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Pod Save America
Trump's Flailing Goon Squad
01:34:17
After promising 90 trade deals in 90 days and delivering only two, President Trump delays his arbitrary tariff deadline yet again. A former Trump Justice Department lawyer files a whistleblower complaint detailing the administration's efforts to defy court orders. MAGA's rift over Jeffrey Epstein deepens as Tucker Carlson, Andrew Schulz, and Candace Owens join the revolt. Jon and MSNBC's Alex Wagner break down all the latest, including the administration's absurd new investigation into former FBI Director James Comey, Kristi Noem's struggle to balance her job with posting on Instagram, and Twitter's self-proclaimed "MechaHitler" AI—and the prompt resignation of its CEO. Then Ana Ramon, Executive Director of the Texas Leadership Pipeline, joins to share her hopes for the future of the Lone Star State and why running for office—even in deep-red communities—isn't as scary as it seems.
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- [00:00]
Jon Favreau
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- [01:46]
Alex Wagner
We've never experienced a moment like this in our country, and it leaves us.
- [01:50]
Ana Ramon
All with a choice. Are we gonna speak out or are we gonna be pressured into silence? I've worked for presidents. I've faced the tough questions from the.
- [01:57]
Alex Wagner
Press and even threats from the Kremlin. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can't cop bullies.
- [02:02]
Ana Ramon
We don't need to be hopeless.
- [02:04]
Alex Wagner
We have our voices and I will continue using mine.
- [02:07]
Jon Favreau
The Briefing with Jen Psaki Tuesday through.
- [02:09]
Dan
Friday at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC.
- [02:34]
Jon Favreau
Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau. It's Dan's turn to be on vacation. So with me today, my good pal Alex Wagner, MSNBC senior political Analyst. It's so good to see you.
- [02:47]
Alex Wagner
I've never heard the phrase senior political analyst sound so exciting. Thank you for having me on this fantastic podcast, John. I'm thrilled to be Dan's vacation sub.
- [02:56]
Jon Favreau
Thrilled to have you. Thrilled to have you. We had a big show for you today. We got a Trump whistleblower on deportations. MAGA World still angry about the Epstein files. FEMA officials criticizing Kristi Noem over the Texas flooding response. Democrats worrying about the midterms. Then I talked to Ana Ramon, an outstanding organizer whose group is working with Vote Save America to help recruit candidates to run for office in Texas. So stick around for that interview later. But, Alex, let's start with Donald Trump's global trade war. It's back and it's dumber than ever. You might remember this line from Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro, who White House colleagues have called dumber than a sack of bricks. We're gonna run 90 deals in 90 days, Alex. We are recording this on day 90, and I regret to inform you that the number of trade deals stands at 2. The UK that's not 90. Vietnam. That's not 90.
- [03:50]
Alex Wagner
Nope, not even close.
- [03:52]
Jon Favreau
Trump has, of course, decided to buy himself more time by pushing back the deadline yet again to August 1st, a date that everyone believes he'll stick to. In the meantime, Trump spent the week threatening at least 22 countries with higher tariffs via letters that read like the President's Truth. Social posts, complete with an abundance of capitalizations and exclamations. Except they were on White House. Yeah, yeah, they were on White House letterhead. The tariff threats went to countries we already have trade deals with, like South Korea. There's a free trade deal with South Korea, so there's already zero tariffs between both countries. And countries we have a trade surplus with, like Brazil, which Trump threatened with 50% tariffs, in part because he says he's upset that former President Bolsonaro is facing a trial for attempting a coup. But obviously, Trump. Trump's not big on people getting charged with trying to incite a coup. If you're wondering whether there's a method to all this madness, this clip of Trump speaking about tariffs at a meeting with African leaders this week should clear things up.
- [04:55]
Alex Wagner
Sir, can you explain how you calculated.
- [04:57]
Ana Ramon
Your latest round of tariffs?
- [04:59]
Alex Wagner
Was there a formula that was used.
- [05:01]
Jon Favreau
And do you expect any of these.
- [05:02]
Alex Wagner
Countries to face tariffs as well? The formula was a formula based on common sense, based on deficits, based on how we've been treated over the years, and based on raw numbers. Do you expect any of the countries here to face tariffs as well? I haven't thought of it, but I maybe. I don't know. Let's say I like him. Him, him, him, and him. No, I don't think so. Not too much. He's very good. These are friends of mine now.
- [05:32]
Jon Favreau
It's a rigorous process, Alex. Rigorous.
- [05:34]
Alex Wagner
Definitely vetted. Highest standards.
- [05:36]
Jon Favreau
Highest standards. So the markets have recovered since Trump retreated from his Liberation Day. Tariffs. Prices on some imports have risen, but nothing drastic, although we've actually lost manufacturing jobs. So that part of the promise of tariffs has not come true. Trump's approval on the economy, and especially trade, has taken a hit, but his overall ratings aren't too much lower. What do you make of the White House decision or Trump's decision to restart this trade war right now?
- [06:05]
Alex Wagner
Well, I think, you know, numerically, they can still get the. Just the basic Counting Correct. Like, 89 comes before 90, so there's that. Right. They had set this arbitrary deadline of 90 deals in 90 days. It was day 89. They had to do something. But, like, John, it's the most foolish, clownish endeavor ever. I mean, you focus on, you know, some of these countries that we are have trade surpluses with. I mean, I, I know that Burma, Myanmar, where my mom is from, is on the list with maybe a 40% tariff. If for anybody that's been following even the scantest of news about Burma, there's a civil war going on. There's, you know, millions of displaced people there, tens of thousands dead. The annual per capita income is $1,200 a year. Like, the idea that we're going to launch a trade war with Burma is like, I mean, not only stupid, but craven. In the same way that Trump's talking about needing Vietnam to buy more American SUVs, in a country that has insanely narrow roads and where the average per capita income is like $4,000 a year, there is no sense, there is no actual economic strategy that undergirds this. It's like, literally, I don't know, there's the human facts person that he employs at the White House, there's someone standing at the copy machine just firing off the tariff letters with arbitrary numbers plugged in. And the worst part about it, I mean, I honestly think the thing that most hurts Trump is that everybody's onto him, you know, like the taco thing. Trump always chickens out, I think is for trump, the most humiliating piece of all of this, which is the market saying, like, screw you, dude. Like, this is why we didn't see market panic this time, is because they get it. This is his game. This is his shtick. It's August 1st, then it'll be September 15th, then it'll be November 9th, or whatever the fuck it's gonna be. But all of this is so arbitrary and ill conceived. It makes all herbalife look like some brilliant marketing scheme. Do you know what I mean? Like, there's just. There is. I don't even know how it ends. Maybe someone gets hit with a tariff at some point, but the idea that we're restructuring a trade imbalance in the course of even a couple months is a laughable concept. All this stuff takes years to hammer out. And if he had just stuck with, oh, I don't know, the tpp, which was not hammered out by his administration, but he unwound, we would be in a much better place. But I mean, what is. What is actual, you know, economic policy really matter when you can just, you know, have fun at the xerox machine, Like, I don't know, xerox in your butt and make it a bunch of letters, which is apparently just freelancing.
- [08:44]
Jon Favreau
Apparently, the. The new numbers that they sent to all these countries, they are sort of like the liberation day numbers, but they're, like, off by 1 or 2% for no apparent reason in different countries. Like, they just sort of, like, rounded up or down just based on whatever. And then, of course, there's, you know, the idea that he's doing 50% tariffs on Brazil because he's just pissed that they're holding a former leader accountable. So there's just no rhyme or reason to it. I mean, as it is now, we're already at, like. I think we have, like, an average tariff rate of like 17 and a half percent in the United States With. With other. With all of our trading partners with the rest of the world. If you average all the countries together, and that's higher than it's been at any time since the 30s, I think. And I think people like, you know, certainly the markets calm down, because he walked a lot of this back. But some of the price increases, like, they're not going to take effect until, like, a bunch of importers rush to import a bunch of goods before some of these tariffs went into effect. So we're still going to, like, it's not showing up in the economic data yet. But that doesn't mean that we're out of the woods, even if he doesn't impose any new tariffs and keeps kicking the can down the road. But I don't know. I mean, you're right about the taco thing. Like, I think it's humiliating enough to him that I also wonder if he's not gonna be like, fuck it, I don't wanna be called that again. I'm just gonna hit them all the tariffs.
- [10:08]
Alex Wagner
The taco thing on so many levels is like his kryptonite. Right. Because it goes right to his ego. And the idea that Wall street, which he is obsessed with, would think he's a clown, is enough to motivate someone like Trump to do something totally reckless. And that's. I think that it's both sort of delicious to see some. A group of Wall Street's finest just embarrass him. But it's also a little terrifying because when he is in that position, he tends to do even more unusually foolish and foolhardy and reckless things. So I don't know how.
- [10:48]
Jon Favreau
Which, by the way, also is why I don't love Democrats, like, doing the taco thing as a joke and like, continuing to push people.
- [10:55]
Alex Wagner
Like, watch out, guys, watch out, watch out.
- [10:58]
Jon Favreau
Yeah, Like, I don't. I mean, I guess politically right, if he goes and crashes the economy, that's. That's really politically bad for him. But do we really wanna. Do we really wanna live through a global trade war that sends prices skyrocketing? You know, I don't think most people do in this country. On the Iran. On the Iran thing, I think Chuck Schumer was like, he tacoed on Iran. It's like, well, then he bombed Iran. So, I mean, are we happy now?
- [11:24]
Alex Wagner
It's like, yeah, be careful with the taco. It may come for you next.
