Adam Kinzinger: The United States of Dystopia

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bulwark Daily

Episode: Adam Kinzinger: The United States of Dystopia

Host: Tim Miller
Guest: Adam Kinzinger
Date: August 13, 2026

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Brief Overview

In this dynamic episode, Tim Miller sits down in Washington, DC, with Adam Kinzinger—former Congressman, Air Force veteran, and author—to dissect the current dystopian vibes in American politics. With humor and candor, they explore the alarming militarization of daily life, the rise of authoritarian tactics, the dangerous normalization of cruelty and corruption, and the 2026 electoral landscape. They also share behind-the-scenes campaign stories, critique the GOP candidate pipeline, deliver news analysis, and field sharp mailbag questions—all in the buoyant, reality-based spirit that defines The Bulwark.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nostalgia & Campaign War Stories (00:45–03:30)

• Tim and Adam reminisce about their time together on the Jeb Bush campaign, emphasizing camaraderie amidst campaign reality checks.
  • Memorable moment: Tim recounts bluntly dispelling Jeb's optimism about Iowa support, with Jeb appreciating the honesty.
  • Adam: “People called me Rain Cloud. But I was like, we're in last place. I'm Reality cloud. I'm the weatherman telling you it's raining." (03:08)

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2. Dystopia Watch: Militarization in DC (03:30–07:47)

• Tim expresses discomfort over National Guard military presence in DC, feeling it signals creeping authoritarianism and questions its necessity and cost.
• Adam, as a veteran, raises concerns about using the Guard as political theater rather than emergency response:
  • “I think if guard goes somewhere, it needs to be like kind of break glass... It feels like theater. I think it's the best way to put it.” (05:12)
• Both agree that surging traditional police or interjurisdictional cooperation would be preferable to military show-of-force.
• They highlight El Salvador as a cautionary tale of trading rights for security.

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3. ICE and Electric Shock Gloves (07:47–11:17)

• Alarm over ICE buying $20 million worth of electric shock gloves, which Adam calls “robocopish” and a dangerous escalation.
• Tim: “If these guys are pulling their guns on US citizens...what do you think that they're going to do with their fucking electric gloves?” (09:13)
• Adam describes the gloves' severity and questions the real motives—whether cruelty or corruption via no-bid contracts.
  • “I would encourage you all if you haven't looked up a demonstration of these gloves...It's like 330 volts...This is scary.” (10:47)

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4. Authoritarian Drift and Trump’s Election Schemes (15:07–17:44)

• Discussion of Trump’s willingness to exploit national emergency powers to undermine democracy—potentially declaring an election emergency to restrict voting.
  • Adam warns: “If he declares a national emergency...and deploys ICE agents...how does that get stopped?” (16:39)
• Both stress the importance of a blowout election to deny deniers the chance to overturn results—a “Hungary principle” on clear electoral mandates.

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5. Senate Races: Texas Spotlight (17:44–22:30)

• They analyze the Texas Senate race, with Adam reporting Republican reticence about Ken Paxton in Houston suburbs and noting that, unlike Ted Cruz, Paxton is widely seen as corrupt and incompetent.
  • Tim: “Paxton is actually a meaningfully worse candidate than Cruz.” (21:15)
• Both caution against complacency given nationalized partisanship but observe unique Republican weaknesses in Texas.

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6. GOP Candidate Quality Crisis (22:43–25:59)

• Sharp critique of the Republican candidate pipeline, with Adam saying:
  • “If you look at bad or Crazy Democratic candidates, it's kind of the exception. In the GOP, it's the rule.” (24:32)
• Speculation over Florida races—including Byron Donalds vs. David Jolly, and Alex Vindman for Senate—highlighting the broader trend of extreme or unserious GOP nominees.

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7. Trumpworld & Press Secretary Speculation (27:50–34:38)

• In satirical “word association” fashion, Tim and Adam roast the rumored candidates to replace outgoing press secretary Carolyn Levitt, offering quips about their public personas (e.g., Alina Habba: “parking lot,” Katie Miller: “mayonnaise,” Matt Boyle: “Ralph Wiggum”).
• Discuss the performative rage culture of right-wing media personalities, with Molly Hemingway as a case study for “boomer rage” tweets.

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8. Trump’s Cowardice vs. Wartime Machismo (37:14–41:08)

• Darkly humorous analysis of Trump’s reported hiding in a food cart to avoid potential Iranian fire—contrasted with his administration’s chest-thumping at the war’s outset.
  • Adam imagines Trump's odor after hiding under airline catering: “A mix of armpits and butt with, like, you know, a makeupy ketchup smell.” (37:21)
• The episode contrasts the administration’s bombast with reality, exposing the gap between public narrative and actual leadership mettle.

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9. Military Hardship: The USS Abraham Lincoln Crisis (41:08–44:36)

• Sobering discussion of the nearly year-long deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, with sailors suffering extreme isolation and rising suicide attempts.
  • Adam: “This is tragic...It's not weakness. You can break the strongest man on something like this.” (44:41)
• Both criticize the ongoing Middle East deployments as wasteful, avoidable, and devastating for morale—questioning why strategic priorities haven't shifted.

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10. Ukraine, Russia, and Authoritarian Alliances (45:04–48:29)

• Adam advocates for a NATO no-fly-zone over Ukraine, details how Western half-measures have let Russia, Iran, and China deepen their mutual support, and blasts congressional Republicans like J.D. Vance for conditionalizing support or undermining Ukraine.
  • “If we would have given Ukraine everything from day one, this war would have been over years ago.” (47:37)

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11. Accountability for Trump-Era Corruption (48:29–51:45)

• Adam lays out concrete steps for post-Trump accountability, calling for DOJ and State Department to hunt down every corrupt deal, seize ill-gotten assets (like Qatar’s jet at the Trump library), and remove Trump’s branding from public buildings.
  • “We need accountability...to make it clear to the next guy that wants to do this that it doesn’t end well for Trump.” (49:02)
• Tim agrees, warning against letting Trump’s cult of personality become enshrined via “Lost Cause”–style revisionism.

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12. Mailbag Levity (52:11–55:45)

• Two standout questions:
  1. Medical Advice: Whether to take an antibiotic for suspected cyclosporiasis based on poor fecal test reliability and cost.
     • Adam: “Take the antibiotic. If you’ve had explosive diarrhea for three months, I don’t care what it is, take the antibiotic.” (53:09)
     • Side tangent on why the U.S. should have a more rational, possibly single-payer health system.
  2. Which Holiday Should be Canceled?
     • Adam: “Valentine’s Day. We do birthdays, we do Valentine’s Day... [it's] just stocking all these love holidays on top of each other.” (55:03)
     • Tim: “I’d cancel Father’s Day. Mothers deserve a day... Most Sundays are Father’s Days already.” (55:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trump Crisis Leadership:
  “My issue is the depth of the lies from day one...when they're caught in the lie, they actually use the legal system to create a new reality.” — Adam (39:01)

• On Political Theatrics:
  “It feels like theater...it’s just disgusting behavior.” — Adam on military deployments and electric gloves (05:12 & 10:47)

• On Modern Republican Candidates:
  “In the GOP, it’s the rule. I can’t really think of many normal Republican candidates out there.” — Adam (24:32)

• On the Need for Accountability:
  “We need to make it clear to the next guy that comes along that wants to do this that it doesn’t end well.” — Adam (49:02)

