
Kamala closes with hope and SNL. Trump jokes about his enemies being shot. RFK Jr. goes Joker on the water supply. And a surprise poll from Iowa makes us wonder what tomorrow may hold. (RIP P'Nut.)
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Kendra James
I started my Deadwood rewatch this weekend.
Sarah Lazarus
Oh, okay.
John Lovett
I love Deadwood.
Kendra James
I haven't watched it in like a decade and I just finished Justified, so I just decided to go straight into another Timothy Olafant.
John Lovett
Had you watched it before? Yeah. What was your feeling about it?
Kendra James
I loved it. I love the way that Al Swearengen speaks. Really influenced me probably as much as like Aaron Sorkin writing.
John Lovett
I think it's so funny. That's such a funny place for your Venn diagram and my Venn diagram to overlap.
Kendra James
I'm surprised.
John Lovett
No, no, no. It's.
Sarah Lazarus
It feels right. From this side of the house, I.
John Lovett
Have to assume, Sarah and Hal, you've never seen Deadwood that you can't possibly.
Kendra James
Oh, it's so good.
John Lovett
It's really worth it.
Sarah Lazarus
I know. People love it.
John Lovett
Yeah. I am quite confident that they will hate it. Don't you agree?
Kendra James
Yeah. There's a lot of full frontal nudity, like male nudity.
John Lovett
And that's why I thought. And that's why I thought you wouldn't like it.
Sarah Lazarus
And that's the plot of HBO's Deadwood.
John Lovett
And we're back. I'm here with Sarah Lazarus, Hallie Kiefer and Kendra James. We are one day away from election day. The polls close in a little over 24 hours from now. A hush falls over the studio. We were in John, Tommy, Dan and I with Nina from the Vote Save America team. We were in, we were in Arizona and Nevada, out on the doors.
Sarah Lazarus
How'd it go?
John Lovett
I would say that like leaving those two places I could see the experience would justify either outcome. We were knocking on doors. One thing is you realize, like, oh, people have been to these doors before and we're on to the last few. So you're like knocking on a door, walking a few, knocking on another door. A lot of people aren't home. A lot of people aren't answering. A lot of people are sick of answering. We did get a couple doors where it was somebody saying, oh yeah, I was going to vote sometime next week. Wait, wait, Wait, wait, wait. You can only vote on Tuesday. Now, do you have your ballot? You can drop it off in person on Tuesday or you can vote in person. Do you know where your polling site is? Let's find you your polling site. There were undecided voters. There were people that answered the door saying that they weren't planning to vote and weren't registered. And it's too late to register, so there's no reason to try to persuade them. But there are people in the house that might be persuadable. So arming those people with the information to give the people in their house. You realize also when you're talking to people that aren't paying attention closely to politics, how simple and clean you wanna make the final conversation and know you're. This is. A person who's answering the door does not feel it's a Sunday morning or a Saturday afternoon. They do not feel like talking about politics with a stranger. And they're like, oh, Angela's not home right now. And we're like, wait, when Angela gets home, just tell her. And then you gotta decide what you wanted. And you're like, kamala Harris will bring down the cost of prescriptions. And Donald Trump wants a national sales tax. You can't have a national sales tax. Nevada can't afford a national sales tax. Okay, onto the next door. And you realize, like, man, there are. You know, John Raulston, the famed Nevada reporter, always does a prediction, knows the Nevada electorate better than anybody. His prediction for the race came out, and he had it 48.5 to 48.2%. That's a 4,000 vote margin. And now who knows if that's going to be right or not. He doesn't know if it's going to be right or not. But it tells you that we are fighting house to house, street to street, ballot to ballot, in this final stretch. And we will lament forever why it was so close. But it is, and it's hard, and it will not get easier tomorrow. And then we will start to find out what happened. And so let's get into it. What an election. On Saturday, the famed Seltzer Poll conducted by the Des Moines Register showed Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by a shocking 47% to 44% in Iowa. This was a shocking result. When I first saw it on my phone, I thought, wow, Trump's only winning by 3% in Iowa. Now, just so people understand, this is a poll by Ann Seltzer. She is considered one of the greatest pollsters in the U.S. her polls of Iowa are the gold standard. They have often in the past been outliers that, in hindsight, caught a trend that other people were missing. The last time her presidential poll was off, it was 20 years ago when she had John Kerry beating George W. Bush. But even if you apply that error to this race, it still shows Trump winning Iowa pretty narrowly, which would suggest that there is a broader polling error now. And Seltzer could be wrong. She, in an interview with Tim Miller, friend of the show, said that, you know, one day her polling method will be wrong, and then she'll be scattered across Des Moines in little pieces. And she's, I think, prepared for that. But it was a reason to be hopeful, especially when you dig into what the numbers tell us, which is basically, women are fucking pissed about Dobbs. And in a state like Iowa, where they have snapped to a pretty draconian abortion law, women, including older women, are saying they want something different. And it seems, and this again, was a strange result, that older women are bringing their husbands along.
Kendra James
That would be nice, because I'll tell you what's been making me sick the last few days. The TikTok trend of women being like, I'm going to the ballot to cancel out my husband's vote.
Sarah Lazarus
Oh, boy, it's.
Kendra James
I hate it. I hate it so much.
Sarah Lazarus
I know it's hard to get excited, but also, I want to. Yeah, I don't think it speaks to, like, my algorithm is now queer enough that I don't see that anymore. Oh, God, but that's depressing.
John Lovett
So the Seltzer poll becomes a choose your own adventure. You can decide that one poll is wrong or every poll but one is wrong. This is either an outlier or the other polls are out and outliers. Huh? Either way, let's make a note to circle back after the election to figure out what the fuck happened. As for why Harris is polling so strongly, Seltzer said this on msnbc.
Sarah Lazarus
The reason she is leading is because of her strength with women generally. Even stronger with women age 65 and over, her margin is more than 2 to 1. And this is an. Is an age group that shows up to vote or votes early in disproportionately large numbers.