- [11:27]
Jon Favreau
Yeah, so we'll see, though. I mean, you know, we can't predict these things because who the fuck knows? And he has. He keeps kicking the deadlines back, but I do think that one of these days soon he's going to. He's going to snap and say, no, we're going with terrorists.
- [11:41]
Alex Wagner
Yeah. I mean, let's hope it's not. I mean, and it'll be interesting to see which country it is. Right? I mean, or all of them. There are people that are negotiating in earnest. Right. The EU is actually. There is movement happening behind the scenes, and if we're lucky, the sort of net. Net of all of this is that one of those real Actual substantive negotiations comes through and he can point to it as an example of his reset and then move on and say, I'm not Taco. Like, look what I did with the eu, you're welcome, bye. And that is where it ends. But who knows with him? I mean, look out Myanmar, you may get a 40% tariff in the middle of your civil war. I just obviously find that particularly galling. But so many.
- [12:20]
Jon Favreau
And by the way, one more drawback to Taco, I hate that I fucking keep saying this, but is that these countries, they don't really have an. Some of them haven't reached out to negotiate because they don't have an incentive to do that, because a lot of them don't believe him because he keeps backing off. So even, even from his perspective, he's not gonna get the deals he wants to get or have the leverage that he wants to have, because a lot of these countries just aren't taking him or us seriously. Which I completely understand.
- [12:49]
Alex Wagner
I mean, I think. And also the Taco narrative, I'm sorry, we just gotta keep talking about it, gotta keep saying it is a place. I mean, it is being used liberally in this moment, but it is something to pay attention to because it is also a placeholder for so much of his attitude towards so many different things, right? Like this idea that he'll say one thing, whether it's prosecuting political enemies or whether it's, you know, financial, trade matter, economic and trade matters, there is so much bluster, there's so much threatening behavior at all times because that's effectively the only strategy he knows how to run. You know, I think this is an interesting development in that, because if that is taken out of Trump's quiver, if he is, you know, if that arrow is taken out of his quiver and it's, you know, he's widely seen as, you know, if he, if it is an Emperor has no clothes moment, it sort of does beg the question of like, okay, well, what, what happens next on a host of other, you know, area, in a host of other areas where Trump's threats are his only and essential negotiating tools. I don't know, but it is in that way, I think it's more meaningful than just the sort of like tariff Xeroxes that are being circulated around the world.
- [13:59]
Jon Favreau
Foreign.
- [14:04]
Jen Psaki
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Jon Favreau
I have a subscription, so mine just comes to me.
- [14:53]
Jen Psaki
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- [14:55]
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Oh wow, that's. That's exciting. We really like it.
- [14:58]
Jen Psaki
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- [15:43]
Dan
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- [16:17]
Jon Favreau
All right, lots of news this week on Stephen Miller's quest to live out his teenage fantasy of deporting people who don't look like him. He got some bad news from a federal judge in New Hampshire on Thursday who issued a nationwide injunction blocking Trump's decree that being born in America no longer makes you a citizen. You might remember the Supreme Court recently limited lower court judges ability to issue nationwide injunctions, but they did carve out an exception for class action lawsuits, which is exactly what the ACLU did in this case. And it worked. Now we wait to see what the Supreme Court says about the constitutionality of ending birthright citizenship and whether the Trump administration will abide by their ruling, since they don't seem to think they really have to with some of these rulings. We got more evidence for that thanks to a new whistleblower report from Perez Reuveni, a 15 year veteran of the Department of Justice who defended some of the first Trump administration's most controversial immigration decisions in court, including the travel ban. So not a lib, not a rhino. This was guy. This guy was a DOJ career guy who defended the Trump administration in the first administration, a lot of their immigration stuff. But he says that back in March, top Trump personal lawyer turned Deputy Attorney General Emil Beauvais, who's waiting to be confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appellate judgeship, said in a meeting that the Department of Justice, quote, would need to consider telling the courts fuck you, and defy a court order blocking Trump from using the Alien Enemies act to send Venezuelans to the foreign gulag in El Salvador. Rouveni also claims that another Trump DOJ lawyer, Drew Ensign, lied to a federal judge when asked whether he knew if planes of migrants were about to take off for El Salvador. Rouveni has texts, emails, and other documents to back up his claims. So Trump administration's obviously trying to discredit this guy. How well do you think that's going to go? And could Erez Rouveni be a problem for the White House?
- [18:20]
Alex Wagner
First of all, this whistleblower report is just like, confirms everything you imagine is happening in the doj, right? Like, yeah, why don't we just submit an emoji of the middle finger as our response to this filing. That's like, literally from the documents, it's what you would. It's like, it's like a bunch of guys sitting around. I mean, these guys are saying it, I think with as has been characterized as gallows humor, right? They're like, this is so fucking depressing that we're saying fuck you to the courts. But the general climate inside of the DOJ appears to be one of complete impunity and sort of like joking about the rule of law at the Department of Justice. We should just never get past the sort of the fundamental allegations in this whistleblowing report. But, I mean, I think it's a problem for Miel Bovey and his confirmation to be at the second, the feeder to the Supreme Court, as absurd as it would be. I think Trump is genuinely thinking about Emil Bove becoming a Supreme Court justice if he's trying to put him on an appeals, appeals court seat. And I think, you know, look, I. It's hard to say whether or not it's going to be a problem for the White House. I mean, I do think there is a sense that in Magaland, you do whatever the President asks of you, no matter what. And there, as I'm sure we'll talk about, there's a real lust for deportations in any form or fashion, extrajudicial or not. And if you're not falling in line with those deportations, no matter what the circumstances, then you gotta get tossed out on your ass. And whether this costs Trump anything with his base, I think is. I mean, I think it probably doesn't. Right. It should cost him with the broader American public. But I don't know, like, there are so many things that we deal with on a daily basis. Does one whistleblower do it? I think legally, though, it could be a problem for him. Right. I think that there is the court of law that will not look kindly into these allegations, especially given the reality of these deportations and how Trump is trying to break the law there. So this is further fuel for that fire. And I will say, John, it's an interesting thing. Right. During Trump won, there was a feeling that Trump mistakenly hired these semi principled people who acted as guardrails. And like, oh, in Trump, too, it's like the worst of the worst. And the entire system is populated by Neanderthals who will just do whatever he says. And moments like this just offer a little bit of hope that there are still people who don't think of themselves as partisans, don't think of themselves as gatekeepers for democracy, or institutional atlases holding up the entire firmament, but that still absolutely recognize, even though they may be die hard kind of conservatives, that you can't do certain things. And I think we should hold on to that, that there are still people inside the system who can understand right from wrong. And if they are, if I think people who care about that can help protect this person's integrity, assuming he deserves it. And this is all true, then that hopefully will encourage more people to do the right thing, even though they may be subsumed in the, you know, the Trump swamp. I mean, I found it really heartening that there's a whistleblower right now who's saying, like, this is fucking unacceptable. And here are all the text messages that prove the way in which these guys knew that they were breaking the law and flouting it and doing whatever they needed to do to just get people that they don't like out of the country.
- [21:51]
Jon Favreau
Yeah. I think there's two ways it can, it can, it can be a problem for the Trump White House. One is Beauvais confirmation. Right. And we're going to talk about Thom Tillis in a bit. And he did an interview with Jake Tapper where he's suddenly courageous now that he's retiring. And, but he did, he was, he was asked about Beauvais and he was like, yeah, yeah, I'll probably, I'll probably confirm him. Now, this was before this all broke today, so we'll. Maybe Tillis, his mind will be changed and maybe he won't have enough votes. But Reuven a said he would testify before Congress, testify in court. So this guy's willing to do whatever. But I do think in some of these legal cases, especially like, you know, the Supreme Court has not yet decided the constitutionality of the Alien Enemies Act. Right. And Trump using that in the first place, like, there are still so many questions around deportations. Even though it seems like the Supreme Court has issued many rulings around the deportations now, there's still a lot of big questions that they haven't answered yet. And, you know, this guy Reuvenay, I should have said he, the reason he got fired was because he's the one who admitted in a court filing to a federal judge that they made a mistake in deporting Abrego Garcia. Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Seekat in the first place. So he, this guy was there for turn the planes around when they were going. And then he was there for this was a mistake. And, you know, he gives this interview in the New York Times and he's like, look, the reason this is important is they sent, they sent 248 people to Seekot and we have no idea where these people are right now, whether they're alive, whether they've been tortured like Abrego Garcia claims he was. When he was there, there was no due process. And we now know from this whistleblower and from a bunch of other evidence that A, they knew that the judge and that the courts didn't want them to send these planes. They sent them anyway. So they sent a bunch of people to a foreign gulag in defiance of court orders, knowing that the court didn't want it and saying, yeah, maybe we're just gonna say fuck you anyway. And then when they found out that they mistakenly sent someone, they've just fired the guy who just told the truth about that. I mean, when you think about, like being that person, right. Or being Andre Ramirez. Right. Or being any of the people whose names we don't know her and see Cott, who, like, could they be trend? Yeah, some of them. Could they be really bad people? Yeah, some of them. But like, some of them seem like they're completely fucking innocent.
- [24:21]
Alex Wagner
Well, and you put that, you put the whistleblower's account, right? And his sense of alarm about what's happening to people in this country, together with the viral videos that now exist of people just being snatched at court or snatched in parking lots and like, in the most sort of violent, terrifying fashion by masked ICE agents in unmarked cars. And you think, I mean, that does not look like a study in a well oiled deportation machine. It looks like vigilante justice. It looks like dragnets. It looks insanely haphazard and maybe illegal. And then you couple that with the alarm that's happening inside the Department of Justice where they're processing these deportations and, you know, dealing with the courts and actually getting people out of the country, and you have someone saying, this is really wrong and we don't know what we're doing and you shouldn't be doing that. I mean that. I think those two things collectively could create a problem for the Trump administration because you have the combination of, like, the American public bearing witness to what's happening in their cities and towns across the country, and then this coming from inside Washington. And it's not just a local story, it's not just a D.C. story. It's the two things together. And I think that makes it more resonant.
