Molly Jong-Fast on Another Week in Trump’s America

Summary

The Al Franken Podcast
Episode: Molly Jong-Fast on Another Week in Trump’s America
Aired: February 22, 2026
Guest: Molly Jong-Fast (Host of “Fast Politics”)

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Episode Overview

This episode, Al Franken is joined by political commentator and journalist Molly Jong-Fast to dissect a hectic week in Trump’s America (Trump’s second term), focusing on ongoing policy chaos, political scandals, the consequences of autocratic rule, and the comically surreal tone of American politics. With signature wit and exasperation, they analyze recent developments ranging from foreign policy and the “Board of Peace,” to the Supreme Court decision on tariffs, the Epstein files cover-up, attacks on voting rights, growing government corruption, and the bleak status of climate and immigration policy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Trump’s “Peace” Claims and Foreign Policy Theater

• The “Board of Peace” and Dubious War Endings
  Trump, as self-appointed chairman, leads the “Board of Peace” purporting to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction. He claims to have “settled eight wars,” a number Molly quickly deconstructs as exaggerated and largely false.

  • Molly’s Tally: Only 3 of 8 “wars” count as resolved and attributable to Trump’s actions, with some disputes ongoing or only tenuously paused.
  • Trump’s Speech Highlights:
    • Repeats self-serving lies (03:15).
    • Endorses Viktor Orban, Hungary’s far-right leader, for his anti-migrant stance (06:01).
    • Odd remarks about the “young, handsome” President of Paraguay (07:12).

• Supreme Court Overturns Tariffs
  A major SCOTUS decision rolls back Trump's tariffs with implications for executive power, with Molly and Al marveling at the complexity of unwinding Trump’s legal overreach (07:34).

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The Epstein Files and the Culture of Cover-Up

• Massive Redactions and Dodgy Explanations
  New “Epstein files” dropped but are heavily redacted, undermining transparency and fueling suspicion. Pam Bondi, DOJ, and prominent GOP figures all deny wrongdoing:

  • Only a small fraction of documents truly released.
  • Cash Patel, testifying: “the only person that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to was himself” (14:49).
  • Survivors’ FBI statements (the crucial “302s”) are withheld or redacted without legal rationale.

• High-Profile Collateral

  • Discussions of Howard Lutnick, Prince Andrew, and cross-Atlantic contrasts in accountability.
  • Al: “I feel like if you have a pedophilic sex trafficker living next to you, the move is not to bring your kids to his island. Call me a puritan…” (12:09).
  • Across the Atlantic: UK is far more willing to hold the powerful to account, while in the US, “the President is doing stuff like that all the time.” (14:18).
  • Administration declares the investigation “closed” and promises no further indictments.

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The SAVE Act: Attack on Voting Rights

• Republican Strategy to Tighten Voting Eligibility
  • SAVE Act aims to purge Democratic voters and makes it much harder for married women & others to retain the franchise, largely by challenging documents after name changes (18:05).
  • DHS (run by Kristi Noem) would control sweep of voter registrations and purges.
  • Al: “They don’t want to do anything except elections that they feel they can do. And I’m telling you, this stinks to high heaven and it’s against the Constitution.” (21:08)
  • Highly unlikely to pass in the Senate; would require breaking the filibuster.

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International Relations: NATO, Hungary & the Munich Security Conference

• Rubio’s Speech and the Shift in US/EU Relations
  At the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gets a mixed standing ovation for a speech that touts European Christianity and disparages Muslim immigrants—highlighted by both hosts as racist and insular (27:05).
  • “The future of the Republican Party is bright, let me tell you. Have to wear sunglasses.” – Franken, sarcastically (27:05).
  • Rubio did not mention Russia/Ukraine, symbolizing US retreat from NATO leadership.
  • Worries over Trump family enrichment from government contracts and peace deals; Jared Kushner’s odd pledge: “no one is making any money off of this” (31:04), which even the hosts ridicule.

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The Colbert/CBS Showdown and Cultural Chill

• Corporate Censorship and Retaliation
  • CBS (owned by Paramount/Skydance, led by Trump donor Larry Ellison) clamps down on Stephen Colbert’s political content.
  • Al and Molly detail Colbert’s public defiance and CBS’s legal threats, as well as the attempted misuse of the “equal time” rule—a “zombie law” revived to silence critics (33:08-36:42).
  • “CBS then says, like Colbert was lying. Colbert goes back on television the next day and says CBS is full of shit.” – Al Franken (36:08).
  • Paramount’s sale to pro-Trump interests is cited as explanation for the late-night culture war.

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Climate Policy Regression

• EPA & Science Denial Revival
  • Trump EPA rejects the foundational 2009 finding that greenhouse gases are a planetary threat.
  • Moves to bring back pesticides like DDT/Roundup; rollback of climate and public health protection (37:17).
  • Al: “Look, are you surprised to hear that the administration that doesn’t think you need a measles vaccine also believes that climate change is not real?” (37:40).
  • Hosts debate whether ordinary Americans care, agree that elite apathy is stronger than public apathy.