John Lovett
Women can get that old. Ask Donald Trump. Hey, J.D. vance. I guess postmenopausal females have a second purpose. You stupid fuck.
Halie Kiefer
Hey, why don't they just make the whole plane out of Ann Seltzer?
Sarah Lazarus
Yay. But also, as a woman over 40, it's like, well, you get up at 5 in the morning Anyways, you're not going to get out and vote.
John Lovett
Yeah.
Kendra James
My God, my mom's walking the mall.
Sarah Lazarus
If we had a mall.
John Lovett
What time are you waking up these days, Hollywood?
Sarah Lazarus
I literally today 4:45.
John Lovett
Wow.
Sarah Lazarus
And I feel great. Biologically.
Kendra James
It's just happening Daylight savings time.
Sarah Lazarus
Oh, you know what, that's. That makes sense. But that i530 usually.
John Lovett
Seltzer also noted that Iowa's six week abortion ban was put into action in July. Said the pollster, our consensus from the reporters who worked this beat is that the abortion ban went into effect this past summer. It has gotten people interested in voting, interested in voting, interested in hastily planned weekend trips to Minnesota, all kinds of new interesting hobbies. This weekend, Kamala Harris came face to face with her doppelganger Maya Rudolph on Saturday Night Live.
Sarah Lazarus
I don't really laugh like that, do I? A little bit.
John Lovett
Not to be outdone, Donald Trump also spoke to his doppelganger, a friggin Melty Jack O'Leonard.
Halie Kiefer
Got him.
Sarah Lazarus
Got him.
John Lovett
Cardi B. Joined Kamala Harris on the campaign trail in Wisconsin.
Halie Kiefer
I can't stand a bully. But just like Kamala, I always stand up to one all the time. I'm ready for them.
John Lovett
Yeah.
Halie Kiefer
And I'm going to be real with y'all. I wasn't going to vote this year. I wasn't. But Kamala, with Harris joining the race, she changed my mind completely.
John Lovett
I'm just glad Joe Biden isn't alive to hear this. Elon Musk attacked the singer on X after Cardi's teleprompter went down during the rally and a staff member had to bring her phone so she could read her speech. Said Elon, another puppet who can't even talk without being fed the words. The Kamala campaign has no authenticity or true empathy. Sorry. Not all of us can come up with gems like this right off the cuff. Elon.
Sarah Lazarus
I hate that guy.
John Lovett
She's. Cardi B replied to Elon, I'm not a puppet. I'm a daughter of two immigrant parents that had to work their asses off to provide for me. I'm a product of welfare. I'm a product of section 8. I'm a product of poverty. And I'm a product of what happens when the system is set up against you. But you don't know nothing about that. You don't know one thing about the American struggle. P.S. fix my algorithm. Cardi. Get off of fucking Twitter now. To be fair, Cardi, Elon is also the child of immigrant parents here's one of them now trying to insult Kamala Harris speaking ability. They can put sentences together and you know who can't? The absurdity of the absurd and the absurdity and is absurd. I mean, of course. Really? What the fuck?
Kendra James
Oh, my God.
Sarah Lazarus
Please Google Mae Musk and Errol Musk. Please read everything you can about this man's parents.
John Lovett
Deeply, deeply troubling.
Kendra James
More importantly, if you're not watching this on YouTube, like, actually go look at that clip.
John Lovett
That is absolutely. Is a chilling clip. It's. She Fritzes out completely.
Sarah Lazarus
I mean, she looks good doing it.
Halie Kiefer
But I feel like South African is an underrated, evil accent. It just really lends itself.
Kendra James
I got in trouble with CBSHR for saying that.
John Lovett
Not here, not here.
Sarah Lazarus
Say it all you want.
John Lovett
Yeah, you could say it all you want. Anybody who's seen Lethal Weapon 2 can tell you that the South African diplomatic immunity. Has anyone but me seen Lethal Weapon 2? Is that Lethal Weapon 2? Yes, it's Lethal Weapon 2.
Sarah Lazarus
I mean, probably as a child.
Kendra James
Yeah.
John Lovett
Well, a lot of South African accents figure pretty prominently in that film. LeBron James also endorsed Kamala Harris. Daughter, wife, mother, things of that nature, what she believes in. When it comes to women's rights, when it comes to the future with my kids and where I see our country should be. I feel like that endorsement is only right. It means a lot that LeBron would endorse Kamala, given how much Trump physically resembles a basketball. Got him, got him, got him. Donald Trump really, really went for it. During this last weekend on the campaign trail.
Sarah Lazarus
I had it going.
John Lovett
So for those listening, I don't know, he seemed to be pantomiming, giving a hand in blowjob to the microphone. And obviously, that seems like a strange thing for Donald Trump to do because it was in the context of him being mad at his advance staff or whoever was putting this event together for the microphone either not working or not being loud enough. And it just doesn't seem like him pantomiming, giving a blowy is like, in his kind of, I don't know, repertoire. Repertoire. It doesn't seem to be. It's not something that he would seem to want to be saying he'd do. It's just strange.
Halie Kiefer
Well, the thing about Donald Trump is that he's growing and evolving every day, constantly becoming a new person. So we have to take that into account.
Sarah Lazarus
It is like, you see an untalented comedian. He uses the same material all the time. He's probably getting diminishing returns. So he's like, I Gotta get him. I got new material. This is what he came up with.
John Lovett
Yeah, I watched some of this speech and he does his riffing on the microphone not working properly. Goes on for eons. I mean, he spends a whole lot of time on it. And there's really anger. He's very angry. And not in his. He's always angry. He's an angry man, but there's a kind of quiet anger. He's very angry that he's having to do this. He's mad at his team. He's definitely seeming like someone who's coming offstage and yelling at a bunch of people. He at some point smacks the microphone away in a very kind of menacing and strange way. And then he does this. He's just losing it up there. He really is. And it is just a reminder, given what he did to that microphone standard, that no mic is safe around this guy because of what he tried to do to Mike Pence, give him a blowjob. For any potential female Trump voters concerned about women's reproductive health. Don't worry, the man has a plan.