• On Growing Numb to Corruption:
  “That numbness is the thing that we have to be very clear, like, we don’t tolerate corruption in this country.” — Adam (51:38)

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Important Timestamps

• Nostalgic campaign stories – 00:45–03:30
• Dystopia Watch: Militarization – 03:30–07:47
• ICE shock gloves – 07:47–11:17
• Trump’s emergency powers talk – 15:07–17:44
• Texas Senate discussion – 17:44–22:30
• GOP candidate chaos – 22:43–25:59
• Trump press secretary candidates – 27:50–34:38
• Trump hiding in food cart – 37:14–41:08
• USS Abraham Lincoln crisis – 41:08–44:36
• Ukraine/Russia/authoritarian alliance – 45:04–48:29
• Post-Trump accountability plans – 48:29–51:45
• Mailbag laughs (medical/holidays) – 52:11–55:45

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Conclusion

This episode weaves razor-sharp political analysis and gallows humor to keep listeners both informed and entertained. Through Adam Kinzinger’s perspective, the show exposes the dangerous normalization of authoritarianism, the rot in today’s GOP, the stakes of the 2026 elections, and the urgency of robust democratic accountability.

Listeners come away with insight into the behind-the-scenes world of politics, the human side of military hardship, the critical need for a landslide pro-democracy victory, and a renewed sense of why vigilance and truth-telling matter in the fight for America’s future.

Transcript

[A]

This summer, don't squeeze in. Spread out. Find homes big enough for your whole guest list on vrbo. That's vacation rentals done.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Book your stay now. Hello, and welcome to the Bulwark Daily. I'm your host, Tim Miller. I'm in D.C. delighted to do this in person with my buddy. He's a former congressman from Illinois. He was in the Air Force and the Air National Guard. He's got a substack. It's Adam Kinzinger substack. He's doing the Adam Kinzinger report on there. It's Adam Kinzinger.

[B]

Hi.

[A]

What's up?

[B]

Hey. I was listening to yesterday, and you were promising people this great guest today. It's not me. That wasn't who he was promising.

[A]

Yeah, we flipped. We did a little switcheroo. Okay, so you sent some mailbag questions. I made kind of a mistake.

[B]

Sake.

[A]

Which is I ask for mailbag questions at the beginning of the podcast. And you know how podcasts are. People listen at the beginning, and then they oftentimes will start to dose off or they'll do errands. And so if you give a prompt like that at the end of the podcast, you get a manageable amount of responses. But I gave it at the beginning, so my inbox is just overflowing. I appreciated everybody's notes. We'll do the mailbag on tomorrow's show with Sarah. So if you have a really, really, really, really good question for Sarah, email me. But otherwise, I've already got a lot of. I got a lot of questions.

[B]

It's good to see you. By the way.

[A]

I have one of the two we might do for you at the end. We'll see.

[B]

Oh, okay, cool. You know, we see each other now and again, but I don't know if people know that you and I kind of worked together on the Jeb Bush campaign. Like, that's where we really met.

[A]

We were on the road. This is. I guess maybe we can do a little Lindsey Graham death talk, which wasn't on my plan. But, like I say to people, like, you know, the Jeb campaign was a slog.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And me and Jib got along really well personally. And so, like, I initially was gonna be like, the guy at the office, like, running the response. But, like, because the polls were so bad, like, we wanted good vibes on the road. Like, I ended up going on the road with him a lot because, you know, we just would drink scotch and have decent vibes, and I was always like, give me Kinzinger and give me Graham.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Cause sometimes they would have other people like Eric Cantor fucking. I just remember one time being in the car with Eric Cantor, announcing a poll to us from, like, elsewhere in the SUVs. Guys, you see, Sienna, you're at 4% right now, Jeb. And I'm like, what the fuck are you doing? Shut up. Why are you in the car?

[B]

Yeah, what are you doing here? Why are you talking business in the car?

[A]

Yeah, but we were always. You were always fun, and we did.

[B]

I have a funny memory, and I think the people. I think it was you that said this or it was Jeb that said it, and you responded. But anyway, we were having a glass of scotch at the hotel, and I remember you. Jeb may have said, like, I think we're gonna get maybe 10, 15% in Iowa. And I would think that as staffer, you'd be like, well, maybe, you know, whatever. And you just go, like, really? No, we're not getting anything. It was something like that. And I'm like, oh, man. And I can tell you had a good relationship with Jeb, because he wasn't, like, hurt by it.

[A]

People called me Rain Cloud. People called me Rain Cloud. But I was like, we're in last place. I'm Reality cloud. I was like, this is. I'm the weatherman telling you it's raining. I'm not, like, bringing the bat. Anyway, we had a good time. It's good to see you. We're gonna start with Dystopia. Watch this. The chapter here at the start of the show. Maybe I'm overreacting because, I don't know, it's like a non military guy as, like a libertarian, you know, somebody who has just a visceral aversion to fascist theater. Like, the dudes in the fatigues and the military trucks around town are freaking me out. And I'm in my hotel. There's a lot of dudes staying there. And it's like, okay, I'm not. I'm not staying at the Four Seasons or anything, but I'm not at the Embassy Suites either. I'm like, this is expensive. I'm like, I'm paying for this. Like, are you getting room service on my tab right now? So, you know, there's. There's the fiscal conservative side of me, but also, it's just like, this feels crazy. We're in Dupont yesterday, and it's like the guys are circling Dupont, marching around Dupont Circle. And I was like, this is where I smoked pot and did Hacky Sack in college. I'm like, what the fuck is this? You were in the National Guard. Like, do you have a. Like, what's your view on like seeing it?

[B]

I think if, if guard goes somewhere, it needs to be like kind of break glass, you know, in case of emergency scenario. I don't think the guard should be out patrolling a common city. You know, look, I mean crime in D.C. at one point was bad and I have no issue with a temporary search guard. But like, so some of these men and women want to be here because they're on active duty orders. They get paid pretty well. You think about it, they're staying in a nice hotel and they get per diem on top of that, which is like a couple hundred bucks a day. And if you're like, you know, newly enlisted person, that's fantastic. But we're also coming up on another school year. Some of them are going to be taking off a school. And ultimately what are they doing besides making the president happy?

[A]

Because they got military school, right? Like, I don't know what, what's happening if the other parent worked, well, this,

[B]

that's a huge deal. And even if the other parent doesn't work, I was, we may talk about it, but the, you know, the aircraft carrier story. Yeah, the one thing I was talking to somebody, trying to explain is I. Look, when I deployed in the Middle east, it was like since I was a pilot, there were like three month deployments because you would fly and then you'd have to rest anyway. And I'm like, but even that three month deployment, and I was single during the time, if that got extended a week or anything like that, it was morally or my morale would get crushed because you feel like trapped, isolated, alone. And the damage it was doing to marriages, you know, imagine these army guys, they were there at one point for 18 months. This is a much milder version of that. But it's the same thing if you're a married soldier here on active duty and your family's from, I don't know, Alabama or something like that. You're taken away from your time with your kids and everything else. It's fine if it's necessary. Right. Everybody knows that. But this is. It feels like theater. I think it's the best way to put it.

[A]

I posted about this on social media and I got a lot of pushback. You know, Frank Luntz was like, there aren't tanks, it's other military vehicles. And I was, whatever. Yeah, all right. I'm like, still, it's weird to have a fucking military vehicle at the ladroit Park Circle.