- [25:30]
Jon Favreau
And by the way, even if the Department of Justice still has, you know, hundreds of Erez reuvenees there who are willing to speak up, the challenge now is ICE is going to have a bigger budget than the FBI and it's going to be the biggest law enforcement agency in the country, and the standards for training and recruiting for ICE are much, much lower than the FBI agents who spend, you know, weeks and weeks in Quantico and have graduate degrees and go through all these like it is we're headed for a really dark place now.
- [26:03]
Alex Wagner
Yeah. I will just say, even with a bigger budget, I'll say nothing of the. Of the actual employees, but even with a bigger budget, the fact of the matter is you're not going to get 3000 trend agua gang members every day. You're. You're going to always have to grab people at Home Depot. You're going to always have to find hotel workers and farm workers. I mean, you cannot get the numbers that they have set out, Stephen Miller has set out without going after those people. So.
- [26:27]
Jon Favreau
In legal residents.
- [26:29]
Alex Wagner
Exactly. And you're just gonna. Honestly, with more budget and less trained people, you're probably gonna have more of these videos and more of these things happening and more coverage of these violent sort of raids and seizures of people who may be here with the right papers. So, I mean, I think it. I mean, it's not good news for people who are getting deported, but in terms of the story really having legs and the situation becoming measurably palpably worse and therefore resonant and affecting to the American public, I think it will be.
- [27:01]
Jon Favreau
Yeah. There's a DACA recipient in Alligator Alcatraz right now, Miami Herald just reported today. So worst of the worst. But it's a DACA recipient who absolutely has a right to be here.
- [27:11]
Alex Wagner
And that's. I mean, that's why Democrats need to champion the stories of the people that are getting snapped up in this stuff. I mean, that's where the storytelling really matters, because Trump has painted everyone with a very broad brush. And until you can see, say, that person's name and where they went to school or what their story is, I don't. I mean, I think the sense of tragedy needs to be piercing because right now, I think it's just kind of a more abstract horror at what's unfolding. But I think there needs to be a little bit more personal investment in the trials of these people whose lives are being upended by all of this.
- [27:51]
Jon Favreau
Yeah, no, I totally agree. Miller's immigration purge is running into other problems, thanks to Trump's Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, and prominent Trump supporters like Joe Rogan, who apparently had dinner with the President last week. On last episode, we played a clip of Rogan talking about how I thought it was supposed to be criminals, and now they're deporting all these farm workers and the Home Depot raids and all that. And apparently he had dinner with Trump. And basically what's happening is Rollins, the Ag Secretary, and Rogan types keep getting Trump to promise that he'll exempt undocumented farm workers and perhaps hospitality workers from deportation. And then after he makes that promise on Truth Social or says he's gonna do work permits or whatever else, people like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon get really pissed, and Trump changes his mind again. So do you think this immigration split in Trump's coalition is meaningful at all? Or do you think we'll keep getting this back and forth, or do the Millers and Bannon's just win out? I'm interested in this.
- [28:53]
Alex Wagner
I think that. I mean, look, I'm very interested in the fracture that's forming within Trump's space. The center can't really hold between the sort of the big, beautiful bill that is the largest, most significant redistribution of wealth in a generation and pushes it upwards at the expense of the poor and the working class, many of whom are Trump in Trump's base, to, you know, the immigration stuff, which pits, you know, sort of wealthy business owners against MAGA nativists who want to see, you know, who probably believe in many ways or in many corners in great replacement theory ideas about, you know, white supremacy being encroached upon by brown people. I mean, these are deeply held ideals and beliefs on either side of the Trump coalition. And I, you know, I think it's a real stress test. And on the immigration stuff, like the tax stuff, he can just hope that because the worst cuts don't happen until after the midterms, that he can sort of, like, blame the Democrats. So maybe there's a reprieve there in terms of, like, being able to stitch the coalition together on it for a little bit longer than might otherwise be the case. But on the immigration stuff, like we were just talking about, you cannot do what the MAGA base wants, which is the excision of some significant part of this country from the economy and from the fabric of our democracy, without going after the gardeners and the Home Depot people and the hotel workers. The math does not work. And I know math is not Donald Trump's strong suit, John, as we discussed at the top of the show. But, I mean, they seem. The 3,000 deportations a day figure is popular knowledge at this point point, and they seem very intent on managing it. One thing I don't think you can do is keep teasing reprieves and then not delivering. I mean, people are gonna. They're gonna go. They're gonna, you know, that that debt is gonna get called in at some point, and it's gonna start to affect actual industry. So I do think that this is a Real problem for him. And I have no idea how he navigates it because he constantly talks out of both sides of his mouth. And this is one of those things where it's like the rubber's literally meeting the road. I mean, every passing day exacerbates the tension between, you know, business and maga. And there's no. There's literally, they are diametrically opposed, and therefore, I don't know how you square that circle.
- [31:17]
Jon Favreau
Well, and to your point about. It's why, when we were just talking about the. The deportations to, you know, seacot and everything, making sure that we're telling these stories is going to be important because of the debt coming due, as you mentioned. Right. Like, Joe. Joe. So Joe Rogan has dinner with Donald Trump. Donald Trump says, oh, yeah, we're going to protect the farm workers, no problem. And then Joe Rogan sees a video of a bunch of farm workers getting rounded up and deported, or hotel workers or whoever. And what does he think he's going to do? Then? You think Joe Rogan's just going to be like, oh, well, I must have been mistaken. I'm sure he was. Like, he's going to get criticism from a lot of people who supported him. And you're starting to see these cases we've already seen over the last several months where there'll be deportations and people getting rounded up, people with legal status in, like, deep red areas. Right. And in these. Like that woman who was in that rural Missouri county, who everyone, like, oh, she's been a part of our community for decades and, you know, they finally released her. But I think it's starting to make even hardcore Trump supporters, or at least people who voted for him, you know, a couple times. Think, think like, I thought only the bad ones were getting deported.
- [32:28]
Alex Wagner
Right, Exactly. I mean, this is. This is. Yeah, that's the thing, is people know these people. And I think with so much in Trumpland, he can get away with these generalities about the libs or whatever, but these touch people in their backyards and at their diners and, you know, like, in their ordinary, everyday American lives. And you can't escape that reality.
- [32:48]
Jon Favreau
So the President has another problem with his MAGA base that's less consequential to the country, but possibly more consequential to his political standing and certainly way more fun to talk about the case of the missing Epstein files. So Tommy and I have been talking about this all week. I don't know how many.
- [33:05]
Alex Wagner
I'm sure you have. Yeah, I'm not Surprised.
- [33:09]
Jon Favreau
But the fire just keeps burning. With the White House now taking criticism from all corners of the MAGA coalition. Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, Candace Owens, Laura Loomer, Tom Fitton, Megyn Kelly, Andrew Schultz, they're all pissed. Many of them have called on Pam Bondi to resign. And then here's Tucker. And I do think, as someone who voted for the president, campaigned for the president a lot, I'm not attacking the president, but I think even people who are fully on board with, you know, the bulk of the MAGA agenda are like, this is. This is too much, actually. Yes, yes. I'm saying that with love. And I hope that they're listening because I think this threatens to blow up the whole thing. But, but let's just. What do you think? Do you agree with Tucker? Does this threaten to.
- [33:52]
Alex Wagner
Is that what it sounds like when Tucker says things with love? Like, I haven't.
- [33:56]
Jon Favreau
Yeah, right. I didn't like his conversation with Ted Cruz.
- [33:59]
Alex Wagner
Yeah, right. That was a lust. First of all, this is not the first time Tucker has said, I think this threatens to blow up his entire presidency or the hole or shit. Like, so let's just, like, let's just acknowledge that.
- [34:13]
Jon Favreau
Prone to exaggeration, that one.
- [34:17]
Alex Wagner
As someone on the sidelines in all of this, I will say I'm torture. Torn between thinking like Democrats should. Absolutely. Chris Van Hollen, I think today is like calling for an amendment to an appropriations bill that asks for further investigation and a report about Jeffrey Epstein. And like, nice part of me is like, take ride that pony all the way to the bank. Chris Van Halen, like, keep those home fires burning. Like, maybe Pam Bondi needs to be ousted. Maybe, maybe, maybe the very, very capable Ms. Bondi needs to actually feel some consequences because it's such just desserts. Right. Like, ye who have spent a significant portion of the last several years spinning conspiracy theories, deluding the American public, poisoning our democracy. Now, you, Cash Patel, and you, Pam Bondi, and you, Dan Bungino, are in the hot seat. How does it feel? What does it feel like to be actually doing a thing and have everybody telling you you're, like, doing the devil's work. Why don't you go visit Comet Pizza and have a fucking slice? You know what I'm saying?
- [35:20]
Jon Favreau
Yes.
- [35:21]
Alex Wagner
So that's a Pizzagate reference to anybody who's not from Washington, D.C. you know, like, why don't you give John Podesta a call and, like, ask him some advice? So. Right. So there's that piece of it. However, like, this is the. This is the Trial. This is the Sophie's Choice for all Democrats and liberals and people who give a shit about democracy.
- [35:42]
Ana Ramon
So.
