Are democrats winning the MAGA shutdown? Plus, the right's takeover of media and rural voters with Adam Kinzinger, Tommy Christopher, and Art Cullen

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Jim Acosta Show

Episode: Are Democrats Winning the MAGA Shutdown? Plus, the Right's Takeover of Media and Rural Voters
Date: October 10, 2025
Host: Jim Acosta
Guests: Adam Kinzinger, Tommy Christopher, Art Cullen

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the ongoing “MAGA shutdown” and whether Democrats are successfully holding their ground. Jim Acosta welcomes former Congressman Adam Kinzinger to evaluate the political dynamics of the shutdown and the Republican strategy, Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher for insight on right-wing incursions into media and how the press covers political reality, and Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Times Pilot, to discuss rural America’s political mood and the forces driving MAGA’s power in the heartland.

Throughout, the episode is laced with the show’s signature wit, sardonic humor, and pointed critique of authoritarianism, media complicity, and political hypocrisy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The MAGA Government Shutdown

• Setting: The federal shutdown instigated by the MAGA wing of the GOP and its impact on workers and party politics.
• Kinzinger’s Take:
  • Democrats entered with an advantage, despite their weak messaging earlier, because Republicans hold executive and legislative power.
  • As federal workers begin to lose pay, public pressure will rise, especially since “Congress is still getting paid” (02:30).
  • "This feels kind of like the lowest drama shutdown. And I think it's starting to get more dramatic." – Adam Kinzinger ([01:47])
  • Democrats must stand firm: “If you need our help, I mean, I guess we're happy to help, but you should be able to do this on your own. But if you need our Help. It's a little bit of a cost. That's just how the Constitution works.” ([04:05])
• Republican Fractures:
  • Kinzinger notes that even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is publicly concerned about the fallout ([03:08]), suggesting cracks in GOP unity.
  • Acosta jokes about the surreal moment: “Maybe an asteroid hit the earth and knocked us off our axis. I'm not sure why she's making sense to me.” ([02:49])

2. Cruelty Toward Migrants and Use of Force

• Critique of Republican Rhetoric:
  • Kinzinger condemns the scapegoating and cruelty: “It's like if I went out and just beat up a homeless guy and like, what would you guys think of me, you'd think I was a piece of human garbage.” ([06:32])
• Immigration Enforcement:
  • Ongoing ICE brutality and federal overreach reported, including the tackling of reporters and legal residents during raids in Chicago ([07:33], [51:36]).
  • “It's just been one thing after another, just horrific stuff.” – Acosta ([06:45])
  • Acosta highlights, “They are just grabbing brown-skinned people, people who look Hispanic... That’s what's happening in America in October of 2025. And we have to find our ways to, to speak out against.” ([53:08])

3. National Guard Federalization & Authoritarian Creep

• Use of Troops in States:

  • Kinzinger, drawing on his military background, criticizes Trump’s deployment of the National Guard against state governors’ wishes ([08:06]).
  • “There's something really creepy about that. It would be different if they were like Indiana. I think it's a huge violation of the Constitution.” – Kinzinger ([08:48])
  • He warns such actions are desensitizing the public: “It's meant to get us kind of numb to this going on. But honestly, Jim, ... I kind of think they went too far, too fast.” ([09:35])

• Satire of Authoritarian Narrative:

  • Acosta and Kinzinger appreciate Governor J.B. Pritzker’s satirical video lampooning the “war zone” rhetoric about Chicago ([09:55]).
  • “There's no hellscape that I'd rather be.” – Acosta ([10:34])

4. Trump’s Mental State and Vengeful Prosecutions

• Trump’s Behavior:
  • Both Acosta and Kinzinger discuss Trump’s apparent decline: “There's serious mental decline, obviously physical decline... It's the emperor with no clothes.” – Kinzinger ([17:01])
  • Trump’s obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize and “solving seven wars” is mocked as evidence of cognitive confusion ([18:35], [19:12]).
• Weaponization of Justice:
  • Discussion on the criminal indictments of Democratic officials (Letitia James, Jim Comey) and the politicization of the Justice Department under Trump, empowered by unqualified loyalists ([14:23], [15:13]).
  • “Donald Trump said, you need to go after my enemy, Jim Comey. A new lady comes in, immediately indict him. I think a court's going to look at that and go, that is vengeful prosecution, which is unconstitutional.” – Kinzinger ([15:25])