[B]

Well, let me say on that there's no reason to have an armored military vehicle here. There's no reason.

[A]

And the other thing people were saying is like, okay, crime is down in D.C. it's working. And so I'm open to hearing that. But my reaction is like, crime's down a lot of places. Crime was up because of the pandemic. So I think there are a lot of different reasons that are happening there. But also it's like, couldn't the same thing be achieved cheaper, more efficiently, less fascist by just giving more money to the MPD then?

[B]

Yeah, yes, that is true. Also, you could surge. I don't know, maybe the Virginia State Police want to send a battalion, a small company out to help. You can do anything like that. When people use the crime has gone down argument. That, to me is such a bad faith argument because, yeah, crime does go down. Guess what? If we had 10 million members of the US military that we're deploying in every city in this country, we could probably get down to no crime. Right.

[A]

Crime is really down in El Salvador.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A lot of people are in prison who didn't do anything.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

You know, you live in a military state.

[B]

That's the question. I mean, literally, I could put somebody on every block in America and there probably wouldn't be any crime. Right. That's not the point, though. Do you really want to live like that? And I think that's what we're wrestling with.

[A]

All right. The other big story in Dystopia Watch is electric shock gloves.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

This is kind of like, to me, it's like when you see these stories on social media, like, is this kind of like when Trump said he wanted alligators in the Rio Grande, or is this like a real story? It feels real. ICE officers will soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks intended to gain compliance from combative individuals. They plan to spend up to 20 million to purchase thousands of these, and they'll give them to agents by March.

[B]

I'm gonna shock you with a no bid contract. It's another no bid contract.

[A]

Okay, keep the hand away.

[B]

For me, it's a no bid contract. And, you know, ICE had something. It was either body cameras or like mace or whatever they had. That was another no bid contract that just happened to be connected to somebody close to the administration.

[A]

I mean, this is. This feels robocopish to me. You know, it's one of these things where it's like, okay, I don't know, is there a Situation where electric gloves is appropriate. I don't think this, my libertarianism's coming out here. Like, I don't think think so. But just thinking through it, like, these guys have shown no discernment, no judgment as like we're going to give them other weapons to go after people and then lie about it. I mean, there's the video I played on yesterday's show. The woman. Yeah. Who has a gun in her face. Like gun barrel in the face of her at a traffic stop.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's just like if these guys are pulling their guns on US citizens, women driving around and screaming at them, what do you think that they're going to do with their fucking electric gloves?

[B]

Did you see the, the, all of that video where she had like the, the dash cam at the beginning of it and stuff and like she literally did nothing but shit talk them. Right. And they got mad and pointed a

[A]

gun at her and it's free country, by the way.

[B]

Yeah. You can say whatever you want.

[A]

You get to shit talk people. That's allowed.

[B]

It's, it's, it's unreal. And there will be no accountability for this guy probably. But the electric gloves, man. I would encourage you all if you haven't looked up a demonstration of these gloves. I know CNN was playing them, but look it up. And I thought, when I read about this, I thought it was like, you know, when you touch an electric fence and you get a little E. Right. Yeah, I thought it was like that. And I saw the demonstration.

[A]

You kind of did it just for fun. After a while, you know, you're just like, come on.

[B]

Or you actually zap yourself in the, you know, you put the fork in the thing or whatever and. But I saw a demonstration.

[A]

We were bored of your kids. My kid wouldn't do this because she's just on the iPad.

[B]

Did you ever do ants, like fry ants with a magnifying glass?

[A]

Okay. No, I wasn't. That was a pretty sociopath.

[B]

That was cool though, man.

[A]

You did?

[B]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[A]

That's sadist. You killed animals. You're killing little.

[B]

Not animals. I wasn't like magnifying glasses.

[A]

Puppies, okay. Those are, those are insect comrades, Adam.

[B]

Yeah. You know what? Judge me. You know, everybody listening has fried ants with a magnifying glass.

[A]

Except little gay boy wasn't frying any ants.

[B]

You were dressing.

[A]

Where were we? Oh, yeah. You were watching the video of the electric show.

[B]

It's a big cop and he's like, you know, he's doing the demonstration and they. Electric gloves him and he like screams and just drops. This is not a small thing. It's like 330 volts. Your typical volts are 115. This is scary. And like, what are they going to do? Run around and just zap an entire crowd down and do you really need it? That's the point is this is just disgusting behavior. I think they've used those audio weapons before that give like screw up your inner ear. It's nonsense. It is.

[A]

The cruelty is the point thing. Like, they want this. Trump wants this. Like, you know, it goes back to why he was mad reportedly at Mark Wayne Mullen after they, you know, shot the person in Maine, killed the person in Maine. And then Mark Wayne Mullen's like, well, we're to take a break on traffic stops. And Trump's like, no, Trump. They want it. Like, I mean, they're pussies. It's like they don't want, like Trump wouldn't want to do it himself or see it or like he's scared of blood. He's, you know, he's hiding in the siding in the hot dog cart. We'll get to that. But he likes the stories about it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, he likes the perception that he's got other. There are other people out there doing violent stuff.

[B]

I mean, it's like a problem you see on the right in like the Alpha bro community is like the crueler you are, the more of a man you are. And that legitimately is toxic masculinity. By the way, I hate the term toxic masculinity and I think it created a huge backlash. But that legitimately is. Remember, this is the same president that was asking, I think Secretary Esper just to shoot the protesters in the legs like a 10 year old boy. So, yeah, I think it's disgusting. And the first person gets shocked by these electric gloves, I hope is a big story. But again, I wouldn't even be surprised, Tim, if they bought this and never used them because it's a no bid contract. And it's probably Steve from down the block that has this. There's so much corruption, it's unreal.

[A]

It's the guy that did the reflection pool.

[B]

Oh, God.

[A]

It's also doing the.

[B]

You know, by the way, let me say I have been thinking more and more about how Donald Trump said that somebody walked with a razor blade on the reflective pool and how absolutely batshit insane that is. And one third of the country either chose to or actually believe that.

[A]

Yeah, well, it's kind of like a, a malicious version of when he drew the hurricane. You remember that from the first term where the, he was like, no, really? The hurricane went into Alabama.

[B]

Look, here's proof.

[A]

Yeah. And it was, it's like. But instead of there like being no real consequences, they tried to ruin a guy's life over it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Use the power of the state to

[B]

ruin a guy's life and they might do it again.

[A]

This episode is brought to you by the New York Times. We're always discussing New York Times stories on here. Earlier this week with Amanda Carpenter, I was really focused on the story of Gurren Bobby. Bobby Joe. This is the Chinese national who put $100 million into the Trump family crypto. We don't know where he got it from. He previously had a failed flooring business. The UK was investing him for money laundering. He ended up in the Gulf states with all of Trump's Sharia law friends. And now he's throwing nine figures into the Trump family cryptokitty. It's insane. It's the kind of story that needs to be covered that we need to bring attention to, that I always try to bring attention to on this podcast. And you need people out there doing the reporting, doing the shoe load of the reporting to find this stuff because you know they're not bragging about it. All right. You got to have a reporter out there get the goods and shout out to our friends at the New York Times who reported out that story. The reporting that you depend on, that this show depends on started long before the headline comes out. It's not just the Times. The other great reporting, your local newspaper's doing it. We've got people at the Bulwark that are working on beats, whether that be Adrian on immigration, Jonathan Cohn on health care and more. It takes time and hard work to cultivate sources, corroborate accounts and gather all the facts and put together a story. That's what journalists do to keep us informed. Wherever you seek it out nationally, locally, support fact based reporting. Thanks to the New York Times for sponsoring this app. The other Trump crazy thing, I mean there are a million. But I want to talk about from this week is he's on with Wayne Allen Root, which itself is ludicrous.

