The 2025 Pundies: Highs & Lows from a Long Year

Summary

Pod Save America: The 2025 Pundies – Highs & Lows from a Long Year

Date: December 23, 2025
Hosts: Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, Tommy Vietor
Special Guest Host: Elijah Cohn

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Episode Overview

This annual “Pundies” episode of Pod Save America recaps the whirlwind of American politics in 2025, as the hosts and Elijah Cohn—"tuxedo and all"—dish out tongue-in-cheek awards for the most egregious, hilarious, or damning political moments, scandals, media figures, and discourse from the past year. Combining sharp satire with serious analysis, the panel reflects on Trump’s ongoing administration, MAGA drama, the year’s pivotal scandals and wins, culture war absurdities, and their own best and worst takes, ultimately deciding what defined 2025 in politics.

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Key Episode Segments & Insights

1. Introduction & Format

[02:19–04:31]

• Elijah Cohn introduces the Pundies using a mock “dog show” format.
• Categories include: Political scandal, worst Trump official (“Fluffer”), best political beef, MAGA media villain, most irritating discourse, most “lib-out” moment, and more.
• The winning item from each category advances for “Best in Show: Pundi of 2025.”

Notable Quote:
"It's like we've been treading quicksand since January 20th. But only some of us were able to poke our sandy little lips out of the quagmire and speak into existence a truly brain-melting take." – Elijah Cohn [03:00]

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2. Self-Inflicted Wound: Scandal of the Year

[05:01–11:15]

Nominees:

• Signalgate: Accidental addition of a reporter to a group chat with Trump officials about bombing Yemen, exposing covert plans.
• Ballroom Gate: Trump’s ongoing, over-budget demolition of the White House’s east wing to build a gaudy ballroom.
• Kimmelgate: Trump admin’s failed attempt to remove Jimmy Kimmel from the air, prompting FCC chair’s open threats to ABC.
• Epstein Files: Year-long debacle over promising, then backtracking on releasing Epstein-related documents, ending in an embarrassing vote.

Winner:

• Epstein Files Scandal
  "We have a group chat that went awry and a yearlong scandal involving the covering up of a sex trafficking ring. Yeah, I'm gonna go with the latter." – Dan Pfeiffer [08:18]

Discussion Highlights:

• The hosts dissected responsibility for the scandal (ultimately pinning it on Pam Bondi).
• Jokey dramatizations, lampooning Trump’s not-so-covert efforts and blunders in damage control.

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3. Fluffer of the Year: Worst Trump Administration Official

[11:44–18:47]

Nominees:

• Pete Hegseth: Appearances-obsessed, involved in SignalGate, accused of war crimes.
• Kristi Noem: Notorious viral “puppy shooting” video, over-the-top gun brandishing.
• Stephen Miller: Policy architect for DHS/DOJ, “controls everything,” spouting racist rhetoric, TV gaffes.
• J.D. Vance: Celebrates racism/Hitler memes in staff chats, self-parodying.
• RFK Jr.: Inflames anti-vaccine damage at HHS (Tylenol/circumcision conspiracy claims).
• Kash Patel: No real impact, but comically bad use of FBI planes.

Winner:

• Stephen Miller
  "He is the most powerful person in the administration who is not Donald Trump and is behind all the bad things." – Tommy Vietor [16:33]

Memorable Moment:

• Frequent jokes about the hosts’ tolerance for over-the-top voice acting during dramatic readings.

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4. Best Political Beef

[20:53–25:39]

Nominees:

• Elon Musk vs. Trump: Physical brawls in the White House, social media mudslinging, contract threats.
• Scott Besant vs. Bill Pulte: Dinner confrontation, almost comes to blows.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene vs. Trump: MTG quits Congress, is publicly insulted by Trump.
• Cuomo vs. Mamdani: Cuomo’s racist campaign tactics after losing Democratic primary for NYC Mayor.

Winner:

• Trump vs. Elon Musk
  "The first months of the administration were defined by Elon Musk. He was like a shadow president, Doge was everything, and now he's just…" – Jon Favreau [25:26]

Notable Quote:
“He literally threatened to punch him… like the most purely WWF.” – Jon Lovett [24:45]

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5. Best Pod Save America Host Beef with a Trump Official

[25:59–28:34]

Nominees (all Jon Favreau):

• Favreau vs. Elon Musk: Musk calls him "dollar store Jon Favreau."
• Favreau vs. Chamath: Legal spat over ccot, gets called “probably not a total R-slur.”
• Favreau vs. Stephen Miller: Miller says Favreau’s objections to immigration policy are “heartless.”
• Favreau vs. Megyn Kelly: Spat over a Sydney Sweeney jeans ad.
• Favreau vs. J.D. Vance: Vance calls him a “dipshit” (this makes the New York Times).

Winner:

• Favreau vs. J.D. Vance
  "The Vice President calling you 'dipshit'—that’s impressive." – Dan Pfeiffer [28:29]

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6. Most Corrupt Trump Moment

[29:34–35:05]

Nominees:

• Qatari Jet: Trump accepts luxury plane “gift,” cost to taxpayers exceeds $1B.
• Trump World Liberty Financial (Crypto): Chinese billionaire buys tokens post-SEC investigation, crypto as ongoing pay-to-play scandal.
• Corruption at DOJ: Blanket pardons (Jan. 6, Binance’s CZ, the Chrisleys), using DOJ for vendettas.
• Knee-Bending: Media, academia, and corporations openly grovel for Trump’s favor.
• Honorable Mention: Trump sues federal government, then settles with himself.

Winner:

• Corruption at DOJ:
  "The DOJ is the core of the rot… Not possible for him to be bribed without a DOJ that’s not going to look into anything." – Jon Lovett [34:44]

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7. Most Lib-Out Moments (Small Victories for Progressives)

[37:37–40:21]

Nominees:

• Gavin Newsom's Trump-style Tweeting: Finally a “viral” Dem response, highly theatrical.
• Zoran Mamdani Ousts Andrew Cuomo: Lefty upstart’s mayoral primary win in NYC.
• Election Night 2025: Sweeps in NY, VA, NJ, GA, CA—Democrats flip critical seats.
• Mamdani visits Trump at the White House: Face-off between progressive mayor and the President.

Winner:

• Election Night 2025
  "Best night of the year. Runaway." – Tommy Vietor [40:16]

Meta-Commentary:

• Despite a bleak year, the hosts note the late surge in Democratic wins offers a glimmer of hope.

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8. Most Irritating Discourse

[41:23–45:16]

Nominees:

• Abundance / Ezra Klein Wars: Technocratic arguments about “abundance” become eugenics-adjacent Twitter wars.
• Maine Senate Primary: Platner Bros drag Democratic politics into online absurdity.
• Sydney Sweeney’s Jeans Ad: Right/left Twitter “wokeness” war drags on for months, with Trump weighing in.
• Crooked Con Biden Discourse: Pro-Biden loyalists react to Dems’ 2026/2028 musings as disloyalty, “Biden was 14th best.”
• Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza: Beltway insider-ism/Access journalism fatigue.

Winner:

• Abundance Discourse
  "The stakes couldn't be lower… it's just so fucking pedantic and boring." – Jon Favreau [44:10]

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9. MAGA Media Villain of the Year

[45:17–49:44]

Nominees:

• Katie Miller: Stephen Miller’s wife, a “horrible podcaster.”
• Benny Johnson: Cringe video stunts.
• Tucker Carlson: Enabler of far-right talking points, “gateway” for Nick Fuentes.
• Nick Fuentes: Neo-Nazi, openly misogynistic, increasingly mainstream influence.
• Candace Owens: Sues French first lady, anti-LGBTQ, conspiracy mongering.

Winner:

• Nick Fuentes
  "Nick Fuentes being dragged into mainstream MAGA discourse is one of the worst things that's happened in a long time." – Jon Favreau [49:02]

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10. Worst Trump Moment of the Year

[51:46–53:19]

Nominees:

• Ambushing Zelenskyy at the White House.
• CCOT/Alligator Alcatraz Prisons: Dystopian immigration/crime policies.
• Sending Troops to U.S. Cities: Use of military force domestically.
• Doge/Cutting USAID: Harm to global health/global standing.
• Everything with Vaccines: Damage from anti-vax rhetoric.

Winner:

• Cutting USAID (Global Health Funding):
  "It is the most destructive just on the numbers, plus…socializing us to a lawless administration." – Jon Lovett [53:39]

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11. Worst Pod Save America Host Take

[53:36–62:16]

Highlights:

• All hosts reflect on their errors, especially around the government shutdown strategy.
• Specific mention of:
  • Underestimating using healthcare as the shutdown message.
  • Dismissing Zoran Mamdani’s mayoral chances.
  • Dan Pfeiffer: Disbelief in affordability as a winnable, salient issue.
  • Jon Favreau: "Drake May is good but the Patriots are not" (subsequently proven wrong).

Consensus:

• Collectively wrong on Schumer’s strategy for the shutdown; underestimated the political effectiveness of focusing on healthcare.

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Best in Show: The Pundi of 2025

[63:06–65:18]

After reviewing all winners, the hosts award the 2025 “Pundi” for the most defining political event/scandal/moment to:

The Epstein Files Scandal

As the cascade of failed document releases, high-level cover-ups, and political fallout dominated the news cycle, the hosts agree:
"The defining political thing of 2025 was the Epstein scandal. Feels right." – Jon Favreau [65:17]_

Runner-Up:

• The “abundance” discourse is jokingly mentioned as almost equally defining—and incomprehensibly stupid—of 2025.