5. The Media and Right-Wing Influence

• Media Failures & Right-Wing Inroads:
  • Tommy Christopher rails against mainstream outlets’ failure to clarify Trump’s misinformation, such as referencing years-old protest footage to claim “Portland is burning” ([24:13]).
  • On Trump: “The media just doesn't, like, they don't, they don't say, like okay, this guy doesn't know that he's looking at videos from four years ago... that's the craziest part of this to me.” – Christopher ([25:17])
  • Concerns over Barry Weiss steering CBS News to the right, with Christopher predicting CBS will pay a price for this editorial pivot ([28:31], [29:17]).
• Notable Critique:
  • “This is like, have taken over everything... literally everything now is just run by.” – Christopher, mocking the “ish” era of corporate media ([28:42])

6. Rural Discontent & the Origins of MAGA

• The Heartland's Discontents:
  • Art Cullen explores how economic decline, agri-business dominance, and demographic changes drive resentment in rural Iowa ([37:04], [38:58]).
  • “They get all the money and we get all the hogshit. That's how it works. Tyson gets the money, we get the hog.” – Cullen ([39:58])
• MAGA's Rural Roots:
  • The anger that fueled MAGA grew from rural economic losses and was catalyzed through local grievances: “We've been going through the stages of grief here for 50 years.” – Cullen ([41:08])
• Democrats’ Challenges:
  • Cullen argues Democrats can win Iowa if they “show up, and quit disrespecting us” ([47:43])
  • “If you want to win Iowa, you need state elected Democratic officials, and there aren't any. Except for Rob Sand.” – Cullen ([48:57])

7. Resistance, Satire, and Protest

• Resistance Through Humor:
  • Acosta and guests highlight the importance of mockery and performance in protest, from Portland’s costumed demonstrators to viral parody videos ([22:37], [53:08]).
  • “Every once in a while, we need to poke fun at it, too. We need to mock it. We need to show them that they haven't taken away our ability to laugh, our ability to have joy, our ability to express ourselves.” – Acosta ([53:08])
• Persistent Outrage:
  • Repeated emphasis on not letting “tyranny” become normalized, tying together the cruelty at the border, attacks on the press, and authoritarian drift.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Shutdown Politics & MAGA Fractures

• “This feels kind of like the lowest drama shutdown. And I think it's starting to get more dramatic. But...when people start missing paychecks and Congress is still getting paid...that might bring some of the strength.”
  — Adam Kinzinger ([01:47])
• “Maybe an asteroid hit the earth and knocked us off our axis. I'm not sure why [Marjorie Taylor Greene] is making sense to me.”
  — Jim Acosta ([02:49])

Immigration

• “It's like if I went out and just beat up a homeless guy and like, what would you guys think of me, you'd think I was a piece of human garbage.”
  — Kinzinger ([06:32])
• “They are just grabbing brown-skinned people, people who look Hispanic, people who are Latino...That’s what's happening right now.”
  — Acosta ([53:08])

Authoritarianism

• “The idea of the 82nd Airborne on the streets of Chicago against the wishes of the governor...there's something really creepy about that.”
  — Kinzinger ([08:48])

Trump’s State of Mind

• “It's the emperor with no clothes. Right. He's basically walking out there naked. Nobody's saying anything.”
  — Kinzinger ([17:01])
• “He keeps talking about solving seven wars, and I just wonder, did he see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers too many times?”
  — Acosta ([18:35])

Media Critique

• “The media just doesn't, like, they don't, they don't say, like okay, this guy doesn't know that he's looking at videos from four years ago... that's the craziest part of this to me.”
  — Tommy Christopher ([25:17])
• “This is like, have taken over everything...literally everything now is just run by.”
  — Christopher ([28:42])

Rural Despair & MAGA Genesis

• “They get all the money and we get all the hogshit. That's how it works. Tyson gets the money, we get the hog.”
  — Art Cullen ([39:58])
• “We've been going through the stages of grief here for 50 years.”
  — Cullen ([41:08])