- [35:42]
Alex Wagner
So there's that schadenfreude piece of this, which is like, yes, okay, keep digging. And then there's the reality that, like, so many DOJ employees who were actually working on real criminal concerns were taken off that work to work on the Epstein stuff, which was a complete waste of resources and time. When in a moment, there are, like, real. You know, the DOJ has legitimate work to do. Setting aside whatever Trump wants them to do, there's work that needs to be done in those halls, and, like, maybe now we can just shut the door on the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory and we can please all move along. Like, if you are offered the opportunity to lay to rest a nasty conspiracy that has just fueled speculation and turned some people's lives upside down, maybe we should take that opportunity. It's tough math, though, John. It's tough math.
- [36:31]
Jon Favreau
Yeah, it is tough math. That's the theme of this episode. The schadenfreude is great, right? Like, screw these people. But I'm thinking about the base, right? Like, what has led a lot of people to join the MAGA movement, right, Is not necessarily any one policy, though. There's some of that for some people. They like the deportation stuff. They want to build the wall, all that. And obviously, it's like a love for Trump, but some of it is they. You know, we've split into new coalitions where the institutionalists and the Democratic Party and the Republicans got all the cranks, right? This is like Matt Igles, I think, coined the term a couple months ago. And so it's a crank coalition now, right? And that's how they got RFK Jr. And they got Tulsi Gabbard, and they got all these people, and they believe in conspiracies, and they don't believe in any kind of authority or expertise or anything. And so for those people who put these people into office now, to have these people who promised them that they would uncover the worst conspiracies and that they would go after the deep state and they would do all this stuff to have that promise broken by Donald Trump himself, I don't know if this is the thing that cracks the coalition or hurts Trump, but I think it opens the door. I mean, I think this is a bigger wound, or at least it could become a bigger wound than I thought at first, just because this is the stuff that really drives his base, unfortunately for all of us, right?
- [38:00]
Alex Wagner
It's like Bombing Iran, maybe getting us into another Middle Eastern war. That's bad. But not finding out what Prince Andrew was really doing. That is the thing. That's the straw that broke the camel's back. But you may be right. And I think probably collectively the feeling that the Trump administration is betraying the promises made to the base, whether it's. I mean, they may not register it, the shredding of the social safety net, whether it is getting the US Involved in foreign wars, whether it is offering special dispensation to the hotel industry and the agricultural industry, or whether it is not delivering on one of the greatest conspiracies of the 21st century. All of this can lead to a mounting sense of betrayal. So maybe, Maybe there is some wisdom in Tucker Carlson's words of love.
- [38:52]
Jon Favreau
Also, this can go on forever. Because there's only two possibilities here. The most likely one, which is the list doesn't exist. Yes, they're telling the truth now, right? So the list doesn't exist. They're telling the truth. In which case, no matter what they do, they can keep pushing. There's never gonna get a list. They can fire Pam Bondi, but then the next Attorney General. The primary litmus test for the next Attorney General will be, can you produce the Epstein list? Which they won't be able to because there's no list.
- [39:20]
Ana Ramon
Well, you know, I don't.
- [39:22]
Alex Wagner
Do you remember they, like, had an influencer event at the White House where they, like, they gave out binders with, like, already previously released, like, you know, Rolodex rolls or whatever it was from Jeffrey Epstein's office. I mean, they're so desperate to find anything. It shocks. It shocks me. They couldn't find a thing to try and spin up like that. It must be such an open and shut case that they couldn't even find, like. Well, we did find a packet of Splenda in a cell that may or may not have been Splenda or something. You know, just like anything, there was literally nothing for them to hold on to in the report. It tells you something about the state of it or.
- [39:59]
Jon Favreau
Or the less likely possibility that there was. There was something, and now they're just gonna cover it up forever.
- [40:05]
Alex Wagner
Right. Well, then, you know, then.
- [40:07]
Jon Favreau
Then Tucker and all of them were right. So who knows? Okay, we're gonna take a quick break, but a quick announcement before we do that. Lovett is going to Canada for one night only. Love it or Leave it, is going to be in Montreal on July 24 for just for Laughs with special guests Zack zucker, Roy Wood Jr. And Gianmarco Cerrisi. Then it's back to Dynasty Typewriter in LA for the usual business. They've got a great lineup of guests here, including Alice Waterland, Peppermint Ken Jennings, Amy Schneider, Kristen Johnson, Mary Beth Barone, and more. Grab Tickets now at cricket.com events Pod Save America is brought to you by Rocket Money. Everybody knows there are things they can do to reduce monthly costs and improve their finances. But who has time to go through all of their expenses and decide what to trim? With Rocket Money crunching the numbers for you, leveling up your money game gets way easier. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Their dashboard lays out your total financial picture, including bill due dates and paydays, in a way that's easy to digest. You can even automatically create custom budgets based on your past spending. If you've got a goal you'd like to save for, Rocket Money can analyze your accounts to find the best time each month to put extra money aside. Rocket Money will even try to negotiate lower bills for you. The app automatically scans your bills to find opportunities to save and then goes to work to get you better deals. They'll even talk to customer service so you don't have to Rocket Money's 5 million members have saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, with members saving up to $740 a year when they use all of the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com Crooked today. That's RocketMoney.com Crooked RocketMoney.com Crooked Building a.
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- [42:29]
Jon Favreau
Now, if you're in the White House and you're dealing with all this, you'd obviously rather direct your supporters attention elsewhere. And so one thing you might do is let them know that you're launching new investigations into more deep state traders. Sure enough, Fox News broke the story this week, of course, Fox News, that the administration is spinning up criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey. Current CIA Director John Ratcliffe apparently has referred Brennan to the FBI for potential criminal prosecution, allegedly for his testimony to Congress related to the inclusion of the Steele dossier in the agency's 2016 intelligence assessment on Russian interference. Real callback to season one of this, of this drama. We're still living. Maybe season two. I don't. It seems early season one.
- [43:17]
Alex Wagner
Season one. It was season one. I think we can call it season one. I mean, I guess if they'd gone after Hillary, that could have. That really would have been.
- [43:24]
Jon Favreau
Yeah, that's why I was going back and forth. So it's not clear exactly what they plan to hang on James Comey, but the Times is reporting that plainclothes Secret Service officers tailed Comey's car and tracked the location of his cell phone. The day after he posted a photo of seashells spelling out 8647. Back in May, which Trump World made a big show of treating as an incitement to a threat for assassination, Secret Service visited Comey. That was another. That was a more recent episode. Trump got asked about these potential investigations in that meeting we talked about earlier with African leaders on Wednesday. Let's listen.
- [44:03]
Alex Wagner
Well, I know nothing about it other than what I read today. But I will tell you, I think they're very dishonest people. I think they're crooked as hell and maybe they have to pay a price for that. I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people. So whatever happens, happens.
- [44:24]
Jon Favreau
Just absurd.
- [44:27]
Alex Wagner
What do you think of them?
- [44:30]
Jon Favreau
I mean, how real do you think these investigations will be? Like, clearly. And of course, I know and worked with John Brennan when he was in the White House. And, you know, I saw him on Nicole Wallace's show and he gave his first public comments there and he was like, you know, no one's reached out to me. He's like, I read about it in the New York Times. I haven't gotten called by the FBI. I haven't gotten visited by anyone. Have no idea what this is supposed to be about. This is clearly going to be a huge pain in the ass for Brennan and Comey if these investigations unfold. Do you think that's all or is it something worse?
- [45:08]
Alex Wagner
I think this is. So the mechanism by which this is being executed is Clownish, obviously, as so many other things are. I don't think there's anything there. There. May I call to mind the Durham report, which already went through all of this. Right. Like, we know how this story ends. The point is not the actual investigation. The point is to reseed John Brennan and Jim Comey's names in the American sort of conversation and get MAGA world fired up about them. It's a redirect from the Jeffrey Epstein stuff, and that is a precarious place for any public person to be. Right. You do not want the President of the United States to be talking about you, especially using that language. Right. I think they're very bad people. I think they're as crooked as they get. Whatever happens, happens. You talk about an incitement towards violence. That's what it sounds like. It's not a bunch of seashells on the beach. Although, what the fuck was James Comey thinking? Like what? Anyway, setting that aside, that kind of language coming from Trump, who begs to know nothing about this, which is hilarious, because it's like, I mean, what is. The one thing you have is a bunch of stooges in office doing exactly what you want. But the idea that they're just terrible people and it would be a shame if something happened to them is kind of what I hear when I hear that. And that's. So regardless of whether there's actually a fulsome investigation and whether they subpoena him or whatever happens, it's the sense of vulnerability. It's the sense of, I think, danger, imminent danger that this puts them in. And I think the sort of long tail of this is any public official. Right. I mean, it's already, we're seeing purges at the DOJ already. We have whistleblowers. Right. Anybody who stands up to Trump, whether he's president or even in his post presidency, this is the kind of thing that gives you pause, right? Like, do I really want to do this? Because, like, even when I think it's over, even when season two has passed and we're in season three, season four, we may be, even in season five, somehow Trump will go back, or Trump's allies will go back, and when it suits them and when it's politically expedient for them, they will go back to it, to stoke rage and animosity for nothing, but, I mean, for a goal no bigger than personal gain and political survival. So that's dangerous. And I think that is the thing that matters in this, maybe more than the actual investigation itself.