[B]

Yeah. Do you know the way I know he ran for president, Right.

[A]

He's an insane Nevada right wing nutjob, like pro, like a Freeman dude or whatever. Yeah. He was like, it's like the old, like the. Was Joe Farrer's website called World Net Daily.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's like an old school conspiracy Theorist, Republican.

[B]

Before, it was cool. Yeah.

[A]

He was, like, doing the birtherism stuff with Trump back in 2012. So that's who this guy has. Trump's on with him. He says this, Mr. President, you have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections. If you do this in the next month, we'll get photo id, proof of citizenship, and limit to mail ballots. Trump says, let me just say, stranger things have happened. I'll leave it at that. So I know you've been talking about this in your substack. That's alarming.

[B]

It is. In the past, I've kind of been like, hey, guys, let's take this seriously, but let's not lose sleep over it. I'm still at the. We don't need to lose sleep over it, but we do need to take it very seriously. And. And I think as much as anything, let's just say the best case scenario with what he's doing here is just breaking people's faith in the election system, which, to me, when you convince people that their vote doesn't count, that the elections don't work, that's how you end up with a country that falls apart. You've done a little traveling in your life. I have. And when I go to countries that are, like, failing democracies, most of them, what they have in common is people don't believe they can be heard through an election. That's what he's doing here. And. And if he declares a national emergency and let's say he does it three days before the election and deploys ICE agents to certain areas or whatever, how does that get stopped? Because you can't very. I mean, I'm not the Supreme Court expert, but I don't think you'd get a court injunction against it within, like, 24 hours. And I think he will desperately do anything he needs to screw that up. And then, I mean, there's a whole host of things after the election that can happen.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Including Mike Johnson choosing who he seats. And this is why the most important thing is it has to be a blowout this year. Because it's like, when you think of Hungary, Orban would have definitely tried to stay in power if it was a close election and it was such a blowout. This is why it is important for people.

[A]

I'm with you on this. I always use the example of Pennsylvania. Right. Doug Mastriano won against Shapiro. The first time was like an insurrection.

[B]

Now going to be the ambassador to, like, Switzerland or something, by the way.

[A]

Total insurrectionist election. Denier but like not kind of one of those that did it half heartedly, like he was all in on the whole deal.

[B]

True believer.

[A]

And it's like, well, he lost to Shapiro. You know, there's no storming of the Capitol in Harrisburg. Why? Well, it's because Shapiro beat him by 20.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, and so I totally agree with you. That's why to me, the biggest places to worry about are the red states that the Democrats are going to need to take over the Senate. Because I think it's hard to imagine like a blowout in Iowa, for example, or Alaska or Texas, which I wanted to go right with you next. Those are the most important states. And I think that is where Mark Elias and that crowd and everybody should be kind of focusing resources because that's where some of the stuff could happen. Texas is interesting though. You're there now for people who don't know. I'm worried almost a little bit that things are going too well right now for Talarico because Pacific Paxton has been a disaster. I mean, Paxton during America 250 was with his mistress in Europe, like what? And he was yelling at people videotaping him. There's a story I talked about this week about how I guess he is grifting off a hospital in Texas where he's on the board, where he put a cell tower on top of it and he's cashing in. He's just making a little profit off the roof of the hospital that he's on the board of. He's a nightmare. Nate Silver analysis this week. The most, I think, surprising number for everybody is that he had Talarico as a 63, 37% favorite. Not expecting him to get 60% of the vote, but basically 2/3 chance to win. Paxton one third. I don't know. You're there. What are the vibes like?

[B]

Personally, I don't see a ton of enthusiasm for Talaria, but that's because I live in, I would call it kind of a probably Republican area of Houston in the Woodlands. But I do not see it for Paxton, which is a big deal.

[A]

Paxton signs around the neighborhood.

[B]

Yeah. None of them. Nothing. I haven't seen anything. And, and I think the Republicans there are embarrassed of Paxton. They voted for him, but, you know, they're embarrassed of him. I, I legitimately think it is a, I would say a toss up. I would say the thing I worry about, if I'm being honest is, you

[A]

know, how this, you're always honest on the show.

[B]

I try to be 50% of the time. 50% of the time, every time. The thing I worry about is if this race gets nationalized, which they all are going to be, that at the end of everything, there's going to be Republicans that come home to the party because it's closed in the Senate. And you always see this, right. There's like that false hope, and then it breaks at the same time the independents are breaking so much for Talarico that you could see the opposite.

[A]

So Paxton is just a uniquely bad candidate.

[B]

Just.

[A]

I think that this is. I'm stealing this point from somebody. I apologize. I'm taking it from. Because I don't remember. But, like, I think that a lot of Democrats, liberals, have a false memory of the Beto race and that the memory is that Beto was winning and that we had all this hope and the rug got pulled. And the reality of that race is that Beto was down the whole time. He did build a lot of excitement. He ran a great campaign. His first campaign was really strong because he's out there in rural Texas doing this sort of unifying one Texas campaign. He's running against Cruz, who everybody on the left hates, right? But Cruz in Texas, his favorability that the month of the election was 51%. He had a 51% favorability in Texas. Paxton's is in the 30s. Paxton got impeached by a Republican legislature, not a Democratic legislature. His own staff turned him into the FBI. It is a little hard for people.

[B]

Not a witch.

[A]

Yeah, it's a little hard for people to process that. They're like. But like, Paxton is actually like a meaningfully worse candidate than Cruz. Yeah. Even though they might seem the same to some of the listeners.

[B]

You know, I think if you're a typical Republican, you may not like Cruz because he's a smarmy, personally piece of shit ass hat, whatever. But in terms of his job, you're like, okay, he's probably not super corrupt. The guy does the job.

[A]

He does stuff I thought he should do. The Cancun stuff was after the Beto. You know what I mean? Yeah.

[B]

But he's like your cookie cutter. Paxton is. And Paxton is now going around complaining about the fact that he has less money than Talarico, which you can have anyway, because, you know, Talarico's kind of dynamic. But at the same time, he was in the UK having a vacation this summer. I couldn't imagine, Tim, you know, three months before a very serious election. My staff would literally beat me up and leave me in an alley if I decided to take a Vacation with your mistress? Yeah, with my mistress.

[A]

Exactly. With your mistress.

[B]

I mean, what would you have done if Jeff had done that? He's like, I'm take a little. Take a week.

[A]

Jeff worked harder than everybody. This is how it was supposed to be. You know, I was the one that felt bad as the staffer, like, you know, sneaking away for like, a little weekend with my buddies. Yeah.

[B]

It's like I'm taking two days Sunday off. Oh, boy.

[A]

Exactly. Doing conference calls, hungover at my brother's bachelor party. I don't miss those days, man. I've thrown up before a few conference calls, let me tell you.

[B]

Going on mute.

