trump. Drawing from his Substack essays, Stone provides a critical analysis of the party's strategies, internal dynamics, and the shifting political landscape.

The Downfall of the Democratic Party

Timestamp: [00:00]

Sasha Stone opens the discussion by asserting that the Democratic Party has effectively "fallen" after a decade-long war against Donald Trump. He argues that the party's obsession with opposing Trump led to its neglect of offering substantial policies to voters. Stone states:

"They bet it all on a 10-year war on Trump and lost everything. Maybe they realize it, probably they don't. But it makes no difference. The truth is, it was already dead."
— Sasha Stone [00:00]

The Rise of Zoran Mamdani

Timestamp: [01:26]

Introducing Zoran Mamdani—a fictional Democratic socialist—Stone portrays him as a symbol of the party's misguided direction. Mamdani is depicted as charismatic and appealing to Gen Z, yet lacking genuine policies. Through a satirical dialogue, Mamdani's stance highlights the perceived shortcomings of Democratic leadership.

"I am Donald Trump's worst nightmare as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in."
— Zoran Mamdani [01:26]

Stone critiques Mamdani's socialist ideology, suggesting it alienates moderate voters and reinforces negative stereotypes propagated by conservative media.

"He feels like an Ayn Rand strawman... Socialism is completely immoral."
— Zoran Mamdani [05:35]

Student Loan Debt and Economic Shifts

Timestamp: [06:53]

Stone addresses the burgeoning student loan crisis, emphasizing its impact on young voters stationed in urban centers. He presents statistics on the ballooning student debt and its role in fueling political disillusionment.

"In the last 20 years, the student loan debt has ballooned from $500 billion to $2 trillion."
— Zoran Mamdani [06:53]

Stone suggests that this economic strain has driven young voters towards radical solutions, represented by figures like Mamdani, who promise extensive government intervention and redistribution.

Media Bias and the Trump Administration

Timestamp: [10:30]

The conversation shifts to media portrayal, where Stone accuses mainstream outlets of perpetuating anti-Trump narratives. He highlights specific instances where media bias, particularly from CNN's Natasha Bertrand, undermines presidential actions.

"They always had to go one way. It always had to be about Trump."
— Zoran Mamdani [33:11]

Stone argues that biased reporting fosters distrust in traditional media, driving audiences to alternative platforms that align with their political views.

Supreme Court Rulings on Education

Timestamp: [26:30]

A significant portion of the episode focuses on recent Supreme Court decisions affecting school curricula, particularly regarding LGBTQ topics. Stone portrays these rulings as victories for parental control and critiques the left's push for ideological education in schools.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized it and has now just issued a powerful ruling arming parents state to state, coast to coast with the tools they need to shut it down when it comes to their child."
— Zoran Mamdani [28:34]

Through this lens, Stone underscores a cultural battle, positioning the Democratic Party as out of touch with parental and conservative values.

The Continuing Resistance and Future Projections

Timestamp: [30:46]

Stone reflects on historical Democratic missteps and likens the current situation to past electoral defeats caused by internal party conflicts. He warns that without recalibrating their approach, the party risks further decline.

"The Democrats should have realized it sooner. They were only watching Trump and it's cost them everything, even their own survival."
— Sasha Stone [30:46]

Conclusion

In wrapping up, Stone reinforces the notion that the Democratic Party's downfall is a culmination of internal mismanagement and external pressures. He calls for a reassessment of strategies and a return to policies that resonate with a broader electorate, rather than an exclusive focus on partisan battles.

"They should have listened to David Hogg, who was a harbinger of things to come... The Democrats will realize all too late what they helped build."
— Sasha Stone [43:08]

Notable Quotes

• Sasha Stone [00:00]: "They bet it all on a 10-year war on Trump and lost everything."
• Zoran Mamdani [05:35]: "Socialism is completely immoral. There's nothing moral about socialism."
• Zoran Mamdani [06:53]: "In the last 20 years, the student loan debt has ballooned from $500 billion to $2 trillion."
• Zoran Mamdani [28:34]: "The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized it and has now just issued a powerful ruling arming parents... with the tools they need to shut it down."
• Sasha Stone [30:46]: "They were only watching Trump and it's cost them everything, even their own survival."