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Immigration Crackdown & Domestic Policy Dystopia

• ICE Abuses, Public Backlash, and Federal Stonewalling
  • ICE overreach incites protest even among “yoga moms” in Chicago and Minnesota, following horrifying cases and policy excess (39:05).
  • FBI refuses to share information about deaths in Minnesota, indicating a pattern of federal cover-ups and silencing oversight (41:25).
  • “If we were signatories on the Hague, half this government would end up in it.” – Al Franken (47:55).

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Government Corruption and the “Kleptocracy”

• Trump and Family Profiting Off Power
  • New reporting reveals billions in off-book revenue from deals involving Nvidia (AI chips), Venezuelan oil, and other questionable windfalls (46:22).
  • Al calls it a “kleptocracy” and questions whether Americans care. Despite historically low approval ratings for Trump, Republican base remains steadfast, while special elections tilt Democratic (48:19-49:10).
  • “We got like a cabinet that’s full on North Korea.” – Al Franken (48:48).

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Elections & State of the Union Preview

• Outlook for the Midterms and Democratic Strategy

  • Despite GOP efforts to suppress and distort democracy, Democrats have notable down-ballot momentum.
  • Al worries about whether Democrats are “up to the job” of being a true opposition or resistance party under such duress (50:16, 51:09).

• State of the Union Expectations

  • Expect another Trump campaign-style rally, disregard for precedent, and more disinformation (51:49-52:51).
  • Some Democrats may boycott the address, but the gesture is more symbolic than impactful.
  • Al’s candid reflection: “We used to do SNL State of the Union sketches…and I just saw Trump up there and I felt like, oh, I’m really an 8H. I’m at…SNL.” (53:07).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Call me a puritan, but I think the thing I am struck by with the Howard Lutnick stuff…if you have a pedophilic sex trafficker living next to you, the move is not to bring your kids to his island.” – Al Franken (12:09)
• “The only person that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to was himself.” – Cash Patel, quoted by Al Franken (14:49)
• “This stinks to high heaven and it’s against the Constitution.” – Al Franken on the SAVE Act (21:08)
• “I do love Kristi Noem because she’s so stupid, but I think that was pretty bad.” – Al Franken (32:06)
• “We got like a cabinet that’s full on North Korea.” – Al Franken (48:48)
• “If we were signatories on the Hague, half this government would end up in it.” – Al Franken (47:55)
• “We used to do SNL…State of the Union sketches…I just saw Trump up there and I felt like…I’m at…SNL.” – Al Franken (53:07)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Trump’s Board of Peace/Peace Claims: 01:33 – 07:34
• Supreme Court Overturns Tariffs: 07:34 – 08:44
• Epstein Files/DOJ Cover-up: 10:02 – 17:22
• SAVE Act/Voter Purge Discussion: 17:41 – 23:35
• Munich Security Conference/Foreign Policy: 26:57 – 32:17
• Colbert vs. CBS / Free Speech: 32:17 – 36:42
• Trump EPA and Climate/Science Backslide: 36:53 – 39:47
• Immigration/ICE Protests/Minnesota Killings: 39:47 – 41:44
• Trump Family Corruption/Kleptocracy: 46:01 – 48:48
• Midterms/Democratic Opposition: 50:04 – 53:07
• State of the Union Preview: 51:39 – 55:41

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Tone & Takeaways

Throughout, Al and Molly maintain a sardonic, often darkly comedic tone, blending outrage with resignation and wry observations about living in a political reality that often feels absurd. Their conversation is fast-paced but rich in context, highlighting both bigger trends—creeping authoritarianism, institutional rot, the normalization of corruption—and the personal toll on those trying to defend democracy.

The episode is essential listening for those feeling bewildered or exhausted by American politics, offering both sharp analysis and some cathartic laughter in the face of it all.

Transcript

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[Molly Jung Fast]

Hey everybody, we got a great one today. You know, for a change, our friend Molly Zhang, fast host of the great podcast Fast Politics, joins us today for a wide ranging discussion that I think you'll enjoy. We're taping this intro on Friday morning and you'll be listening to this on Sunday or later. So as you hear this, it's possible we are at war with Iran, but hopefully having two aircraft carriers in the region is just a very expensive distraction from the Epstein files. Or at least that's Molly's theory. I'm not sure. I don't know what Trump's doing. Well, Trump's Board of Peace held its first meeting on Thursday at the Donald J. Trump Institute of peace in Washington D.C. trump is the Chairman of the Board of Peace, a body he established to oversee the post war security and reconstruction of Gaza. As chairman, Trump holds ultimate decision making Power for the Board of Peace, including veto authority and the authority to appoint members. With leaders from quite a number of member countries in attendance, Trump gave a 47 minute discursive speech that included an oft repeated lie in the first minute.