[A]

I've thrown up before a few candidate briefing calls. One of my hobby horses recently. It's not just Paxton is just focusing on how terrible the Republican nominees are. A lot of these places. Because I do think. I don't know, there's something about. We've done a lot of hong discourse this week. There certainly are some questions about some of the Democratic nominees. But I do feel like the media feels like the Democratic infighting gives them an excuse to do some balance. It's like, okay, this way we don't have to talk about Trump crazy all the time. And so there's this overemphasis on these random Democrats kind of candidates. And the Republicans have insane people running everywhere that nobody even talks about. Like, Mo Brooks organized the insurrection. He's the governor nominee in Arizona. Right. There are examples such as this in Florida next week. The Republicans have a primary. They have a griper, white nationalist candidates. James Fishback. He is likely to lose. The candidate's likely to win. Byron Donalds former congressman. Did you work with Byron? Were you guys up on that? Maybe one.

[B]

I don't know if we did one term. Yeah, we might have had one term together.

[A]

Byron's not great. There was one clip of him I saw this week that made me chuckle that I would like to play for you where the reason why people are fleeing New York and California and Illinois because they are stupid and they needed

[B]

a place to go and that place was Florida.

[A]

That's not what the people who are moving to Florida. Stupid.

[B]

And plus, the people that are moving there are probably Republicans. Right.

[A]

What is he even doing? I think it's just Byron Donald is really stupid and he's also extreme. He's got a lot of terrible positions and all that. But it's like, man, across the board. It's a pretty motley cruise.

[B]

It is. I think it's interesting because if you look at bad or Crazy Democratic candidates. It's kind of the exception in the gop. It's the rule. I can't really think of many normal Republican candidates out there.

[A]

And the normal ones have their own side of terrible because the normal ones are like, Mike Rogers.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

He's like a normal person. Sellout, though. Yeah. Total.

[B]

Completely knows the truth, but. Sellout.

[A]

Yeah. And so it's like, okay, well, so you might be normal and private if I had you, but, like, what good is that if you're just going to go along with everything Trump says?

[B]

That's almost worse. Like, to me, I mean, I obviously have huge disagreements with people that are, like, pro insurrection, but if they legitimately believe it, it's wrong. But I. I have a weird respect for that versus the ones that know better, obviously.

[A]

Donald's, by the way, we should mention, is running against our guy David Jolly down in Florida.

[B]

Yeah, I think David could win that one.

[A]

I do, too.

[B]

I think Vindman could win the Senate race there, too.

[A]

Do you?

[B]

I think it's possible.

[A]

The Senate race, I do think is tougher. I got. I've got nothing. Respect for Alex. His opponent's a little bit stronger. And also, people just.

[B]

There's a.

[A]

Some percentage of voters that, like, do look at governor's races differently than they look at national races. You know, like, for the national races, they're like teen Jersey. You know, I want somebody that's going to go there and, like, burn down my enemies in effigy. You know, like, I want somebody that is going to make my opponents cry on the Senate floor. But then for governor, you're kind of like, I need the schools to be good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I need somebody that actually does a good job.

[A]

And I do think that helps David a little bit, particularly with Byron, Donald's opponent, calling people stupid. Guys, I am here in D.C. because, I mean, you don't even want to know what's happening in my house. Okay. It's like Breaking bad down there. And that's just the thing about home ownership. Something always needs to be fixed. You start one project, all of a sudden there's a domino effect. You think you're adding something, and then you realize, oh, wait, there's a shingle broken. I got to deal with that first. Here's the thing about home disasters. They just sneak up and bite you, and they end up costing more than a car repair, more than you can afford. Sometimes with our friends at HomeServe, you can take care of that. They offer plans starting at just 499amonth. With HomeServe, when something goes wrong, you're not scrambling. You're just making one call. HomeServe is like a subscription service for your home. It's super simple. Choose a plan for your needs and budget. When something on your plan goes wrong, just call their 24.7hotline to start the repair process. Home serving is something that's been good for us. We like to do little projects, little stuff around the house. But look, I'm not Tim the Tool Man Taylor here. I'm not his neighbor over the fence. I don't know how to do any of this stuff. Having a little backstop help take care of us. New Orleans. God, you don't even know what kind of problems are happening in our house. I appreciate that. Home service helping, making it easier for us. Your next costly home repair is already coming. Act now and get protected with a plan through HomeServe. For 50% less your first year, go to HomeServe.com Bulwark to find the plan that's right for you. That's HomeServe.com Bulwark for 50% less savings compared to renewal price void in Florida. Sorry, Florida. Speaking of idiots, we have.

[B]

You could start every segment there.

[A]

Yeah. Carolyn Levitt is out as the press secretary. She's leaving. She's not an Indian. Some of the people that we'll be discussing as possible replacements, on the other hand, she's just. Just a liar. I saw some people that. I say that it was Edgar, actually. I said, Edgar said that he thought that she was the best of his press secretaries, which is, like, not necessarily a compliment, but I do think that she was pretty talented.

[B]

I think so. I think she was. I mean, it's weird because it's like, okay, I'll take the quality of the work versus, like, the morality quality of where I think she was actually pretty good. I mean, she had an ability to stand up there and lie to your face and look like she's telling the truth.

[A]

And how often did she embarrass herself? And just think about, like, the clips. I played many. We don't play Trump's voice on here, but I. I talk about all the crazy things. Trump says. Many clips of the Cabinet saying really stupid things. Everybody in the cabinet struggling to defend him. I didn't play a ton of Caroline. Yeah.

[B]

And I don't think they have any snl, you know, recurring skit like Sean Spicer.

[A]

So she survived it. The replacement list, on the other hand, I mean, it's cliche to say Star wars bar, and it's an ugly group. This is a list from the New York Post. I thought it'd be fun that we did that. You and I, we just do some brief word association with the characters that are being considered. I want to mention neither of us or the listeners probably don't know Anna Kelly. She is the deputy to Caroline. She's a person that'll maybe get a try. Besides her, I think everybody's gonna be familiar with all the characters. So we'll start here with I think the front runner, Alina Haba. What comes to mind when you think of Alina Haba?

[B]

Shallow.

[A]

Shallow. I think parking lot, because I understood that she was a parking lot attorney. And I also kind of see her maybe doing some other stuff in a parking lot. That's me.

[B]

Yeah, she went out on bad terms with the administration. I don't remember. But like every one of them, they always come back.

[A]

They always come back. Okay, Katie Miller,

[B]

why don't you go first on that one?

[A]

Katie Miller.

[B]

Actually, I'd say mayonnaise. And the only reason I say that is because she made this big deal about how Stephen Miller loves mayonnaise. And it made me sick. And I don't know why, but when I think of her, I think of her with a big jar of mayonnaise.

[A]

I was going less funny because I had Eva Braun. I don't know Himmler's wife's name.

[B]

Janet Himmler.

[A]

Janet Himmler. Karen Himmler. Okay, we've also got here Matt Boyle.

[B]

I don't know Matt.

[A]

Do you not know Matt? We'll pull this up on the screen for the YouTube viewers. Matt for me always comes to mind is Ralph Wiggum. He looks and sounds like Ralph Wigham.

[B]

He has a crayon up his nose.

[A]

He's a Breitbart reporter. He doesn't really look the part, so it's a confusing choice. But he's on the short list going to the New York Post. My favorite Matt Boyle story is I feel comfortable comparing him to Ralph Wiggum here because I did so also in my book. Ding. Book Shout out why We Did It, Travel for the Republican Road to Hell. And he called me after the book came out and told me he appreciated that I wrote about him because I wrote about how Matt Boyle and Breitbart, they were the ones that were driving the ship, not the est. And so despite the fact that I called him a grown up Ralph Wiggum that looks like he eats crayons, he still took it as a compliment. So that's the type of person that Might be the next vital secretary. We've also got Stephen Chung, Big Steven.

