The Bulwark Podcast

Episode: Adam Serwer and Bobby Pulido: MAGA Got Proven Wrong
Date: January 28, 2026
Host: Tim Miller
Guests: Adam Serwer (The Atlantic), Bobby Pulido (Democratic candidate, TX-15)

Episode Overview

This episode features a double-header of crucial political conversation. In the first half, Tim Miller speaks with The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer about his recent reporting from Minneapolis, where local residents have mobilized to resist aggressive federal immigration enforcement. Together, they dissect the failures of MAGA’s ideology in the national spotlight. The second segment features Tejano music star and congressional candidate Bobby Pulido, who provides his perspective on immigration enforcement, Hispanic voter shifts, and Democratic prospects in South Texas.

Segment 1: Adam Serwer on Minneapolis & the MAGA Narrative

Main Theme

Adam Serwer and Tim Miller explore the reality on the ground in Minneapolis amid federal immigration raids, and how the city’s response upends MAGA narratives around social cohesion, masculinity, and the defense of Western civilization.

Key Discussion Points

What’s Happening in Minneapolis (04:27)

• Community Resistance:

  • Local residents (“ICE Watch” and neighborhood groups) monitor, follow, and disrupt ICE and Border Patrol activities to protect immigrants and marginalized community members.
  • Volunteers use dispatchers and spotter cars, operating anonymously through handles to protect identity.
  • Tactics include public noise alerts (“whistle brigades”) and direct observer presence to foil ICE’s element of surprise.

• Federal Aggression:

  • Reports of ICE agents threatening and intimidating observers, including following people home and making death threats.
  • Agents sometimes use pepper spray against activists and have killed unarmed civilians.

“What I was struck by was the tremendous courage of the people who are following ICE around, because they know that if they get killed, the federal government will refuse to investigate... They’ll be smeared by their own government. So, to me, what these people are doing is profoundly brave.”
— Adam Serwer (07:22)

The Purpose and Impact of ICE Watch (08:28)

• Disrupts federal operations by stripping away the element of surprise, warning community members (not just undocumented people, but all racial minorities).
• Profiling runs rampant: even citizens with legal status have been mistakenly detained.

“It’s not just a question of warning undocumented immigrants. They’re warning anybody who might presumably be racially profiled by ICE because the Supreme Court said... you can just stop anyone if you think they’re an illegal immigrant because they have brown skin or speak a different language.”
— Adam Serwer (08:54)

MAGA’s Narrative Turned Upside Down (11:04)

• Article Thesis: The right fantasized about using state violence to affirm their manliness and political power, but the true courage and social cohesion emerged among Minneapolis’ diverse communities resisting this aggression.

Refuting “Social Cohesion” Obsessions (13:35)

• MAGA figures like J.D. Vance claim immigration destroys social solidarity.
• Serwer argues real social cohesion is shown by the multi-ethnic community’s willingness to protect each other.
• Immigrants assimilate quickly; historical claims about “social cohesion” are disproven by reality.

“You are my neighbor, whether you were born in Minneapolis or Mogadishu. You are my neighbor, and I’m going to protect you.”
— Adam Serwer (15:19)

• Tim Miller skewers MAGA’s hypocrisy:

“My backup goes up when somebody talks about the common good and then in the next breath they smear and lie about their neighbors.” (17:04)

Masculinity and State Violence (19:32)

• Audio of Stephen Miller played: threatening rhetoric about the ruthlessness of federal agents.
• Serwer counters: real heroism is in those facing down violence with empty hands, not masked and armed state agents.

“The person who is staring down a gun with empty hands is always braver than the person with the mask and the gun. But MAGA has adopted this juvenile definition of masculinity where it’s just a question of dominance.”
— Adam Serwer (21:19)

Defense of Western Civilization — Who’s Really Doing It? (23:13, 24:16)

• MAGA claims to defend “the West,” but Serwer says it’s Minnesotans preserving true Western values: individual liberty, rule of law, due process.
• “MAGA” rhetoric reduces Western identity to whiteness; actual defense is happening on the ground.