Donald Trump Supporter
And I told a great guy, RFK Jr. Bobby. I said, Bobby, you work on women's health, you work on health, you work on what we eat, you work on pesticides, you work on everything.
John Lovett
The first thing on Kennedy's to do list is to take all the fluoride out of the water. But don't worry, the second thing is putting it in all the women. Oh, no. So this is a deeply strange thing that Donald Trump is doing here. Like Kamala Harris, they put out, she put out, the campaign put out two 2 minute ads today, Both a very clean closing message about being a president for all Americans. Common sense solution, taking on the high cost of goods. A kind of patriotic, optimistic home stretch message. One of them includes a country that's no longer beholden to the corrupt and the billionaires. Includes a shot of Trump and a shot of Elon. Just sort of a clean closing message that makes sense. For whatever reason, Donald Trump is just unleashing RFK Jr. Here in the homestretch, who is saying they're going to take fluoride out of the water, that they're going to come after vaccines. He's echoing it. And we were talking about this a bit on Pod Save America, that there's some theory to it if you're going to try to lay a theory on it, which is that RFK Jr is still on the ballot in Michigan, for example. Basically they're worried that low information voters that are going to vote for rfk, don't know that he endorsed Trump. So they're trying to kind of get those people together. I have to think, like so much of this campaign, so much of the reason we were so hopeful that Joe Biden would step aside to make room for Kamala Harris was just our belief that even in a polarized electorate, a fractured media environment, an angry populace, that politics matters. And we just needed a candidate who could do politics, that Kamala Harris would be a new voice and she could do politics, deliver messages, do hits, do press release great ads, inspire people, do the basics. And she's done more than that. She's been an extraordinary candidate. But here we are. We know the polls have been tied for weeks, and in the final two weeks, Donald Trump, basically, ever since Madison Square Garden, has been seemingly a strategic rambling, unable to deliver a closing message. He has been making deranged comments about reporters, about Liz Cheney. He's been. He was asked about RFK Jr talking about vaccines. He said he's open to it. And we went into this, supposedly tied. New polls come out showing it is still tied. But if this really was a tied race on the day the MSG rally happened, you're gonna tell me 10 days, the closing 10 days, having Kamala Harris hitting her marks at every fucking turn and Donald Trump making a mess of it and saying the most unhelpful, toxic things a candidate can say in the home stretch, that that's not gonna have an influence. Like, if we believe politics matters, I have to believe this matters. That's sort of where I'm at.
Sarah Lazarus
Yeah. It's just crazy that it's like, RFK must have visited him during this week, and that was it. Like, he is just. They had one conversation, and that's all he can think about.
John Lovett
Were they really like, hey, we need to make sure that the RFK people come along. And so you gotta go out and get the RFK people under maybe some assumption, which has been baked into a lot of what the Trump campaign has done, which is that when Donald Trump says this terrible shit on the trail, it reaches either people who like it or nobody, or people who have already made up their minds that are supporting Kamala. And so they're trying to get a message directly to the RFK people who might hear it, just because it's in their kind of information ecosystem, and it won't alienate the last group of undecided people that are making up their minds. But as we heard from David Plouffe, that late deciders are breaking towards Kamala. We saw that in the Times Sienna poll that came out over the weekend that especially in the Sunbelt, late breaking, voters are breaking towards Kamala. That poll had a strange result that showed in some of the northern battlegrounds, the Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, that together late deciders are breaking towards Trump. But that could be for a variety of different reasons. And it doesn't totally comport with what Plouffe is saying. Who knows? But I just. My hope and belief is that for this last group of people that are just making up their mind, they have told pollsters again and again that they're upset about the economy. They believe the economy was better under Donald Trump, but they have deep concerns about him as a human being. And none of this is helping him. And I have to hope, I just have to hope that parents seeing in the home stretch, like, wait a second, they're going to ban vaccines. Like the, like the vaccines that keep our kids safe. That's just my. I got my candle lit for basic politics just. And we'll find out, I suppose. While voters were already at the polls, Trump took a moment to point out that he could be on fucking vacation right now.
Donald Trump Supporter
That white, beautiful white skin that I have would be nice and tan. I got the whiter skin because I never have time to go out in the sun, but I have that beautiful white. And you know what? It could have been beautiful tan.
John Lovett
So this seems to be something of a self deprecating response to the photos. He must have not liked of him doing the garbage truck thing where he looked bronzed and people are making fun of him, which he must be seeing. But very strange cause he's not. He doesn't look pale because he gets bronze. He's kind of admitting that he uses the bronzer because he's so deathly pale under there.
Kendra James
You went there? I went to. That was a huge. It's like not even a dog whistle. That's him reminding his people that this is black versus white. This is white versus like both woman and miscegenation. Like that is that to me is what.
John Lovett
Like I'm all white under here.
Kendra James
Yeah.
John Lovett
Yeah. I wonder that because he has done riffs on this skin before and it is strange how much he says beautifully white skin. Beautifully white skin. Yeah, maybe you're right. Kendra, how are you feeling right now? Because we were talking before recorded. Look, sometimes your heart should pin down and I can't tell how anxious you are going into tomorrow.
Kendra James
My whole thing with that is that I, and this is very genuine. I feel like specifically With Kamala as the nominee. I live in a world where people, consciously or not, don't love black women. And so I have taken that with me since June, and I've just kind of been living with that reality. And it has not allowed me to get my hopes up super high just because that is a reality that I see all the time. Okay. I will say I went to my husband and I started going to Kirk Franklin concerts. Ironically.
John Lovett
You can't go to a concert ironically.
Kendra James
Kirk Franklin is a. He's, you know, the song stomp makes me clap my hands. Makes me want to. Yeah, so he's a gospel singer, and he's been doing a tour with Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp, a whole bunch of other. The Clark sisters. And the get out the vote messaging was really, really strong at this concert, which did, in a very anecdotal way, make me feel a lot better about, like, that sort of missing male black vote.
