Summary4 min read

Pod Force One: PF1 Friday Mini – Dems' Dumb Appeals to "Manly Men"

Host: Miranda Devine (New York Post)
Date: July 17, 2026
Episode Theme:
This mini episode focuses on the Democratic Party’s fraught and often contradictory efforts to rebrand itself as the party of “manly men” ahead of the 2028 presidential election. Miranda Devine offers her signature sardonic take on internal squabbles, failed male candidates, and the party’s struggle to win back working-class male voters without alienating its progressive base.

Main Topics & Key Discussion Points

1. The Search for a “Manly Man” Candidate

Background: Democrats are desperate to find a traditionally masculine male candidate to run against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) for the 2028 presidential nomination.
- “Their radical left DSA faction doesn't believe a woman can win. So much for the future is female. It's hilarious.” – Miranda (00:26)
Moriss Katz’s Strategy: Katz, a young DSA Svengali, is adamant AOC can’t win because she’s a woman.
- Katz was behind nominating Graham Platner, “the bearded protégé,” as a Senate candidate on the sole basis of his masculinity.

2. The Party’s Botched Male Candidate Experiments

Graham Platner: Platner, “the ersatz, gravelly voiced main oysterman with the Nazi tattoo who put the toxic back in masculinity,” epitomizes the Democratic attempt to recast their image, leading to disaster.
Tim Walz: The “tampon” nickname highlights his failed attempt to come across as both woke and masculine during Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign.
- “Waltz was a mincing, calculating phony from his folksy Midwestern dad schtick to his photo op hunting trip in Minnesota in which he fumbled awkwardly with the shotgun. Needless to say, he flopped.” – Miranda (02:50)
James Talarico: Nicknamed “Low T,” suggesting Democrats’ confusion between performative masculinity and real appeal.

3. Party Identity Crisis and Internal Civil War

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA): Increasingly fraught internal divisions.
- “It's a war within a war. Last weekend's meeting of the National Political Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America reportedly fractured over whether or not to immediately endorse AOC as their 2028 presidential candidate. In a narrow 14-13 vote, the committee decided to put off the decision until its convention next August.” – Miranda (04:26)
Recruiting the “Next Manly Man”: With Platner disgraced and AOC’s candidacy uncertain, the DSA is scouting out alternatives—even considering controversial internet personalities.

4. The Embrace of the “Red-Green” Alliance

Hassan Piker as a Mascot: DSA’s interest in Turkish-American streamer Hassan Piker is controversial.
- “He tells his 2.7 million followers America deserved 9/11 and it doesn't matter if f---ing rapes happened on October 7… Perfect. You could not get a more loathsome example of toxic so called masculinity this side of Platner.” – Miranda (05:20)
Strange Bedfellows: The alliance with pro-Palestinian and radical Islamo-supremacist factions brings ideological contradictions, especially regarding misogyny and LGBT rights, as seen in protests.

5. Democrats’ Challenges Appealing to Men

Lost Touch: Dems’ attempts to win back male voters border on parody.
- Reference to The Atlantic article, “The Return of the Democratic Manly Man,” commends candidates for engaging “in male spaces.”
- Notable Quote:
  - “‘There's nothing wrong with being masculine. It's okay to be a manly man.’ Sounds very manly.” – Miranda, quoting and mocking the Atlantic profile (07:12)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

On Intraparty Irony:
- “The left always eats its own in the end.” – Miranda (00:38)
On Performative Masculinity:
- “In the process of demonizing masculinity, they evolved into an unattractive party of suburban scolds and Trump-deranged crazies with a smattering of henpecked beta males and men in dresses for gender balance.” – Miranda (01:30)
On the Mascot Candidate:
- Describing Platner: “the ersatz, gravelly voiced main oysterman with the Nazi tattoo who put the toxic back in masculinity.” – Miranda (03:54)
On Alliance Contradictions:
- “Anyone who points out the disconnect between Gays for Palestine and the Islamic world's habit of throwing homosexuals off rooftops is labelled Gaz Islamophobic.” – Miranda (06:32)

Important Timestamps

00:00-01:00 — Introduction and overview of Dems’ desperation for a male candidate.
01:00-02:30 — Recap of Clinton’s loss, shift away from “future is female,” and the Kamala Brat campaign flop.
03:00-04:20 — The Graham Platner saga and DSA internal civil war.
05:00-06:30 — Red-Green alliance, Hassan Piker’s controversies, and the party’s image problem.
07:00-End — Mockery of the “new manly man” efforts and episode wrap-up.

Episode Tone and Style

Miranda Devine maintains her signature mix of satire, incredulity, and biting commentary. She peppers the episode with sarcasm, memorable nicknames, and references that highlight the absurdity she sees in the Democrats’ maneuvers. Her language is direct, unfiltered, and heavy with cultural references.