[B]

Odd Job.

[A]

Odd Job.

[B]

So you remember Bond? The big. The big guy on Bond.

[A]

Oh, I'm not a Bond man.

[B]

All right, I'll show you. Here, you do yours and I'll have this up.

[A]

Sumo.

[B]

Sumo, you'll recognize odd, wrinkly kind of.

[A]

What's like a big wrinkly character who is like. Wasn't there a movie of like a big poop character? Like a big. There's Odd Job. Odd Job. That's very nice for Steven, I think. Wasn't like a Star wars character. Jabba the Hutt. Jabba, yeah. He's gonna be a Jabba.

[B]

Yeah. I would also say, like, what is a word for somebody that is desperate to be liked but pretends like they aren't, whatever that word is.

[A]

There's a German word for that, Himmler's wife. I think my pick for most likely person to get it is Rachel Campos Duffy, wife of Sean Duffy. So she's on the list. Another person. We got three more. These are all long shots, but they were included in the New York Post list. Kerry Lake, ambassador to Jamaica. What do you think of when you

[B]

heard that would be totally clown. Just clown.

[A]

Clown. Because she does put on clown makeup. Don't touch me. Is what I think of with Carrie. Like Scott Jennings fraud. For some reason. The goatee is. What? He has a horrible goatee now.

[B]

Why? I don't know, man. You know what?

[A]

You date him recently.

[B]

What's that?

[A]

You have been debating him a couple times.

[B]

Not really. A little bit. I mean, we've gone back and forth, but like, you know these people that like get start to get famous and everything about them changes, right? There's an aura and I get that sense sometimes with them. There's a. Oh, my God, I'm on TV and people know me at the airport. Now I'm going to start wearing a goatee.

[A]

Yeah, goatee and GLP1 for Scott Jennings. That's what comes to mind for me. Final person that they've thrown out there, Spence Pratt.

[B]

Isn't he the white nationalist or something?

[A]

He was the reality TV guy that ran for mayor of la.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Third place in the mayor of LA race. Good luck to Spencer Pratt. The Hills. Wasn't he on the Hills? Katie? The Hills.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine.

[A]

Good luck. Sense of Pratt crt. Probably. Okay, do you have a pick for you who think is going to be the most likely?

[B]

I actually think the Most likely would be. I actually think Rachel Campos Duffy, maybe Tim. Yeah, I think it's.

[A]

I think. I think she's the favorite. Molly Hemingway, maybe throw her. She would love to be thrown in there. She was not on the short list. Nobody loves attention.

[B]

She would love her. Did she used to be normal?

[A]

I don't believe. I can't believe. So I don't know. We were never friends. I had some Federalist writer. She kind of tries to do the intellectual insurrectionism. Doesn't really look the part, so to speak. It's okay, but I had lots of Fox time trying to look the part. Going on Fox a lot. I just. I don't see it for. I don't think it's going to happen for. She did a tweet the other day where she talked about how Uber drivers should have to speak English. She's like, this is.

[B]

Oh, my God. Let me just say something. This is something that I've been stepping up on lately is just the amount of boomer rage that, like, Fox News and the Republicans do every day. So she's sitting around like, God, I haven't had a good tweet that's been retweeted in a while. Uber driver should speak English. Just. And just, like, boomer rage, it's just, oh, my God, it's fatiguing.

[A]

It is fatiguing. Luckily, she blocked me like seven years ago, so I don't actually have to see most of her rage. But sometimes I do.

[B]

I'll send you her tweets.

[A]

You know, I try to be just a regular guy. All right, I'm not that fancy, but I get a little picky about one thing. It's hotels. Before we went on a Europe trip, I went down a rabbit hole. I was picking the hotels. I was spending way too much time trying to figure out which one I wanted, what neighborhood, what had the fancy soaps. I don't spend that kind of time on other stuff. I don't spend that kind of time on stuff that actually might have more of an impact. Things like life insurance. If you're thinking about life insurance, you're just like, whatever. Whatever is the path of least resistance. There's another way to do it. Selectquote is a life insurance broker that does all that homework for you. The licensed agents shop over 100 policies and find you a better rate for free. With selectquote getting life insurance is fast, free and easy. The whole process takes about 15 minutos. After you answer a few questions, their agents shop the carriers for you and you get your quote tailored to your specific situation. Even if you've got something like high blood pressure or diabetes, they'll still take care of you, and you'll save an average of 30%. I'm a procrastinator. I hate paperwork. I don't like thinking about stuff like life insurance. So it was great to turn to Selectquote because they made it really easy. They made it really simple for me. You should check it out as well. Get your free [e-mail] bulwark that's selectquote.com bulwark selectquote.com bulwark they shop. You say safe. All right. I want to do some serious military stuff. Well, I want to do some funny military stuff and then some serious military stuff. I feel like I have to get your take on what you think the smell was like on Trump after he got out of the food cart. Imagine what's in the food cart for the airplane. It's probably like a hot chicken parm. It's like a chicken parm hot dish that they're feeding to people. He's hiding underneath. It's like broccoli. Yeah. Some broccoli he's hiding underneath there. Whatever he's putting on his skin.

[B]

Crying.

[A]

His personal stink. The crying. I just kind of want you to paint a picture for us of what you think was happening when he got on the other flight.

[B]

So I said that I consider a smell to be like a mix of armpits and butt with, like, you know, a makeupy ketchup smell.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

What I kind of figure is like a little bit of soup, the waft, even though they probably didn't have soup on it. It's just, I think of like a soup smell.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So if you put together pits.

[A]

But soup, ketchup packet.

[B]

Yeah, Some ketchup smell.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is kind of like, you know, that hits you with that tangy, like, at first. Right. And then the depth of the. Of the aroma, kind of.

[A]

Can you imagine a situation where your security told you that you needed to hide underneath the, you know, the warm meals that are being served on the airplane? You've got to get a gun, your hands and knees and hide under there to avoid potential Iranian air fire. Can you imagine doing that?

[B]

No. No. And I can't imagine going, you know, how my wife would react if I'm like, I'm going to take with me. Natalie. You're going to.

[A]

Natalie.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Marco had to stay on the danger plane. The Secretary of State stayed on the danger plane. The Caddy the human printer who leaves love notes for Trump everywhere. So it was caddy, human printer, Hegseth, and Trump. I think that's a crowded. It's a crowded catering cart.

[B]

Maybe I've sit on people's laps. I don't know. The whole idea of Trump going and being put on the other plane, that's not my issue. My issue is the depth of the lies from day one. You remember they brought the old Air Force One out and he's like, well, well, we have the old Air Force One because the new one, we want to show the troops the new Air Force One. And everybody knows it's a lie, but we just are so numb to the constant lying.

[A]

And Jabba the Chung was sending a tweet that day, going after Carol Leonig, friend of the pod, and calling her a liar. And she was the first reporting that Trump. There was security reasons why Trump had to get on the other plane. So she didn't even have the depth of the story about just how much Scaredy Trump was hiding from potential Iranian fire.

[B]

And they stripped the old Air Force secretary of his security clearance, which they don't really do it, but anyway, because supposedly he talked about that Air Force One not having the right countermeasures, which everybody knew.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And then they sent FBI agents to, I don't know, Washington Post or something. Reporters.