“When you think about Stephen Miller saying, ‘these third-world migrants recreate the conditions of their broken homelands.’ No — you’re doing that. You have no appreciation of the actual principles of Western civilization.”
— Adam Serwer (25:00)

Historical Context and the Unprecedented Nature of Federal Policy (28:21)

• Comparison of current federal-led violence to southern “Redemption” era, but inverted: now, repression is managed directly by the federal government.
• American citizens also targeted if they defend immigrant rights, not just non-citizens.

MAGA’s Hidden Fear: Virtue is Common (29:59)

• Discussion of whether MAGA’s brutality stems from fear that most people are, in fact, good — and that their coalition is the exception, not the rule.
• Miller notes that social media makes these extremists seem larger than life, but most Americans are appalled by this violence.

“The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common — that they are the ones who are alone.”
— Adam Serwer (29:59)

Will the Resistance Endure? (33:11)

• Serwer describes the resilience and solidarity witnessed in Minnesota: “so many people lining up to help others eat”, the warmth of neighborhood mutual aid.

“It was one of the most moving things I’ve seen as a journalist.”
— Adam Serwer (34:23)

Segment 2: Bobby Pulido on Texas, ICE, and the Latino Vote

Main Theme

Singer and first-time congressional candidate Bobby Pulido provides ground-level insight into how federal immigration actions and the Democratic Party’s messaging are playing out with Hispanic voters in South Texas.

Key Discussion Points

On Tejano Music & Local Credibility (36:53)

• Pulido compares himself to the “George Strait” of Tejano — a decades-established cultural figure with local roots.
• The Rio Grande Valley is a tightly knit, heavily Mexican American region.

Immigration Enforcement & Its Impact (38:22)

• Reaction to Minneapolis events: local anger is bipartisan, even among those who previously voted Republican.
• ICE raids also afflict the Rio Grande Valley, harming:
  • Local builder community (labor shortages)
  • Real estate (fewer homes for sale)
  • Overall sense of economic security

ICE/CBP Funding — What Should Democrats Do? (40:07)

• Pulido strongly opposes current ICE funding and the imposition of deportation “quotas.”
• Notes that ICE is targeting the “lowest hanging fruit” — not criminals, but everyday people, and that agents get only 47 days of training as a political gesture.
• Racial profiling is acute; many American citizens feel they can't speak Spanish without suspicion.

“Don’t go after gardeners and grandmas... 70% of the people they’ve deported don’t have a criminal record. The racial profiling here is a huge problem.”
— Bobby Pulido (41:08)

• Would have voted against ICE and DHS funding (41:37)

Conservative Hypocrisy Around Guns (43:39)

• MAGA leaders malign Alex Preddy for carrying a weapon but didn’t condemn Kyle Rittenhouse for doing the same — a clear double standard.
• Pulido, a pro-Second Amendment rural Texan, notes the foundational purpose of the 2A: resisting government overreach.

“It’s ironic, right, that the Second Amendment was exactly to prevent the tyrannical government overreach... Principles need to be your principles. They can’t waver.”
— Bobby Pulido (43:43)

• The NRA even issued a statement rebuking Trump’s rhetoric as going too far (45:10)

The Challenge for Democrats in TX-15 (46:38)

• Despite a Trump+17 result in 2024, local politics are unique: high Hispanic vote share, district was recently gerrymandered, and there’s extensive split-ticket voting.
• Democrats like Beto O’Rourke have won in this area; voters choose candidates more than parties.
• The issue for Democrats: not focusing enough on affordability and border concerns, lack of timely response from the Biden Administration, and failure to communicate who blocked immigration compromise.

“You gotta listen to the people. They were screaming ‘make life more affordable.’ And I felt like we prioritized other things over that.”
— Bobby Pulido (48:42)

Faith, Values, and the Hispanic Vote (51:30)

• Faith is crucial in South Texas—and Democrats have allowed themselves to be caricatured as lacking morals and belief in God.
• Pulido calls for unapologetically embracing faith and good works; showing up in every county and talking directly with Republicans.