- [47:39]
Jon Favreau
Yeah. And look, there's also, there's also a lot of space between a nuisance and, you know, being worried that your, your life is being threatened by this. Right? Which is you. They start an investigation and about one thing and then they keep going and maybe they don't find anything, but they leak a bunch of the investigation just to embarrass them, to publicly shame them. So there's that that they have to worry about too. And once they investigate those two, then they start getting statements from other people and it all becomes a thing about like, do you entrap people with false statements and all that kind of shit? And so it is a recipe for the kind of dangerous politicization of the Justice Department of our criminal justice system that, you know, I don't think, you know, publicly a lot of people are gonna look about this and look at this. And even people who are like Democrats be like, oh, I'm sure they didn't do anything wrong and it's fine, but whatever. But it's like, it's not gonna stop at James Comey and John Brennan at all. And what it does is sends, it just sends a message to everyone, whether in the government or out of the government, that you cross these people and we're gonna send FBI DOJ after you. And within the FBI and the doj, I'm sure they might have some problems finding people who are going to do these investigations and take these cases. But if you're those people, you're thinking to yourself, okay, do I say no and lose my job or do I go along with it? Right.
- [49:02]
Alex Wagner
Well, it's like, it's like Raveni and like the idea that there are good people in there who are like, well, wait a second, are we just going to take a middle finger to justice? And some people do.
- [49:11]
Jon Favreau
So Trump isn't just taking revenge on the deep state. He's attempting to purge most of the federal government of anyone who's not completely loyal to him. With mixed results this week, the Supreme Court greenlit Trump's plan to fire hundreds of thousands of nonpartisan, non political civil servants. Challenge for Trump is that there aren't enough Fox News hosts and podcast hosts to staff an entire administration, though he is certainly trying. Marco Rubio's got four jobs now. Todd Blanche has a few. Stephen Miller's running just about everything. And now former Real World Road Rules and Real World Road Rules Challenge star. I want to give him, I want to make sure he gets credit for all three of his reality shows that he's been in. Sean Duffy, he's apparently going to run NASA, at least for the time being, as well as the Department of Transportation, where he has had some trouble keeping all the planes in the skies. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem seems to be struggling to balance all her duties with her press hits and photo ops. FEMA officials just told CNN they had to wait days to get the funding necessary to respond to the devastating Texas floods, thanks to a new rule that requires Noem's personal signature on any expenditure over $100,000. The official said that normally they'd pre stage search and rescue teams to areas they know will flood. They weren't able to do that this time. Noem didn't provide the approval for those assets until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding started. But she did find time on Sunday to ask her Instagram followers which equestrian portrait of her they'd like to see hanging in the South Dakota State Capitol. So, you know, there is that.
- [50:42]
Alex Wagner
I mean, who among us, who among us hasn't gotten just totally sidetracked from really urgent work matters trying to figure out which equestrian portrait to hang?
- [50:50]
Jon Favreau
Who among us doesn't have multiple equestrian photos to choose from?
- [50:53]
Alex Wagner
A lot to choose from. I mean it is. We talk about Sophie's Choice, but I wish, if only there was a Department of Government Efficiency that could look at this incredibly inefficient government setup that we have and figure out a way to streamline it. It's not, I mean, I say that, but it's like, can you imagine being the parent of one of these children and reading the story? It is un fucking fathomable. Like first of all, a hundred thousand dollars for an organization like FEMA is effectively asking, you know, your, your, your accountant to approve every five dollar expenditure. You'd be spending all day on the phone with your accountant. It totally hamstrings fema. And we haven't seen the worst of this. Like we're going to have multiple natural disasters that we have to contend with both because it's hurricane and wildfire season and we're burning the earth up at an alarming rate. So this is one of those things where you want to hear this charge being led by people affected directly by these disasters, like asking questions, this is where if I were in Kerrville or I were in Texas or just as an American citizen, there have got to be answers about this, right? If there's truly a delay, if Texas isn't getting the deployment of federal resources, resources that it needs, I think that there's more reporting that they didn't have enough people to answer the disaster call center because she hadn't approved extra federal support for that. They needed more data for their search and rescue operations, but they didn't have the cooperation of the federal government. I don't know if an equestrian portrait takes that long to decide upon, but this is someone either who is in the most. I'll be the most generous I can be. Either so overwhelmed with work that she cannot delegate in the way that she must, or who is just completely out to lunch and out of her league in, like, the most urgent and pressing matters of, like, human survival. Right. So none of it's excusable. And now we have. I'm sorry, I just need to go back to, like, the road rules champ running NASA like, if you rode it in a spot.
- [52:57]
Jon Favreau
Cause he's been doing such a good job with transportation.
- [53:02]
Alex Wagner
Well, road rules taught him so much about the road. Why can't we apply that to zero gravity? I mean, what is happening?
- [53:10]
Jon Favreau
Well, see this. Okay, let's. Even if we lived in a world, let's just live in an imaginary world where all these people have the best intentions, right? And they want to do right by the American people and they want to serve the public as they're supposed to do. When you hollow out government and fire people who aren't loyalists and just, you know, send the DOGE teams in and all the rest of the bullshit that's happened since January, like, this is what's gonna happen. You're just going to get rank incompetence. When you fill the administration with Fox News hosts at the cabinet level, people who've never done any of this shit before, you're gonna have these problems. Even if you had the best intentions, which, you know, we can, I don't really have a lot of hope that they do. So of course this is gonna fucking happen. And of course it's gonna get worse. And, you know, there's two big consequences to hollowing out the government and to the way that Trump has staffed the government, one we just talked about, which is you get loyalists who are going to do your bidding and not do the bidding of the American people and go after people and take revenge and just basically be your sort of personal patronage army out there. And you're gonna hollow a government, not have enough good qualified people to just do the basic functions that need to be done in government. And the most basic function is protecting the American people and helping them when natural disasters hit.
- [54:31]
Alex Wagner
Well, and I would say it's exacerbated. Not only is there the incompetence and the cravenness. There's also the stupidity of making the job even harder by saying, passing rules. Like every expenditure over $100,000 I have to personally sign off on. I mean, this is making a job that you are already unqualified for that much harder. And it's not just like sort of sitting on the sidelines and cackling as these people, you know, are incapable of doing their jobs. There is a very real human consequence here, and that's what makes it so unacceptable. But I mean, again, this is a thing where it's like you have to keep. I mean, the people the questions need to be. I mean, what, what really, truly needs to happen. And this is the sort of will I'm always asking myself, are the. Is this a catalytic moment? Is this a moment where you, you really see citizen outrage on the level where you need to see it and from the people you need to see it from? Like, these are people who are losing family members or their entire, you know, their life in these catastrophic floods. Like, will they ask the questions? Will they hold these people accountable? Because this will keep happening. I mean, this is not a one off. Right. It's only going to get worse.
- [55:45]
Jon Favreau
Yeah. And we're only at the beginning of hurricane season, you know, even just this year. So one person with both the courage to speak out about this and the power to do something about it was retiring North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, who this week explained to Jake Tapper why he did neither of those things on two big administration nominations just this year. Here's a sampling. Well, you know, first I need to.
- [56:08]
Alex Wagner
Set the record straight on Hegseth. With the passing of time, I think it's clear he's out of his depth.
- [56:13]
Jon Favreau
As a manager of a large, complex organization.
- [56:15]
Alex Wagner
Based on the information I have today, if all I had was the information on the day of the vote, I'd.
- [56:19]
Jon Favreau
Certainly vote for him again.
- [56:21]
Alex Wagner
But now I have the information of him being a manager, and I don't think that his probationary period has been very positive. Quite honestly, the main reason I supported Kennedy was because Bill Cassidy thought that.
- [56:37]
Jen Psaki
We should see how it plays out just okay.
- [56:43]
Jon Favreau
It makes me so mad with the.
- [56:46]
Alex Wagner
Passing of time, with the passing. First of all, I had the information. We all had the information. We all had the information that he couldn't run a nonprofit. Why did we think that he would be able to run the Pentagon? Nobody thought he could run the organization. And, you know, the idea that these Republicans can actually see, say, the truth only when they're no longer running for office. There is a special place in the underworld for people who know better. I think in all of this, it is one thing if you've been fed a steady diet of misinformation and you've grown up in the far stretches, the farthest right corner of the universe, and you really, genuinely don't know better, which is a strange and unfortunate place to live. But Thom Tillis knows better. Thom Tillis knew better. And the fact that he can only find moral fortitude or a backbone or some part of his frontal lobe once he's decided not to run, I think makes the admission and the not even a mea culpa. It makes it even worse. On some level, it might have been better if he had just shut up and not said this, because I find it utterly enraging.
- [58:00]
Jon Favreau
And what's even worse is we know from a lot of reporting that during the Hegseth nomination MAGA folks like, leaned on Tillis, threatened Tillis. He felt threatened for offering some mild criticism and maybe suggesting that he wasn't going to vote for him. So we already know that story and like the idea that Tom Tillis wouldn't just be like, you know, he could have had a moment where you're like, yeah, no, I was threatened and these people are crazy. And now I'm retiring to get away from this. Like, he could have just said that and not had to pretend that it's all the information I had at the time. Or like RFK junior Bill Cassidy made me do it.
- [58:36]
Alex Wagner
Blame Bill Cassidy. Just like that T shirt with an arrow. But also the passage of time. It's like, bro, there's been no passage of time. It's like yesterday that these guys were confirmed. What are you talking about? Nice try. We're still living in this time space continuum. We all had the information. Don't even try it. To try and pretend that, like, he's come to a realization after the passage of time, given more information. If he'd known then what he knows now. I mean, give me advice.
- [59:03]
Jon Favreau
It is. It's just so. And he's like, just watching him and he's like, you know, he's got a pep in his step now and he's feeling better. You know, everyone should watch the rest of the interview with Tapper. And, you know, he does say, like, plenty of critical things about the Trump White House, which makes you realize, like, where were you when you were, when you thought you might be running for reelection? And how many other Republican senators are thinking the same thing? And just doing this bullshit. Anyway, still, in year 10 of this.