[Ad Host]

Just this first year. We have a first year like probably no other ever in our country because we settled eight wars.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Okay, that's not true. It's complicated. First of all, two of those, quote, wars were during his first term. And of those two, at least one wasn't a war. It was a dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the flow of water from a hydroelectric dam. And that dispute still hasn't been resolved. It hasn't been settled. The second was a conflict between Kosovo and Serbia, which the Trump White House said it brokered. They were fighting Kosovo and Serbia, but the agreement that the Trump White House brokered was an economic one. Anyway. Now, for the six wars from his second term so far, one that he counts is between the Congo and Rwanda, and that's actually a war that's still going on. Trump did broker a peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia last year after 10 years of war. And both countries give Trump credit for that. So good for him. Let's count that one. There's a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after Israel and the US Bombed Iran's nuclear facility. So that, I guess that counts. I guess, you know, for now there's Gaza, that, that counts, you know, except it hasn't really progressed past the initial stage. But still, that was an achievement. Last July, Cambodia and Thailand had five days of fighting. Trump urged them to negotiate a ceasefire or else. He stalled trade deals with both governments, so that counts. And finally, there's India and Pakistan, which Pakistan gives the US Credit for brokering, but India doesn't. So give him a half. So my tally is three yeses, two half points and three nos. With that score, he probably should stop saying he ended up eight wars, but he won't. In his speech, Trump said a lot of other odd stuff. He again endorsed autocrat Viktor Orban, who I'm no fan of and who's running for reelection in Hungary.

[Ad Host]

Prime Minister Orban of Hungary, who has my complete and total endorsement for election. Not everybody in Europe loves that endorsement, but that's okay. He does an unbelievable job. He's done an incredible job on immigration, unlike some countries that have hurt themselves, but they're working on it.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Trump, of course, talking about Hungary not being hospitable to migrants fleeing war, especially from Muslim countries like Syria and Afghanistan. That seems like a theme coming from the Trump administration. At the Munich Security Conference this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized our ties with European Christians and voiced a kind of ugly hostility to Europe taking in Muslim migrants. Now, Orban may very well lose. We'll have to keep an eye on that. In April, Trump had some more nice things to say about other attendees. Here's an odd moment when he references the President of Paraguay.

[Ad Host]

President Pena of Paraguay is here. President. President. Thank you very much. Young, handsome guy. It's always nice to be young and handsome. Doesn't mean we have to like you. I don't like young, handsome men. Women like men. Know how to have any interest.

[Molly Jung Fast]

I'm not sure why he would say that, but he did. Now, and this just came in as I'm taping this. In a 6, 3 decision with Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh in dissent, the Supreme Court has overturned Trump's tariffs. It took them long enough. If you listen to the arguments before the court back in November, it seemed clear that this was where the court was going to end up. Neil Katyal argued that only Congress can impose tariffs, which are, of course, a form of taxes. Now, this is all going to be very complicated to unravel, and that is an understatement. I just can't wait to hear drums response. Well, let's go to Molly Jung fast. It's a great one, you know, for a change. Hi, Molly.

[Al Franken]

Hi, Al. What's going on?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Oh, nothing much, but thanks for joining me anyway. By the time this drops, we're recording this on Thursday, we might be at war.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. With Iran, but only to distract from the Epstein files.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, there's other reasons. Maybe, but maybe you're right.

[Al Franken]

That's not why Trump's doing it. Let's be honest here. I mean, we might as well just, like, call a spade a spade. There is zero chance that Donald Trump cares about the protesters of Iran.

[Molly Jung Fast]

He had told them, he had announced that if they protested and Iran killed them, that they would pay.

[Al Franken]

Yes.

[Molly Jung Fast]

And then he didn't do anything when he killed thousands of protesters.

[Al Franken]

But then Prince Andrew got arrested and the Epstein files became even more of a story. And he decided that as many Republicans have throughout history, there was only one really good way to change the subject, and that was war in the Middle East.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Okay, well, as long as we're talking about the Epstein files, let's go to it. They released 3 million pages but left 3 million out.

[Al Franken]

Probably more.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah. Bondi said we're done.

[Al Franken]

Yes. I mean, we say a lot of things in the Trump administration. They say a lot of stuff. They talk. Am I allowed to curse here?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Oh, yeah.

[Al Franken]

They talk a lot of shit, these people. But ultimately, we've heard that Donald Trump said, it's closed, it's over. We're not gonna talk about it anymore. Pam Bondi said she had a client list on her desk. She had. Remember the phase one folders that she handed out to influencers where they took five?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Had nothing. Had nothing, really.

[Al Franken]

Basically just stuff you could find online. So News Channel 4, the British says that it's like 4% of all the stuff. I don't think that's right. I think they're misreading the file sizes. But I do think. Look, we know from Virginia to Free's testimony and. And interviews, or public interviews that she accused Wexner.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Right?

[Al Franken]

She accused Wexner and also Prince Andrew. But we know from just like interviews that she had seen this room in the Manhattan estate that used to belong to Epstein, that was right next door to Howard Lutnick, who you may remember as our moronic commerce Secretary, and who

[Molly Jung Fast]

said that he only visited Epstein once they lived next door. And he was so appalled by the massage table, and he was there with his wife. And evidently Epstein said something about he gets a massage every day and he gets the right kind of massage. And they were so offended that he swore never to see him again. And he was lying, right?

[Al Franken]

Yes. And then fast forward emails with the wife and the assistant saying, we're going to bring another family. Our kids are ages 5, 11, 17 and 20. Personally, I feel like if you have a pedophilic sex trafficker living next to you, the move is not to bring your kids to his island. Call me a puritan, but I think the thing that I am struck by with the Howard Lutnick stuff, and. And then there's more stuff in the files. There's the two of them signing an LLC together. A limited liability company, cbs, which you'll remember, is now owned by Larry Ellison, Trump friend and donor by Paramount.

[Molly Jung Fast]

That gets into the Colbert stuff.

