Pod Save America: “Live from Occupied D.C. with Barack Obama” (Nov 7, 2025) Crooked Media • Hosts: Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, Tommy Vietor, Alex Wagner • Special Guests: Barack Obama, Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Episode Overview

In this high-energy live episode from Washington, D.C., the Pod Save America crew welcomes Barack Obama and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett for a frank, funny, and urgent discussion about the 2025 election results, the state of the Republican and Democratic Parties, the ongoing government shutdown, and what’s at stake for America’s future. The episode also dives into the rise of extremism on the right, the challenges of coalition politics, Democratic strategy for upcoming elections, and much more, all wrapped in the show’s trademark mix of sharp analysis and biting humor.

Key Segments & Highlights

1. Barack Obama’s Opening Remarks

[03:48 - 10:14]

• Obama thanks activists, organizers, and the Pod Save America team
  • “Thank you to all of you because you're making a difference each and every day... I couldn't be prouder of them because they have not just carried on the values and the struggles that we all engaged in way back when, but they're spreading the word to a new generation of what is possible in politics.” (Obama, 05:24)
• Reflections on the successful Tuesday election night for progressives
  • Obama underscores the importance of coalition: “It turns out that if... you have candidates with integrity who believe in something and are in it for the right reasons, they can win. And... when young people are engaged and involved, then we win.” (Obama, 07:04)
• Warning against purity tests within the Democratic coalition
  • “Your task is going to be not to impose litmus tests... Our job is to say that we want everybody engaged and... there are fights that are going to have to be fought, but... there is something core in us that we have in common that is extraordinary and that America at its best leans in to this notion of e pluribus unum.” (Obama, 08:50)
• Memorable crowd moment
  • Joking about embarrassing staff photos: “We could have had the picture of Tommy with no shirt on. Feel free to Google that if you're not familiar.” (Obama, 05:24)

2. Election 2025 Analysis: Democratic Surge, GOP Woes

[12:21 - 22:30]

• Democratic performance exceeded expectations
  • “It was good. Maybe the best off year elections Democrats have had in our lifetimes.” (Favreau, 12:21)
• Democratic inroads with Trump voters
  • “Mikey Sherrill got 18% of Trump's Latino voters in New Jersey. Both she and Spanberger got 7% of 2024 Trump voters to vote for them.” (Alex Wagner, 14:44)
• Key insight: Trump’s 2024 win was not a permanent realignment—his support was “wide but shallow.”
  • “No, 2024 wasn't some grand realignment... but that doesn't represent some inescapable future for us. That support was wide, but it was shallow.” (Lovett, 16:14)
• Dem intra-party friction
  • “For the second time in two days I've been in front of hundreds of really enthusiastic and proud Democrats who have booed the leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate. And I think it's a real problem.” (Lovett, 17:30)
• Data deep dive on turnout and persuasion
  • “Turnout was very high... But what's more important is that as Alex pointed out, there was real persuasion... in the exit polls you have in Virginia, New Jersey, 7% of people who pulled the lever for Trump one year ago voted for Spanberger and Sherrill. In New York City, 9% of 2024 Trump voters voted for Zoron.” (Dan Pfeiffer, 19:08)

3. Republicans’ Flailing Message on Affordability

[22:37 - 27:53]

• Trump attempts to co-opt the cost-of-living message… and fails
  • “It is very funny that he is making the exact same mistake as Biden, which is just to decide that the real problem is that we’re not getting enough credit for the shit we have already done.” (Tommy Vietor, 23:06)
  • “Donald Trump doesn't want to wake up every day and talk about affordability. He wants... to shake down a Raytheon CEO for money for the fucking ballroom.” (Vietor, 24:04)
• Tariffs, ICE raids, and incoherence
  • “To really have an affordability message where you feel people’s pain, you have to admit you haven’t succeeded… and Donald Trump’s 79 years old. At no point has he ever admitted fault on anything.” (Pfeiffer, 25:16)

4. State of the Republican & Democratic Parties: MAGA Chaos and Dems’ Task

[27:53 - 38:47]

• Republican “beta cucks” and incoherent agenda
  • “We have a party full of them now, and that is the GOP.” (Alex Wagner, 27:59)
  • “It's nativism, but it's also some kinds of expansionism. It's a populism that is informed by crypto Bros. And kleptocracy.” (Wagner, 29:16)
• Democratic gerrymandering opportunities & hope for the House
  • “In order to make a blue seat red, you have to find those red votes somewhere... Republican politicians would much rather be in Congress in the minority than be lobbyists in the majority.” (Lovett, 30:41)
• Tempered optimism on the Senate
  • “Here's the argument for, I think Democrats... have to push all of our chips into the table on the Senate, because the 2028 Senate map is very bad.” (Pfeiffer, 34:39)
• The dangers of overconfidence and structural threats
  • “We can't get too high on our own supply. ...Even in VA, NJ, Republicans are more popular than Democrats.” (Vietor/Pfeiffer, 36:53–36:53)
  • “Trump is announcing a plan to try and steal the election through redistricting… he will surely send [monitors] into blue states.” (Wagner, 37:36)

5. Shutdown Politics: Who Holds the Line?

[47:00 - 56:27]

• Why Dems are holding out
  • “Democrats are looking for a resolution to a very urgent problem... this is not an abstract showdown in Congress. This is people really trying to find an answer that is so urgent and so pressing in the lives of people across this country.” (Alex Wagner, 50:55)
• On messaging
  • “My message, if I were in a Democratic leader, would be to continue talking about the reason for the shutdown... Republicans are not serious about ending the shutdown.” (Vietor, 52:29)
• Trump’s blunders in the shutdown fight
  • “I find it very odd that Donald Trump, the day after the election, basically admitted that they lost because of the shutdown. And... his next move was, let's make it even more painful by shutting down the airports.” (Favreau, 54:30)
  • “If you were trying to lose the shutdown fight, this is exactly how you do it.“ (Pfeiffer, 55:43)