Insights and Analysis

• Policy vs. Politics: The Democratic Party's intense focus on opposing Trump diverted attention from developing viable policies, leading to voter disengagement.
• Generational Shifts: Economic burdens like student debt are reshaping political allegiances among younger voters, pushing them towards more radical candidates.
• Media Influence: Perceived media bias against Trump is eroding trust in traditional news outlets, compelling audiences to seek alternative sources.
• Cultural Battles: Supreme Court decisions on education reflect deeper cultural conflicts, with implications for party alignment and voter sentiments.
• Historical Parallels: The current Democratic struggle mirrors past electoral challenges where internal divisions and external opposition led to significant losses.

Conclusions

Sasha Stone presents a compelling argument that the Democratic Party's downfall is not merely due to external opposition but also results from strategic missteps and a failure to address the electorate's substantive concerns. By highlighting the rise of figures like Zoran Mamdani and critiquing media narratives, Stone emphasizes the need for the party to realign its priorities to regain relevance and voter trust.

For more insights and detailed analyses, visit sashastone.substack.com.

Transcript

[Sacha Stone]

Hi, this is Free Thinking through the fourth turning. My name is Sacha Stone. The Democratic Party has fallen. They bet it all on a 10 year war on Trump and lost everything. For podcast listeners, the COVID of New York magazine surprised Zoran Mamdani's historic primary upset has the city swooning, spinning and reeling. Zora and Mamdani's primary win marks the end of the Democratic Party as we once knew it. Maybe they realize it, probably they don't. But it makes no difference. The truth is, it was already dead. They spent 10 years going to war on Trump while also using him to scare their voters to the polls with their endless crisis. Without a combative media to keep them in line, they didn't have to offer the people much of anything because they knew they would vote blue no matter who, as long as Trump was on the other side. Mamdani did the unthinkable. He ran as an unapologetic Democratic socialist. He seemed to arrive almost magically to sell Gen Z the dream. A showbiz Nepo baby and former rapper. He was a whole lot of charisma waiting for his ticket to ride. Has the Democratic Party found its new leader?

[Zoran Mamdani]

I am Donald Trump's worst nightmare as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in. You're worried that somebody that like this communist from New York someday gets elected. That's a terrible thing for our country.

[Sacha Stone]

By the way, he's a communist. President Trump just waited and called you a communist lunatic. What do you say to that?

[Zoran Mamdani]

This is not the first time that President Trump is going to comment on myself. I will work with the Trump administration when it is to the benefit of New Yorkers. My approach will never be reflexive, whether in agreement or opposition. But if it comes at the expense of the New Yorkers that I'm running to serve, then no, I will not be working with the administration on harming the people that I look to represent. There are no kings in America, whether that's Donald Trump, Andrew Cuomo, or the Republican billionaires who fund both of their campaigns. The difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in D.C. city is under attack by an authoritarian Trump administration. And it is under attack that is now being echoed by Trump's allies right here in New York City. And I say that as someone who would be the first immigrant mayor of the city in generations. We deserve to have a mayor who is not funded by the same billionaires that put Donald Trump in D.C. we deserve to have a mayor who will actually fight back. You are a self described democratic socialist. Do you think that billionaires have a right to exist? I don't think that we should have billionaires because frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality. And ultimately what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country. And I look forward to work with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fairer for all of them. Well, let me ask you about what.

[Sacha Stone]

Donald Trump, the President of the United.

[Zoran Mamdani]

States, has had to say. He's had a lot to say about your campaign. He called you a communist because he's the President. I want to give you a chance to respond directly to him.

[Sacha Stone]

How do you respond?

[Zoran Mamdani]

Are you a communist? No, I am not. And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the President will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for. And I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed. And when we talk about my politics, you know, I call myself a democratic socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago who said, call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country. And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City. And ultimately what we need is a city where every single person can thrive.

[Sacha Stone]

There is still a question as to whether Mamdani can indeed pull out a win in the general election. Voters might turn out in droves to stop him, but maybe, just maybe, they won't. Perhaps they'll overlook high crime, gender affirming care, and the border crisis to explore what state run grocery stores might look like. Zoran Momdami is not a real person.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Zoran Momdami feels like he was written by J.K. rowling. Zoran Momdami feels like he was written by Ayn Rand.

[Sacha Stone]

He feels like an Ayn Rand strawman.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Character meant to demonstrate the evils of socialism to boomers.