- [59:31]
Alex Wagner
This is why I feel like there really is a special place in the underworld for people who do better and continue on and just say it's because it's just a revelation that it's just power. And once power, it's the pursuit of power over literally everything else, including our democracy. And once you relinquish that fight for power or the fight to hold on for power, you can actually be a person with integrity. I mean, that's, that's just you've ceded your integrity once you've made that bargain.
- [59:57]
Jon Favreau
Let's talk about what Democrats are doing and not doing. It's been a week since Trump signed his economic plan into law. And according to a new report from Lauren Egan at the Bulwark, some Democratic electeds are getting cold feet about going on offense because the popular parts of the bill, like the thousand dollar investment accounts for newborns and no tax on tips on overtime or overtime, they go into effect right away. And of course, the Medicaid cuts, or at least most of the Medicaid cuts and most of the snap cuts, don't kick in until later in the piece. Democratic pollsters Linda Lake says she's worried about voters concluding that, you know, Democrats are just crying wolf again. What do you think of that?
- [60:39]
Alex Wagner
I worry. I do worry. I mean, I think the fact that the Medicaid cuts are delayed till after the 2026 midterms and that there are going to be other sweeteners that kick in before, before then the American public has the attention span of a fruit fly. I mean, I will never forget, John, and we talked about this. I think I had you as a guest on my MSNBC show when I went to Michigan and talked to 25 year old Union workers who were working on projects that were funded by the Inflation Reduction act, that were literally being put to work by something Joe Biden and the Democrats passed, and they both did not give Biden credit for that and were much more interested in Donald Trump. So just because something in Washington seems like it should either benefit or harm one group of people doesn't necessarily mean that the fallout will fall along the logical lines. And I think it's entirely possible that this is one of those things, in part because it's massive, it was passed in the dead of night, people are going to hold on to different parts of it. And like you said, people won't feel necessarily the worst effects of it for a little while. And so I do think it's incumbent on Democrats, I mean, listen, I think the party needs to be more proactive generally. Right. It's so much of a responsive, back footed stance and there needs to be. So, I mean, I get it, like it's hard. They're not the governing majority. Trump every day is setting something on fire. But the party needs to coalesce and figure out its priorities and then get aggressive because just simply being a receptacle for Trump dissatisfaction or outrage is not going to be enough in the next two years or the next four.
- [62:16]
Jon Favreau
Yeah. And look, it may be enough in the midterms, but I also think, of course Democrats should put together a proactive vision for what they want to get done. Now. I think there's a challenge, which is you want to put together a forward looking agenda and something that will actually inspire people to vote for you. Not just that you're not the Donald Trump or not Republicans, but Democrats also can't promise, at least in advance of the midterms, that that agenda has any chance of being enacted if you, if you vote for a Democratic Congress.
- [62:52]
Alex Wagner
Okay, first of all, I'll just say I think the House is one thing, the Senate's another. And I know Democrats have designs on the Senate because of the passage of the one big beautiful bill. And I do think that that's where, you know, that's where I think everything should be handled like a healthy amount of skepticism should attend any predictions that some of these harder seats are going to be easier wins because of this bill. Right.
- [63:13]
Jon Favreau
Yeah.
- [63:14]
Alex Wagner
I do think the American public is largely smart enough to know that the Democrats can't pass anything until they are given power. But I do think there needs to be some kind of statement of principles because it does feel a bit rudderless and it is hard because the Democratic Party really is, as my colleague and friend Nicole Wallace always says, like it's the pro democracy coalition. Right. It's a massive tent and figuring out how to sift through the remains of the election and even what's happening in the Trump administration, what to prioritize is going to be really difficult. But it is okay to be quiet now in circle wagons. But I do think there needs to be something that is not about Trump, but it is about the Democratic Party and what the party stands for and is a statement of priorities because I.
- [64:02]
Jon Favreau
Don'T see it and around affordability and I think partly because we also have to be honest about how people feel and what has gone into effect. Right. Like we can't the worry about the Medicaid cuts not hitting until after the midterms, that is real and that is valid. And what we can't do is go out there and just pretend that they've happened when they haven't happened, which, like, you could see and. But also, as we know, whether you're a Democratic or Republican president or Democratic and Republican Congress, people hold you responsible for how they're feeling in their own lives. And if prices have not come down, if people, if the trade war kicks up again, if interest rates are still high, which clearly Trump knows, which is why he's, like, threatening to fire Jerome Powell every day. If the lived experience of most voters by the time we get to next November is not great or has not improved, then the worry about specific provisions of the bill and when they take effect, I think will fade into the background a little bit. But that's still your point remains, which is Democrats should be fighting that. Not just by saying we're not that, but, like, if you put us into power in 26 and then in 28, if we win, this is the agenda that we want to pass. This is what we want to do for people. Like, I think that is critical.
- [65:16]
Alex Wagner
And I think even immigration, like, that could be a more resonant issue given the draconian approach Trump has taken. But it's not just about saying this is wrong and telling the stories. That's the first piece of it. The second is, what are you going to do? Like, what's the plan?
- [65:32]
Jon Favreau
Well, as you said, you know, the party has a number of different efforts to find a pathway out of the wilderness here. The latest is from a band of about 30 Democratic officials that launched this week. It's called Majority Democrats, which the New York Times describes as, quote, a number of prominent younger Democrats with records of winning tough races who have, quote, big ambitions to remake their party's image, recruit a new wave of candidates, and challenge political orthodoxies they say are holding the party back. Some of the names involved, Abigail Spanberger, Mikey Sherrill, Ruben Gallego, Alyssa Slotkin. So some of the big names in the Democratic Party, up and coming big names in the Democratic Party, they say there's no ideological litmus test and they don't have a policy agenda just yet. But several Democrats involved told the Times they're focused on issues around, quote, affordability, safety, challenging the power of big tech. What do you think? Good idea, bad idea? Need more info.
- [66:25]
Alex Wagner
I mean, I'm not gonna dismiss anything. First of all, I think this should be a moment of, like, collide of, like, policy rum Springa. You know what I mean, I feel like everybody should be going for it. And I think if there's one thing Democrats should learn from the example of the. The Trump administration and MAGA world is be not afraid. Like, go out there. Like, it is one thing. I mean, it is. The one thing I'll give him is, like, there is a boldness with which she has acted. And I do think the American public wants. They want forward movement. And I think Democrats obviously need to think about electability. They need to think about what's gonna win. But I think this is the moment when there should be a lot of spitballing. And if this group filled with winners can create an environment where people can talk really strategically, but also, also with frankness and looseness and, like, come up with ideas, I'm all for it. I think my concern is, like, I don't just want it to be about what wins, because I think that that is a. I mean, it's obviously a hugely important piece of this, but, like, there need. There needs to be. This is the petri dish part of the science experiment. And there needs to be a sense of, I mean, as dark as these times are, it is a moment where so much is possible. There are a lot of ideas that could fly. We exist in a climate where the unthinkable is happening, and that is largely being interpreted in the sort of negative. But I also think the old ways are outmoded in a lot of respects, and therefore, that's huge opportunity. And Democrats should try and capture some of that possibility. And to the extent that they can be joyful and creative about what the solutions are, and the party really needs to recapture that because there's so much sorrow and sadness, and a lot of it is well placed. But now is the time to experiment and to be big. And so if there's a bunch of new people coming up with a lunchtime sandwich conclave to talk about what has to happen, go for it, do it, do it, go forth and truly prosper. Because without that excitement of new ideas and new strategies, I don't know what happens in 2028. But, like, the one thing about MAGA, the one thing about Trump, you go to those rallies, you hear him speak, there is a passion and a verve and an excitement and a feeling of, like, kinetic energy. And I largely find it, much of it, morally abominable. But that is something that, like, the left needs to find. So I guess that's my feeling about it.
- [69:14]
Jon Favreau
No, I mean, Donald Trump promised, has been promising since, you know, 2015 to burn it all down. And in this term, he is doing his very best to burn it all down. And whatever remains is not gonna be much. And the silver lining there is we can think about how to rebuild from scratch this country and this government that Donald Trump is doing his best to destroy. And I do think that can push us to think outside the box. I don't think voters vote for people based on, like, a checklist of policies, but I do think one thing that's similar to Donald Trump's elections and even, you know, just for a more recent example, Zorani's election, is there were policy ideas, but they were policy ideas that are sort of easy to latch onto. They grab your attention. They stick in the mind, right? Like, oh, you know that Zoron is for freezing the rent, right? You just, you know that, you know, free city buses just broke through. And Donald Trump is for building the wall. You just knew that. And you need these policy ideas that are big, bold, but also easily accessible. Stick with people. Go directly to what their concerns and hopes are, which has been around affordability for a couple decades now, but certainly over the last couple years when inflation hit. So I think that figuring those policies out, and like you said, they gotta be. We have some fresh ones too, right? Like, I mean, totally. We always joke about this, but, like, I've been in democratic politics for 20 years, and, oh, my God, we laugh about that.
- [70:48]
Ana Ramon
You're the young.
- [70:49]
Jon Favreau
No.
- [70:49]
Alex Wagner
Oh, my God, but you're only 22.
- [70:51]
Jon Favreau
But we laugh about how many times, like, you know, Democratic politicians are out there being like, I'm gonna give tax breaks to companies that create jobs here in America and stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. Like, it's the same shit that has polled well for 20 years. And pollsters will tell you it polls well, but it's like, you can't. You need to break through and you need to grab people's attention. So big and bold, yes, but also new. And I do think that. Yeah, and not too many, but just a couple that really grab people.