John Lovett
Okay. Okay. Yeah. I. I don't know. I just. I haven't been able to shake this feeling since the Joe Rogan interview, side by side with the Michelle Obama speech that we are. We are telling a story that is not just meant to bring out the people that we already have, but arm them with a story to tell their friends and their neighbors and their husbands and their brothers and their sisters and their colleagues. And Trump just isn't doing that. He's just not doing that. And I just. If we end up losing, and we could lose, it will. It almost leaves me feeling kind of, I don't know, not at peace. Cause I'm quite anxious, but more resolved and sort of not accepting either. But I suppose just believing that whatever happens, we did what we were all supposed to do, that the Kamala Harris campaign did what it was supposed to do, that the volunteers did what they were supposed to do, the surrogates did what they were supposed to do. The story is out there. It has been told. And if we lose, it will be cut beak because voters chose it with open eyes. And that will be quite revealing and terrible, but. And instructive. But the choice has now been laid bare. Meanwhile, here's a Trump supporter. After Donald Trump repeated his claim that Kamala Harris never worked at McDonald's.
Donald Trump Supporter
She never worked there, But I did. I did a little bit. This place is amazing.
John Lovett
Just for those. Somebody shouted, she worked on the corner. And that got a great response from this crowd. Everybody's a comedian these days, except for Tony Hinchcliffe, who is history's greatest Democratic operative. The man went undercover as A roast comedian worked his way into the Austin comedy scene, slowly but surely building trust, until he was activated nine days ago by a text from Nancy Pelosi. With the go order. Operation Basura had begun. Operation Basura. While in North Carolina, Trump seemed to think he was in Pennsylvania, calling for Pennsylvania's Republican Senate contender to join him on stage.
Donald Trump Supporter
And you have one of the best of all right here, David McCormick. You know that? Where's David? Is he around someplace?
John Lovett
Just going to throw it out there, that Donald Trump is the oldest candidate to ever run for president. Trump continued, is that him in the bank standing next to those translucent figures who resemble my dead parents? No, don't beckon to me. I'm busy right now. I can't step into that beautiful light. Trump also joked about reporters getting shot at his rallies.
Donald Trump Supporter
And I have this piece of glass here, but all we have really over here is the fake news, right? And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don't mind that so much.
John Lovett
So at a rally like this, someone shot through the crowd to shoot Donald Trump and killed someone. Someone died. One of his biggest supporters died, which he surely knows. And he's fantasizing. Is a presidential candidate, former president, fantasizing about journalists dying in a hail of gunfire while this group of people laughs all around him? And, you know, we may beat Trump tomorrow, and I hope you do. I think it would be a good outcome. But we should also remember, no matter what happens, that Trump has revealed how many people want to get into their Toyota Highlanders and drive to a field somewhere and fantasize about TV reporters dying in a hail and gunfire, that there's just. They are laughing and enjoying it and finding this hilarious. Trump spokesperson Steve Chung denied he was joking about the press being assassinated, saying in a statement, in fact, President Trump was stating that the media was in danger in that they were protecting him and therefore were in great danger themselves and should have had a glass protective shield. Also, there can be no other interpretation of what was said. He was actually looking out for their welfare far more than his own.
Halie Kiefer
I know this gets. This has been pointed out constantly for a decade, but if any previous politician had said nothing else that Trump has said and just said this one thing 24 hours before the election, landslide, election over, completely disqualifying.
Sarah Lazarus
If Kamala ever said one sentence, this man has said in the last 16 years, like, she wouldn't be able to run. Like, imagine her saying any of this. And we're just supposed to be like, oh, right, my Thing about this is, why are you pointing out the logistical flaws this in your security? Why would you do this? People can see this. And he thinks there's not another maniac, like, look at who you're surrounding yourself with and these people are voting for you.
John Lovett
He also, you know, there was a news cycle. I don't think we were able to cover it because I think it happened in between our two previous recordings where he said that imagine what would happen if you put a gun in Liz Cheney's hand and all the guns were pointed on Liz Cheney and he claimed that in the context. It's obvious what he means. He's saying that she's a chicken hawk and has sent people and wants to send people into harm's way, but actually wouldn't face it herself. The that. So that's why he is having a bloody fantasy about what it would like be like to watch Liz Cheney be murdered. It is a. This is a bloody fantasy that he's having for this, for the amusement of his biggest fans and not only, not only for their amusement, to also just signal to them that this is a funny, cool thing to joke about. We all think it's funny to imagine reporters being murdered. We all think it's funny to imagine Liz Cheney being assassinated. These are funny, jokey things. There was a failed assassination time he was shot at. That was one of the centerpieces of his convention before Joe Biden dropped out. It's ironic, but this person who has to never admit any kind of weakness whatsoever has clearly carried some kind of trauma from having this experience happen to him. He can't stop bringing it up. He is, he has on his mind people being shot and murdered in front of him all the time. But like the sickness that he has kind of taken advantage of and made worse. Like, regardless of what happens tomorrow, we just can't forget Trump wins. We are fighting this authoritarian, bloodthirsty version of the Republican Party. Trump loses. We're fighting that same group of people and they're not going anywhere. This isn't going anywhere. The next person to be the Republican nominee, whoever that may be, whenever that may be, is not going to be Mitt Romney. It's going to be somebody who learned from this and realized that there were millions of people who were excited by this kind of politics. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love it or leave it Coming up. The credit card companies are ripping you off and you don't even know it. Every time you use your credit card, they charge a hidden swipe fee. It costs the average family more than $1,100 per year. Really? $1,100? That's because the credit card companies organize banks into pricing cartels. It's like OPEC for credit cards with no competition. We have the highest credit card swipe fees in the world. That is just wrong. Thankfully, the House and Senate have a bipartisan bill to fix this problem, the Credit Card Competition Act. It would finally make credit card companies compete like every business across the country is supposed to do. So call your Senators and representatives and tell them to pass the Credit Card Competition Act. What a Weekday is Brought to you by bookshop.org we I love independent bookstores. You know they have books you can go to the bathroom. Two great things that famously go great together. You know this election. Arm yourself with knowledge on bookshop.org from Political thrillers to environmental policy deep dives, Find the perfect read to stay informed and entertained. And check out one of Bookshop.org's most anticipated books of fall 2024 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney share the memoir part one where we solve Murders by Richard Osman Shopping is like voting for local businesses. Support your neighborhood bookstore or lift up lgbtq, black, AAPI or Latino or woman owned shops n nationwide. Make your choices count. At bookshop.org you can align your dollars with your values, support independent bookstores, and help shape our literary landscape and our democracy. Bookshop.org is committed to helping local bookstores survive. 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There are sleep stories, sleep meditations, calming music that will help you drift off to restful Sleep quickly and naturally. Tommy's used calm. I actually went there yesterday to re up my subscription. Well, there you go. There you go. That's a true story. Stress less, sleep more, live better with Calm. For listeners of our show, Calm is offering an exclusive offer of 40% off a Calm premium subscription at calm.com/love it that c a l m.com/love it for 40% off. Unlimited access to comms, entire library. That's calm. As Trump was fantasizing about his political enemies being killed, Trump fans were riffing off President Biden's garbage supporter comment last week dressing as trash bags for Halloween. Here's Megyn Kelly all bagged up with the caption, happy Halloween, garbage people. It's nice to see she got to use her wedding dress again. This picture to me is like, I don't know, put it in the time capsule. No one was more excited than Megyn Kelly to have a reason to be offended, to finally be back in the chair saying the thing she wants to say more than anything else, which is, how dare they? How could they? Oh, my goodness, can you believe what they said about us? This entirely fake and performative grievance, an offense to justify doing something that she knows to be despicable, which is supporting Donald Trump. I really like it is Monday. The election is tomorrow. We cannot forget what these people did. No matter what happens, we have to remember what these people did and who was tough and who was honest and who was full of fucking shit and willing to embrace someone as manifestly unfit as Donald Trump. Nobody. Nobody who went out there and decided to ignore their morals, their ethics, their values, to embrace Donald Trump as someone we ever should listen to again. Ever. Barf. All right. As it turns out, not every voter is as mentally chained to the news as we are, with some people missing Biden's slip of the tongue entirely and interpreting Trump's recent garbage truck photo op as the former president doubling down on the Puerto Rico is a floating island of garbage joke from his MSG rally. As a Puerto Rican voter in Pennsylvania told the Huffington Post Sunday, if he didn't have anything to do with it, what's he doing in the garbage truck? The answer is, of course, just being stupid, but they don't have to know that till Friday. It is like when I saw that he was doing this thing of getting in the garbage truck and riding around the garbage truck, I was like, why are you highlighting this? Joe Biden's not on the ballot, and it's a conversation around a joke at your rally. That is costing you votes. And. And yet he did it anyway. And also, not that it was the most important part of it. The metaphor doesn't make sense because if you're taking out the garbage, what's the garbage? You should be saying there is no garbage.
Halie Kiefer
The garbage man is anti garbage.
John Lovett
Right. The garbage man is anti garbage. The garbage man is saying, there's no garbage here. Yeah, that doesn't make any sense.
Kendra James
You should have stuck to the whole swamp thing.
John Lovett
If he's getting in a garbage truck, it suggests that there's some garbage somewhere. Maybe it's the supporter who said there's garbage in Puerto Rico.
Halie Kiefer
If anything, you should be getting in the back of the garbage truck.
Kendra James
He is garbage, right?
John Lovett
He is garbage. And Joe Biden is the garbage man. Yes, seems so. Obvious sources close to Biden say that after he shuffled out of that press conference where he made the gaffe, he stood upright, smirked, lit a cigarette and said the greatest trick Dark Brandon ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist before cracking a pineapple in half with his bare hands. He's pretending to be old. He's all good. It was good. It was a good gaffe. It was 3D chess.
Sarah Lazarus
Playing 3D chess over here.
John Lovett
I always like when people say that. Oh, that's Donald Trump playing 3D chess.
Sarah Lazarus
4D chess. 3D chess is just regular chess.
Kendra James
4D. 4D chess with the different boards.
John Lovett
No, 3D chess. No, chess is 2D.
Kendra James
No.
Sarah Lazarus
No, it's not.
John Lovett
Whoa.
Halie Kiefer
In my mind, you can play chess on a2. You can play chess on a screen.
John Lovett
Is that what we're talking about?
Kendra James
We're talking.
Sarah Lazarus
I'm with half a real chess.
John Lovett
42. I agree that we, the players of chess exist in three dimensions. The chess board exists in three dimensions. It is a two dimensional game. You do not need the third. You do not need the third dimension.
Halie Kiefer
To move one plane.
John Lovett
Right. They move along the plane. And you can convey 100% of the information of chess in two dimensions. It is a two dimensional game.
Sarah Lazarus
But 4D, I think the 4D, the.
Kendra James
One with the different boards on the different level, 4D is like.
Sarah Lazarus
Ah, it's so, so impressive. It's 4D.
John Lovett
I understand.
Sarah Lazarus
3D is the D we live in.
John Lovett
No, we live in three dimensions. Well, at least. But the chess board is two dimensions. Chess as a game is two dimensions. It's.
Sarah Lazarus
I am going to win. We're.
John Lovett
Lazarus is with me. No, but the point I was going to make is only. Is 2D chess not hard enough? It's already a hard game. Trump would not be. Why do we used to say, oh, Trump is playing chess and the Democrats are playing checkers or vice versa. You don't need 3D or 4D or 5D chess. Chess is hard. It was already hard enough. It's already. It's a game that's already too difficult for the human mind to fully comprehend.
Halie Kiefer
You know, he calls knights the horse piece.
John Lovett
Yeah. And we call it the horse piece, but it's not called that. And also, it's not a little castle.
Kendra James
It's rook.
John Lovett
And there's a bishop, which famously only moves diagonally, like, you know, bishops.
Sarah Lazarus
And those are the rules of chess.