[Al Franken]

Yes, but it all is connected. But Larry Ellison owned. Cbs, reported that actually Lutnick had been in business with Epstein. Again, these. This has not been totally drilled through, but I would not be shocked if that were the case.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, I. Okay. I think Ludnick just. Just lied, that's all. I'm not.

[Al Franken]

I mean, we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, he should be gone, shouldn't he?

[Al Franken]

Should he be gone?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah, of course.

[Al Franken]

Morally, I mean, Prince Andrew, I mean, like, this is a Problem with America at this moment, across the Atlantic, the King has had his brother arrested. Has allowed his brother to be arrested because.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, yes. I mean, I don't think so.

[Al Franken]

He didn't have anything, but he allowed it to happen because his brother is, there's so much evidence that, that there's some. That his brother has broken the law in any which way. Right. It may just be giving secrets. It may.

[Molly Jung Fast]

I'm not sure that the King these days can say to say, no, you can't arrest my brother.

[Al Franken]

I mean, we live, that said, though, we live in a country where the President is doing stuff like that all the time.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, yeah, I mean, Todd Blanche has said that no one named in the files would be indicted.

[Al Franken]

Yes.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Okay. Isn't that, that's sort of the definition of a cover up? Right?

[Al Franken]

Yeah. And then you have Cash Patel saying the only person Epstein ever trafficked girls to was himself.

[Molly Jung Fast]

What?

[Al Franken]

Yes. Cash Patel in his testimony, they said, who did Epstein traffic girls to? And he said the only person that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to was himself. I mean, Thomas Massie has a list of 250.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, Massie led the bill to release the Epstein files. And Khanna was on MSNBC and he called for the release of the 302 files. Those are files where the FBI questioned the survivors.

[Al Franken]

Yeah.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So they have called or Khanna called for release of these files so people can see for themselves who the survivor's name. Why aren't these files part of the 3 million documents that released. Because these are the survivors named, the people who victimized them.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. Even more like why are they redacted? So the law said that the DOJ had to explain each redaction. So if there was an email and there was a redacted name, they had to say like, oh, it's a victim, or you know, but instead we have these redactions which are like clearly not victims. You know, your littlest girl was naughty and the name is redacted. So how do you justify that? And in fact, what's really interesting about the redactions is there were two sets of redactions. So the doj, the Pam Bondi doj, got an already redacted set of documents. So what's that about? And that was when the reporting there was that reporting that they had had all these FBI agents go in and redact Donald Trump's name. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that makes a person seem like a conspiracy theorist.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah, well, I, I, I think that unless they release these, certainly these FBI Documents where the, the victims name their, you know, the people who, the men who abused them. Unless they do that, of course, it's a, it's a cover up and it can go to the very top. I mean, he did that 50th birthday thing and said, I hope we have a secret every day or something like that.

[Al Franken]

He said, every day is another wonderful secret. And then there was a picture of a naked woman. I mean, this is like if you were a Martian and you came down to Earth and you went to England, you would say this is a functioning country and you came here and you would be like, these people are nuts.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Okay. Speaking of nuts. Well, this is nuts. I worry about the SAVE Act.

[Al Franken]

I do too.

[Molly Jung Fast]

And it seems that, okay, the Republicans don't have enough votes. They have 50 some votes to pass this thing and they can't stop a filibuster. Right?

[Al Franken]

Yeah. So the SAVE act is completely crazy. And it involves. It's not. It's like a voter id. The goal is that the midterms are looking bad for Trump. Trump really doesn't wanna get impeached. They've cooked up this save app. They've been trying to pass it for a while. It didn't pass the House. Now it's passed the House. It's completely crazy. Yeah, it's completely crazy. The only way for them to pass it would be 60 votes in the Senate. They don't have 60 votes.

[Molly Jung Fast]

And they are.

[Al Franken]

They'd have to break the filibuster.

[Molly Jung Fast]

They'd have to break the filibuster. And I think they're desperate. I think the Republicans in the Senate think that they could lose the majority.

[Al Franken]

I mean, yes. I don't think this is what we're all banking on is that the people in the Senate are not as sycophantic and crazy that John Thune cares more about American democracy than Mike Johnson. That's what we're banking.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, that's a low bar.

[Al Franken]

I'm aware, but I'm just saying, like, we're banking on the idea that the Senate will not just throw out this whole American experiment.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, let's talk about what the SAVE act does, because what it do is it would allow Republicans to purge Democratic voters, basically. Right. That's sort of the purpose of it.

[Al Franken]

And it would make it harder for women, married women, to vote, which has been in their targets because they. Women, Married women tend not to be for bullshit. And so Republicans tend to want to disinfect.

[Molly Jung Fast]

These are married women, for example, who have changed their name when they got married. Okay. So your birth certificate is no longer good for identification.

[Al Franken]

No.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So what, what they're going to do is purge voters. Right. And so it requires all states to submit their voter registration list to DHS's Save Voter Purge program. Basically, yes.

[Al Franken]

Yes.

[Molly Jung Fast]

And the Department of Homeland Security would be in charge of purging voters. That's Kristi Noem.

[Al Franken]

Yes. You may know her from. She just bought a. She's trying to buy a very expensive 737 for her jetting around.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah. Because she's had some problems with travel. They had her blanket got left.