[A]

Yeah, New York Times. The Times. Yeah.

[B]

It was the Times. Like, this is insane. And it was all true. Donald Trump is delusional. He makes up things. His team does the same thing now to the point where when they're caught in the lie, they actually use the legal system to create a new reality. Yeah.

[A]

I also just think that it's important. I'm going to keep talking about it because the machismo with which they started the war, this idea that's like we decapitated them. We took out all their leaders. They can't even hide for us. Our intelligence is so great. We're gonna overthrow the government in three days. This was how we started the war. We are so dominant. And it's like, that's how the war started. And how the war is going is Trump is like, getting underneath the food cart, inside the catering.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Yeah. Putting a tray. He's got a tray on top of him as he hides from Iranian, I guess, missile, drones, I don't know.

[B]

Probably drones and missiles.

[A]

It's a pretty notable fall.

[B]

It's kind of hard to say we're winning.

[A]

It is hard to say we're winning. The more serious, tragic story, which you referenced earlier that I just did. Want to get your take ON this was military.com and what was happening in the USS Abraham Lincoln. Three sailors have tried to jump overboard. They've been saved by other crew members. The Lincoln's roughly 5,000 sailors and marines have been on a deployment that began November 21st. The carrier's been deployed for more than eight months. So it's supposed to end in May. But even more than that, it's not just that they're being deployed. That's not coming in too short. The carrier has been at sea 250 straight days.

[B]

Yeah. No port call.

[A]

No port call. Normally it's like every 30 to 45 days you at least get a port call. 250 days at sea, three guys are trying to kill themselves. It's that bad?

[B]

Yeah, I mean this is tragic and I think if we were in the middle of a war with China or a war with Russia or World War 3, you could look and be like, yeah, it's too bad we are at war. This is a war of choice or

[A]

something that was an acute threat to our country. Right. Where it was just like this is something that was absolutely necessary because of the scale of the threat to the country.

[B]

And according to the President now we're going to be doing this blockade situation for in theory, ever now because that's our new brilliant plan. And it's interesting because during the initial strikes with Iran when we were starting to realize that actually the counter attacks at Iran were actually having some impact, I'd have friends that were flying still that would say they were out of food. At one point they couldn't shower because the water facilities were hit that was being hid from us on the ships. It's even worse because their ships that come out to supply them. One of the things I read says they're not even getting fresh fruit and vegetables because by the time the resupply ship can hit, it's basically their rotten. And so they're eating like rice and boxed goods. Like I said.

[A]

For what? This is nothing like literally for what.

[B]

Yeah, and by the way, we just recently we may still. We had an aircraft carrier in the Caribbean. Right. Are we really prioritizing correctly? Should we be doing these anti boat ops right now when you have this going on? It's really tragic and I'm glad the information got because it feels like the Pentagon has no interest in telling the American people the truth with this.

[A]

No. A lot. Again, it's the machismo. It's like war fighters. The war fighters out There.

[B]

It's like we signed up for these.

[A]

Yeah. What are we doing, though? It's like. It's like. So we need to keep this blockade going to get the Strait of Hormuz open. Like the Strait of Hormuz was open.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, it was. And imagine Tim living in a. Basically the size of about two football fields for 200 some days. And then your bunk, I mean, do you live literally the hot bunk or you have a. Literally about as. It's about as big as you can stretch out and you have about a foot space in there that's your own personal quarters. Like, after 200 some days, you're going to start to get pretty damn depressed.

[A]

200 days? Two, three days.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That sounds horrible.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Three hours, man.

[A]

I mean, that is literally my health. I'm on a fucking ship in a tiny space and I thought I was going to be there for 30 days, and I'm now on 250 with no end in sight.

[B]

And that's the other thing is if they said, we guarantee you September 15th, we're going to be home, that would be one thing because you would have an end date right now. It keeps getting extended. So you feel trapped. I feel trapped talking about it. I'm not even there.

[A]

I know. And it's like, it does. It feels like Guantanamo kind of.

[B]

So Pete talks about the war fighter and Pete acts like this tough guy. Here's how you take care of your people right here. You rotate them out. If we need an aircraft carrier there, fine, but have that planned for. But when you have real mental health crisis in the military, it's not weakness. It's not weakness. You can break the strongest man on something like this.

[A]

There's some relation with what's happening around now in Ukraine and a number of ways, obviously, like Russia giving intel to Iran. Ukraine attack, Iranian. Was it a boat? A ship? Yeah. And the material issue is part of the problem, right? Like, and some of it is just the will that we have not been giving Ukraine what they need to win the war. That also some of it is like everything that's been wasted unnecessarily could have been sold. Sold to Ukraine. I saw you posting and then Gary Kasparov and others posting about how there have been recent Russian drones and attacks on Kyiv, on other cities in Ukraine, and how Europe should be putting a no fly zone up. What's your sense on the kind of the state of play there?

[B]

So on day one of this war, I said NATO should put a no fly zone at the invitation of Ukraine to defend its own skies. There's nothing war about that. Ukraine's like, this is our skies. We'd like to have help. Help. And what was the story that came out a couple days ago was that Vice President Vance sat down with Zelensky or called him and said, you need to stop these attacks on the oil tankers in the Black Sea and elsewhere, Because Ukraine was taking out like 10 or 15 oil tankers of the Russians every few days. And it was having a massive impact. But they were worried about further destabilizing the oil market, Russian oil, by the way. And Zelensky, because they are so desperate for air defense to protect their people, did it. Even though that was a successful attack. It was being very successful. They are dangling a little bit, a few Patriot missiles over Zelensky's head to control him, and it's working. And I guess I don't blame Zelensky because he's like, my number one priority is especially coming the winter to protect my people. But instead of us actually saying, okay, here's what you need. Will send literally five Patriot missiles. And so you just keep them kind of dangling there. And it's really disgusting. Especially when the guy calling him and asking for this is the guy that said his greatest achievement in office has been to defund the Ukraine war effort. That's J.D. vance. Look, if we would have given Ukraine everything they needed from day one, this war would have been over years ago. There's some blame for. For Biden, for that for sure, but this Trump administration has been disgusting. And by the way, Russia, Iran, China are in an alliance. And how many people know that North Korea has already sent 30,000 actual troops into Russia to fight Ukraine, and they're supplying Russia every day with ballistic missiles, and yet South Korea does nothing. The rest of the world does nothing. And everybody just sits around is like, we need to de. Es. Escalate.

[A]

Yeah. We need to waste all of our weapons material at Iran.

[B]

Our Middle east partners would fire four Patriot missiles to take down a drone. That's like $10 million. A 20,000.

[A]

Wouldn't have been coming their way if we wouldn't have started a stupid war with no plan.

[B]

Exactly, exactly.

[A]

Whole thing is imperial.

[B]

And by the way, just quickly, they. Zelensky has begged for the licenses to build the Patriot missile. So far it has been denied.

[A]

We have.

[B]

We have Japan that can build Patriot missiles. Their license.

[A]

We're gonna help the Saudis get a nuke.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. And we need more Patriot missiles. Give them the license. It's Unreal.

[A]

All right. You did a video the other day. I just want to let you cook on that. You're already cooking, so just keep you going. Get in the kitchen about accountability. Day one. Some ideas for that.