[Sacha Stone]

He is the archetypal, overachieving, perceivably foreign.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Social striver who became American all of seven years ago. And he ascends to political power by utilizing identitarianism and the promises of redistribution. Mrs. Rand, is that you yet? The promises of redistribution, which again, feels like an incredible strawman to say out loud. But he's doing the thing. He's doing the hecking thing. And in a very real, very populist, very Trumpian kind of way, he goes around to disaffected communities, migrant communities, second generation communities, and says, hey, if you grant me political power, I will take.

[Sacha Stone]

Things from people who did not vote.

[Zoran Mamdani]

For me and I will redistribute them to you. And on that basis, on that foundation of racialized resource redistribution, I will maintain political power in perpetuity. Was Fox News right the entire time? Were Boomers right the entire time? Socialism is completely immoral. There's nothing moral about socialism. Okay, let me break down socialism for you so you can understand what it.

[Sacha Stone]

Is in a nutshell, okay?

[Zoran Mamdani]

It is basically taking money away from somebody else who works hard for it and giving it to somebody who doesn't want to work for it. That's what socialism is in a nutshell, okay? They'll try to paint it out to be other sexy things, but that's not what it is, okay? It's exactly what I just explained to you, okay? People who work hard, pay taxes will have their money taken away and it will be sent to the people who don't want to work hard and don't want to pay taxes or don't want to contribute to society, okay? And it will enable those people, okay? It will empower those people. It will make them wanna not work even more. It's not gonna motivate them, okay? If I was to come to you right now and say, hey, man, I'm gonna give you a car, I'm gonna give you a place to live, and I'm gonna give you food to eat, would you be motivated by that?

[Sacha Stone]

It's not really his policies that brought him to victory so much as his revolutionary spirit. He's like the living embodiment of the summer of 2020. He wants to tear it all down, too. And it's the demographic he appeals to that might herald a real revolution, considering it's the same demographic that backed Obama in 2008. Upper middle class, white college kids. Here's David Friedberg from the all in podcast.

[Zoran Mamdani]

For me, it feels like actually a little bit of a beginning of a wave that's gonna continue to sweep over this country, starting in cities. And I think that we're at the very early stages. I think we'll look back, and I jokingly say that Kamala Harris is gonna look like a conservative candidate pretty soon. And I do think that this is a broad kind of reaction to the economic condition of the United States. And I've talked a lot of people, don't quite recognize and see how important the debt and the deficit is with respect to how it's ultimately going to lead to socialism, as it has every single time in history when you've had a free voting democracy, a representative democracy that becomes encumbered with too much debt. So, Nick, if you'll pull up this chart, I'll just show you a microcosm of it and specifically how it played out in New York and how it will continue to play out in cities. This is the total amount of student loan debt. In the last 20 years, the student loan debt has ballooned from 500 billion to 2 trillion. 4 million college graduates per year in the United States, about 40% of them have student loan debt that they leave. That means that in the last 20 years, 80 million people, young people, have graduated from college and they've accrued $1.5 trillion of new debt. And based on the percentage and the distribution, that means the average debt for these individuals is sitting around $60,000. So you're a young person. Where do those young people go? Where do they live? And remember, there's about 32 million of them. They live in cities. They don't go back to rural towns. Most of that population sits in cities. It sits in New York, sits in Los Angeles, sits in Seattle, sits in San Francisco, sits in Portland, and sits in Chicago. And what we're seeing in those cities is a massive political shift. People call it left, but it's actually quite different than just being more traditionally left. It's really a revolution against the system that brought them to this moment. Because the promise that we gave in America, the American dream, was if you will go to college, you will graduate, you will have income, you will have stability, you will be able to buy a home. And what we did is we increased the government's role in making that dream possible. And in doing so, we created effectively a system where we gave unrestricted access to capital, which inflated the cost of education. People could go to school like Zoran and major in African studies at Bowdoin College. They could get a loan and graduate with 200,000, $300,000 of debt and then never get a job. The guy has not had a real job. And this is the truth for 32 million young Americans. They find themselves living in places where they cannot afford to pay their bills every month. And they will never get out of the debt cycle that they were thrust into and believe that they were going to be able to graduate from and excel in the world and increase. They all have what is called negative capital. They have debt and they will never be able to get out of that cycle. So where do you turn in that moment? You don't go turn to corporations to solve your problems. You don't go turn to your friends and your siblings and your family. They're not going to bail you out. You turn to the voting booth and you hear a guy like Zoran show up and say, there can be a better path forward. The better path forward is the government can and should do more to help. And in doing more to help, we will increase government. We will tax the rich, we will tax the corporations. We will take all of that capital and we will redistribute it in the form of services and checks and support for all of the people that find themselves unable to take care of themselves. And this becomes a tipping point when the majority of the voter base ends up in that situation where they're that deeply in need, where they have negative capital. And that is the situation America finds itself in today.