[Al Franken]

That's why. Yeah, she had the blanket left. They had to fire someone. She needs a new plane. I mean, what's great about this administration is their incredible intention to self enrichment and not having to fly commercial.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So married women, their birth certificate is no good if they've changed their name.

[Al Franken]

Yeah.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Dung Fast was your maybe.

[Al Franken]

I'm good, man.

[Molly Jung Fast]

You're good.

[Al Franken]

I'm okay.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So you're okay.

[Al Franken]

We just need like about 300 million of me and we'll be fine.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah. So to register to vote, you either need a passport or a birth certificate,

[Al Franken]

but I mean, it's a larger thing. It's like one. The whole Constitution, the whole Federalist experiment is that we have federalized elections. It's in the Constitution that you have stated run elections, not the federal government. So in order to do this, we have the Trump federal government which doesn't want to do anything. They don't want a Department of Education. They don't want, you know, they would like to privatize Social Security. They don't want to do anything except elections that they feel they can do. And I'm telling you, this stinks to high heaven and it's against the Constitution. Now I think that if, for somehow, if John Thune were bullied into allowing this thing to pass, it would still have a number of problems and that the Supreme Court, which is very trumpy, would still have a hard time letting this thing stand. I mean, it really does go completely against the Constitution. I mean, I know we don't really care about that anymore, but Republicans pretended to.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, certainly the Supreme Court doesn't seem to care about it.

[Al Franken]

No, no.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah. So the question is will soon pull the trigger on getting rid of the filibuster and that's, that's a big step. And I don't know.

[Al Franken]

I think it's unlikely. That's my guess is unlikely. I mean, I think there are a lot of things to worry about and a lot. Like, you know, does Donald Trump send ice into bul people?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Does he try, you mean into the polling places?

[Al Franken]

Yeah, or into polling places or into, you know, into blue districts in Texas just because he's worried about losing the Senate? I mean, you know, any number of things could happen. Could he seize voting machines if he doesn't like the way early turnout is looking?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Sure.

[Al Franken]

But those are all, in a weird way, more feasible for him than just rewriting the Constitution. Which is not to say that that's not feasible, because we've seen Trump work. He's gonna go to war with Iran right now. So I don't know what happens. I'm not psychic, but I do think that I don't think it's the most likely worry that I have right now.

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[Al Franken]

Shop from rebel.com and save big let's

[Molly Jung Fast]

turn to the Munich Security Conference. Did you watch Rubio's speech?

[Al Franken]

Yes. Yes. So likable. So likable. The future of the Republican Party is bright, let me tell you. Have to wear sunglasses.

[Molly Jung Fast]

He got a standing ovation.

[Al Franken]

But I It's all relative, isn't it?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah, just the tone was so different from Vance's, of course, the year before. I thought the speech was kind of racist, you know.

[Al Franken]

Really?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah. Well, I mean he was just disparaging immigration to Europe by, you know, Muslims and non whites and touting Christianity and pretty specifically European white Christians. And you spoke against, you know, immigration. The words Russia and Ukraine weren't mentioned in the speech.

[Al Franken]

And then he jumped on a plane to go to America's favorite ally, Hungary. Yeah, yeah, because when we think of democracy, we think of Viktor Orban. No, listen, the difference between Rubio and J.D. vance is that Rubio is slightly less appalling, but only slightly. Otherwise, the substance is not so different. I think that people are really, certainly Europeans are really worried because, remember, we already had Donald Trump trying to kill NATO by invading Greenland. Do you remember that from earlier this season?

[Molly Jung Fast]

I kind of do. Yeah.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. So these guys are freaked out. And remember, they're like serious people who have real governments and who did not elect a reality television host twice. So I do think that the substance was largely the same. I mean, I think they were happy that Rubio wasn't screaming at them.

[Molly Jung Fast]

I'm wondering if. I mean, this is a ways away, this is almost three years away, if this changes back to what it was before Trump, that we have a Democratic administration that's actually pro NATO, that goes back to what our relationship with NATO was. Is that foreseeable? I mean, or are we confirming Carney's speech, which is that, you know, we're kind of abandoning Carney is.

[Al Franken]

I mean, listen, Canada is cold and the food is bad, I'm sorry to tell you, so we can't live there. But Carney is really smart.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Oh, that speech is amazing.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. Yeah. And it's. To have, like, a really smart person leading a government. It's like a pretty interesting exercise. We once had that with Barack Hussein Obama. We haven't had him in a long, long time, probably will never have it again. But it is interesting to me that it's interesting to see what it's like to have a smart person lead a country. It's a thought experiment, one might say.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So we are not going to support Ukraine in this war. We are not in their negotiations with Russia.

[Al Franken]

I mean, the interesting thing about Ukraine and Russia is that it seems as if Putin is really having that this war has almost exhausted Putin. But. So I don't. I mean, I don't think America is taking a particularly active role. Look, I don't think that Donald Trump's real estate buddy, Steve Wyckoff is a great. Is a, Schooled at doing this. B. Has any, you know, like, is also. He's also making money while he's doing

[Molly Jung Fast]

this, as is Trump and his family. Which. Do Americans care about that?