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Closing Reflections

[65:38–66:38]

• Hope for the future comes from the late-year Democratic wins and grassroots victories.
• Jon Lovett: "What gives you hope? The year ended better than it started."
• The absurdity and fatigue with the year’s “one-note” chaos, contrasted with a sense of resilience.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "He literally threatened to punch him… like the most purely WWE." – Jon Lovett [24:45]
• "The DOJ is the core of the rot." – Jon Lovett [34:44]
• "The defining political thing of 2025 was the Epstein scandal." – Jon Favreau [65:17]
• "The Vice President calling you 'dipshit'—that’s impressive." – Dan Pfeiffer [28:29]
• "Fighting—even losing—is often better than not fighting at all." – Dan Pfeiffer [61:40]
• "I actually think... the off-year election has changed more about the future." – Tommy Vietor [65:46]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Pundies Introduction: [02:19]
• Self-Inflicted Wound Scandal: [05:01]
• Worst Trump Admin Official: [11:44]
• Best Political Beef: [20:53]
• Best Pod Save Host Beef: [25:59]
• Most Corrupt Trump Moment: [29:34]
• Most Lib-Out Moment: [37:37]
• Most Irritating Discourse: [41:23]
• MAGA Media Villain: [45:17]
• Worst Trump Moment: [51:46]
• Worst PSA Take: [53:36]
• Pundi of the Year: [63:06]

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Tone & Style

The Pundies episode is classic Pod Save America: biting, fast-paced, self-aware, and sardonic—in equal parts gleeful and grim about the “hellacious” year in Trump’s America. The hosts blend in-jokes, performative “voiceovers,” inside-baseball media takes, and serious policy critique, always leaning into their signature irreverence.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This annual political roast offers both catharsis and insight, showcasing the sheer twists, idiocies, and perils of U.S. politics in 2025. If you’re looking to catch up on the year’s headlines, the major scandals, and where the hosts think America’s headed, this episode is your lightning-paced highlight reel—complete with drama, despair, and a sliver of hope.

Transcript

[Jon Favreau]

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[Tommy Vietor]

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[Dan Pfeiffer]

Absolutely.

[Jon Favreau]

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[Producer/Voice Actor]

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[Tommy Vietor]

Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau.

[Jon Lovett]

I'm Jon Lovett.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I'm Dan Pfeiffer.

[Tommy Vietor]

I'm Tommy Vitor and this is the Pundies 2025. Which means I'm gonna throw it over to Elijah Cohn.

[Elijah Cohn]

Oh, thank you, John. Lovely throw. Great to be with you guys again for another edition of the Pundies. A time to stop and celebrate the last 12 hellacious months in America.

[Jon Favreau]

For those listening, not watching, I want to make sure you know that Elijah is wearing a tuxedo and a bow tie. It's a clip on we've decided, but he looks fantastic. You should also subscribe to Pod Save America on YouTube so you can actually see his pretty face.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah. So you don't have to just imagine Elijah in a tuxedo.

[Jon Lovett]

You say fantastic, I say it looks like if he pulls his arms up, there'll be two symbols attached to each hand.

[Elijah Cohn]

Well, thank you, Tommy, Dan and John. This is the biggest night of the year for me. A chance to celebrate the pundits. It's like we've been treading quicksand since January 20th. But only some of us were able to poke our sandy little lips out of the quagmire and speak into existence. A truly brain melting take. You guys can tell which lines Halle wrote. This year we've had a breadth of horrors from the Trump administration. So we have more than just takes to present you. It's a comprehensive, horrifying look back show. But we're gonna have fun. As horrifying as it is, we'll have fun. We're using the dog show format again and boy, what a bunch of dogs it is. We'll go through a bunch of categories and at the end we'll have one from that category move on to a chance to win the best in Show Pundi of 2025. Now, look, I know what's coming and I know we're going to have a process fight at some point in this episode. Do you just want to get it out of the way now or let it happen organically?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Just remind us of the rules again.

[Elijah Cohn]

You go through. We're going to go through the categories and you will pick a winner from each category. Then they'll go to the best in show at the very end. Our last thing for Pundi of the year.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

And then we have to come to a conclusion. Unanimous conclusion. Like the UN Security Council or are we voting? What are we doing here?

[Elijah Cohn]

Yes. Consensus. And last year, the best in show came from the polling category. It was Alan Lichtman's 13 Keys was a good one.

[Tommy Vietor]

I feel good about that.

[Jon Favreau]

Slapped. Yeah.

[Jon Lovett]

I would say, Elijah, that instead of shadowboxing your perceived critics, why don't we.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Just get into it.

[Elijah Cohn]

Okay. Well, I look forward to our process fight. And like Jeffrey Epstein said to Bills, Clinton and Gates when his Jacuzzi finally reached 100 degrees, are you guys ready to get into it? Yep. Yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

Amazing. Amazing joke.

[Jon Favreau]

Great job.

[Elijah Cohn]

All right, let's kick things off with a hot category. Start with the bang. This is the self inflicted wound political scandal of the year.

[Jon Favreau]

Nice.

[Elijah Cohn]

Good one. Our first nominee is Signalgate. Of course, this was when Atlantic reporter Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a signal chat with several Trump officials discussing plans to bomb Yemen. Here's a dramatic reading of the text discussing Operation Rough Riders performed by some of our Pod Save America producers.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

J.D. vance, Ethegseth, if you think we should do it, let's go. I just hate bailing out Europe again. Let's just make sure our messaging is tight here and if there are things we can do upfront to minimize risk to Saudi oil facilities, we should do it. Pete Hegseth, vp, I fully share your.

[Elijah Cohn]

Loathing of European freeloading.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

It's pathetic. But Mike is correct. We are the only ones on the.

[Elijah Cohn]

Planet on our side of the ledger.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Who can do this. No one else is even close.

[Elijah Cohn]

Michael Waltz, Fist emoji, American flag emoji, fire emoji. Next up, we have Trump's ballroom gate. Seemingly out of nowhere, Trump announced that he was demolishing the east wing of the White House to build a massive ballroom. This one is ongoing. And the latest update is that Trump has fired his original architect because that architect said the ballroom should be smaller than what Trump wanted and that the project is already over budget and behind schedule. Next up, we have Kimmelgate. When the Trump administration pressured ABC and its affiliates to pull Jimmy Kimmel off the air, here's FCC chair Brennan Carr talking about this openly with Benny Johnson. I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the fcc.

[Jon Favreau]

Tough, tough talk.

[Tommy Vietor]

It's good you said Kimmel. I thought you said Camelgate. At first I was like, what was Camelgate?

[Jon Favreau]

Little known.

[Elijah Cohn]

This, of course, had huge blowback and Kimmel is still on the air. And last, of course, we have the Epstein files. The year started off with the administration inviting a bunch of influencers to the White House to pose with binders of the Epstein files. They promised a bigger release, only to backtrack and say they weren't going to release anything. Dan Bongino roided out and almost Rage quit the FBI. The rest of the year has been a steady drip of emails and documents implicating Trump and his friends in the flight files, culminating in an embarrassing vote to release them. Here's a dramatic reading of a note that Donald Trump wrote to Jeffrey Epstein.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Voiceover. There must be more to life than having everything.

[Jon Lovett]

Donald. Yes, there is. But I won't tell you what it is. Oh my God, will I. Since I. We have certain things in common, Jeffrey. Yes, we do. Come to think of it, enigmas never age. Have you noticed that? As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.

[Jon Favreau]

It's like chunks in the room.

[Jon Lovett]

That's a wonderful thing. Happy birthday.

[Jon Favreau]

Epstein's.

[Jon Lovett]

Every day another wonderful.

[Tommy Vietor]

What is happening?

[Jon Lovett]

What is a fucking Smeagol? Why is it, why is it, why is it turning into Gollum in Lord of the Rings? Listen, I'm going to say this, I mean it. Hey, do not quit your day job.

[Tommy Vietor]

I like a big swing.

[Jon Favreau]

I like a big swing.

[Jon Lovett]

Really appreciate that.

[Jon Favreau]

Is that the full category?

[Elijah Cohn]

Full category. Self inflicted political scandal.

[Tommy Vietor]

So I feel like at the end of the day this was not very compelling at all.

[Jon Favreau]

Epstein.

[Tommy Vietor]

Epstein.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, we have a group chat that went awry in a year long scandal involving the covering up of a sex trafficking ring. Yeah, I'm gonna go with the latter.

[Jon Favreau]

All were bad scandals, but yeah, I agree. You gotta hand it to Mr. Epstein. Speaking of ballroom, remember when manspreading was like a big issue that was always about and like style pieces. How long have you had the bulls room?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Manspreading joke in your back?

[Jon Favreau]

30 seconds.

[Jon Lovett]

God, I didn't even.

[Tommy Vietor]

Tommy's got his laptop so we're still going to get random trying.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Did you man spread someone once and get trouble for it on the line?

[Jon Favreau]

Did I man spread someone?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, I think so.

[Jon Favreau]

It's not that I remember.

[Tommy Vietor]

So I just want to zero in on this, on who's responsible for the scandal here. You said, Mr. Epsy, this is a Pam Bond, this is Pam Bondi scandal.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Right.

[Tommy Vietor]

This is not even Donald Trump's scandal. Because if she hadn't dropped the binder, the initial binder, with all the fucking influencers that invited them to the White House, given them a binder, it still would have been brought up, I'm sure at some point. But don't you think that if they looked into it and realized like, oh, there's not much more we can put out or Trump's in some of this stuff that it might have gone differently for them? Yeah, there's some counterfactual. But, yeah, I've just.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

There's several junctures here. There's J.D. vance declaring on Theo Vaughn's podcast that all the files should come out. Important part. Trump allowing people around him to keep calling for it all the way up and through the election. And then Pam Bonney deciding to release portions of it without actually looking at what was in the files. But that was like. That was probably the most. The key moment that put us on this path.

[Tommy Vietor]

But she definitely. I was ready to say that up until I heard Epstein. Of course, Brendan Carr would have been my next. My next nominee.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I thought I would have seen. I would have gone signal gate. I would have gone signal gate.

[Jon Favreau]

Really?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah.

[Jon Lovett]

I would have said. But what's interesting is we all. I would have said Ballroom only because.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah mattered a lot.

[Jon Lovett]

The ongoing. The thing is that's going to continue and if he can't, like, build anything, it's like going to take longer than he thinks. It's just going to be a kind of ongoing little kind of motif throughout the next year or two.

[Tommy Vietor]

I thought about Brendan Carr because it's like, again, they could have potentially gotten what they wanted had he not been so fucking stupid to say that out loud on Benny Johnson's.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, but nothing happened.