John Lovett
Mm. Mm. This morning, Senator Jack Reid told reporters that if elected, Donald Trump will act like a fascist and flood the Pentagon with his lackeys. Said Trump, seize him. Oh, I'm sorry. That's jumping ahead a little bit. This guy's crazy. Jack Reed guy. We gotta look into that. Meanwhile, RFK Jr. The man Donald Trump promised to put in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, vowed to remove fluoride from the nation's drinking water as soon as Trump was inaugurated. Doctors hate this one weird politician. Kennedy tweeted that they would remove fluoride from America's drinking water. He then went on to say, instead of fluoride, I think we should add, oh, I'm just spitballing here. A ton of fucking worms. Because it's the worm in charge. It's the worm pulling the strings now.
Sarah Lazarus
I knew it.
John Lovett
The fluoridation of water to prevent mass tooth decay is considered by the CDC to be one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century. Number nine was not giving RFK Jr control of the water supply. But I guess that one's out the goddamn window. When asked by NBC about RFK Jr. S plan on Sunday, Trump said, quote, well, I haven't talked to him about it yet, but sounds okay to me. You know, it's possible. Glad we're approaching America's water with the same casualness as letting your teen nephew cook Thanksgiving dinner. Probably nothing will go wrong, but let me actually sit down and think about it when I get home. In other conservative news, Tucker Carlson said he was attacked by a demon while in bed with his wife and four dogs. I had a direct experience with it. In the milieu of journalism or just. Nope. In my bed at night. And I got attacked while I was asleep with my wife and four dogs in the bed and mauled. Physically mauled in a spiritual attack by a demon. Yeah. By a demon or by something unseen. That left.
Sarah Lazarus
Is that right?
John Lovett
Claw marks on my sides. Yeah, it's probably a demon. Said a man who sleeps in bed with four dogs.
Halie Kiefer
And look, we can't rule out his wife. I'd bawl him.
Sarah Lazarus
How big is the bed?
Kendra James
I really thought this was a bit.
John Lovett
He also, by the way, in another interview, basically goes on at length about how hurricanes are punishment for a society that is permissive around abortion. He is going full Christian nationalist. This is somebody. Tucker Carlson. If he has a skill, one of them is knowing where the wind is blowing and knowing where the right is going. And this is alarming, not because he's some terrifying menace, but because I think he is seeing where a good subset of the right is going. And it is towards this kind of Christian nationalist millenarian, which is like, kind of like this apocalyptic version of Republicanism, of conservatism. And Trump loses this guy. I don't know where he falls in the rankings, but he's on the list of potential frontrunners for the Republican nomination for sure.
Kendra James
Do the Catholics speak in tongues? Because it feels like we're a year out from speaking in tongues just on a Pedro.
Sarah Lazarus
Yeah, no, we don't got that. We got like Opus DEI self flagellation and stuff. But the problem is the thing about all this is why I always talk about Cathol is this is all like America is just sort of blending all the worst parts of all the Christianities, which I think is actually called Christianities. And there's something to that where it's like they're just, they're taking the parts that are more terrifying than they can manipulate people. It's not really about any adherence to any particular belief system. It's like Carl Sagan used to say, uh, oh, demon.
Kendra James
Like the demon thing really. It works for me, for Catholicism, for Pentecostal, for a whole bunch of different ones. So I'm wondering what the weird thing is they can grab next.
Sarah Lazarus
Yeah, let us know in the comments below what thing from your Christianity you think they're gonna take.
Kendra James
Yeah, Presbyterians don't hold any. We don't do any of this. Yeah, we just go for a nice hour long service and leave.
Halie Kiefer
I think he should show us the demon scars, prove that he has demon scars.
Sarah Lazarus
How do you tell the difference between a demon scar and a dog claw mark scarf?
Halie Kiefer
That's my business. I'll get to the bottom of this.
Sarah Lazarus
Thank you for doing that.
John Lovett
Lazarus jumps up to the tomes to the ancient texts. On Sunday, the Daily Beast published Audio of Jeffrey Epstein from 2017 in which the late financier and sexual predator claimed I was Donald Trump's closest friend for 10 years. Oh, did Jeffrey Epstein think Donald Trump was his best friend? But Trump didn't think Epstein was his. So embarrassing. The Trump campaign said the claims constitute false smears and election interference. Said the campaign shit like this makes us glad we killed him. And finally, social media star Peanut the squirrel was euthanized this weekend after he was seized in a raid by state authorities in New York and his body tested for rabies after biting. I believe an animal control person.
Kendra James
Oh, I had missed the rabies part. That explains it.
John Lovett
Today the squirrel tomorrow Mr. Beast. When will these demoncrats stomp their trampling over our sacred rights to have squirrels in our homes?
Sarah Lazarus
That we use rabid squirrels wearing seaway.
John Lovett
Has to tell drum up views on our YouTube.
Kendra James
Rabies is really scary.
John Lovett
Rabies is really scary.
Kendra James
Have you seen that episode of Dr. Quinn Medicine?
John Lovett
I haven't, but I didn't need to see it to know that episode.
Sarah Lazarus
I'm not sure you would have as.
Kendra James
Soon I wasn't a Dr. Quinn person.
John Lovett
I wasn't a Dr. Quinn.
Kendra James
Oh, I watched it all in oh.
Sarah Lazarus
Cause she's a woman.
Kendra James
Watched it all in 2013. Had never seen an episode before. Watched all 6 seasons in 3 movies.
John Lovett
I'm waiting for a medicine man. Actually, a movie I did see starring Sean Connery and Lorraine Branko in the rainforest. Finding what? The cure for cancer.
Halie Kiefer
Oh, that sounds great.
John Lovett
Yes. So basically they find the cure for cancer, but it's in a tree that's about to be bulldozed.
Halie Kiefer
No spoilers.
John Lovett
Why did. That's just the plot. And I know. When did this movie come out? What?
Sarah Lazarus
When did this movie come out?
John Lovett
It has to be 90s, but I had to. I think it was. It's like when did it was in the HBO rotation. I bet that movie came out in 1994.
Sarah Lazarus
Go home and see it tonight so.
Halie Kiefer
Then it doesn't get spoiled.