6. Right-Wing Extremism: Nazis and the GOP’s Identity Crisis

[62:40 - 69:43]

• Tucker Carlson interview with Nick Fuentes sparks outrage
  • "Tucker had [Nick Fuentes]... on his show and just didn't push him on any of these views for, like, I think, literally two hours.... then Heritage Foundation's president defended Tucker, using ‘globalists’—which is code—for those who objected." (Vietor, 62:40)
• Republican base grapples with explicit bigotry
  • “I feel like this is actually, like, a development that needs to be [addressed]... they're texting about Hitler. They're talking about Nazis... one of our parties is, you know, giving quarter to the most violent, virulent strain of 20th century politics…” (Wagner, 66:36)
  • “It starts ironically... I'm going to really get the squares because I'm going to make a joke about gas chambers. And ironic thoughts lead to suddenly like unalloyed versions of them.” (Lovett, 68:43)

7. Interview: Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Shutdown, 2026, Representation, and (Maybe) the Texas Senate

[73:29 - 93:41]

• Crockett on the meaning of the 2025 election
  • “It's great that it's clear that Americans understand that Trump cannot do this by himself. There are all these feeble Republicans that are allowing him to break everything in America.” (Crockett, 74:29)
• Why Dems are fighting so hard on the shutdown
  • “Democrats are fighting harder for Republican constituents than the Republicans.” (Crockett, 77:56)
• Living rent free in Trump’s mind
  • “It is beyond me, but I think that it goes to show you that Trump may even understand people better than my party apparatus... He cares about who he believes is an effective communicator who can take him down.” (Crockett, 81:19)
• On being authentically herself in Congress
  • “I am very comfortable in my skin. I'm okay with being my authentic self...because I think it is important for the people to feel like they have somebody that they can trust and not look at and think, oh, I'm getting your representative. I'm not getting the real you.” (Crockett, 85:01)
• Considering a run for Senate in Texas
  • “I honestly had planned to go after Ted Cruz... but I am so scared that I don't know where our country will be in four years, that I don’t know that I can wait the four years. I truly believe in the fierce urgency of now.” (Crockett, 87:08)
  • “Is there a candidate that can get people that have never, ever wanted to vote or never paid attention to politics to show up? I do believe I can. I do.” (Crockett, 91:34)
  • Decision deadline: “If I make a decision, it will be before December 8th, but it will not become public until December 8th.” (Crockett, 87:08)

8. Signature Humor: Live Game Segments & Crowd Banter

[96:09 - 106:33]

• Light-hearted competition with “Gender: I Hardly Know Her” and a “genderless bathroom lightning round”—fusing trivia about politics, pop culture, and Real Housewives.
• Example: “According to NBC News polling, both Gen Z men and women who voted for Harris selected having a job or career you find fulfilling as their number one personal indicator of success.” (Lovett, 100:21)
• Finale: “The women have won the game... That has been gender. I hardly know her.” (Lovett, 106:15 – 106:27)

Notable Quotes

“They don't want cruelty. They're not looking for people on the top trying to entrench themselves in power. They believe in community. They believe in treating people with decency and respect.”
—Barack Obama (07:27)

“The support [Trump] won was wide, but it was shallow. And those are people that can be persuaded and be brought back. … We are part of one big team that represents a lot of different points of view.”
—Jon Lovett (16:14)

“There was real persuasion…in Virginia, New Jersey, 7% of people who voted for Trump one year ago voted for Spanberger and Sherrill. That’s to scare the shit out of every single Republican.”
—Dan Pfeiffer (19:08)

“I really think this is real world sadism, the likes of which we have not seen in this century.”
—Alex Wagner on Trump and the GOP (29:16)

“My message to those people and Democrats who are worried about [the shutdown] is I think Donald Trump is coming for those programs anyway, and I think we got to stand up and win this fight now if we want to defend those things later.”
—Tommy Vietor (53:30)

“It's a very old story…it is a path you can follow. And at the end of it is the Jews. And it is very like, it should be alarming…”
—Jon Lovett (68:43)

“I truly believe in the fierce urgency of now. When I say I am scared, I am scared.”
—Rep. Jasmine Crockett (87:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Obama’s Opening Remarks: 03:48 – 10:14
• Election 2025 Analysis: 12:21 – 22:30
• GOP Affordability Messaging Flops: 22:37 – 27:53
• GOP/Dem Parties & 2026 Outlook: 27:53 – 38:47
• Shutdown Politics: 47:00 – 56:27
• Far-Right/Nazi Infighting in GOP: 62:40 – 69:43
• Interview: Rep. Jasmine Crockett: 73:29 – 93:41
• Live Game Segment & Banter: 96:09 – 106:33

Final Thoughts

This live episode captures the anxiety, hope, and clear-eyed realism gripping progressives as they savor a major electoral victory, lock horns with a resurgent far right, navigate the challenges of coalition, and prepare for the fights to come. Barack Obama’s words—“Tuesday was nice, but we’ve got a lot of work to do”—echo throughout the episode as hosts and guests grapple with what’s next for democracy, for the Democratic Party, and for Americans facing real hardship as the right scrambles for purpose and identity. At the end, the episode is a potent combination of movement inspiration, gallows humor, and practical political strategy.