[Elijah Cohn]

Jimmy Kimmel.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

We missed like three episodes of Jimmy Kimmel when we were back.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, right. But would they have?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I mean, just for the sheer stupidity of SignalGate. There are 300 million people in America and the one person they accidentally add to the group chat about bombing Yemen is the editor of the Atlantic, who's written more stories. It is with so funny disclosures of Trump and national security than almost anyone else.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah. And I'm thinking the guy who did that because we just focused on Hegseth. I forgot that Hegseth isn't the one who added him. Right.

[Jon Favreau]

Mike Waltz got frog marched out of the White House, sent to New York.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

But Hegseth made it much worse by having that group chat, having other group chats on his personal phone where he was sharing this sort of.

[Tommy Vietor]

It's clear that, like, everyone in the government knows they're all on signal.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

They're all doing this. Government that's long gone.

[Jon Favreau]

Foia's dead.

[Tommy Vietor]

He's fucking dead.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Stopping on the pra.

[Jon Favreau]

The pra.

[Tommy Vietor]

That shit.

[Jon Favreau]

All right, so how do we do this? How do we award it?

[Elijah Cohn]

Well, Pam Bondi accepts on behalf of Jeff Epstein. We don't do posthumous awards here in the pundies.

[Tommy Vietor]

And wow. We know that's True.

[Elijah Cohn]

And now. Now the Abe scandal moves on to the best in show category, which we will revisit at the. So our next category.

[Jon Lovett]

An inappropriate release about a bunch of inappropriate releases.

[Elijah Cohn]

Let that breathe, okay?

[Tommy Vietor]

Or don't.

[Elijah Cohn]

Let's move on to our next category. Fluffer of the year for worst Trump administration official. This is a.

[Jon Favreau]

It was more of a. It was a motif on. Instead of choose your fighter, choose your fluffer. In terms of the cabinet meetings, the lavish praise, embarrassing, obsequious.

[Jon Lovett]

Got it.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Are we judging them on their obsequiousness?

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Well, I don't know.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

We'll find out, I guess. That's a good point.

[Elijah Cohn]

You guys can choose style. Obsequiousness, negative impact on the country. So many great things.

[Tommy Vietor]

Okay, so we can.

[Jon Favreau]

Sick.

[Elijah Cohn]

First up, we have Pete Hegseth. He's weirdly obsessed with appearances. Gave some weird speeches about our generals being fat. He did signal gate already. And now he's allegedly committed several war crimes. Here's a recent tweet responding to those allegations. It's the children's character Franklin the turtle shooting an RPG at a bunch of boats. Cool. Cool, Pete. Next up is Kristi Noem. There's so many clips we could play of Kristi Noem. She took content in front of C. COD and awkwardly pointed a gun at an ICE Agent during a video she released. But I like this video.

[Tommy Vietor]

Welcome to the team recruits. I'm Christy Noem, head of Homeland Security.

[Jon Lovett]

She seems nice. Very pretty.

[Tommy Vietor]

A few years ago, I had to.

[Elijah Cohn]

Put my puppy down by shooting it in the face. Because sometimes doing what's important means doing what's hard. We can just stop him. We don't have to watch the whole thing.

[Tommy Vietor]

So much dog murder. No, it's so funny that that's the runner for her.

[Elijah Cohn]

Well, and south park was really good this season. That was probably the funniest bit. Next up, we have Stephen Miller, YouTube. He has amassed a ton of power in the administration. He plays significant roles in both DHS and DOJ and in crafting domestic policy. He's also awful on TV and spouts white nationalist talking points. Here's a clip of both.

[Jon Favreau]

So you see, with a lot of.

[Elijah Cohn]

These immigrant groups, not only is the first generation unsuccessful. Again, Somalia is a clear example here.

[Jon Favreau]

Not only is the first generation unsuccessful.

[Elijah Cohn]

But you see persistent issues in every subsequent generation.

[Jon Lovett]

So you see consistent high rates of welfare use, consistent high rates of criminal.

[Elijah Cohn]

Activity, consistent failures to assimilate.

[Jon Lovett]

But this shouldn't be a surprise, Will.

[Elijah Cohn]

It's just common sense.

[Jon Favreau]

Will King is so fucking stupid, by the way. Also, if this is the way we're going to judge people, I think we should lock up your parents. Stephen Miller.

[Elijah Cohn]

Okay.

[Jon Favreau]

For doing generational punishment.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah. Because they committed generational punishment on the rest of us. Now we have to deal with this.

[Elijah Cohn]

Next up, we have J.D. vance. Look, Vance sucks. We've talked about it ad nauseum. Here he is discussing fully employed adult Republican staffers celebrating Hitler and being super racist in private group chats as performed by a producer. J.D.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Vance, voice. I really don't want us to grow.

[Tommy Vietor]

Up in a country where a kid.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Telling a stupid joke, telling a very offensive, stupid joke is caused to ruin their lives.

[Jon Lovett]

That video exists.

[Jon Favreau]

We don't need.

[Jon Lovett]

It's like, we're not.

[Tommy Vietor]

Why is he like a Valley Girl kind of vibe?

[Jon Lovett]

We don't.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah.

[Jon Lovett]

And also, by the way, when you're reading a script, you don't read the. The name. Every time it's. Everyone's reading the name. And then the line. You just do the fucking lines.

[Elijah Cohn]

It's a scene. We were right up against it for recording these.

[Jon Favreau]

Tough category.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yep. We have a couple. We have one more. I think that we should. I'm gonna. I'm gonna skip cash because cash is so funny, but I don't think he's gonna be the worst. And rounded out with RFK Jr. Who has done unbelievable damage at HHS. He's rolled back vaccine mandates and has done more damage just by disparaging them. Here's a weird ass clip of him talking about Tylenol.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

There's also just.

[Elijah Cohn]

There's many, many other confirmation studies. There's two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate system. And it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. Oh, you know, none of this is positive, but all of that is stuff.

[Jon Lovett]

That we should be paying attention to, I would say.

[Tommy Vietor]

I never noticed Doug Burgum in that clip looking. He's like. He's like, I think.

[Jon Favreau]

Are you talking about baby penises?

[Tommy Vietor]

No one wanted to read rfk.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yeah.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

I was going to say missed out, missed opportunity, not any repertoire.

[Jon Lovett]

People just speak through a fan.

[Jon Favreau]

Okay, so how do we judge this one? Like, in terms of aggregate deaths? I think RFK is going to be the winner, you know, long term. But is this a lifetime achievement award or is this a this year category?

[Tommy Vietor]

I will make.

[Jon Lovett]

I know what you're going to say.

[Tommy Vietor]

I'll make the case for Stephen Miller because he.

[Jon Favreau]

Because his wife's podcast sucks.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, right. That's number one. Because he controls everything. Because he. He has. Where do you think the boat strikes idea came from? Stephen Miller in 2018? Where do you think everything bad that Christine Ohm has been doing came from? Stephen Miller? So, like, he. He is the most powerful person in the administration who is not Donald Trump and does and is behind all the bad things. So that's my case for Stephen Miller.

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah, I agree with that.

[Tommy Vietor]

Maybe RFK Jr. Is doing his own thing. So I guess that could be an exception there.

[Jon Lovett]

But I think RFK is a kind of singular bad actor who didn't need to be as bad. Right. You can imagine a bunch of other people having gotten that job. Like had the Olivia Nutcy story broke a couple months. There's a whole bunch of paths in which we have someone slightly less terrible at hhs, but no American.

[Jon Favreau]

Different, though.

[Jon Lovett]

American. Yeah. Those who canto teach. Yeah, but like, no one you could swap out. And some other fucking person will be in there executing what Miller wants. Right. Like, a lot of people could leave and the machine would still turn. I think.

[Elijah Cohn]

I agree.

[Jon Lovett]

It's Miller.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah, I think that's probably right. And J.D. vance has got many afternoons to win this award.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah. Well, and also, he just. He's just a shitposter. He doesn't have any real power.

[Jon Favreau]

I'm going to zag and say Kash Patel because his climate footprint from all those FBI plane uses has got to be through the roof.

[Jon Lovett]

Well, then Taylor Swift is the worst part of the administration by that standard. I don't think that's fair.

[Tommy Vietor]

We didn't get. We didn't even get to hear Kash Patel as a nominee.

[Jon Favreau]

You don't want to hear that voice.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yes. It was as randomized.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

I'm entitled to a personal life, just like my other agency counterparts with their partners. Do I support my girlfriend?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Absolutely.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

And do I take trips with her?

[Elijah Cohn]

Absolutely.

[Jon Lovett]

The fuck was that? That was my. That. Hey, by the way, you know what? You know what? Everybody go. Go listen to. That was performance.

[Tommy Vietor]

That was somebody under.

[Jon Lovett]

He didn't just read the lines. He brought something to it. There was an ad.

[Tommy Vietor]

There was a character.

[Jon Favreau]

He had a choice.

[Jon Lovett]

That was excellent.

[Tommy Vietor]

He inhabited Kash Patel.

[Elijah Cohn]

He did.

[Jon Lovett]

He did.

[Elijah Cohn]

Are we warming up to these intense performances? Do we think.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah, we're loving it.

[Elijah Cohn]

Warming up to the voiceover.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

The audience is going to just adore this.

[Jon Lovett]

Mike, I'm impressed.

[Jon Favreau]

You're binary.

[Jon Lovett]

The rest of these fucking.

[Jon Favreau]

Sounds like Stephen Miller's our winner, huh?

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah.

[Jon Lovett]

Ye.

[Jon Favreau]

Foreign.

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[Tommy Vietor]

Beef Zigging and Zagging.

[Elijah Cohn]

Best political beef of 2025. First up. God, I like this category. We have Elon Musk versus Donald Trump. Elon Musk crashed out at the White House. He got into a physical brawl with soybean farmer Scott Besant. Doge largely failed. He left and then went on a bit of a PR spiral, posting the following about Donald Trump.

[Jon Lovett]

Time to drop the really big bomb at Real. Donald Trump is in the Epstein Files that is the real reason they have not been made public.