[B]

So I think this is so important for Democrats to talk about, and there should be day one for the new Congress and then day one for the new president that, you know, you get asked all the time. I get asked all the time like, should we just move on? Should there be accountability? And I think accountability is essential. So I would do this from the perspective, like, if I was president, here's what I would have done on day one or I would do on day one. I'd put together in the Department of Justice a team that is going to search for every corrupt deal that's happened in the United States. Everywhere the president or his allies have profited off of the American people are off of corruption, the Department of State, I would put together a group to find every untoward deal with any other country. So the Qatar jet brings number one. Right. What did Qatar get for that? What did they expect for that? And I would, on day one, seize that jet from the Trump library. Seize it and then either use it for something for America or drive it off a cliff. I don't care. Not get to keep that. And so I would do that. I would have a commission, sell it, have the money. I would have a commission that would find everywhere that Trump's name was placed, and I would remove it from everything, take down Trump's picture on the walk of shame and put up Joe Biden's picture. All of this is about, like, we need accountability. And for anything. It's not like, scratching the itch of, I'm pissed at these people. It's like, we need to make it clear to the next guy that comes along that wants to do this that it doesn't end well for Trump.

[A]

You.

[B]

That's what I worry about.

[A]

There's one of the things I was thinking about. Trump compares himself to Napoleon and Stalin and all these guys. This was in the book. And obviously, the really dark way to think about that is, who knows what he could do the next two years. I kind of think how Trump thinks about that is those guys, they branded. And so if you look at Napoleon, for example, when I was in France,

[B]

it kind of ruined France.

[A]

France, parlez vous francais? It kind of ruined my trip to the Arc de Triomphe.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I was looking at it, and I was just like, this is Napoleon doing Trump's thing. Napoleon, there's this large effort, and it's not too different than the confederates and the lost cause, this effort to memorialize things. And I agree with your point for that reason that it's important to stop it immediately because memories fade and then people start to be like, what's the point of fighting with this? Who cares? His name's on the fucking airport.

[B]

He's not president.

[A]

Whatever. He's not president anymore. And then 30 years from now and 40 years from now, like the brand persists. A continued fight to ensure that his brand is accurately portrayed by. By which I mean sullied, I think is a necessary effort and not just like sour grapes.

[B]

Yeah. And how numb have we become to corruption? I mean, even me, like, you know, we hear about a new corrupt thing or, you know, early access to truth social, and it's like, I'm outraged, but I'm also like, whatever.

[A]

What.

[B]

What can we do about it? That numbness is the thing that we have to be very clear, like, we don't tolerate corruption in this country.

[A]

All right, really quick mailbag questions, rapid fire. We're gonna do bigger mailbag tomorrow, but I promise people today. So here we are. There are two funny ones I wanted to give to you so we can close with a little bit of some laughs, some levity, if you will. This email from Tyler, people. This is how you do it. This is the type of email I'm asking for. It's short, but it's funny. It asks for advice, and it ties to a news item.

[B]

Nice. Good job.

[A]

Tyler's doing it correctly. Here we go. Tim, if you happen to suspect you had psychosporiasis, cyclosporiasis.

[B]

This is the diarrhea, right?

[A]

That's the diarrhea. If you happen to suspect that you had the diarrhea for the last three months.

[B]

Three months.

[A]

Holy cow. And you had, quote, high quality healthcare provided through your job. And you got a fecal test that came back negative, but it cost 543 bucks after insurance covered its share. And then you learned that apparently up to 50% of fecal exams for psychosocial psoriasis can be false negatives. And you coincidentally had a family member currently taking the suggested antibiotic who had enough extra for you to take a full course of it. Would you just take the antibiotic and see if it went away, or would you continue to take $543, 50% accurate fecal exams until positive results? So, Adam, what would you do if Tyler.

[B]

Take the antibiotic, man. Take the antibiotic. Because if You've been having explosive diarrhea for three months. It's. I don't care what it is. Take an antibiotic again.

[A]

I agree. Take the antibiotic and our health care

[B]

system and please let us know what happens. I would like to follow up on this.

[A]

Yes, our health care system is also a disaster.

[B]

Yeah. By the way, I read an argument somebody wrote, and I'm going to put it out at some point about the conservative case for single payer. And it was extremely compelling, by the

[A]

way, I got to tell you, even when, back when Obamacare was happening and the argument that I made to my friends in private, you know, because, like, when I was a spokesman for candidates, they had various positions. But like, when we were just talking about this around D.C. because we're dorks in D.C. you have a couple drinks and you start talking about stupid things like, what do you think about Obamacare care? My case against it was that it was like the worst of both worlds. That, like, you know, I wish that we lived in a world where there was like some kind of free market transparent system where there's catastrophic coverage for people like that. There are problems with that, but that would be my deal. Like, the single payer system, though, would also be better than this. Like, it would be like, more efficient. Like, it's like, this is the worst of both worlds.

[B]

It is.

[A]

And so, you know, here we go. I'm becoming socialist.

[B]

We have insurance men in the middle of this for no reason, just taking profit. Profit.

[A]

All right, here's the other one. Blair golden again, short, funny, relevant to the news. Good question. She asks. Or he. I guess Blair could be either they. Them. Hello. My question from Wisconsin is what holiday should be canceled and why?

[B]

I saw. I heard you kind of crapping on Thanksgiving yesterday. Yeah, I understand your point a little bit. Like, like, it's kind of like. Yeah, but I don't know. I think Thanksgiving's okay.

[A]

You think you can.

[B]

Oh, Valentine's Day, buddy. Valentine's Day. I hope Sophia's not listening.

[A]

Valentine's Day.

[B]

It's just you're stocking all these love holidays on top of each other. We do birthdays. We do, like Valentine's Day.

[A]

The gays don't do Valentine's. Well, some do, but I don't do it already in my household, so it's fine. I'd cancel Father's Day. Mothers deserve a day. Mothers put in a lot of work. Fathers golf all the time. Most Sundays are Father's Days already. And it's like, I have to get a present for my dad again.

[B]

Yeah. And he doesn't want anything.

[A]

He doesn't want a present. I gotta come up with something, and

[B]

then I do the most shit.

[A]

I feel guilty.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. And so you end up getting him a $50 or $100 gift card to Amazon.

[A]

Might end up getting him another bike. Jersey. It's like he's got 13 of them already.

[B]

Yeah. My dad and I basically exchange the same Amazon gift card back and forth all the time. Like, here's a hundred bucks. Oh, than. Thanks. So next time. Here's 100 bucks, dad. Thanks. Let's just call it a day. Let's call it a day. Let's just.

[A]

Boop. All right. That's Adam Kinzinger. Anything else?

[B]

No, man, it was great to be with you.

[A]

Good to be with you. Glad we could do this in person. Everybody else, both today and tomorrow, we're doing this in person. We don't want to talk about what's happening back in New Orleans, but we're taping it a little late. It's summer. It's August. Prod's coming out a little later than usual. It's okay. Please be generous to us. Us. We'll be back on a good schedule again soon. Appreciate to you, Adam.

[B]

You bet.

[A]

Everybody else will see you back here tomorrow. Send good, funny questions like Blair and Tyler.

[B]

I just want to say one thing. Happy Valentine's Day. I don't think y' all heard, man. I just want to say happy Valentine's Day.

[A]

Bulwark Daily is brought to you thanks to the work of lead producer Katie Cooper, associate producer Ansley Skipper, and with video editing by Dante De Chico and audio engineering and editing by Jason Brown.