[Sacha Stone]

Like Obama, Mamdani is cut from the same cloth. He hung out with them. He went to college with them. He was indoctrinated alongside them. He speaks their language. He knows their world. They'll follow him anywhere. Note the viral songs already hitting TikTok where young women shake that groove thing as they chant his name.

[Zoran Mamdani]

The name is Mamdani. M A M D A N I. The name is Mom Dani. M A M T A N I should learn how to say Mr. Cuomo. I have never had to resign in disgrace. I have never cut Medicaid. I have never stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from the FTA. I have never hounded the 13 women who credibly accused me of sexual harassment. I have never sued for their gynecological records. And I have never done those things because I am not you, Mr. Kuma. And furthermore, the name is Mami. M A M C E N I. You should learn how to say it because.

[Sacha Stone]

Mamdani obviously isn't Charles Manson, but he is alluring in the same way to the same type of demographic. Mamdani tapped into Indoctrination Nation, the evergreen generation that believes America is a corrupt white supremacist empire crippled by capitalism. But could you please hand me my iPhone so I can make a TikTok for podcast listeners. A tweet by Evan Barker. White educated progressives want to be punished for their sins of being white. That's why Zoron says absurd things like this. He's playing straight to his base. But this kind of ugliness doesn't work in the middle of the country, especially with working class and poor white people. It will just make them vote for Republicans. For podcast listeners, a cover of the New York Post the Price is White. Mamdani says white neighborhoods should pay higher property taxes. This generation came of age and convenience culture that gave them everything they wanted when they wanted it. Uber, Netflix, abortion, DoorDash, Tinder, TikTok, iPhones, Google and ChatGPT. Why can't they have Democratic socialism if they want it? Because they don't really know what it means and they don't care. They are a generation ready for the big moves. No more playing it safe. The Democrats should have listened to David Hogg, who was a harbinger of things to come. The Death Rattle After Mamdani's win, it was all quiet on the leftern front. Bill Clinton was the first to weigh in. It was like cautiously approaching a coiled rattlesnake. Don't make any sudden moves, podcast listeners. A tweet by Bill Clinton Congratulations Orhan, on your victory in yesterday's primary election and a well run campaign. I'm wishing you much success in November and beyond as you work to bring New Yorkers together to tackle the city's challenges and shape a stronger, fairer future. But the Democrats, old enough to know the history, must be in a panic. They know why Hillary had to crush the Bernie movement like a bug. They know how bad it got, so bad that Sarah Silverman and Al Franken had to try to calm down Bernie mania as the crowd chanted War Hawk at Hillary.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Gee, that was. That was pretty good, Sarah. Hillary. Unity.

[Sacha Stone]

Unity.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Hillary the Bernie. Can I just say to the Bernier bust people, you're being ridiculous.

[Sacha Stone]

The party elders recall the bad old days when they were undone by the Eugene McCarthy faction of the party because they were perceived as too extreme for the silent majority. They remember the catastrophic loss of George McGovern. For podcast listeners, a picture of the electoral map with Republicans winning every state except Massachusetts. They recall Jimmy Carter's malaise and how Uncle Teddy primaried him ushering in 12 years of Reagan Bush. They remember the dark days of the milquetoast normies who couldn't inspire crowds like Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis and John Kerry. Playing it safe worked until it didn't. Now they'll have to play it bold with an army at the ready. The same army they funded and praised all through the summer of 2020, with the autonomous zones torching businesses all to Soak chaos to do the bidding of the Democrats just to take Trump out of power. This army had no choice but to absorb what a weaponized, biased press corps told them every day of their lives. When they called Trump a fascist, when they called him Hitler. The hysteria kept mounting, and purging bad people wasn't enough. This army is ready for a different war, a bigger war, a war against Israel, against ice, against Trump. Capitalism, free enterprise, the gender binary, the cost of rent, mortgages, fossil fuel, and now the Democratic Party. The legacy media have been covering up their violent riots, outbursts and protests for a long time. So much so that most people on the left don't even know about it. Even in the summer of 2020, they didn't turn it into a significant news story. Why? Because it always had to go one way. It always had to be about Trump. The media will never take responsibility for what they've done, how they've lied for so long, and what that did to the minds of the young who spent the last 10 years believing a fascist dictator had overtaken America. This army that torched Teslas and set cars on fire in Los Angeles has been hiding in plain sight. But the rest of the country is about to get a much closer look. Just wait until this summer, because that army now has a real leader in Mamdani. Call him Daddy. As Operation Midnight Hammer brought the might of the American military down on Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump was carefully, steadily coming in for a landing. As the passengers screamed and howled. Imagining the absolute worst, Trump did what he always does. He hit the bullseye.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Bullseye. Holy shit.