[Elijah Cohn]

Okay. Trump responded by threatening to end government contracts with musk companies. Next up, we have Scott Bessant versus Bill Pulte. @ a fancy dinner hosted by Allan Chamath. Things got heated between Scott Besson and mortgage fraud fanatic Bill Pulte. Here's a dramatic reading of an abbreviated version of the confrontation between Bessant and.

[Tommy Vietor]

Pulte. That'll be real.

[Jon Lovett]

Abbreviated. Why the fuck are you talking.

[Elijah Cohn]

To the President about me? Fuck.

[Jon Lovett]

You. I'm gonna punch you in your fucking.

[Elijah Cohn]

Face. We could go outside.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Pulte. To do.

[Elijah Cohn]

What? To talk.

[Jon Lovett]

Besant. No. I'm gonna fucking beat your.

[Tommy Vietor]

Ass. The reading that you named. What was happening when you were reading the name? Yeah, it's like they're in the room. Turn to camera. Exterior imps.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Club. Like Chuck Schumer with the Democratic messaging.

[Jon Favreau]

Clan. Good.

[Elijah Cohn]

Stuff. There are many more dramatic readings. So, I mean, oh.

[Jon Favreau]

Wow. Gird your loins.

[Elijah Cohn]

Everyone. Next up, we have Marjorie Taylor Greene versus Donald Trump. Marjorie Taylor Greene went against the President several times, culminating in her announcing her retirement from Congress at the end of the term. She felt sorry for the President, or so she said, and he gave her a nickname. Here is a dramatic reading of one of Trump's truths about her lightweight congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor.

[Jon Lovett]

Brown. Green grass turns brown when it begins to rot. Betrayed the entire Republican Party when she turned left, performed poorly on the pathetic View and became the Rhino that we all know. She always was just another fake politician, no different than Rand Paul Jr. Thomas Massie, who was caught again being a full fledged Republican in name only. Rhino Make America great.

[Tommy Vietor]

Again. That is you, Ryan.

[Jon Favreau]

Right? Yeah, of.

[Tommy Vietor]

Course. Okay, thank you. Well, I know you were playing. You've been playing a couple people, so I just want.

[Jon Lovett]

To. Well, because I think in that one it was one of the people he was playing was Pennywise the Clown. I heard some of.

[Jon Favreau]

That. I thought we got Alec Baldwin to do.

[Elijah Cohn]

It. Yeah, some real 2017.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

SNL. Just setting a note to myself for my notes for next year's.

[Elijah Cohn]

Bundies last. Let's get some Democrats into the mix. Andrew Cuomo versus Zoran Mamdani. This kind of went beyond the campaign when Cuomo decided to enter the general as an independent after he lost Mamdani in the primary. Cuomo ran all kind of racist Islamophobic ads against Mamdani. And here's how Mamdani said goodbye to Cuomo after his victory wish. Andrew Cuomo, only the best in private life. But let tonight Be the final time I utter his.

[Tommy Vietor]

Name. Ryan, Good job with Mumdan. Yeah, that was.

[Jon Lovett]

Great. Your best sounded just like.

[Tommy Vietor]

Him. Good.

[Jon Favreau]

Job. Then he took a big shit.

[Tommy Vietor]

On Cuomo's dad too, later in that.

[Jon Favreau]

Speech. It was a good.

[Elijah Cohn]

One. That rounds out the category. Who do you guys like for best.

[Jon Favreau]

Beef? This is really.

[Jon Lovett]

Hard. It's funny because the. The. The Scott Besant vs. Bill Pulte was my favorite in terms of the humor of.

[Tommy Vietor]

It. It's also like the most purely.

[Jon Lovett]

Wwf. He literally threatened to punch.

[Jon Favreau]

Him. Also, Scott Besant getting in multiple altercations also with.

[Jon Lovett]

Elon. Yeah.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. Didn't see him as the fighter in this.

[Jon Lovett]

Administration. Listen, you want to be a.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Gay guy, don't fuck with a.

[Jon Lovett]

Farmer. Don't vote with a gay guy from New.

[Tommy Vietor]

Orleans. Having rehashed the Trump Elon beef, though. That was a big.

[Jon Favreau]

One. Yeah, it was a big.

[Tommy Vietor]

Beef. And it did get pretty like.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Trump's in the Epstein files turned out to be.

[Tommy Vietor]

True. Yeah, that was a pretty big one. You're right. I'm between Besant, Pulte, and that one. I feel like the MTG Trump.

[Jon Favreau]

One was too civil, but also probably the most.

[Jon Lovett]

Significant. Gordon. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Interesting. I mean, the breakup with Elon's.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Pretty significant, but they're back together.

[Jon Favreau]

Again. They're back together, but, like, the first three, four, five months of the administration was defined by Elon Musk. He was like a shadow. President Doge was everything, and now he's.

[Tommy Vietor]

Just. Yeah, all.

[Jon Lovett]

Right. I'm with that. I'm with.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

That. Okay, we can do it. We should do it long.

[Elijah Cohn]

Enough. Okay, great. Trump versus Elon. Okay, next category. We're up to our groins in beef this year, so we took some extra time in the kitchen to whip up a secondary beef category. Best pod Save America host public fight with a Trump administration official. Arm back of.

[Tommy Vietor]

Personality. Wonder who's gonna be leading this.

[Elijah Cohn]

Category. Let's take a look at this diverse group of nominees. First up, Jon Favreau versus Elon Musk in a dispute over usaid Musk called Jon quote, dollar store Jon Favreau. Next up, we have John versus All in Chamath in a dispute over the legality of ccot. Chamath called John quote, probably not a total R slur. Who should brush up on his con law. I'm not saying it on the.

[Jon Favreau]

Pod. The.

[Elijah Cohn]

Word. I've seen the R.

[Tommy Vietor]

Word. Oh, oh, oh. Our.

[Jon Favreau]

Slur. It's the thing that all Republicans fought to be able to.

[Tommy Vietor]

Say. I thought it was like arse like a R s like a.

[Elijah Cohn]

Scottish moth. Was community noted for not knowing the Constitution. Next we have Jon Favreau again versus Stephen Miller. Stephen called John's objections to his immigration policies, quote, shocking and heartless because in their view, John is on the side of murders, rapists, etc.

[Jon Favreau]

Etc. Well, he's.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Right.

[Jon Lovett]

True. Yeah, Gotcha.

[Elijah Cohn]

There. Jon Favreau again versus Megan Kelly in a dispute about Sydney Sweeney's jeans ad. Megan pretended to not know who's.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

John? That.

[Jon Lovett]

Was. That was a. That was a low moment for.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

You. That was a low moment for.

[Jon Lovett]

You. The rest time. The rest. I'm on board with that one. Made me a little.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Sad. Okay, what's the next.

[Elijah Cohn]

One? Oh, you'll never believe this last one. Never believe It's Jon Favreau versus J.D. vance in a dispute. Vast and loose way of reporting information. Vance called Jonah.

[Jon Favreau]

Dipshit. Oh, you won that one for.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

You. That was a great.

[Jon Lovett]

One. Yeah, that was a great.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

One. So you get a New York Times story out of.

[Tommy Vietor]

It. Very talent. Oh.

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah. And that's the goal. That's what we.

[Tommy Vietor]

Have. More media. Tweet your way. More content.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Times. I'm glad you found your calling as opposed.

[Jon Lovett]

To. Well, last year's news resolution was to post more. Yeah, he shockingly turned out to.

[Tommy Vietor]

Be careful of what this. Who. Who knows what I'm. I'm taking suggestions.

[Elijah Cohn]

From. Oh, my.

[Jon Lovett]

God. We had a director and resolutions.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Carefully. I think back to around, like, 2018. We were on a flight somewhere, and we.

[Tommy Vietor]

Were. Red.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Steez. We all remember this. We were, like, rushing. We were rushing to get to our show, and John stopped because he had to respond to someone called Red Steez. And that was a little moment. And then you backed away from the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Wars. Well, I blocked Red.

[Jon Lovett]

Steez. He wasn't retreating.

[Tommy Vietor]

Reloading. Also named Stephen Miller, I.

[Jon Lovett]

Think. Yeah.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Yeah.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yes. Stephen.

[Jon Lovett]

Miller. Stephen.

[Jon Favreau]

Miller. Tough.

[Jon Lovett]

Name. So I think it's Vance. Yeah. He called you a dipshit. It was.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Great. The vice president get the vice president call you dipshit. That's.

[Elijah Cohn]

Impressive. Nice. I was ready to have your.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Back. President.

[Jon Favreau]

Something. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Joe Biden.

[Tommy Vietor]

Said about all of us behind closed.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Doors. Yeah. There's some AOL where he's doing.

[Tommy Vietor]

It, and his son did it quite publicly. Very.

[Jon Favreau]

Publicly.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yeah. Yeah. All right, next up, we have. Well, I got to read the jokes first. I'm so bad at this. Okay. Donald Trump is like the HBO series the Last of Us. Barely watchable after the first season. I Haven't watched the second season, but I like that joke. Also, he sees some sort of hideous fungus sprouting more and more moments of moral decay across our political landscape. Which of the following is 2025's most corrupt, corrupt date stacked. First up, there's the Qatari jet. Earlier this year, Trump accepted a massive one from Qatar to be used alongside Air Force One. It could cost taxpayers over a billion dollars after it's re outfitted. Here's Trump talking about the plane. I think it's a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Offer. I mean, I could be a.

[Elijah Cohn]

Stupid person, say, no, we don't want a free, very expensive.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Airplane. Not free again, for a second. Just take me inside. What was the thinking in which live video to have a producer read in which to use the live.

[Elijah Cohn]

Video? Most of the live videos we had, like, we went with the live video and then some. We couldn't find the live video at the time, so we were like, well, this will be a good producer read. And look, last year, the producer reads. They're just straight reads. They were great. Now we've veered into some theater I'm not sure I'm comfortable.

[Jon Favreau]

With.

[Jon Lovett]

So. Got.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

It. Just throwing your colleagues under the bus right here live on the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Podcast. We throw under the bus a.

