The Daily Beast Podcast

Episode: MAGA OG Nick Fuentes Takes a Surprising Left Turn as a Trump Truther
Host: Joanna Coles (The Daily Beast)
Date: March 16, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of The Daily Beast’s "The New Abnormal" dives into pressing political and cultural conversations, with a focus on moments from recent media coverage, right-wing infighting, and the deep history of abortion rights. The first half features the hosts reacting to and dissecting viral political moments and controversial figures—including Donald Trump’s inflammatory statements and Nick Fuentes’ unexpected criticism of MAGA. In the second half, historian Mary Fissell joins to discuss her new book "Pushback: The 2,500-Year Fight to Thwart Women by Restricting Abortion," illuminating the historic battles over reproductive rights and the pattern of gendered backlash.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media Clips and Political Dissection (02:31–11:41)

Mehdi Hassan and Dan Crenshaw on Free Speech and Deportation (03:11–05:48)

• The hosts play a heated segment from Piers Morgan’s show featuring Mehdi Hassan debunking Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s justification for Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation under an obscure provision.

  • Mehdi Hassan: Outlines how the law used is a Cold War relic designed to target left-wing immigrants, not criminal activity.
  • Hosts React: Danielle calls Mehdi a “national treasure” for his patience and clarity, praising his persistent fact-checking.

  "Mehdi is a national treasure. He really is. His ability to break down people with just facts and pure persistence, it's magnificent."
  — Danielle Moody (06:15)

Free Speech Absolutism Hypocrisy (06:44–07:52)

• The panel discusses the selective defense of free speech by right-wing outlets like Bari Weiss’s Free Press—pro-free speech until the topic is Israel criticism.

  • Jesse Cannon: Points out Free Press’s inconsistency and lack of defense for Mahmoud Khalil.

  "These free speech absolutists love to do these new laws that say you can't criticize Israel, which is just absolutely unbelievable..."
  — Jesse Cannon (07:06)

Trump’s Bigoted Rhetoric on Jews and Palestinians (08:01–09:44)

• They react to Donald Trump describing Chuck Schumer as “not Jewish anymore” but a “Palestinian,” discussing the dangerous implications of using ethnic identity as an insult.

  • Andy Levy: Calls out Trump’s tactic of dividing “good Jews” and “bad Jews,” warning about its danger.

  "Donald Trump is now the arbiter of what a Jew is in America, at least in his mind... it's also very dangerous."
  — Andy Levy (09:19)

Nick Fuentes’ Surprising Critique of Trump (10:03–11:41)

• The hosts highlight a viral clip of infamous white nationalist Nick Fuentes admitting “liberals were right about Trump,” echoing liberal critiques of Trump's demagoguery and opportunism.

  • Andy Levy: Notes the cynicism, pointing out Fuentes’ motives.
  • Jesse Cannon: Sarcastically welcomes Fuentes “to the resistance.”

  "Nick Fuentes, welcome to the resistance. Not really. I mean, obviously the funny thing about this is Nick is mad that Trump isn't Nazi enough for him."
  — Andy Levy (11:11)

2. In-Depth Interview: Mary Fissell on Abortion History (13:57–30:54)

The Age-Old Practice of Abortion (15:00–16:47)

• Mary Fissell: Discusses her book, explaining abortion is an ancient practice, and that attempts to ban it rarely succeed—they only make it more dangerous.

  • Finds repeated patterns: prohibition breeds “quiet toleration”; waves of restrictions correlate with gender-based backlash.

  "People have always ended pregnancies for as far back in history as we can see... Prohibition rarely works. It just makes abortion more difficult and dangerous."
  — Mary Fissell (15:21)

How Culture and Religion Shaped the Politics (17:36–18:45)

• Mary outlines the shifting reasons for abortion's stigmatization—from Ancient Rome through Indigenous Americans to modern times. Indigenous peoples used plant-based remedies; bias in historical accounts comes from European observers.

  "In ancient Greece, they already knew abortion was healthcare... In terms of Indigenous Americans, the evidence... is mostly from white explorers... but there are suggestions that they knew about local plants."
  — Mary Fissell (17:53, 18:22)

Herbalism, Witchcraft, and Gender Panic (19:28–23:00)

• Medication abortion is nothing new; plant knowledge was central for millennia. The “witch” label criminalized women’s medical knowledge during European witch hunts, intertwining fears around sex, medicine, and women's power.