Resistance

• “Every once in a while, we need to poke fun at it, too. We need to mock it.”
  — Acosta ([53:08])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:06 — Show intro and context for the shutdown with Adam Kinzinger
• 01:30 — Kinzinger: Government shutdown dynamics, Democratic messaging
• 02:49 — MTG and cracks within GOP
• 06:01 — Kinzinger: Detaining/despair of migrants
• 08:06 — National Guard deployment and constitutional concerns
• 09:55 — Satirical response by Gov. J.B. Pritzker
• 12:10 — Trump’s Qatari military deal, foreign influence
• 14:23 — Politicization of justice, Letitia James indictment
• 17:01 — Trump’s cognitive decline, cult-like White House
• 18:35 — Trump’s obsession with Nobel Peace Prize
• 21:38 — Transition to Tommy Christopher, media satire
• 24:13 — Media’s failure to fact-check Trump on false claims
• 28:31 — Barry Weiss and CBS News rightward shift
• 34:27 — Christopher announces interview with Hunter Biden
• 35:53 — Art Cullen segment: rural politics and MAGA
• 39:58 — Corporate ag influence and rural decline
• 44:38 — Iowa Senate and Governor races, Dem prospects
• 47:43 — What Democrats must do to compete in Iowa
• 53:08 — Satire and protest against ICE and “MAGA World”
• 56:08 — Episode wrap-up, call to action

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains a candid, wry, and combative tone. Acosta and guests use humor to skewer absurdities in politics and media, while maintaining a sense of outrage at the erosion of democratic norms. There is an undercurrent of hope and a call to action: stand together, refuse to be intimidated, and keep telling the truth, even through laughter.

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Conclusion

This episode synthesizes insider political analysis, media criticism, and on-the-ground perspectives from rural America to paint a vivid picture of America under the MAGA shutdown. Through witty banter, biting critiques, and moments of levity, Acosta and his guests underscore the stakes of the current moment—urging resistance, solidarity, and unrelenting scrutiny of those in power.

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Return to Top

Transcript

[A]

All right.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Welcome to the Jim Acosta show. Tgif. I, I can't believe we made it. We should note the MAGA shutdown is grinding on Trump and his top aides are now hoping to inflict pain on enough federal workers to make Democrats vote with Republicans to end the shutdown. We'll start there and talk about that. My big guest this hour is former Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger. Of course, on Substack and everywhere else. Adam, great to see you.

[C]

You, too. And by the way, I was already talking to Jim. This thing looks all distorted. So I'm not really this distorted in real life. I don't know what's going on, but great to be with you.

[A]

You are that jacked. I just want to point out to our viewers at home, this is no longer, you know, a weakling skinny guy. Adam Kinzinger. Yeah, that's right. That's right.

[C]

I gotta be like all the other alpha males, man. I gotta compete, you know, that's all they care about.

[A]

Like that you're like Hassan Piker now or something. I don't know that's seen that guy. But. All right, well, you know, we can do some Tom foolery, but I mean, there's some crazy stuff going on. And I guess first of all, you've been through some government shutdowns, I'm assuming, as a congressman. Yeah. I mean, you've been there, done that. This one is different. And it, and it's getting, it's getting ugly fast, I guess Russ Vogt is saying Today over at OMB, the RIFs the reductions in workforce have begun, which is their bureau speak way of saying that they're going to start firing federal workers. Your reaction to that? What do you think?

[C]

Well, I think first off, the Democrats message on that needs to be like, look, we, you know, we obviously don't want you to do that. This is your government. If you're going to sabotage your government, I think the American people know because they've been through enough of these that like firing people is not a requirement.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And so look, I feel I always knew the Democrats would go in this with the advantage because they don't control government. I thought they have done a, they had done a terrible job. And I still hold that in terms of leading up to it, like setting the table, setting the expectation. But I think right now they're, I would, I would put them in the lead, if you will, given the edge. This feels like the, you know, this too, Jim. Like this feels kind of like the lowest drama. Shutdown And I think it's starting to get more dramatic. But. But it's like here in Texas, like, it doesn't feel like the government's closed. You know, it just kind of. Everybody's going about their life. But when we, When. I think when people start missing paychecks and Congress is still getting paid, by the way.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, that might. Yeah, it might bring some of the strength. But I think the Democrats are doing the right thing. Hold out.