“We got branded as Democrats as the party of a bunch of heathens that don’t believe in God... In these counties, they haven't seen a Democrat in 10 or 12 years.”
— Bobby Pulido (52:17)

Breaking the Information Bubble (54:00)

• In rural areas, Fox News is omnipresent — Democrats must reach voters in person.
• Pulido emphasizes direct engagement and education, even encouraging voters to fact-check him with ChatGPT or even “Elon’s AI” for trust.

Local Flavor: The Rio Grande Valley (55:35)

• The Valley’s identity is woven from centuries of Mexican and Texan heritage.
• Business ties, language blending, and hospitality define local culture.
• Recommends Palenque Grill as a must-visit, and highlights South Padre Island and hunting/fishing as draws for tourists.

Immigration and Social Cohesion (58:48)

• Rejects arguments (cf. J.D. Vance) that immigration is undermining social solidarity. In the Valley, the economy thrives when cross-border movement is high.

“That’s not the case here. Our economy really, really depends on people from Mexico coming over.”
— Bobby Pulido (59:02)

Outro: The Spirit of Dreaming (59:53)

• Pulido selects his song “Algundia” ("One Day") about hope, aspiration, and the immigrant spirit:

“Our spirit as Hispanics — we always want to do better than our parents did, and our parents always want us to do better.” (60:29)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On ICE Watch bravery:
  “Their purpose is just to foil their operations by making everybody aware that they’re occurring.”
  — Adam Serwer (07:40)

• On assimilation hypocrisy:
  “Second, third generation, they only speak English. So it’s not true.”
  — Adam Serwer (15:08)

• On MAGA’s masculinity:
  “There’s nothing like screaming I’m so hardcore while your voice rises an octave. It’s amazing.”
  — Adam Serwer (20:26)

• On social media and extremism:
  “The Internet... makes it seem like these attitudes are normal. But the response to the killing... suggests the rest of the country, like, doesn’t want to do Holocaust too, and they’re not with you on that.”
  — Adam Serwer (31:34)

• On Democratic strategy:
  “People here really vote for the person more than the party...”
  — Bobby Pulido (47:13)

• On faith and values:
  “I think we need to not shy away from our faith... we got branded as Democrats as the party of a bunch of heathens.”
  — Bobby Pulido (52:17)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:27 — Adam Serwer describes ICE Watch and federal tactics in Minneapolis
• 11:04 — Serwer summarizes his article’s thesis: MAGA proven wrong by events in MN
• 13:35 — JD Vance and the “social cohesion” argument dissected
• 19:32 — Stephen Miller and the myth of MAGA masculinity
• 24:16 — True defense of Western values
• 28:21 — Historical context: federal power and state violence
• 29:59 — The “secret fear” of MAGA and a divided nation
• 33:11 — Will the resistance in Minnesota endure?
• 38:22 — Pulido on ICE’s effect in South Texas
• 41:37 — Pulido on ICE funding and quotas
• 43:39 — MAGA hypocrisy on the Second Amendment and gun rights
• 46:38 — Strategy for winning a Trump+17 district
• 51:30 — The importance of faith for Hispanic Democrats
• 54:00 — Breaking the Fox News media bubble locally
• 55:35 — Culture and tourism in the Rio Grande Valley
• 58:48 — Immigration and community solidarity

Tone & Style

The conversation is lively, incisive, and frequently wry. Miller peppers substantive points with humor and sarcasm. Both Serwer and Pulido speak plainly, cutting through political spin, and offering real-world perspectives that challenge prevailing partisan narratives.

This episode serves as a sweeping and urgent diagnosis of both current immigration policy and the struggle for the soul of the country—zeroing in on both courageous resistance and the need for better Democratic engagement with Hispanic and swing constituencies. It's essential for listeners following the intersection of immigration, political identity, and shifting voter dynamics in the U.S.