[Jon Lovett]

Lot. What a safe space for drama. What a safe space for actors to bring their best.

[Elijah Cohn]

Selves. Do the next thing next up is Trump's World Liberty financial venture. This crypto venture that Trump's family runs. It's just a vehicle for corruption. One example this year is that a Chinese billionaire named Justin sun bought $75 million worth of World Liberty Financial tokens shortly after the SEC stopped investigating Sun's.

[Jon Favreau]

Companies. So is this category all crypto, all world.

[Elijah Cohn]

Liberties? No, no. We're gonna jump to some other stuff now which is corrupting the.

[Jon Favreau]

Doj. No, I'm saying the last one, the World Liberty one, is that Trump coin crypto.

[Elijah Cohn]

Scams. Next up, we have corruption at the doj. Trump is using the DOJ to go after people he doesn't like, like Tish James and James Comey. On the other side of that, he's pardoning a bunch of people who are loyal to him, like the January Six writers for crimes they didn't even commit during January 6th. Crypto mogul and Binance founder CZ and the Chrisleys, a reality show family. Here's Trump talking about pardoning.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Cz. CZ had caused significant harm to US national security, essentially by allowing terrorist groups like Hamas to move millions of dollars around. Why did you pardon.

[Tommy Vietor]

Him? Okay, are you.

[Elijah Cohn]

Ready? I don't know who he.

[Tommy Vietor]

Is. Just that would have been for a.

[Jon Favreau]

Great. Really.

[Tommy Vietor]

Convincing. We had Nora's voice, but then Ryan.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Played. Can Ryan also do a good.

[Elijah Cohn]

Nora? I've heard it. It's really strong. And last up is ass kissing and knee bending. We have ABC and CBS settling suits for millions of dollars. Law firms and universities bending the knees. CEOs like Tim Cook give him weird little gifts with gold on them. And recently FIFA created a peace prize and just gave it to Trump ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Here's a clip of that. We saved millions and millions of lives. India, Pakistan, so many different wars that we're able to end in some cases a little bit before they started. Just right before they started. It was going to be late, but we got them.

[Tommy Vietor]

Done. We were able to end some wars before they.

[Jon Favreau]

Started. It's just so.

[Elijah Cohn]

Triggering. So which is the most corrupt? I know some of them are specific instances. Some of them are more broad trends of corruption, but.

[Jon Lovett]

Right. Especially because the crypto corruption includes the pardons. It's all one and the.

[Elijah Cohn]

Same.

[Tommy Vietor]

Hmm. There's the crypto. There's the pardons in some of the.

[Jon Favreau]

Pardons. There's.

[Tommy Vietor]

Crypto. But, like, it's pardons. Right. So it's pardons versus political prosecution. So it's pardons versus crypto versus.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

What was the first.

[Tommy Vietor]

One?

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Freedom. Oh, the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Pret. The jet.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Versus political prosecutions and non.

[Tommy Vietor]

Prosecutions. Oh, and the.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Folding. Oh, the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Folding. The.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Bending. Yeah. I don't think it should be the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Folding. No, I.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Agree. Because that's really more like Bob Igery corruption. Redstone.

[Jon Lovett]

Scandal. Right. And that's a calculus based on the corruption that Trump has. You can disagree with the calculus and the stake of it, but they're reacting to a very real.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Thing. I kind of feel like it's crypto.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. I mean, the Qatari jet is the current, I think, biggest ticket item that we know of, but the crypto, I think, is the most systemic, ongoing avenue for corruption that includes, like, getting paid off by, you know, the Emiratis in exchange for AI chips, like the truly buying and selling of US national.

[Tommy Vietor]

Security. I will say the most egregious example of corruption in terms of Donald Trump just stealing directly from taxpayers is the Justice Department lawsuit. Trump, Trump suing Trump. Trump suing the government. And Trump in the government role deciding to settle with himself and get.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

If he had done that, if he had actually done it, because he hasn't done it yet, he hadn't got the money yet. So when he gets the money.

[Jon Favreau]

In 2026, when that.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Check. Put it on the.

[Jon Favreau]

List. Honorable.

[Tommy Vietor]

Mention. Yeah, I would say.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Crypto. Otherwise, I don't.

[Jon Lovett]

Agree. I think it is the doj. I think it's the corruption of the doj, the use of pardons, the political prosecutions, because all these, all these other things, they're all bad. They're all enabled by like, it is not possible for him to be bribed without a DOJ that's not going to look into anything. And without a Congress that's not going to look into anything. But the, the DOJ is the kind of core of the rot. If right now, Pam Bondi was replaced by Eric Holder and he was in that role, it would, they would all be half. They would have to behave. I think it's the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Doj. You sold me. You sold.

[Jon Favreau]

Me. So who votes.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Crypto? I'll vote.

[Jon Favreau]

Crypto. Who votes what? Lever love it just said doj. Doj. I think I'm gonna go. Qatari jet. You guys.

[Jon Lovett]

Win. Well, should we go to a.

[Jon Favreau]

Runoff? No, no, no. You have to, I think two.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

To one to one.

[Jon Lovett]

Events. All right.

[Jon Favreau]

Great. This episode of Pod Save America is brought to you by.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

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[Jon Favreau]

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Bread? With your bread? No, it's more for cooking in my house. But when I, if I go out somewhere, I love a good, I love a good dip and dunk. But it's, it's super, it's great, it's high quality, it's, you know, affordable. I don't know. It's my go to olive oil has been way before they were a sponsor on this show and you get 10% off your first order on their site. But I personally recommend their new dinner party pack or their duo gift set which is now available in glass. So head to Graza Co Crooked and use crooked to get 10% off your order and get cooking this holiday season with some fresh, delicious olive oil. That's Graza Co crooked code crooked spelled G R A Z A co crooked code.

[Tommy Vietor]

Crooked. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. You know one of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to the big man up north. And this year he wants you to know the best gift that you can give someone is the gift of Mint Mobile's unlimited wireless for $15 a month. Now you don't even need to wrap it. Give it a [e-mail].

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Switch. Upfront payment of $45 for a 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy taxes and fees extra. See mint.

[Elijah Cohn]

Mobile.Com. Next category. Every week at this company, I crawl out of the scorching sands of the Maga desert, searching desperately for one tiny drop of living out to keep me alive. It was a real dune situation this year, but we squeezed out a few drops. Open your mouths to wet your whistle for these. For the most lib out able moments of 2025, they were pretty few and far between and a lot of them were Zoran Mamdani. But first up we have Gavin Newsom starting to tweet like Donald Trump. It's been nearly a decade of people trying to figure this out. How to counter Trump on social media. Hats off to Gavin for kind of figuring it out. Here is a read of one of his tweets from a Pon Save America.

[Jon Favreau]

Producer. I'm gonna blow my brains out before this.

[Jon Lovett]

Happens. Fox hates that I'm America's favorite governor. Ratings King saving America, while Trump.

[Elijah Cohn]

Can'T even conquer the big stairs on Air Force One.

[Jon Lovett]

Anymore. Fox is losing it because when I type America now.

[Jon Favreau]

Wins. Boombox, Very teeny, tiny speaker Austin.

[Elijah Cohn]

Shouting, well, the Post is in all caps, to be.

[Tommy Vietor]

Fair. Yeah, no, thank.

[Elijah Cohn]

You. Pick that up.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Austin. Did Austin do high school.

[Jon Favreau]

Theater? No. The answer was.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

No. Seems.

[Elijah Cohn]

Clear. Next up is Zoran's primary win. Mamdani completed one of the most innovative and interesting campaigns in recent memory to defeat Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. We have a clip of him kicking off his campaign by interviewing people on the street, but I don't think it's going to translate that well to audio, so let's skip it. We've all seen it. It's a great clip. He ran a great campaign. That primary was cool. Next up is just election night 2025. We won everything. Zoran in New York, Spanberger and Cheryl in Virginia. New Jersey. We flipped those commission seats in Georgia. California.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Got. Boy, did.

[Elijah Cohn]

We. California got redistricting. That was awesome. We really needed it. And last we had this nice little moment of Zoramdani visiting Trump at the White House. Here's a.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Clip. He asked about your comment calling the president a fascist, and your answer was, both President Trump and I have been clear about our positions and our views. Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a.

[Elijah Cohn]

Fascist? I've spoken about. That's okay. You can just say.

[Jon Lovett]

Yes. Okay. It's.

[Elijah Cohn]

Easier. It's easier than.

[Jon Lovett]

Explaining that wasn't living out. That was Trump's.

[Tommy Vietor]

Moment. You know what I was gonna say. It's comforting to know that no matter how much the four of us may like Zoran Mamdani, our staff at Crooked is always going to glaze him just a little bit harder. You're now three of the.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Four. I think you said glazing in four of the last nine podcasts glaze.

[Tommy Vietor]

On. I think it's the off.

[Jon Favreau]

Year. It's election night 2025. It's a runaway for.

[Tommy Vietor]

Sure. Run away. Best night of the.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Year.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yeah. I mean, look, it was not a great year for living out. What. What. What other moments were.

[Tommy Vietor]

There? Crooked con. Jesus. Cool.

[Jon Favreau]

Unbelievable. You know what? The Indiana redistricting. Redistricting loss that Trump just was served was pretty.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Big. Yeah. I've seen files release vote. That was.

[Tommy Vietor]

Good.

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah. I want to attack the whole premise of the year being hellacious and not a. Like, you know.

[Jon Favreau]

Trump.

[Jon Lovett]

Right. Trump came in like a lion leaves Like a lamb. You know, it's like things he's. He came in fast and hard and have caught us all off guard. But I feel like we end. We end the year a little bit. Speaking of the better place than how it started.

[Elijah Cohn]

What. What's better than how they started this year we'll get some most horrifying Trump moment of the year and maybe we'll for sure that.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Statement. But how many categories? How many categories we have.

[Elijah Cohn]

Left? We can skip a.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Bunch. Look, I'm just. No, no, I'm just, I'm.

[Elijah Cohn]

Asking. We had a production meeting about like, hey, there's 12 too many.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Categories. And you guys judgment in my question. No need to be so.