[Sacha Stone]

Damn. Some were calling for his impeachment. Others regretted their vote, called him a war criminal. There was talk of regime change in Iran and a MAGA civil war was pure chaos. But then the plane touched down and everyone burst into applause. After a few setbacks, a ceasefire was established. Even the leaders of NATO were impressed. How could you not be? Thank you.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Deborah Haynes from Sky News.

[Sacha Stone]

Hi. Hello. The language that you have used when.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Talking to Donald Trump has been notable because of its flattery. Today you called him Daddy and you sent a text message to him that.

[Sacha Stone]

Was gushing with praise.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Is this the way that you feel you have to act when doing business with the US President?

[Sacha Stone]

Through flattery and praise?

[Zoran Mamdani]

Isn't it a bit demeaning? And doesn't it make you look weak? No, I don't think so. I think it's a bit of a question of taste, but I think he's a good friend. And when he is doing stuff which.

[Sacha Stone]

Is forcing us to, for example, when.

[Zoran Mamdani]

It comes to making more investments, I mean, would you ever think that this.

[Sacha Stone]

Would be the result of this summit.

[Zoran Mamdani]

If he would not have been re elected president? Do you really think that seven or eight countries who said yes, somewhere in the2030s we might meet the 2%, we've now all decided in the last four or five months to get to 2%. So doesn't he deserve some grace? And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability, I think he deserves all the praise.

[Sacha Stone]

As he racked up win after win after win, Trump was having the two best weeks of either of his presidencies.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Mr. President, you were just coming off one of the most consequential weeks anybody has ever seen. From striking Iran, to going to NATO, to announcing two deals and then this Supreme Court victory. Have you been able to digest what has occurred in the last seven days? Not really. It was pretty wild period of time. And I really think in six months we've taken the country and turned it around. I was told by the king of Saudi Arabia, by the leader of Qatar and The leader of UAE, when we went over there, we brought back $5.1 trillion investment into the United States. They said, you know, you're presiding now over the hottest country in the world. And a year ago we thought your country was dead.

[Sacha Stone]

It could never come back. It was so incompetently run by a very bad president.

[Zoran Mamdani]

And I said, you're right, this country is hot. And that was a couple of months ago. Now we're talking about what we've done recently. So the country is really going, the numbers are great.

[Sacha Stone]

Here is Chamath from the all in podcast.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Can I up level this slightly? I think that this has been probably the most important week, and I would almost say most important few months in US politics in 30 or 40 years. And the reason is that it starts to converge a bunch of things together that I think are really worth putting on the table. So from my perspective, I think what President Trump has done is almost single handedly bring back the United States as the global superpower. And I would put that in all caps. So what does it mean to be a superpower? I've said this several times, but just to be slightly redundant, in order to be a superpower, I think you need to have three things, but they work in a hierarchy. The first is that you need to have technical supremacy. And then from that technological supremacy, you need to establish and project economic supremacy and military supremacy. So if you look at the first one, you saw a tactical demonstration of technological supremacy with the B2 bombers. But taking a more general step back, if you look at the largest companies in the world, who are the ones that are actually driving the world forward, these are all American companies. I think these last few months you've seen America firing on all cylinders, technologically, economically. At the same time, you now have the stock market back at all time highs. You have interest rates incredibly starting to compress even in the absence of the Federal Reserve willing to act on data. So you're projecting economic supremacy. And then these last few weeks, frankly have been a pretty clear cut case of military supremacy. And so I think what's pretty simple now is like the US is essentially telling the world our words carry weight again. We're going to shape the global order. Countries will now have to calibrate their actions around what the US is willing to tolerate and what it isn't willing to tolerate. And in the case of Iran, the President made those lines, I think really crystal clear. He warned them 100 times where the line was and he was clear, you cannot build nuclear weapons. And when the line was crossed, and look, I think the CNNs of the world want to debate that the line wasn't crossed. All I can tell you is I don't know because I don't have access to the intel. I believe what he and Tulsi Gabbard and J.D. vance and Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth are saying is that they crossed the line. And then he showed that he will use decisive military force when that happens. But then here's what's crazy, and this is where I think you become a real superpower. It's what happens after. Once you cross the line, you notice that he doesn't try to humiliate or dominate Iran. He tells Iran that he wants them to stabilize themselves. He told them that he wants to see them trading oil with China. He wants to see them improving the lives of their people because he realizes that a stable Iran is a stable Middle East. So I think it's really amazing. And then the fact that he was able to bring Israel and Iran, who's been on the verge of some kind of conflict for decades, and broker a ceasefire, it's a really important moment, I think, in American history. I really do think that if you look at my little framework, it is the closest thing for us to being able to say that we are truly a clear cut, singular Hegemon this week.