[Al Franken]

I mean, I think they do. We have all these protests. I'm telling you, my favorite moment from the Board of Peace meetings, which were today, which includes such notable peacemakers as Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin, was the president's son in law, who, as far as I can tell, has no government job. Whatever Jared Kushner saying, don't worry, no One is making any money off of this. Like just apropos of nothing, which is something I think about when I am involved in a peace alliance, is our

[Molly Jung Fast]

people who's making money. He said that?

[Al Franken]

Yes. That was. It's like up. There were so many things this week, last week where members of Trump administration said things that you were like, no, they didn't really say. That can't be right. Like Kristi Noem said, we want the right people voting.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Right.

[Al Franken]

Literally, we want the right people voting

[Molly Jung Fast]

and the right people elected.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. To vote for the right. To vote for the right candidates. I mean, it was. I mean, I do love Kristi Noem because she's so stupid, but I. But I think that was pretty bad.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So what'd you make of this whole Colbert situation? I mean, that, that was. I mean, that's CBS cave because it's owned by Paramount. Right.

[Al Franken]

Which is owned by Trump supporter Larry Ellison. Trump supporter and donor Larry Ellison's son David, who is. Okay, here's what I would say. I don't even think that it's that CBS caved. It's that CBS and Stephen Colbert are in active war against each other. So Colbert says, we want to have telorico. CBS lawyers say, no, you can't remember that. I just want to point this out because I think it's relevant. The head of the fcc, Brendan Carr, is looking into the View on Equal Time.

[Molly Jung Fast]

It was a Talarico interview as well.

[Al Franken]

Right? Was a Talarico interview as well. So this is a Talarico interview. The lawyers say, no, you can't do it. Colbert says what I would say had I had my show canceled because Sherry Redstone wanted to sell my network to a Trump donor, which is, fuck you.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Let's make this clear that Colbert, which is the highest rated late night show on television.

[Al Franken]

Yes.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Right. When Paramount was right before, six weeks

[Al Franken]

before Skydance was trying to buy Paramount, they were about to go into a regulatory thing. Sherry Redstone owned Paramount, really wanted to sell it. Trump administration made it very clear in a million different ways what they like. Sherry said, late night is too expensive. Your sunsetted in June. Or maybe it was the board of directors, maybe it wasn't Sherry, but she certainly was the owner of the company.

[Molly Jung Fast]

But your sunset, I mean, Colbert is.

[Al Franken]

Yes, sunsetting Colbert. She then has no trouble selling Paramount to Skydance. Fast forward to now. I think that's an important little backstory because I think it shows that Colbert does not give, as we say, a fuck.

[Molly Jung Fast]

But now they want to buy Warner Brothers, right?

[Sponsor Voice]

Yeah.

[Al Franken]

So fast forward, I think I just want to go back through the machinations here. So Colbert says, I can't. The lawyers told me I can't talk about this. So he talks about it, which is great. He does the interview, YouTube only. And this is what happens. It is talked about. Then the CBS lawyers put out a statement that is like totally trying to sort of debunk what Colbert says. Says it was only about equal time. If you had had the other candidates on then you would have been able to do it. Equal time for primaries is not something we've had. So I don't know where that's coming from.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Equal time for anything. I mean, it's not.

[Al Franken]

It hasn't been enforced in a long, long time.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Now, 40 years or something like that. They made a ruling 40 years ago that, that on a late night show, like, I think it was a Leno decision or something, that this isn't enforced.

[Al Franken]

But the thing about it is the Trump administration does this thing where they find these zombie laws, like laws that are still on the books, that because people were lazy, like the Comstock act, which is, you know, where you can't mail abortion pills or, you know, it was an anti pornography statute of the Victorian era. I mean, that's what we're looking at. They use these rules that haven't been used but haven't been repealed.

[Molly Jung Fast]

They're trying to use that to prevent sending abortion pills.

[Al Franken]

Abortion pills. Yeah. And there's a lot of stuff like that, you know, the Alien Enemies Act, I mean, stuff that hasn't been used in a long, long time but isn't repealed. And that's what is happening here, is equal time hasn't been in use in a long, long time. But the point is, CBS then says, like Colbert was lying. Colbert goes back on television the next day and says CBS is full of shit. And you have a very nice sort of back and forth between a network and its host. I don't hate it.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, it is very weird. I mean, I guess they're not going to get rid of them until it's May or June, right?

[Al Franken]

Yep.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Okay, well, I think we're going to keep hearing about this from Gobert for sure. Let's talk about the climate. So last week the Trump EPA rejected the agency's 2009 finding that greenhouse gases are a threat to the planet.

[Al Franken]

They're also bringing back DDT or some kind of. I think they're bringing back Roundup, the pesticide that causes cancer.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah, okay, but they're basically saying that global warming Isn't a threat.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. Look, are you surprised to hear that the administration that doesn't think you need a measles vaccine also believes that climate change is not real? Because I'm not like they're the same. You know, it's. We have horseshoe theory happening right in this administration, which is. We have the far left anti science, which is like anti vaccines, or it's become far right now, too. But. And then we have the far right anti science, which is like climate change isn't real. I mean, when you reject expertise, when you reject science, you end up with an administration that is just completely bonkers.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, I just worry that Americans don't care about this. I mean, they care about the economy.