[Elijah Cohn]

Defensive. You, you. There was something behind that question. Be honest. Okay, Most irritating discourse of the.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Year. A perennial favorite for this.

[Elijah Cohn]

One. Let's start off strong with abundance and Ezra Klein in.

[Jon Favreau]

General. Oh, my.

[Elijah Cohn]

God. This year saw Ezra and Derek Thompson's book transform from a suggestion of summer forms into, according to some, a straight up embrace of.

[Tommy Vietor]

Eugenics. Did someone do go for eugenics? Please don't read.

[Elijah Cohn]

That. Yeah, we.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Won'T. John did three tours in the abundance.

[Tommy Vietor]

Wars. I have a purple. He threw it over the fence back.

[Elijah Cohn]

At. He threw it over the. Over the.

[Jon Lovett]

Fence. A cap, you.

[Tommy Vietor]

Know, near a spit on.

[Elijah Cohn]

Me. Next discourse. Next discourse. The Maine Senate primary. Oh, obviously Graham Platner is a polarizing.

[Tommy Vietor]

Guy. Give that to a bunch of Platner bros. Yep.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yep. Next we're going to skip the Texas Senate primary because that's bad discourse. That's just getting started. It's not quite mature. No bad discourse there. Next we have Sydney Sweeney's jeans ad. This.

[Jon Favreau]

Was. Oh, that's a really good.

[Elijah Cohn]

One. The kind of quintessential woke is dead, woke is alive discourse of the year. And at one point, Donald Trump himself weighed in, saying that he loves Sydney Sweeney. Jeans are flying off the shelf. She has the hottest ad on the market. This. This went for months. Next up, we have that one clip about Joe Biden from Crooked Con and the Jake Tapper Alex Thompson book and all the continuing zombie discourse about Biden dropping out. Here's a clip of a pro Biden influencer talking about Crooked.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Con. I just saw the most ludicrous.

[Elijah Cohn]

Thing I've seen in a long time.

[Jon Lovett]

And that's that their main theme of.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Their little event that they had over the weekend was that anybody wanting to.

[Elijah Cohn]

Run as a Democrat in 26 or 28 has to distance themselves from the Biden.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Years. Really, most Democrats think that Joe.

[Jon Lovett]

Biden was one hell of a president, and most historians agree with that.

[Elijah Cohn]

Too. In fact, last year, he was ranked 14th best.

[Tommy Vietor]

14Th. That's Christy.

[Elijah Cohn]

Jackson. That's Christy.

[Tommy Vietor]

Jackson. Oh.

[Jon Lovett]

Wow. I never seen that.

[Jon Favreau]

Often. Frequent.

[Jon Lovett]

Tweeter. First time. Long.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Time.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yeah. And last up, we have Olivia Nuzzy and Ryan Lizza. Basically, it's. We all know.

[Jon Lovett]

It. Remind me what the category.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Is. Most irritating.

[Jon Favreau]

Discourse. For me personally, it's abundance. Because the stakes couldn't be lower. It's.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Endless. Oh, someone doesn't care about housing.

[Jon Favreau]

Style, and it's just so fucking pedantic and boring. I could not care.

[Jon Lovett]

Less. You think the stakes can be lower in a category that includes Ryan Lizza and Olivia.

[Jon Favreau]

Nunci? I'm just saying, the stakes of this argument. Abundance versus anti abundance. People mad at a book versus a book. The stakes couldn't be lower. It's like, who gives a.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Fuck? Tommy cares about journalism, integrity and the masthead of Vanity.

[Jon Favreau]

Fair. Like, I'm not saying that Sydney Sweeney gene discourse is higher stakes. I'm just saying all of it is.

[Tommy Vietor]

Stupid. I agree with Tommy. Not for the. The stakes thing, but just because it is the most annoying to.

[Jon Favreau]

Me. So.

[Tommy Vietor]

Stupid. It's the most annoying. And it's not the fault of Ezra and Derek at all. It is the fault of the.

[Elijah Cohn]

Left. Enjoy.

[Tommy Vietor]

That. Okay, let's go A little extra poke.

[Jon Favreau]

There. There you.

[Tommy Vietor]

Go. The most of the criticisms have been completely insane and grounded in.

[Jon Lovett]

Nothing. Yeah, I think that's certainly true. Yeah, I just think the Sydney Sweeney thing was.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Stupider. It was funny and.

[Elijah Cohn]

Bigger. That's.

[Jon Favreau]

True.

[Tommy Vietor]

Bigger. Yeah, but it was. It's just sort of fun for some reason. I thought it was.

[Jon Favreau]

Fun. The Sydney Sweeney thing, to me, is, like, total kayfabe. It's manufactured. It's like. It's like plug play, culture war. The abundance thing was genuine and crazy and, like, so angry. I'm like, what are you nerds fighting about? Please.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Stop. Okay, I can go on with.

[Jon Favreau]

That.

[Elijah Cohn]

Sure.

[Tommy Vietor]

Cool.

[Elijah Cohn]

Abundance. Straight out of Arkham Asylum. It's Batman's nemesis. If they were all tedious, unfuckable losers. That's right. It's the worst MAGA Media figure of the year.

[Jon Favreau]

Award.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Nice.

[Elijah Cohn]

Wow. I like that joke. All right, first up, Katie Miller. She's Stephen Miller's wife and a horrible.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Podcaster. He inserted a line that says, is that not coded language or therefore we are Jewish? Come on, Pierce. Where are.

[Elijah Cohn]

You?

[Producer/Voice Actor]

What? Where are you.

[Jon Lovett]

Standing? God, you're.

[Elijah Cohn]

So. Next up is Benny Johnson. Benny Johnson was already Featured in the self inflicted wound segment. And he had an awful clip in front of Alligator Alcatraz where he was talking about how awesome it.

[Jon Lovett]

Was. Three, two, one. Welcome to Alligator Alcatraz. I'm getting swarmed by mosquitoes right now. And we saw at least 30 alligators on our way in driving. And there you go, ladies and gentlemen, as far as the eye can see. You go in, you don't come.

[Elijah Cohn]

Out. Next up is Tucker Carlson, Tommy's bow. He had an up and down year where he ripped apart Ted Cruz in one of the most satisfying interviews ever, showing that he's capable of doing that, and then gave the the softest gentle embrace of neo Nazi Nick Fuentes. Let's take a listen. The main challenge to that, a big challenge to that, is organized Jewry in.

[Tommy Vietor]

America. It's the most popular self evidently true idea you could.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Have. Like, don't let foreign powers, especially.

[Tommy Vietor]

Tiny ones far away, control your.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Country. Like, of course.

[Elijah Cohn]

Not. There's Nick Fuentes himself. He's a gross neo Nazi racist, anti Semite misogynist. And he had a huge year, unfortunately. And if you dig into it a little bit, he's just a huge loser. Here's a rare interview where he didn't get sucked off the whole time by the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Interviewer. Jesus.

[Elijah Cohn]

Christ. Just to clear up one of the many theories about you, I have no idea what the answer is, and you haven't got to answer, but are you actually attracted to women? I am attracted to.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Women. You're not gay?

[Elijah Cohn]

No. But I will say that women are very difficult to be around. Okay, so there's that. And do you think they should have the right to vote? I do not. No. Absolutely.

[Tommy Vietor]

Not. They should stay at.

[Elijah Cohn]

Home. Well, yeah.

[Tommy Vietor]

Absolutely. So basically you're just a misogynist old dinosaur, aren't.

[Elijah Cohn]

You? Have you ever had sex? No, absolutely.

[Jon Favreau]

Not.

[Elijah Cohn]

Wow. Since the guy who's never got laid. And last is Candace Owens. She's currently at the center of the MAGA media civil war for pushing conspiracies about Charlie Kirk's death. She's also getting sued by the President and first lady of France for repeatedly claiming that the first lady is a man. Here's a clip of Candace Owens with one of the Tate.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Brothers. It's not a coincidence that Justin Trudeau is gay. Obama gay, Zelensky gay, Emmanuel Macron gay and married to a trans man who molested him when he was a child. And that despite the overwhelming evidence. For me, the litmus test now is like Brigitte Macron. I'm like, if you want to figure out who is a fraud in media, there's no way to read that six part series and go through it and come out of it being like, no, totally legit like this. These are just rumors. It's like one picture of yourself in your first 30 years of living. Please. And.

[Jon Favreau]

They. Show me her.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Brother. Where's your.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Brother? Where is.

[Elijah Cohn]

He? I'll show you my. I'll show you my.

[Jon Favreau]

Brother. Wow, this is a tough.

[Tommy Vietor]

Category. Is it the worst? What is the.

[Elijah Cohn]

Category? Overall.

[Tommy Vietor]

Worst. Overall.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Worst.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Okay. Okay, so if it's just like worst impact in the world, that's probably Nick Fuentes.

[Jon Lovett]

Right?

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. I would argue, like Nick Fuentes being dragged into the mainstream sort of MAGA discourse or even Piers Morgan is like one of the worst things that's.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Happened in a long.

[Tommy Vietor]

Time.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah. It can't be Katie.

[Tommy Vietor]

Miller.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

No. Having a bad podcast is not really the worst thing you can.

[Jon Favreau]

Do. Benny's been a tool forever. Tucker's been Tucker forever.

[Tommy Vietor]

Candace.

[Jon Favreau]

Candace. Is she genuinely lost her fucking.

[Jon Lovett]

Mind? Yeah, but I think that, like, she's lost her mind so much that she's getting kind of cordoned off. Like, I think Fuentes is dangerous.

[Tommy Vietor]

Hasn'T lost his mind, which is a.

[Elijah Cohn]

Problem.

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah. I think it's between, for me, Tucker and Nick Fuentes because Tucker is also kind of acting as like kind of a gateway to this.

[Jon Favreau]

Stuff.

[Jon Lovett]

Absolutely. And he has more. And I do think he still has more reach. So I might say Tucker, but I'm fine either.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Way. I think Nick.

[Tommy Vietor]

Fuentes.