- [71:20]
Alex Wagner
Be free. Think of it as ideas. Woodstock. I mean, I know it's hard, right? But it is a remarkable moment in American politics for a party to fully, not reinvent itself, but be open, wholly responsive to this kind of moment of uncertainty and look at it as a moment of opportunity. I know that sounds Pollyannish or overwrought or whatever, but I do think capturing some sense of opportunity and ambition in this moment is essential.
- [71:55]
Jon Favreau
One last thing. I got here on my list. Need to get Your thoughts on Nazi Grok?
- [72:01]
Alex Wagner
Speaking of uncertainty and ambition, that's how.
- [72:05]
Jon Favreau
We'Re gonna end, you know? Last Friday, Elon Musk announced that Grok had been improved and was better than ever. So people started testing that proposition. And in response to various questions, admittedly leading Grok did the following. Praised Hitler, went on an insane rant against people with Jewish last names, vividly described a theoretical sexual encounter with Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, who stepped down on Thursday. Then overnight, just last night, we're recording this on a Thursday. Elon said that the new version. The new, new version has been released, and this one you're gonna be able to have in your Tesla. So I don't know if you'd be driving around in your Tesla and hearing Hitler praise or what, but this is what's happening. It's all happening on X, the Everything app.
- [72:58]
Alex Wagner
I mean, it's just perfect. It's exactly what we should expect. I got an email at one point, a long time ago. I was thinking of buying a Tesla, and I, like, somehow got on their mailing list, and it was this long, kind of like, mission statement about Tesla's commitment to the environment. And I very quickly, I almost wrote back, like, how dare. How dare you? Like, go fuck yourself. Like, you have betrayed the fundamental principles of all the things that are good about environmentalism and that. I mean, just how dare you try to do this right now? I think it was on Grok Nazi day that this went on. So, like, this both tells me that we're doomed. I know. I just.
- [73:48]
Ana Ramon
Right.
- [73:49]
Alex Wagner
Like, this is. This is also, like, an AI. This is an AI discussion as much as it is an X discussion. I left Twitter, like, a long time ago because I just couldn't keep up. And then I had every excuse in the world because it's, you know, a toxic swamp. But. But, you know, I guess the theme of this episode is, like, you. You get what you pay for. Like, this is. This is a person who has, you know, took X over to allow the flourishing of, like, hate speech, hate speech and misinformation. And, I mean, are we surprised that this is the thing that he built? I honestly read about this, and I was like, I don't. I don't. By the way, Linda Yaccarino insists that her, like, leaving the company had nothing.
- [74:35]
Jon Favreau
To do with any of this, which may. Which, you know, could be very true.
- [74:40]
Alex Wagner
Entirely coincidental. Entirely coincidental. I mean, like, when was the last. How many of us have had lewd AI, like Nazi bots, like, explaining sexual fantasies about Us. And, you know, that's a Tuesday. That's a Tuesday.
- [74:53]
Jon Favreau
So, I mean, I do think it probably, for me at least, it's definitely more of an AI story. And also the limits of what artificial intelligence is going to be able to do, the dangers of what it could do, but the limits of what it can do, at least in relation to what people in Silicon Valley, like Elon Musk, like Peter Thiel, like all these other assholes, think that it can do, which is we're going to create something so intelligent that it's going to be able to solve all the problems that these messy humans have not been able to solve, and especially these idiots in government. Right, Because. But we are going to create the super intelligence, but it's like the intelligence is based on all the rest of the shit that's out there in the world that is put into the world by humans, including some very awful humans who said the kind of things on X that Grok has been trained on. And so at the very best, you're always going to get an amalgamation. Artificial intelligence is always going to be an amalgamation of, like, everyone else's intelligence, of us. Right? For all, for ill and for mostly.
- [75:59]
Alex Wagner
Ill. Yeah, we're pretty ill right now.
- [76:02]
Jon Favreau
If we want to build, if we think we're going to have these systems, these AI systems that we're supposed to trust to give us, like, factual information and the truth when we already have a crisis and trust in this country that has led us here, and this shit's gonna happen. I don't know. I don't know.
- [76:18]
Alex Wagner
Yeah, I mean, and I do worry. There's, like, a whole subset of people for whom it's like, well, finally validation and vindication about my, like, great race theory. GROK AI proving the case. You know, I mean, that is. The other dark side of this, is there's a whole bunch of people who are like, why'd you have to change the algorithm? Seemed fine to me. Yeah, I just. I mean, it's like, you eat poison, you get poison. And that's kind of where we're at, Little Grock. Little Grok is just feeding on the shit of the 21st century. And so it goes. That is for a man who, like, loves shoveling shit. So here we are. Grok.
- [76:54]
Jon Favreau
Well, that is a perfect place to end.
- [76:56]
Alex Wagner
Yeah. Cool.
- [76:59]
Jon Favreau
Alex Wagner, thank you so much for joining pod. Save America for coming on, for.
- [77:04]
Alex Wagner
Thank you for going on vacation, Dan.
- [77:06]
Jon Favreau
The big pile of shit that we had to. That we had to wade through today. That was fun. It was fun to do it with you.
- [77:12]
Alex Wagner
No one I'd rather be swamped in fecal matter with. Thank you so much John. Thank you so much.
- [77:26]
Jen Psaki
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Jon Favreau
Got some good shorts from them.
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- [79:12]
Jon Favreau
Joining us today is Ana Ramon, executive director of the Texas Leadership Pipeline and Annie's List, two organizations that recruit, train and help elect Democrats up and down the ballot in Texas. Ana and Texas Leadership Pipeline recently partnered with Vote Save America as Part of our effort to help our audience, people just like you, run for office in Texas, Arizona and North Carolina. We wanted to have her on to talk a little bit about that effort, what it'll take to turn Texas blue, and why you shouldn't be afraid to take the plunge and run for office in your community. Ana, welcome to the pod.
- [79:43]
Ana Ramon
Thank you for having me. Excited to be here.
- [79:44]
Jon Favreau
So first and foremost, can you tell us a little bit about the work that you do with Texas Leadership Pipeline?
- [79:51]
Ana Ramon
Absolutely. A lot of it is the quiet behind the scenes, sneaking around, you know, classic Texas politics activities. We want to find the next county commissioner of Hood County. We want to find the next county commissioner of Nueces County. We want to dig deep. And what that takes is that qualitative and quantitative approach to building what we term a groundswell of candidates coming from the top. Not only the top four counties, but what is the top 10, the top 25 counties. As you mentioned, turning Texas blue will take people pushing up as much as it takes people pushing down. So it's having those one on one conversations with candidates. It's helping candidates understand how much it really takes to get from signing your name up and putting your $25 down to raising, if you're running for state house, like 1.2 million to take out a Republican candidate. Right. So it's all that in between. And what's really exciting is getting to meet the people along the way and really testing the map in Texas across what I would deem six states in one state.
- [80:55]
Jon Favreau
Yeah. You guys have, you have races all up and down the ballot and you're trying to recruit candidates for races all up and down the ballot. And I realize there's a lot of uncontested races. And by uncontested, I mean there's a Republican and there's not even a Democrat running. And can you give us an idea, at least in Texas, like, what is the scope of races that go uncontested? Why aren't they contested? And like, are they unwinnable? Or are they just races that we might be able to win if we could just find candidates to run?
- [81:32]
Ana Ramon
Well, I'm sure these fun facts have been shared on the pod before. We have 254 counties, we have thousands of school board races, we have thousands of city council races, countless commissioner races. And what it takes is both really the people power and investing in individuals, but it also takes resources to really think about what does a six region, six state approach look like in Texas when I talk to national entities and organizations. I ask them, when you look at Texas, do you think about us in a Virginia to the Carolinas aspect? We need the kind of people who are willing to run almost in multi states to really get that same roi. We're looking at who knows how much opportunity and that's what we see in the people who are in Texas. So it takes what we see as more of that people power and having essentially strong conduits and platforms like yourself teaming up with us to really reach an audience that we wouldn't normally get a chance to talk to. We have to democratize the very undemocratic process of running in campaigns. Right. I'm sure you know this better than I do. Like we live in a world where barriers exist to raising money, to actually understanding what makes sense for you to run for, to even like what does it mean to run for office? Like there are barriers along the way. What data does it take to get there? So what we're trying to do is that wide net of catching people who are that untraditional candidate. We have to find those individuals, those untraditional non traditional candidates is what's going to get us people who can outperform top of ticket, who understand their district, understand their community, and I would almost argue most importantly understand themselves to really go against the barriers that are erected in Texas. We always joke about being Texas tough. I'm like maybe more like Texas punched in the teeth to run for office. It's a tough role and you need people who are willing to not be afraid of the far right pushback, not be afraid of even personal and individual attacks, even physical attacks. And what that can mean, what that looks like is really doing that large catch. At this point we've been able to identify about 35,000 people outside of the major corps that want to run for office in Texas. But we also have of course the quantitative piece and the qualitative piece is the individuals. We have three full time scouts who are on the ground year round talking to people at running office, creating warming events where we get people in the room and last but not least, even knocking on doors and dragging them to go sign up to run. Because that's what it takes to get someone to run in Oyster Creek, Texas. Right. So there's a lot in between that. But ultimately having again these kind of partnerships and relationships with folks like Vote Save America, you guys are able to talk to a whole group of people who we just don't have access to. As much as I like to think, like when I tweet out I get 1.9 million listeners. That's just not the case. But it could be folks at home who are listening to this right now, who is a mom having margarita or a dad who just got home off of work. We need those individuals who understand who they are in their community to really take on the apparatus which is the far right and the effort to control not only the soul of Texas, but the soul of our union.