Summary

This episode skewers the Democratic Party’s confused efforts to pivot back toward masculinity to win back male voters—a pivot hamstrung by internal ideological battles, failed avatars of forced “manliness,” and alliances that bring their own contradictions. Through witty commentary and pointed examples, Miranda lays bare what she paints as a party adrift and unsure how to truly connect with the American male electorate.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
A
Foreign. Hello, it's Miranda. I'm back with a new mini episode of Pod Force 1. This feature is a little more topical and relevant to my job as a columnist for the New York Post today. The topic is the Democrats desperate search for a manly man to run against AOC for President in 2028. Apparently their radical left DSA faction doesn't believe a woman can win. So much for the future is female. It's hilarious. That snot nosed socialist Svengali Morris Katz, the Mamdani whisperer, is reportedly trash talking Alexandria Ocasia Cortez's chances as the Democrat presidential candidate for 2028, reportedly because he says a woman can't win. The left always eats its own in the end. We knew Democrats were trying to rebrand as the party of manly men, but they've really taken this new masculinity jag off a cliff. Katz, who plucked accused rapist Graham Platner out of obscurity only to have him flame out in the main Senate race, reportedly wanted his bearded protege to be the Dems 2028 nominee. The mainly because he is a man. The rationale of the 26 year old Mamdani adviser was explained by a source quoted in the Post this week. You make this guy Platner Senator and then you make this guy president because in large part Morris Katz and like this whole sector of the left do not believe that AOC can win because she's a woman. End quote. Hope the pussy hats are paying attention. Democrats doubled down on their the future is female mission after Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. In the process of demonizing masculinity, they evolved into an unattractive party of suburban scolds and trumped deranged crazies with a smattering of henpecked beta males and men in dresses for gender balance. By the time of the disastrous Kamala Brat summer campaign of 2024, men had desert alerted the Democrats in droves. Suddenly Dems realised that alienating 48% of voters was not such a smart move. So they executed a drastic U turn and tried to become the party of manly men, as the Atlantic calls them. Who could forget White Dudes for Harris, which rolled out in mid 2024? Campaign they tried tampon Tim Walls as up talking Kamala Harris running mate, thinking he was just goofy and woke enough to reassure their base of man haters that they weren't dealing with a threatening alpha like Donald Trump. Waltz was a mincing calculating phony from his folksy Midwestern dad schtick to his photo op hunting trip in Minnesota in which he fumbled awkwardly with the shotgun. Needless to say, he flopped. Then the party turned to alleged vegan Texan Senate hopeful James Talarico, whose nickname is Low T. Say no more. The final evolution of the search for the ideal male avatar resulted in Platner, the ersatz, gravelly voiced main oysterman with the Nazi tattoo who put the toxic back in masculinity the fact that either Platner or AOC could even be considered a serious presidential candidate shows how broken the Democratic Party is riven by a simmering civil war with its insurgent communist faction, the dsa. The which is now apparently engaged in its own infighting. It's a war within a war. Last weekend's meeting of the National Political Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America reportedly fractured over whether or not to immediately endorse AOC as their 2028 presidential candidate. In a narrow 1413 vote, the committee decided to put off the decision until its convention next August. With Platner gone, the DSA clearly needs time to recruit another man man alternative to the lowly female. He wasn't born in this country but you know they just love to enlist Hassan Piker, the dog torturing Turkish American Twitch streamer who is the DSA's poster boy of masculinity. He tells his 2.7 million followers America deserved 911 and it doesn't matter if f ing rapes happened on October 7. He has joked about men date raping women on campus and told his followers to get kill people he doesn't like and quote let the streets soak in their red capitalist blood. Perfect. You could not get a more loathsome example of toxic so called masculinity this side of Platner. Yet Piker is sought after by Democrats from Zoran Mamdani and Abdul El Sayed to LA billionaire Tom Steyer to sprinkle his radical misogyny and Jew hatred onto their campaigns. The DSA Dems are so far gone they've had to team up with misogynistic Islamo supremacist types to inject testosterone back into the party. The so called Red Green alliance sees pro Palestine marches in which pride flags fly alongside Hamas and Hezbollah ensigns and anyone who points out the disconnect between gays for Palestine and the Islamic world's habit of throwing homosexuals off rooftops is labelled Gaz Islamophobic. The political self harm of their Platner embrace shows Dems will stop at nothing to try to win back the manosphere especially working class men who have turned Republican. But because deep down they hate men, Democrats have no clue about how to appeal to them. In an inadvertently comical article this week titled the Return of the Democratic Manly man, the Atlantic chronicles the Democrat quest of, quote, engaging culturally in male spaces. In end quote, the main character in the piece is a Brian Poindexter, who is running for Congress in Ohio and is described as a union worker who wears a hard hat, drives a pickup truck, and says things like, there's nothing wrong with being masculine. It's okay to be a manly man. End quote. Sounds very manly. Thanks for listening. I'll be back with with another mini episode on Monday. Hope you can tune in and enjoy the rest of your week.