[Elijah Cohn]

Fuentes. Fuentes. Fuentes wins. I get what you're saying. Love it. I was thinking Tucker needs to go in because he kind of is a big part of Fuentes's rise. This.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Year, Pod Save America is brought to you by unhcr, the UN refugee agency. Displacement at its highest level since World War II. More people have been forced to flee than at any time in recorded history. UNHCR can only reach half of those facing life threatening emergencies due to funding cuts. Humanitarian aid cuts are forcing UNHCR to make impossible choices about who receives help. As wars escalate in Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere, the number of refugees is at a record high, just as the help they need is vanishing. Sick children suffering from dehydration and disease can't get access to clean water. Sick and elderly populations are unable to get medical care. Families arrive at overcrowded camps where diseases like cholera are spreading. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has operations in over 130 countries worldwide. Donations are critical in funding aid to save lives across the globe. Once a donation is made, relief can reach refugees within 72 hours of an emergency. $19 for a kitchen cooking set. $37 provides an individual a winter survival kit with a blanket, sleeping mat, kitchen set and plastic sheeting to insulate their home. $95 provides warm winter clothes for a child. $179 will provide a family without electricity a solar kit to light their home on the long, cold nights of winter. [e-mail] pod to help save lives, help families survive the deadly winter ahead. Donate at unrefugees.org pod hey, Ryan.

[Tommy Vietor]

Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. You know, one of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to the big man up north. And this year he wants you to know the best gift that you can give someone is the gift of Mint Mobile's unlimited wireless for $15 a month. Now you don't even need to wrap it. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes if network's busy. Taxes and fees extra. See mint.

[Elijah Cohn]

Mobile.Com all right, this is a downer. One worst Trump moment of the year. Just going to whip through of. There are so many bad ones. But like what was actually like his worst moment of the year and try to just make it worse for the country. Yeah, worse for the world. First.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

One. But not like worse, not worse for.

[Elijah Cohn]

Him. Yeah. Yep. Ambushing Zelenskyy at the White House. Number one Seacot and Alligator Alcatraz in his prisons. Sending troops to American cities like D.C. and Chicago, doge and cutting USAID and as we noted before, basically everything with vaccines, which we don't know how big that's gonna.

[Jon Favreau]

Be. This is tough, huh? This is really.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Hard. I don't think it's.

[Tommy Vietor]

Zelensky. No, and I don't think.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

It. I mean the USAID stuff has led to the most death.

[Jon Lovett]

Strategy. I think it's a combination of it being the most destructive just on the kind of, on the numbers plus the kind of socializing us to like a lawless administration that doesn't have to distribute the money Congress has spent and turning that into like an actual debate and allowing Trump to use it as a cudgel in government shutdowns. I think all in all, that has been the most dangerous thing he's.

[Tommy Vietor]

Done. Yeah, I just think it's it's tough, though, because the. The abuse in CCOT and Alighier, Alcatraz and all that has been quite significant. But it's not.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Death. None of these are.

[Jon Favreau]

Good. None of them are.

[Tommy Vietor]

Good. Let's vote on.

[Jon Lovett]

Usaid. And he got turned back on the SECOT.

[Tommy Vietor]

Thing.

[Jon Favreau]

Usaid. They are.

[Tommy Vietor]

Out.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Yeah. Usaid.

[Jon Lovett]

Okay.

[Elijah Cohn]

Yep. Okay. Usaid. The last category before we get to Best in show. Worst take by a Pod Save America host. You guys have graciously offered to self report yourselves after you guys got so defensive about your bad takes last.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Year. They weren't.

[Elijah Cohn]

Bad. Are you ready? Jon Favreau, you're up.

[Tommy Vietor]

First. Oh, well, this was hard because my takes are awesome. So I think my overall take that the government shutdown should have been.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

About. Damn.

[Tommy Vietor]

It. No, I mean, did.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

You. That was mine.

[Tommy Vietor]

Too. That it should have been about you. You thought it should be about health.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Care? No, no, no, no. I thought I. You wrote an entire essay, so you. Yeah, you deserve.

[Tommy Vietor]

This. It was more than a tweet, you know, I thought it was. Should not be about health care. I thought it should be about sort of like the. Whether the. Something in the authoritarian.

[Jon Favreau]

Category. You're kind of an everything.

[Tommy Vietor]

Bagel. The ICE detention, the. Mostly around immigration. I was hoping for something around immigration, and no, that was bad. I was gonna do a corollary, and it's more controversial, but I also.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Think that they reopened the government at the right.

[Elijah Cohn]

Time. Oh.

[Tommy Vietor]

Interesting. I think that the criticism is that. I think that if we had.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Help. Your really bad take is they opened at the wrong time, or your bad take was that they didn't open at the wrong.

[Tommy Vietor]

Time. My bad take was that the criticism of the time that, like, oh, the Democrats caved and this is the worst thing ever. Blah, blah, blah. It's like, I actually think that it was. If we were in a. I don't think they would have gotten any else by waiting any longer. And I think right now, the worst thing that has happened from the government shutdown and them reopening the government is not getting what we wanted on healthcare, which I don't think that would have changed anyway. And I think politically, any argument that it was bad politically is just now proven to be wrong because Democrats have only done better and Republicans have only done worse since the.

[Jon Lovett]

Shutdown. I think you can also, by the way, add this was going to be a subset of for me. I think you can also add that we all were like, oh, and all you got was a vote on subsidies. And I Actually do think the political value of getting that vote on subsidies turned out to be more than we thought. Right, Everyone, like, oh, it's just a vote. What could it do? But it actually turned into a whole political moment in which they had to come up with an alternative to put it against it. Like, it ended up actually being a bigger deal to get that vote than I think people acknowledged at the time, myself.

[Tommy Vietor]

Included.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. Who's up.

[Elijah Cohn]

Next? John.

[Jon Lovett]

Lovett. So I had a feeling we were going to talk about the shutdown, and so I did. Healthcare being the right path for the shutdown, I think was something I came to late, as in today. But what I was going to say is this was actually. I remember when Mamdani announced and I actually was having. This is. I'm just earning points inside my relationship where Ari was like, mamdani is going to do really well. I really think he can win. And I remember feeling really nervous. It was like, oh, fuck, this is the person they're going to put up against Cuomo. Like, Cuomo sucks. Like, he's going to. Like, that makes me really nervous that someone like Cuomo is going to be able to win. And I was too. And I was too.

[Jon Favreau]

Cynical. Can I follow on that? Because mine is adjacent to that. Mine wasn't in, like, a tweet. It was in a meeting. I think we all talked about whether we should book Zara Amdani in a meeting. And I was like, no, because this guy's never going to win. There's a thousand people in that race, and then we're going to have to have all of them on. No one wants to interview Andrew Cuomo because he's a total piece of shit. And in hindsight, not the best take since. Especially if, like, I've been paying attention to the race. I would have known that Andrew Cuomo was doing zero interviews and that wouldn't have been an issue. So.

[Elijah Cohn]

Related. And.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Dan. So my original take was. John's take was. I think I was. Your take was it should be on these things. And my take was that making it just about healthcare was a mistake. And I disagree with that.

[Tommy Vietor]

Choice. Yeah, I guess I agree with you. And yeah, it was more of.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

A. Yeah, like, I understood why they did it, but I thought that was a strategic area. I was sort of in the Chris Murphy camp there. That's where I was. And that was 100% wrong. They were right. Schumer and Jeffries were 100% right about that. And, like, all the data shows that they've made healthcare Affordability a highly salient issue, which is a very like just changing the direction of the issue conversation in America is almost impossible for party of the minority. And they did it, so full kudos to them. So I think my other take is that I'm doing this on the fly here, but where I was wrong earlier in this year is you. And I've had this conversation many times on the pod, but being very sort of dismissive of the people who are saying affordability, affordability, affordability, that like that had the set like the sort of the data nerd argument, message testing that affordability is a thing thing. And my argument against it was like, yes, obviously everyone cares about affordability, but it's sort of impossible to make affordability the central issue in politics.

[Elijah Cohn]

Because.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

It'S not the sort of culture identity issue that drives discourse. And so that's why always the immigration stuff, just the general authoritarian, anti democracy stuff, always trended more on social, got more coverage. But like Mandani showed that you can, if you are smart and good, make affordability the signature issue and the shutdown showed that if you are smart and good, you can make affordability the central issue. And that we have to, instead of being so dismissive of the idea that you can't sort of make like alter the political weather is we have to be more aggressive and thinking about how to actually alter the political weather and make the issues we care about front and.

[Tommy Vietor]

Center. I will say we got a huge boost there from Donald Trump himself because if you did not have the insane Trump corruption, the tariffs, the big beautiful bill, and refusing to extend the Obamacare subsidies, I don't know that you could have made affordability in a national issue as big as Mamdani obviously could have in New York because it's a smaller.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Race. But yeah, I mean, obviously you gotta like, you have to.

[Tommy Vietor]

Operate. We had some real help as.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Well. You have to operate in the political environment around you. But basically Democrats were able to make Trump change his message and just like step on a rake repeatedly talking about affordability for like a month now. And that's a pretty impressive.

[Jon Lovett]

Thing.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. On September 14th, I tweeted Drake May is good, but the Patriots are not. The patriots are now 11 and two, number one in the AFC east and tie for the best record in the.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

AFC. Are you doing bad sports takes? Because I got a lot of.

[Tommy Vietor]

Love and Tommy both did bad takes that are private. That did. They didn't even go with public.

[Jon Lovett]

Takes. Well, I would say that like.

[Tommy Vietor]

I, we all know it was a Good public.

[Jon Favreau]

Take. That's fucking public.

[Tommy Vietor]

Now. That's what I'm saying. That's why I'm glad you did.

[Jon Lovett]

That. I figured we were gonna end up talking about the shutdown and I think like whatever the. Like we wait. If you back and listen to. We thought through every single side. I think we're like pretty kind of even handed about the whole thing. But I think fundamentally we just underestimated that choosing healthcare could work as well as it did. Like we all did. I did. Everybody.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Did. So here's a. I don't. This is a take. I haven't really workshops yet, but maybe Chuck Schumer was right back in.