- [84:47]
Jon Favreau
So I am sure that for a lot of people listening who might live in Texas, know people who live in Texas who've never thought about running for office or maybe who thought about it but sort of shied away from it, a couple barriers may be. Like, one, I don't know if I have the right background. I don't know if I have the right skills for this. You know, I'm not well known enough. What if I can't raise money? Do I really is, you know, I'm just kind of scared, like, you know, some of the threats that you talked about, but also just scared of, like even if we didn't live in this awful political environment. Just putting yourself out there, you know, what are some of the things that you guys and your recruiters like talk to people about who are maybe who've thought about running for office but either decided against it or just sort of on the fence.
- [85:37]
Ana Ramon
I have to be brutally honest with people, right? Brutally honest about like how much it'll take the raise, especially on the type of election in Texas and the realities of our state of color course. But I also talk about their why I think that's such a critical point because if you do not understand intrinsically why you want to do it, you are more prone to getting torn and quartered in this space. But like, for example, I'll give an example. We, I, I recruited a candidate out of Vespalapas on Broadway, shout out San Antonio over a margarita. And she knew after seeing the healthcare system, seeing what happened to her family and everybody, what it would mean for her to run. And the next day she found it within herself to raise over months eight to $700,000 to run for a race. And granted that's not the typical, the norm, but it's just awakening sometimes that intrinsic thought that truly people who come from less can achieve more and people who have done less have run for more. Those are barriers, truly. But you can be the more in your community that takes us. Because I can say this from personal experience, I've done five kind of six and a half legislative sessions and multiple cycles in the in both the House and the Texas Senate, the right person in the wrong room or the right person in the wrong room can make an incredible difference. So to your point, yes, there are barriers, but understanding your why, understanding the realities of running, not running away from those realities, and then partnering with folks like, which was really exciting, like with Annie's List, but also, you know, Latino Victory Fund, you know, run for something, entities that can help you get to that next point and tracks that we can put you on. It's not so daunting when you realize you're not alone running. Right. That actually, actually gets me through a lot of the work in our own state in Texas. So.
- [87:41]
Jon Favreau
So if, if someone listening comes to the Texas Leadership pipeline, what kind of support do you offer?
- [87:49]
Ana Ramon
We will have hands on experience because we know, especially in the beginning, you have to understand at least the bare bones and the structure of what it means to run for office. So running 101, story of self 101, finance 101, field one on one, and having that personal touch with our scouts who are doing this year round work under not only our Texas Leadership Pipeline umbrella, but we are the affiliate for the Texas for the National Pipeline Fund. So we actually do also have not only our resources, but resources that we're able to share and push people into other tracks and opportunities if it makes sense. For example, we did a training with Latino Victory Fund and we connected them with a broader umbrella of organizations that could help if you're a Latino running for office, the same thing. We're working on something that's LGBTQ focused. We're working on tracks of like, what does it mean to be a pro immigrant candidate in Texas? So there's innovative ways that of course we have more that one on one connection through our larger pipeline in our entity, but we also have our larger network of organizations that we want to make sure we're connecting people to so they can find their track and their people when they're running for office.
- [89:04]
Jon Favreau
So I'll ask my political hack question, which is a big cycle coming up in Texas. We've got a Senate race that's on the map. Greg Abbott just announced that they're gonna try to push for redistricting ahead of the midterms to try to squeeze out a few more gerrymandered seats for Republicans in Texas. Obviously, you guys are dealing with tragedy right now with the floods. Texas over the last couple cycles has gone back and forth from, you know, coming really close to flipping blue to then, you know, some of the folks along the Rio Grande Valley, you know, voting for Trump. And so what does it look like on the ground right now? What are you hearing and seeing and what hopes do you have for 2026?
- [89:49]
Ana Ramon
What I'm seeing is, which is, well, one to talk about redistricting. This is a very much like a Bobby Hill that's not my purse moment. Like, that's not your purse. Greg Abbott, Like, Jesus Christ. Like, what are we doing? Well, I know what we're doing. We're trying to steal racist from black and brown congress people and constituents. But that's besides that point. What I am seeing is, though, people who are unwilling to give up. And I think we have been having actually multiple conversations about this today. Even myself in a staff position and capacity have had to respond to one too many crises, one too many natural disasters. But I tell myself all we have to lose is more lives. So there is something that pushes us. We have so much at stake. And working in Texas is, of course, turning Texas blue is critical. It changes this union, it changes the world, but it also changes lives that I get to see every day. Working along and being in community with our brothers and sisters in the valley or what's happening not only in Kerrville, but in surrounding counties. Right. Those mass disasters don't have to be making us strong again. Like, they could instead not happen because they're preventable. And some of the things that we're seeing on the ground, like we're having communications and conversations with folks who are wanting to talk about being a candidate around natural disasters and like environmental justice. The cancer corridor, we are mapping around and looking at Canada tour surrounding ICE detention facilities or ISCs that work with ice. Like, there are ways to push back because you have community members who are impacted by this daily and they know what it means. If it can, it can. And it doesn't have to, but if it continues. So I am sensing that people are ready to fight and they're very much interested in what a Texas could look like. That really reflects the home that I love. And that's not reflected in the Greg Abbott or the Dan Patrick or the, you know, whatever Paxton is right now, like in, in my lifetime. But I also think that you have this window, in my opinion, coming up in Texas. And I say this like, I will never sell the Texas dream, but I will sell the Texas program. We can move Texas in those 10 counties, but we have to invest in that leadership year round. Right? Having those year round conversations, having year round training, having year round platforms where we can continue to talk to People, because whoever is going to win this state may not even be in electoral politics right now. And we got to get them that hand up. Because I wholeheartedly believe in my lifetime, because I'm. I'm 36 and I have to believe this because there's. There's little left in Texas but hope and dreams. But I have to believe that I'll work for, like, a US Senator from Texas, you know, as a Democrat at some point, because I see the people on the ground actually moving and shaking and working, even though we are sometimes, yes, the beginning of democracy. And I don't want to see Texas be the end of democracy. Like, there's so much that can happen. Four new, four or five new congressional seats, hopefully in the other direction, more electoral College votes, because we have some of the fastest growing populations in the country. But what it will take is making sure that those people who have the opportunity are invested in really. And we can do that by investing in the people power of Texas.
- [93:22]
Jon Favreau
Well, I believe that you will work for a Democratic senator in Texas one day. And I also know that whoever that senator is, they will be extremely lucky to have you working for them. And we are extremely lucky that you are doing the work you're doing in Texas. And we're so very excited that you guys are partnering with Vote Save America. And anyone who is listening, who's from Texas, who lives in Texas, who knows people in Texas or North Carolina or Arizona, the other two states that we're doing this in, please think about running for office. Because if you do and you're in Texas, you have wonderful people like Ana who will help you out, which we love. And already, you know, this has just been a week, we have been, like, bowled over by the number of you listening who have reached out and decided to sign up and say that you want to run for office. We just never expected the response that we got. We know it would be good because we love you guys, but we were just, we were overwhelmed by the response. So that's good news. Ana, thank you so much for all the work you're doing and thank you for joining Pod Save America. I appreciate it.
- [94:22]
Ana Ramon
My pleasure. And thank you for being willing to take a chance on Texas.
- [94:26]
Jon Favreau
And if you don't live in Texas, North Carolina or Arizona, but you still want to run for office, we love that. Please reach out to Vote Save America and sign up for Vote save America@votesaveamerica.com and the folks at VSA will put you in touch with people in your state, in your region in your area who are helping people run for office and giving people support to run for office. So it's not just Texas, North Carolina and Arizona. If you're anywhere and you want to run for office, reach out and we will help you out. You can sign up@votesaveamerica.com Run. That's our show for today. Dan's back on Sunday with an interview with Mark Cuban. Make sure you check that out. Have a good weekend everyone. If you want to listen to Pod Save America ad free or get access to our subscriber discord and exclusive podcasts, consider joining our Friends of the pod community@cricket.com friends or subscribe on Apple Podcasts directly from the Pod Save America feed. Also, please consider leaving us a review to help boost this episode and everything we do here at Crooked Pod Save America is a crooked Media production. Our producers are David Toledo, Emma Ilick 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 Andy 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 Sengle is our Executive assistant. Thanks to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Hayley Jones, Ben Hefcoat, Mia Kelman, Kiril Pelaviev, David Toles and Ryan Young. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America EAS.
- [96:23]
Alex Wagner
This.
- [96:23]
Jon Favreau
Season, let your shoes do the talking. Designer Shoe Warehouse is packed with fresh styles that speak to your whole vibe without saying a word. From cool sneakers that look good with everything. The easy sandals you'll want to wear on repeat. ESW has you covered.
- [96:38]
Dan
Find a shoe for every you from.
- [96:40]
Jon Favreau
The brands you love like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas, New Balance and more. Head to your DSW store or visit.
- [96:47]
Dan
Dsw.Com today.
- [96:55]
Jon Favreau
The world is on the brink. Wars, contentious elections, disinformation spreading at warp speed, and Donald Trump at the center.
- [97:01]
Alex Wagner
Of all of it.
- [97:01]
Jon Favreau
But what does it mean for the rest of us? Every week on Pots of the World, Tommy Vitor and I cut through the noise to explain how global global power is shifting. No jargon, no homework, just clear, honest conversations about what's happening and why it matters. From breaking news to long, simmering international conflicts, we dissect it all with critical analysis and some jokes that will surely embarrass our children one day. Tune in to Pod Save the World every Wednesday. Wherever you get your podcasts or catch it on YouTube.