Sarah Lazarus
Okay, so I'll do instead of watching.
Halie Kiefer
The returns tomorrow, I would make a cowboy hat that small.
Kendra James
I know. It's really cute.
Sarah Lazarus
I know. I do feel bad for it.
Kendra James
Yeah. I didn't know that rabies was part of it and now I do understand why maybe we had to go that direction.
Sarah Lazarus
Well, yeah, it's just sort of. You shouldn't keep wild animals like this in your house because it might bite someone and then you have to kill them to test for that.
Halie Kiefer
And if you do have a wild animal in your House. Don't make a social media account for it. No one will ever know.
Sarah Lazarus
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kendra James
Living in Cuyahoga county really convinced me that there were just any number of animals that I could and should own. I wanted a skunk for so long. Skunks are cute because they were sold in a pet store in the Elyria Mall.
Sarah Lazarus
Yeah, you and Ohio, really two peas at a pie when it comes to psy animals.
John Lovett
So, first of all, the movie Medicine man came out in 1980.
Sarah Lazarus
Oh, my God.
John Lovett
Can they de skunk a skunk?
Kendra James
They can take out the smell glands, and then it's.
John Lovett
What?
Kendra James
It's just a little.
Sarah Lazarus
It's a weird cat.
Halie Kiefer
But is that like declawing a cat? Is that, like, horrible for the skunk?
Kendra James
That. I don't know.
Sarah Lazarus
I think living in a house would probably be bad for a skunk. I think every. This. They don't actually want this. Any part of this. They don't want to wear a hat. I don't know.
Kendra James
He seems pretty happy.
Sarah Lazarus
He does not seem anything.
John Lovett
This is.
Sarah Lazarus
This is what the world is to him. So he accepts it. We are all Peanut the squirrel.
John Lovett
This time, Peanut the squirrel died doing what he loved, having no idea what the fuck was going on. Republicans seized onto the viral story after the squirrel's owners posted about the raid. With the House Judiciary Committee tweeting in support justice for peanut. On Sunday, J.D. vance told rallygoers in North Carolina this. I know Don fired up about Peanut the squirrel. We were on the way down here from Cincinnati. He was like, you know, is it really the case that the Democrats murdered the Elon Musk of squirrels? And I said, yeah, it sounds like. Have you seen the videos of this squirrel? He's like, he's a genius. Or he was.
Halie Kiefer
Now I've lost all respect for the squirrel.
John Lovett
To quote my favorite vice president, Al Gore, bitch.
Kendra James
What I would. I actually now need to know JD Vance's thoughts on what happened in Zanesville. I like, do you remember that?
Sarah Lazarus
Yeah. I think he's gonna be pro it somehow.
Kendra James
I now I really need to know. Zanesville, in case anyone doesn't remember, is when a bunch of, like, Bengal tigers, bears, wolves, Zanesville, Ohio, they all got out because their owner just, like, open and then, I believe, committed suicide.
Sarah Lazarus
Yes. I'm glad you're bringing this up.
Kendra James
Yeah. And then just led a whole bunch of his wild, exotic animals out into the neighboring town. And we lost several endangered animals because that dude did that. Ohio's a great place for animals.
Sarah Lazarus
I think JD Vance would Be a huge fan of that. Somehow, like, I feel like he would, like, back into that being totally fine.
John Lovett
This isn't a. It's just so funny. It's like the Democrats. The Democrats have killed Peanut. This is a national issue. This is. I mean, look, this is a. Like, how does Donald Trump get so close to becoming president? These people will take a fucking local story about a squirrel. By the way, the social media users immediately found an OnlyFans belonging to Peanut's owner, who apparently used the late squirrel in promo video to drive traffic to his site.
Sarah Lazarus
We do have to watch part of it. I just. We need to.
John Lovett
Oh, I hadn't seen this.
Kendra James
Your body's moving.
Sarah Lazarus
Keep doing what you're doing to me all now.
John Lovett
I know. Okay, I hadn't seen any of this, and now I'm voting for Trump. But the. Anyway, famously, his only fans tagline began. So if you like seeing those nuts get buried.
Kendra James
You didn't watch Chim Crazy. There is a connection here. It's the same with Tiger King. There is a connection between people who own animals like this and conservative. We are going to do whatever we want. Fuck the greater good mindset.
John Lovett
I think here's the problem. Maybe there's nothing to learn from this. Maybe this is just a guy that had a squirrel he wasn't supposed to have in a hamlet of New York on the border of Pennsylvania. And then animal Control, maybe they did the right thing. Maybe they shouldn't have gone there. Maybe they should have just ignored it and minded their own business. But animal control goes there, the squirrel bites somebody. You gotta kill the squirrel because you gotta find out there's rabies up there in the squirrel brain.
Halie Kiefer
But this has no connection to a presidential election.
John Lovett
There's no connection to a presidential election. Every story doesn't have to be a national story. A squirrel dies in upstate New York. And now J.D. vance, potentially the next vice president, is on stage saying they killed the Elon Musk of the animal kingdom with fucking. This is ridiculous. Ridiculous. We live in a ridiculous, ridiculous society.
Halie Kiefer
You know what it is? It's nuts.