[Jon Favreau]

April. Yeah, I don't know how we did it.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Thing. Oh yeah. But like he like everything he said would happen did.

[Jon Lovett]

Happen. That Trump's approval would drop. It would allow Republicans would feel once he went below.

[Jon Favreau]

40. Well, the shutdown helped kill the approval rating of the Trump administration and.

[Jon Lovett]

Then it dropped below.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

40. Also, Schumer predicted that he's not going to give. He's just going to lay off a bunch of people, do a bunch of terrible things and. And you're not gonna get what you.

[Tommy Vietor]

Want. So James Carville's op ed about rolling over and.

[Jon Lovett]

Playing. But that wasn't right though. Because the one other lesson too for me in how this unfolded is we spend like, what's the Democratic message gonna be? And the message is obviously really important, but you have to pick the right fights because the fight is the message vehicle. The fight becomes the thing that gets the coverage and gets Trump to respond. And that's what people pick up on. We've had people to like doing Federalist Papers on the Senate floor, in the House floor for months. But then you have a group of members film a video and they say don't follow illegal orders. And then you kick up a real debate and that gets it more salient. So I think it's about the fight that they picked and they chose not to do that in.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

April. Yeah, that is the argument. And why I think Schumer was ultimately wrong was you had to have a fight. He was right about what the outcome would be if you went down that fight. But the actual shutdown showed that having the fight, even if you do not win, the substantive thing you're going for still has value. Like fighting is better, is on fighting and losing is almost always better than not.

[Elijah Cohn]

Fighting. So who's fallen on the.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Sword? Tommy's. Tommy's patriots take is obviously the.

[Jon Favreau]

Worst. Objectively, the worst patriots are fucking.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Awesome. Well, I mean, let's. Should.

[Jon Favreau]

We. Drake May is really half my.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Tweet is by the time this podcast comes out, they may have gotten. May have lost like 56 and nothing to the bills on.

[Elijah Cohn]

Sunday. I'm leaving it to you guys. I mean, I, I, I, I, I'm not sure if. Tommy, you're obviously the most quantifiably wrong. And then you. Yeah, you and loving that sort also, you know, you were also quantifiably wrong about mom Donnie. So on aggregate. Yeah, you know.

[Jon Favreau]

You. I'll take.

[Elijah Cohn]

It.

[Jon Favreau]

Right. There you go, Zoran. Zorin can't win.

[Tommy Vietor]

Patriots. Neither can the.

[Elijah Cohn]

Patriots.

[Tommy Vietor]

Brutal. Take Zorin and the Patriots suck as time. It was Tommy's brutal, brutal politics. Put that on a quote card for.

[Jon Lovett]

Me. I was going to say, actually we could just say we were collectively wrong about Schumer's strategy on the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Shutdown. I think that's the way to do.

[Elijah Cohn]

It. All of you, about Schumer.

[Tommy Vietor]

Okay. Send this right to.

[Elijah Cohn]

Him.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Okay. If the staff could do a dramatic reading of this part of it and send it to him, that'd be.

[Tommy Vietor]

Good. Yeah. Someone do Chuck.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Schumer.

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah. Just print out the transcode of this and just put it next to his bagel and.

[Elijah Cohn]

Sound. Okay. Green.

[Jon Lovett]

Greenblatt. Too.

[Elijah Cohn]

Much. I was gonna say the way the staff, the way the staff's been doing their impressions. That ADL is going to come after whoever does that.

[Jon Favreau]

Impression. You're next.

[Elijah Cohn]

Pal. Very good point. All right, it's time. The best in show award for the pundy of 2025. From the political scandal group, we have the Epstein scandal as our scandal of the year. From the Fluffer group, we have Stephen Miller. He's the worst Trump administration official. From the beef group, it's Trump versus Elon. From the best Pod Save America beef group, it's John versus J.D. vance. The most corrupt group, it's the corruption of the doj. The most lib out moment of the year was the off year elections. The most irritating discourse was abundance. Maga media figure was Fuentes. Worst Trump move was usaid. And the worst PSA take is all of you about Chuck Schumer's strategy on the shutdown. What's the pundi of the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Year? This is like so it's so hard to pick among these different.

[Elijah Cohn]

Categories. This is what our process thing.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Was because it worked better in the take version of.

[Tommy Vietor]

This. Because all takes. I know. That's.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

The. If I may, have you worked on any criteria.

[Elijah Cohn]

Elijah? If I may, it's just Like I listened back to last year's show and an election really structures your year where you have these discrete moments, takes results, that kind of thing. This was just a one note year was kind of getting punched in the face over and over again until we had that off.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Year. When Elijah professionals make content, they don't make.

[Jon Lovett]

Excuses.

[Jon Favreau]

Yeah. Honestly, like just for pure comedy, the funniest thing we could do would be to create a graphic about this and then have the winner out of this list just to be the abundance.

[Tommy Vietor]

Discourse. It's like name that is the worst is so stupid. It's like this is what's hard to pick about this. I don't even know if we're doing worst best. What are we even.

[Jon Lovett]

Saying? Yeah, hey, what is more Trump attacking the DOJ abundance or John tweeting a JD Van or Chuck Schumer being.

[Tommy Vietor]

Right? There's no best. There's.

[Jon Favreau]

No. I think we should go.

[Tommy Vietor]

Epstein. What? Are you sure? I don't even know what we're doing. Yes. Clear favorite. Absolutely clear favorite in the whatever the final category is of the.

[Jon Favreau]

Year.

[Elijah Cohn]

Pundi. Pundi of the year. Epstein gets the Epstein.

[Jon Favreau]

Scandal. Epstein didn't win.

[Elijah Cohn]

Himself. The defining political thing of 2025 was the Epstein scandal. Feels.

[Jon Favreau]

Right. It feels.

[Elijah Cohn]

Right. Well, thank you to the PSA.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Team for your with abundance coming in close.

[Elijah Cohn]

Second. Thanks Ali for writing those great.

[Jon Lovett]

Jokes. That is the interesting thing about it though. Like we can stop but it's like what was the most defining story from that list of stories of 2025? Was it Epstein? Was it the midterms? Like what was like the what? What defined the year.

[Tommy Vietor]

More? I actually think that the. I mean this is the living out thing, but I think that the off year election probably has set. That has changed more about the.

[Jon Lovett]

Future. That's what I think. That's what I.

[Jon Favreau]

Do. 2025.

[Jon Lovett]

Elections. I.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Do. Why not sure hope Pundi of the.

[Tommy Vietor]

Year. What gives you hope it start.

[Jon Lovett]

The year ended better than it started. As I said, Elijah, through your shit eating. He.

[Tommy Vietor]

Smirked. He quickly moved past his bad.

[Jon Favreau]

Take goes on the.

[Jon Lovett]

Attack. I'll tell that to happen is another lesson of the.

[Elijah Cohn]

Era. We'll tell that to every kid who has measles. But.

[Jon Lovett]

Okay. Not saying it's all good. Not saying we're not gonna get our hair mussed a little bit. Not saying there won't be some setbacks like the measles making a.

[Elijah Cohn]

Comeback. Pundi of the year goes to living out over the 2025 elections. Credit to the PSA team for your wonderful.

[Tommy Vietor]

Voiceover. What else do you expect from the Pod.

[Jon Lovett]

Bros?

[Tommy Vietor]

Beautiful. What gives you.

[Elijah Cohn]

Hope? All right, when do you guys want to take us.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

On? 2025? What gives you hope.

[Tommy Vietor]

Award? All right, who's going to close us out with a reading from.

[Jon Lovett]

Abundance? No, we should do a reading from American.

[Tommy Vietor]

Kanto. All right, that's all for the pundies. Thank you, Elijah. Thank you, our staff, for whatever that was. Hopefully we can keep you all. And you're not going to leave to go join.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Sag? Fortunately for us, Hollywood's dying.

[Jon Lovett]

Voiceovers. Yeah, the consolidation will reduce the number of opportunities for some of these actors.

[Tommy Vietor]

Unfortunately. We'll be back in your feed next week with a holiday mailbag and some New Year's resolutions. We're gonna do those.

[Jon Lovett]

Too. Hell.

[Tommy Vietor]

Yeah. We'll see you then.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Beautiful. Bye.

[Tommy Vietor]

Everyone. If you want to listen to.

[Ad or Guest Speaker]

Pod Save America ad free and get access to exclusive podcasts, go to cricket.com friends to subscribe on Supercast, Substack, YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Also, please consider leaving us a review that helps boost this episode and everything we do here at Crooked. Pod Save America is a crooked media production. Our producers are David Toledo, Emma Ilic, Frank and Saul Rubin. Our associate producer is Farah Safari. Austin Fisher is our senior producer. Reed Churlin is our executive editor. Adrian Hill is our head of news and politics. The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick. Jordan Kanter is our sound engineer with audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis. Matt de Groat is our head of production. Naomi Sengel is our executive assistant. Thanks to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Haley Jones, Ben Hefcoat, Mia Kelman, Kiril Pelaviev, David Toles and Ryan Young. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America.

[Jon Lovett]

East. Hey, this is Jeff Lewis from Radio Andy Live and.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Uncensored. Catch me talking with my friends.

[Jon Lovett]

About my latest obsessions, relationship issues and bodily ailments. With that kind of drama that seems to follow me, you never know what's going to.

[Producer/Voice Actor]

Happen. You can listen to Jeff Lewis live at home or anywhere you are. Download the SiriusXM app for over 425 channels of AD, free music, sports, entertainment and more. Subscribe now and get 3 months free offer details. Apply Dermatologists have long highlighted the benefits of indoor humidity for healthy, glowing skin. Dry air can start damaging your skin in just 30 minutes. That's where canopy humidifier comes in. Recommended by leading dermatologists, the canopy humidifier is a completely reimagined humidifier. With invisible clean moisture, the best kind for your skin. Go to GetCanopy Co to save $25 on your purchase today with Canopy's filter subscription. Even use code Sirius to save an additional 10% off your canopy purchase. Your skin will thank.