  "Those herbal practices were handed down... for a really long time... They created a template for having a panic about witchcraft..."
  — Mary Fissell (19:37, 21:04)

The Enduring Fear of Female Power (23:00–24:14)

• Danielle and Mary discuss how labeling women as “witches” was a way to other, control, and punish women wielding knowledge/power.

  "To call them witches is to make them some kind of alien Other scary being, when most of these women were poor... they knew things, they had knowledge, they had limited amounts of power through that knowledge. And that scared people."
  — Mary Fissell (24:14)

Backlash Then and Now; Repeating Patterns (24:14–28:08)

• Mary draws a parallel between the anti-abortion fervor of the 1840s–50s (a response to first-wave feminism) and current restrictions following Roe’s fall; both are reactions to perceived gains in women’s autonomy.

  "...what we’re living through that kind of period of gender backlash, which is... similar to the first wave of anti-abortion agitation in the United States back in the 1840s and 50s."
  — Mary Fissell (25:07)

The Medicalization of Women’s “Difference” (26:57–28:58)

• Victorian and late 18th/19th-century science medicalized women’s bodies as inherently unstable, justifying excluding women from power.

  • Mary points out this ideology was an invention; previously, men and women were not seen as so different.

  "That sense of women being fundamentally biologically different was used over and over again. That's one of the reasons that they said women couldn't be physicians..."
  — Mary Fissell (27:46)

Hopeful Historical Perspective (29:28–30:54)

• Mary argues that history shows restriction waves “burn out,” and ultimately abortion rights endure. She urges putting abortion rights into law for stability and progress.

  "These moments of restriction pass. They burn out, they don't last. They cause untold miseries while they're here. But this will not endure."
  — Mary Fissell (29:33)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Mehdi is a national treasure. He really is. His ability to break down people with just facts and pure persistence, it's magnificent."
  — Danielle Moody (06:15)

• "Donald Trump is now the arbiter of what a Jew is in America, at least in his mind... it's also very dangerous."
  — Andy Levy (09:19)

• "Nick Fuentes, welcome to the resistance. Not really. I mean, obviously the funny thing about this is Nick is mad that Trump isn't Nazi enough for him."
  — Andy Levy (11:11)

• "Prohibition rarely works. It just makes abortion more difficult and dangerous."
  — Mary Fissell (15:21)

• "Those herbal practices were handed down... for a really long time... They created a template for having a panic about witchcraft..."
  — Mary Fissell (19:37, 21:04)

• "To call them witches is to make them some kind of alien Other scary being, when most of these women were poor... they knew things, they had knowledge, they had limited amounts of power through that knowledge. And that scared people."
  — Mary Fissell (24:14)

• "These moments of restriction pass. They burn out, they don't last. They cause untold miseries while they're here. But this will not endure."
  — Mary Fissell (29:33)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:11] Mehdi Hassan & Dan Crenshaw debate immigration law and free speech
• [06:15] Praise for Mehdi Hassan’s fact-checking
• [08:01] Trump’s “Schumer is a Palestinian” comment discussed
• [10:03] Nick Fuentes admits “liberals were right about Trump”
• [13:57] Interview with historian Mary Fissell begins
• [15:00] Fissell: “People have always ended pregnancies…”
• [17:36] Variability of abortion stigma over time and cultures
• [19:28] The connection between herbalists, witches, and abortion
• [23:00] Impact of “witch” labeling and fear of women’s knowledge
• [24:14] Gendered backlash: then and now
• [26:57] The Victorian “hysteria” and medicalizing female difference
• [29:28] Fissell's optimistic historical perspective

Conclusion: Themes & Takeaways

• Right-Wing Contradictions: The episode exposes the inconsistencies and dangers of the current right-wing approach to free speech, identity, and power.
• The Repetition of History: Mary Fissell draws a direct line from early gendered suppression of abortion rights to modern-day debates, arguing that periods of backlash are a historical pattern but do not last forever.
• Hope through History: A long-term perspective reveals that legal and social repression on women’s bodies, though devastating, can and has been undone—and legislation is seen as the antidote to cyclical repression.

This episode will be enlightening for listeners interested in political hypocrisy, the cyclical nature of backlash politics, and the deep roots and resilience of reproductive rights activism.