[Al Franken]

I think Americans care about all of this a lot more than, like, wealthy. The very wealthy don't care. Right. Like Jeff Bezos killing the Washington Post at Fashion Week with his second wife. Does not care. Doesn't care. But do I think that most people care? Yeah, I think most people care. I think we're see, I mean, we see that with, you know, Minnesota, like, these are not wildly political people, but they don't like it.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, Minnesota, Minnesotans were, I mean, reacting to what ICE was doing there. That was unprecedented. I've never seen anything so appalling.

[Al Franken]

But Chicago, too. I mean, Chicago, you had moms in Abolish ICE T shirts, yoga moms, and

[Molly Jung Fast]

Abolish ICE blowing whistles and all that really started the whistle stuff. Started there, right?

[Al Franken]

Yeah. I mean, much worse in Minnesota because way more ICE agents and two murders.

[Molly Jung Fast]

I mean, I think. I think two thirds of Americans are now against the president's immigration policy.

[Al Franken]

What's there to be for?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Okay, but it seems that Republicans are still taking in Congress are still taking a hard line on. I mean, this is why the government is closed down. Or there's a partial.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. Dhs.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So they're still not. But they're not budging on masks and on body cams and wearing name tags or some kind of identification. They're, you know, not requiring the use of judicial warrants.

[Al Franken]

And if you wanted to play devil's advocate for a minute, you could say that the fact that Donald Trump refuses to reverse course on almost anything, even like, you know, so they killed two US Citizens and then they took Bovino out, they put Holman in, they did some cosmetic changes, and then eventually they drew back. But if you were a devil's advocate, you would say that maybe it's a good thing that Donald Trump is not even trying to pretend to give a shit about what the American people want. Right. Because he's got a cabinet filled with Epstein list people who are in there. Right? From John Phelan, who flew on Epstein's plane to the UK to Howard Lutnick, who's in there a bunch, to Donald Trump who's in there a bunch. And he's not firing anyone. So you can sort of make the argument that maybe it's better just to have him stop pretending to care about what people want.

[Molly Jung Fast]

One of the things that Talking about Minnesota, the FBI announced that it will not share information with Annaman county and with the state of Minnesota on the killings of Renee Good and Alex Preddy. So this is a cover up, right?

[Al Franken]

Yeah.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Okay.

[Al Franken]

I mean, it's yes, it's a cover up. And so is the Epstein staff and so is the, you know, they fired all of these, the inspectors general. I mean, they were always good to, you know, they set it up so they could have a cover up.

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[Molly Jung Fast]

Let's talk about Trump's corruption. I mean, I sent you an article from the New York Times. I don't know if you got a chance to read it, but this is an op ed in the Times about just how Trump is basically. I don't know how to put. Stealing money.

[Al Franken]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Molly Jung Fast]

One example is, okay, the Trump administration gave Nvidia approval to sell advanced AI chips right, to China and that the government will receive 15% of the revenue. Has that ever been done before?

[Al Franken]

It's socialism. We're seizing the means of production.

[Molly Jung Fast]

And Trump said that he will be able to determine how the funds are spent.

[Al Franken]

So

[Molly Jung Fast]

the article said that the White House is raking in billions of dollars in off book revenue.

[Al Franken]

Oh, for sure.

[Molly Jung Fast]

We got $500 million from Venezuela, their oil revenue, and put it in a Qatari bank. And Trump is controlling that.

[Al Franken]

Yeah.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Now the money for the tunnel finally between New York and New Jersey, a court finally ruled that they have to hand it over.

[Al Franken]

Thank God our governor Kathy Hochul, who went from drab to fab, has really stepped up and got that money released. Look, it's a kleptocracy. It's an autocracy, but it's also a kleptocracy. And Donald Trump has, he's trying to make money any which way he can. I mean, look, the President of Venezuela and his wife are still in a New York jail. Remember that?

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yes.

[Al Franken]

From season one. I mean, like the stuff we're doing, you know, blowing up fishermen in the Caribbean, it's just every bit of it is unprecedented and un American and corrupt and like, if, you know, if we were signatories on the Hague, half this government would end up in it.

[Molly Jung Fast]

I'm just wondering, do Americans care that Trump, that their family has made billions of dollars already in just a year?

[Al Franken]

I mean, he's at the lowest approval rating he's ever had. So, I mean, I mean, you know, he's telling people, we have Brooke Rollins saying that you can eat for $3ameal if you can get a small enough piece of chicken.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Was it one piece of broccoli? Was it one piece of broccoli in that?

[Al Franken]

Yeah, you can get a fajita wrapper. I mean, it's like we got like a cabinet that's full on North Korea. I don't know. I mean, I think people don't like it. These special elections have these wild 20 point shifts, at least in Trump's first term.

[Molly Jung Fast]

I think that the Democrats have won 26 out of 26. State representative or senator.

[Al Franken]

Yeah, they lost a House seat in Tennessee, but It was an R +45. And the candidate was a little bit lefty. But I mean, largely they have really overperformed. And if you think about Trump's first term versus Trump's second term, in Trump's first term, you definitely felt like there were there. He would tweet about crazy stuff. It definitely felt like things were pretty unstable. But you never felt like he didn't kidnap the president of Venezuela and his wife. He didn't blow up fishing boats. It wasn't quite as bad. So I actually think this is pretty different.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So you think these midterms are going to be what.