[Sacha Stone]

Made one thing abundantly clear. Trump won the 10 year insurrection coup and war on his presidency, his supporters and democracy itself. He beat them at the ballot box. He beat their lawfare. Here is Lara Trump.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Let's start with this issue of nationwide injunctions that have been issued by federal district courts against presidents lately. President Bush saw six, Obama saw 12. President Trump saw 64 in his first term. Joe Biden saw 22. And Trump saw 40 just in the first year alone, for six months alone of his first term. Yeah, Charlie tells you exactly what we all know already, which is that, you know, none of this should have been happening and it was targeted specifically at President Trump. Look, this was such a big win and such a good moment, not just for the president, but really for America. And I think that it was probably the final nail in the coffin to so much of the lawfare that this president in particular has endured. We know that first it was, it was, you know, directed at him personally, his family, his company. And obviously we remember about a year ago all of that was still going on. This one was directed, though, at the American people. And why? It's because President Trump is the one from the Oval Office who was making these decisions, who was making these calls, and they were trying to thwart the will. These federal judges of the American people. They voted him into office. They wanted these things done. And it's so refreshing that the Supreme Court came down with this decision. So, look, it's such a big win again, I'll say it, but I wish that some of these people who had obviously suffer from Trump derangement syndrome to such a high degree, spent half of their time doing their job putting actual criminals behind bars versus fighting President Trump. Think about, Charlie, what we could accomplish as a country and how much better off we'd be if these people actually focused on doing what they were elected to do.

[Sacha Stone]

He beat them at the schools. Stopping indoctrination and the denial of biological reality. Here is Megyn Kelly.

[Zoran Mamdani]

In another major win that I mentioned a minute ago, the justice is letting Maryland parents opt their children out of classes with LGBTQ storybooks. And don't make any mistake, this ruling is going to be applied well beyond what was being shoved down the throats of these Maryland children. That case was also six to three, with Justice Alito writing the opinion. Let me just start it here. Okay, that one was for you. Scott Pelley. We've gone through this together. Moms of Liberty went on 60 Minutes with this guy trying to say, at very young ages Schools are shoving leftist woke ideology down the throats of young children and it's inappropriate, in particular sexual materials and LGBTQ materials. And Scott Pelley told America it wasn't happening. Watch. There are rogue teachers in America's classrooms right now. Rogue teachers. Rogue teachers. Parents send their children to school to.

[Sacha Stone]

Be educated, not indoctrinated into ideology.

[Zoran Mamdani]

What ideology are they being indoctrinated into? Let's just say children in America cannot read.

[Sacha Stone]

They often dodged questions with talking points.

[Zoran Mamdani]

You're being evasive. 21% of students are reading on behaviour being evasive.

[Sacha Stone]

What ideology are the children being indoctrinated into?

[Zoran Mamdani]

What is your fear? I think parents fears are realized.

[Sacha Stone]

They're looking at these books where sexual.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Discussions are happening with their children at.

[Sacha Stone]

Younger and younger ages. Tiffany justice read from sexually explicit books.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Written for older teens but found in.

[Sacha Stone]

A few lower schools.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Most people wouldn't want them in a lower school, but in a tactic of outrage politics, Moms for Liberty takes a kernel of truth and concludes, these examples.

[Sacha Stone]

Are not rare mistakes, but a plot to sexualize children.