John Lovett
It's nuts. It's nuts. It is Monday. Please vote. There is still time for you. You better fucking vote. But there's still time to make calls to your friends into swing districts, into swing states. Go to votesaveamerica.com There are shifts that could use your help right now. We have no idea what's gonna happen tomorrow, but we have 24 hours to make sure that we get every single vote we need. Because we know what J.D. vance and Donald Trump want to be talking about murdering Liz Cheney and government assassinations of area fucking squirrels. They want to talk about that shit because they know if people understand the stakes, they're going to lose. But that puts power in our hands to make sure people understand the stakes. So please, please, please, we got 24 fucking hours left. We can reach all the people we can reach and then we will find out what happens. And once you've called those three friends in swing states, once you've done one last shift for a Senate race, for a House race, for the presidential, we could use one more favor right now. There are a lot of people who have cast ballots. They have voted, but their vote is not being counted because there's some problem with their ballot. They forgot to sign it. They didn't have it in the right envelope. There's a lot of reasons a ballot might have to be what they call cured, which means the vote is cast, but they can't count it yet. We need volunteers to sign up and go and find those voters and make sure they cure their ballots. During big elections, thousands, thousands of mail in ballots are often thrown out. These are ballots that could make the difference between winning and losing in battleground states. So we need you to help reach out to those folks. Go to votesaveamerica.com cure and sign up to be a ballot curing volunteer. With a race this close, it is critical that we count every one of these votes. So please, please, please go to votesaveamerica.com so that's sign up for one last shift. That's sign up to be a ballot curing volunteer. And that's also, by the way, just a reminder that once the voting is done, we also will have to be vigilant to make sure that whatever shenanigans Donald Trump and the Republicans have planned to try to throw out ballots, throw out elections. So chaos and disinformation if they lose. We have to be vigilant over the next couple of weeks. So we're not out yet. And this message has been paid for by VoteSave America. You can learn more at VoteSaveAmerica.com this ad has not been authorized by any candidate or candidates committee. And as we watch the results come in this week, Crooked will be bringing you daily election coverage with the latest on every race. Every morning, what a day will be fresh in your feeds with Jane Costin breaking down what you need to know. In 20 minutes, Pod Save America will release new episodes every single day. And the host from hysteria and strict scrutiny will stop by shows across the network to unpack breaking news. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. I also just want to say thank you to this incredible team behind Love it or Leave It. We have been working towards this day for a long time and it is stressful, but I feel really grateful that I get to process the inanity and anxiety and hope of politics today with these incredibly talented and funny people and everybody that makes this show happen. It is a joy. And if it has meant something to you to keep you energized and engaged and hopeful even in dark times, just know that there's a great team behind the show and we're all going through it together. So thank you all for listening. We'll see you on the other side.
Sarah Lazarus
Bye.
John Lovett
Love it, Believe it, It's Love it or leave It Straight shoot time. Love it or leave It It's Love It Believe Love it or Leave it is a crooked media production. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett and Lee Eisenberg. Kendra James is our executive producer. Chris Lord is our producer and Kennedy Hill is our associate producer. Halle Kiefer is our head writer. Sarah Lazarus and Jocelyn Kaufman, Peter Miller, Alan Pierre, Will Miles and Mohanad El Sheikhi are our writers. Evan Sutton is our editor. Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis provide audio support. Stephen Colon is our audio engineer and Milo Kim is our videographer. Our theme song is written and performed by sure Shure. Thanks to our designer, Bernardo Serna for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast. And to our digital producers, David Toles, Claudia Shang, Mia kelman, and Matt DeGroote for filming and editing video each week. So you can.
Sarah Lazarus
Just love it or leave it.
John Lovett
I'm ready to banter.
Kendra James
Great.
Sarah Lazarus
What's new with you? I haven't voted yet.
John Lovett
I haven't either. I'm gonna vote today.
Kendra James
Yeah, I'm going after work.
Sarah Lazarus
I don't know. I'm just gonna close my eyes, let my hand do the talking.
John Lovett
I'm gonna write in that squirrel that everybody likes. I hope he's good. Is this girl alive?
Sarah Lazarus
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Kendra James
Oh, no.
Sarah Lazarus
This is how you find out.
John Lovett
This girl was shot down in Miami. That's like a bit people say when.
Sarah Lazarus
Like, a famous person.
John Lovett
What are you talking about?
Sarah Lazarus
Save it for the ocean.
Halie Kiefer
That we can't even imagine.
Sarah Lazarus
Tony Rich Cliff.
John Lovett
Ripped off his mask.
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Halie Kiefer
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John Lovett
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Episode Title: What a Weekday: See You on the Other Side
Host/Author: Crooked Media
Description: Every Saturday, former Obama speechwriter and comedian Jon Lovett is joined by a lineup of comics, journalists, politicians, and celebrities to dissect the biggest and most absurd stories in politics and culture.
The episode kicks off with a light-hearted discussion about the TV series Deadwood.
As Election Day approaches, the hosts delve into their experiences canvassing in Arizona and Nevada.
They emphasize the exhaustion of door-to-door efforts and the critical nature of reaching the final undecided voters.
The recent Seltzer Poll by the Des Moines Register shows Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump in Iowa, sparking discussions on polling accuracy and voter sentiments.
The hosts analyze potential polling errors and the implications of Harris's support among older women, especially concerning abortion laws.
The conversation shifts to recent campaign events:
Trump's campaign antics are critiqued, including his interactions with surrogates and unexpected endorsements.
The discussion underscores the contrast between Harris's strategic messaging and Trump's erratic behavior, raising concerns about the latter's influence on undecided voters.
The hosts explore RFK Jr.'s platform, particularly his plan to remove fluoride from drinking water, and Trump's ambiguous stance on the matter.
Trump's minimal response is critiqued as insufficient and potentially aligning with controversial figures.
The segment highlights concerns over public health policies and the potential impact of such stances on voter perceptions.
A critical examination of Trump's recent rhetoric, including his unsettling comments about the media and violent imagery.
The discussion emphasizes the dangerous implications of Trump's language and its potential to incite violence or erode trust in the media.
An odd yet politically charged incident involving a squirrel named Peanut becomes a focal point.
This segment satirizes how minor incidents can be politicized, reflecting the absurdity and extremity within certain political factions.
As the episode nears its end, the hosts rally listeners to vote and volunteer in the final hours before Election Day.
They provide actionable steps for listeners to ensure every vote is counted, emphasizing the high stakes of the election outcome.
The episode wraps up with acknowledgments to the production team and a final encouragement to stay engaged.
The hosts express gratitude towards their team and listeners, reiterating the show's commitment to processing the complexities of modern politics together.
This detailed summary encapsulates the episode's discussions on political strategies, voter behavior, campaign dynamics, and the critical importance of participation in the electoral process. It provides listeners—including those unfamiliar with the episode—with a comprehensive overview of the key themes and insights presented by Jon Lovett and his co-hosts.