[Al Franken]

What they think they're going to be?

[Molly Jung Fast]

And I think we win in places like Texas.

[Al Franken]

And I mean, I think, look, if we have elections that don't have ICE at the polling stations trying to figure out how everyone's going to vote, then I think Democrats will win a lot of stuff. Now that is when all the problems start, really, because Democrats are, as we saw in 2020, not completely up to this job. To be the one party that keeps the American experiment going is a lot of pressure. And a lot of these Democrats, like Chuck Schumer, are very likable and know how to do Democratic stuff, but don't really know how to be an opposition party. And that is where we're going to get into trouble. And so that's when you have to. And the Democratic Party itself is not really set up to be an opposition party like that.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So are we gonna blow it? I mean, there's still.

[Al Franken]

I mean, we did blow it last time, so I don't know. I mean, I think the good news is that I don't think Trump is gonna run for president again.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, of course he can't, but I

[Al Franken]

mean, he's also, you know, so. But I think it's gonna be. I think it's gonna be hairy, you know.

[Molly Jung Fast]

So next week is State of the Union.

[Al Franken]

Yes.

[Molly Jung Fast]

And what are you looking for?

[Al Franken]

I am looking for if. Okay, so here's what I would say about the State of the Union. I think if history, recent history is any guide, he'll get up there and he'll do like a three hour campaign speech that'll include like, Democrats are the worst and I'm gonna make things cheaper.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Is he gonna say he won the 2020 election in the State of the Union? You think so?

[Al Franken]

Probably. I mean, well, you know, they're gonna Load in a speech. Stephen Miller is writing a speech. They're gonna load it in there and then he's just gonna get up there and he's gonna be like, oh, look, it's da, da, da. You're so handsome. God, I don't. You know, today at the Board of Peace, he said, he's a young handsome man. I don't like men, I only like ladies. But if I liked men, I mean, he's just gonna go up there and do shtick, which is fine, but his shtick is like, I won the 2020 election, I'm making things cheaper. I mean, he's very removed from the consequences of his word.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, now some Democrats aren't going to show up. Yeah, I think that's wise. Or doesn't matter.

[Al Franken]

I mean, I think it's probably, I don't know, what do you think? Because you actually have done this before.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Yeah, it's fine. Like, of course I got there when Obama was president and I remember going in my first State of the Union and just was going like, I couldn't fucking believe I was there. And how the majesty of it. And then when Trump did it, I, I was. Because in the Senate I was very close to the front and I. We used to do on, on snl, we used to do State of the Union sketches when there was a State of the Union. And I just saw Trump up there and I felt like, oh, I'm at. I'm really an 8H. I'm, I'm at. I'm SNL. And I couldn't believe this guy was there. Yeah, and he's there. He's a two term president.

[Al Franken]

I mean, so like what we've seen, we saw Democrats have little signs. I don't think that was so brilliant. We've seen them not show up, we've seen them clap. Not clap. We've seen MAGA hats in the audience. We've seen. The problem is we've been doing this for a decade. So like we're all really fucking tired. But I'm not sure what matters. I mean, he'll probably have, if it's Trump, he'll have a bunch of people whose very attractive kids were killed by people who are not citizens. Because that's what he loves, that, you know, illegal crime. So that's right, he'll have that and then he'll probably have someone who died of fentanyl because he loves that. Because, you know, you just line up his talking points and you know, so there's like the people who they bring to you know, this kid had cancer

[Molly Jung Fast]

and remember, they had Rush Limbaugh there and announced he was getting the presidential, Presidential medal. Freedom.

[Al Franken]

Yeah. Really cheapens the whole thing. Actually, the White House yesterday put out a tweet that was like, it's been five years since Rush Limbaugh has died. It was like a really weird, really weird tweet.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, he was a big part of their coalition. I mean, he yelled for three hours every day.

[Al Franken]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, no, he was the number one voter turnout. You know, it was the number one for voter turnout.

[Molly Jung Fast]

I think he was named the official, you know, official member of the Republican caucus in the house in 95 or something like that. Well, oh, boy. Thanks so much for joining me. It's a tough time.

[Al Franken]

Things are going great.

[Molly Jung Fast]

They're going great.

[Al Franken]

Great. Going great.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Well, thanks, Molly.

[Al Franken]

Thanks for having me.

[Molly Jung Fast]

You bet. Thank you. Well, I, I hope you enjoyed listening. That beautiful music is by Leo Kotke, the great Leo Kotke. I want to thank Peter Ogburn for producing this podcast. We'll talk again next week. America, America, you used to be so fun but now you go to bed at night scrolling on your phone. Well, listen up, America. Carnival is here with world class crew and ropes course, too. And comedy and snorkeling and dining. Like everything from sea to shining sea.

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[Al Franken]

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[Molly Jung Fast]

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[Molly Jung Fast]

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[Al Franken]

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[Molly Jung Fast]

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[Al Franken]

No. I see.

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That's all right. My wife says a lot of no as well.

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[Molly Jung Fast]

We were all a part of this victory.

[Al Franken]

Now get those nachos out of the preemie warmer. Nachos.

[Molly Jung Fast]

Looks like there's more applause for the

[Sponsor Voice]

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The new season of Scrubs Wednesday, 8, 7 Central on ABC and stream on Hulu.