[Zoran Mamdani]

You see, that was Moms for Liberty just expounding, just a kernel of truth in what they were saying. And then they bastardized this colonel to make a larger point. Screw you, Scott pelley. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the U.S. supreme Court just said it is happening. It's absolutely happening. And parents have a right to to say no. Here's Justice Alito. The storybooks here unmistakably convey a particular viewpoint about same sex marriage and gender. And the board has specifically encouraged teachers to reinforce this viewpoint and to reprimand any children who disagree. That goes beyond mere exposure. We reject this chilling vision of power of the state to strip away the critical right of parents to guide the religious development of their children. It is happening. It's happening in schools Beyond Maryland. The U.S. supreme Court has recognized it and has now just issued a powerful ruling arming parents state to state, coast to coast with the tools they need to shut it down when it comes to their child. You're woke. You want to let your kid go in there and learn about chopping off his penis when he's 12. More power to you, sister. I think it's abuse. I think it's sad for your child. You want that? I think it's sick for a teacher, a school district to offer it at all. But there's zero chance I'm letting my child sit there. And as everybody listening to this show knows, I have not just talked that talk. I've walked that walk. It's why we left our schools in New York. As I documented at the time, we left schools we had previously loved because they tried to indoctrinate our children on the issue of gender and race and we had had it. And now we finally have a Supreme Court decision saying we were right. Schools don't have the right to do this to our.

[Sacha Stone]

In ordinary times, Trump would be hailed as the Comeback kid who had erased the lies told about him in his first term and remade himself as one of the most consequential presidents in American history. But that was not going to happen because the so called Resistance army believes itself to still be at war with Trump. For podcast listeners, a Truth Social post by Trump why are the Democrats always rooting against America? One of their favorite conduits is Natasha Bertrand at cnn, who was an easy mark to spin the narrative the Democrats needed that Trump and Operation Midnight Hammer have failed. Quote but the early findings are at odds with President Donald Trump's republic claims that the strikes completely and totally obliterated Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities. End quote. Missing in that report was that it was low confidence and should never have been tossed out like bloody chum to draw the sharks. One of the reasons people like me no longer trust them is that we know the game by now too. We'll find our information elsewhere from people we trust to tell us the truth. People who, unlike the Democrats in their corporate press, are looking out for the public's best interest. For podcast listeners, a tweet by Kathryn Herridge Low Confidence DIA Iran Assessment Quote Low confidence generally means that the information is scant, questionable or very fragmented, so it is difficult to make solid analytic inferences. It could also mean that the IC has significant concerns about or problems with the sources. How is it in the public's interest to give Iran a reach around? By making our president and the most powerful military in the world look incompetent, especially if it's a low confidence report. But even still, amid tense negotiations and a potential one war breaking out, you'd think they'd have the ethics and the maturity to wait. Pete Hegseth having worked in media too, and who also knows the game by now unloaded on them because you.

[Zoran Mamdani]

And I mean specifically you, the press, specifically you, the press corps. Because you cheer against Trump so hard. It's like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad. You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren't effective. Maybe the way The Trump administration has represented them isn't true. So let's take half truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it, spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind, the public mind, over whether or not our brave pilots were successful. How many stories have been written about how hard it is to, I don't know, fly a plane for 36 hours? Has MSNBC done that story as Fox? Have we done the story, how hard that is? Have we done it two or three times so that American people understand how about how difficult it is to shoot a drone from an F15 or 16 or F22 or F35, or what it's like to man a Patriot battery, or how hard it is to refuel midair, giving the American people an understanding of how complex and sophisticated this mission really was. There are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that because of the hatred of this press corps are undermined because people are trying to leak and spin that it wasn't successful. It's irresponsible.

[Sacha Stone]

The press secretary specifically called out Bertrand, reminding us What a difference 10 years makes.

[Zoran Mamdani]

And the entirety of that assessment was not leaked to the media. Only tidbits of that assessment were leaked to cnn. And we have seen this playbook run before where you have people in the intelligence community or perhaps on Capitol Hill, we don't know. But I believe the FBI is investigating, investigating to find out who that leaker was because it's illegal and they should be held accountable for that. Leaked bits and pieces of an intel assessment to push a false narrative. And it's to the same reporter, I will add, Natasha Bertrand of CNN, who has done this in the past. In 2020, it was Natasha Bertrand who had 51 intelligence analysts falsely lie to her, but she still put it on paper for some reason that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disability information. We all know that's not true, right? We can all agree on that. Now, that was a lie from the intelligence community. Also in 2020, this same reporter, Natasha Bertrand, wrote that a top intel agency ruled out the man made lab leak theory of the coronavirus origins. Again, the President was right about that. This reporter wrote a lie from the intelligence community to seek a narrative she wanted to prove. And guess what? We now know that's the truth. Also in 2024, Bertrand pushed the suckers and losers hoax. She also pushed the fine people hoax, which was taking the President's words purposely out of context. And then last October, and I believe this is notable, Natasha Bertrand published an article in Politico from the intelligence agency. She said that John Ratcliffe was speaking without any evidence when he said Iran was attempting to undermine President Trump's presidential campaign. And then we of course found out that was absolutely true. In fact, the Biden administration declassed an intel report which said they had high confidence that Iran had done exactly what Ratcliffe alleged. They did run an influence campaign to hurt President Trump's candidacy. In fact, we know the Iranians tried to take President Trump's life. And so this is a reporter who has been unfortunately used by people who dislike Donald Trump in this government to push fake and false narratives. She should be ashamed of herself. And that's not what reporting is.

[Sacha Stone]

The journalists see themselves now as they did when Trump called them fake news and the enemy of the people, as victims. They're just trying to do their jobs, after all. Podcast listeners, a tweet by Julie K. Brown. In my 40 years as a journalist, I don't recall there ever being being this kind of pure hatred and unprofessionalism on the part of government officials against the media. We are confronting this abuse. That's what it is, abuse every day. Why? Because we are challenging the actions of your government. Why? Because we are asking these questions for you, the public. The lack of basic civility is astounding. And the original tweet from Tommy Veder says Caroline La Levitt unloaded on Natasha Bertrand in the most vicious, dishonest way possible. And not a single reporter comes to her defense or pushes back in any way. The total failure of the White House press corps to take collective action has doomed them. Yeah, right, sure. All they've done for 10 years is help the Democrats by using their platforms to to distort, discredit and destroy Trump, who was only in power because the American people put him there a second time, defying their decade long smear campaign. And rather than pivot and admit they are actively working for the Democrats, they're doubling down, fighting a war they've already lost. They're only getting started on Pete. For podcast listeners, a video from CBS News, what Hegseth's Pentagon revealed about Trump's strike against Iran's nuclear sites. And a thumbnail of Pete screaming. And another photo of Pete with a nasty look on his face. News about Pete Hegseth in Iran. And another headline from msnbc, Nicole Wallace breaks down Pete Hegseth's Meltdown and tantrum at Pentagon press conference. One war leads to another. It's true that the Democratic Party has fallen but not because it's been overrun by Islamic extremism. Mamdani is, if anything, a woke fanatic who spouts off about how queer liberation is defunding the police. Republicans who take the easy bait to herald the arrival of radical Islamic extremism will only help make him an even bigger star. No, it's because of all of us, a generation of helicopter moms who coddled the American mind and raised our kids to be overly fragile with high self esteem on the oppressor, oppressed girl boss mindset who do not believe in hard work or long hours or merit, but instead that we should be ranked on our race or our gender identity. How did we think it would turn out? What did we think that filling their heads with critical race and gender theory would do to their perceptions of themselves and their country? They've been raised to be intolerant, judgmental and totalitarian in their attitudes towards anyone who isn't fully on board with their fundamentalism. The Democrats will realize all too late what they helped build. They should have realized it sooner. They were only watching Trump and it's cost them everything, even their own survival. They'll have no choice but to accept the truth that they've helped build an army they can't control. All it takes is one person willing to flip the switch. Thank you for listening to my podcast, sashastone.substack.com and I'm sorry this took so long to get this podcast out. I was My mom is actually in the hospital and I've been having to drive to visit her and to take care of her chickens and various other things, so it's made me a little bit delayed. And if you like my work, please think about leaving a review on itunes or Spotify or becoming a paid subscriber or leaving a tip. The link is at the top on my substack homepage. Have a great weekend and remember to thine own self be true. Well, she was an American girl.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Raised.

[Sacha Stone]

Up promises.

[Zoran Mamdani]

She couldn't help thinking that.

[Sacha Stone]

There was a little more to life somewhere else after all, it was a great big world with lots of places to run to yeah this is half the time Try and see that one.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Little promise is gonna keep oh yeah.

[Sacha Stone]

All right Take it easy baby make it last all night she was an.

[Zoran Mamdani]

American girl.

[Sacha Stone]

It was.

[Zoran Mamdani]

41 like waves crashing on the beach I feel a desperate moment there we trip back in.

[Sacha Stone]

Memory God, it's so painful it's something that's so close still so far out of me oh yeah all right take it easy baby make it last all night.

[Zoran Mamdani]

She was very kisser.