[A]

Yeah. And, and I mean, to me, I think they have no choice here but to drive a hard bargain. And what you hear internally, I suppose maybe you're hearing this, too, and we can observe this from the outside and see news reports and so on. It sounds as though the Republic are nervous about this. I mean, when Marjorie Taylor Greene is out there saying she's worried about these Obamacare premiums going up, I. I just don't. Maybe an asteroid hit the earth and knocked us off our axis. I'm not sure why she's making sense to me, but it. It sounds as though there are some cracks.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Right.

[C]

Now, Marjorie Taylor Greene's a smart politician. She knows that this gets people like us saying, gosh, what's going on with Marjorie Taylor Greene? Let's keep in mind, this is Jewish space laser lady. This is still the. And she's just.

[A]

She point those lasers at her party a little bit.

[C]

Yeah. She just knows this is solid ground to fight on. I'm glad she's doing that. Yeah. I mean, look, I think, you know, the fact that again, by the way, the speaker canceled session this coming week. I mean, I got to tell you, I wish. The only reason I wish I was in Congress right now is to get like, extra three weeks off. That would be great, you know, paid.

[D]

So.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, I think that pressure is coming down. You know, the president has kind of left open the possibility of this. And I think when the pressure comes tight, they're all going to look and say, why don't we just expand the tax credits, because we're probably going to end up doing it anyway. But the point is, and I think the Democrats need to keep making this because they always say, let's just reopen government, negotiate. Like we've been. They should say, we've been trying to negotiate since day one. You have no interest in it. And so, look, you wanted full control of government. You have it. If you need our help, I mean, I guess we're happy to help, but you should be able to do this on your own. But if you need our Help. It's a little bit of a cost. That's just how the Constitution works.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I've been calling it a MAGA shutdown. I mean, the Republicans control the White House, the House, the Senate. I mean, you know, I don't. The way they've been trying to blame Democrats, I guess Kristi Noem put out a video blaming Democrats for this, and I. We can play this for the viewers, you know, if we want. Let's go and play it. Just.

[D]

All right.

[A]

It might be a little stomach churning, but we'll play it if we have it. Maybe we have it, maybe we don't have it. Christy Gnome video might not be playing. Okay, we'll hold off on that.

[C]

Well, you know, with Christy Gnome, I.

[D]

Just have to say, I was gonna.

[A]

Say, what are your thoughts on Christine? Because she's been kind of all over the place.

[C]

I was elected with her. We were both class 2010. When she came in. It was like her, me, Sean Duffy and one or two others that were kind of like the higher profile freshmen coming in. Me, because I was young. I was a veteran. She came in because she was fairly young, obviously attractive. You and kind of a good story. Well, she came in and was doing some national tv. And I remember they. She and her husband made a decision to stop doing national TV because she thought, you know, in the comments that she was being objectified how 180 degrees that has changed. And now she's turned into. You know, they call her Ice Barbie for a reason. You know the thing, Jim, that really gets me even more than her policy is.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Is this like, you can look and say, fine, we need to deport people and control our borders, but when you go and you start proverbially beating up somebody that is so down on their luck.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, these people are so desperate to provide for their family that they're willing to cross a very dangerous border. They're willing to work for peanuts because they're that desperate. And instead of us deporting them with kind of a humble heart and saying, look, we're lucky because we won the Born in America lottery. Here's the legal way to do it. Instead, we're like, just so mean, so cruel.

[A]

They're dunking on them. It's.

[C]

It's, it's unbelievable.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, it's. I use the example. I put this on my Instagram or substack. I'm like, it would be like if I went out and just beat up a homeless guy and like, what would you guys think? Of me, you'd think I was a piece of human garbage.

[D]

Well, that's what we're doing.

[A]

It is. And we've been showing some of these low lights for about a week now, just showing these various videos. There was a video the other day we were showing of a lady picking up her kid at school in Chicago. There was tear gas in a neighborhood last week. I mean, it's just been one thing after another, just horrific stuff.

[C]

And it just makes a lady in Chicago. Now, look, do I know all the circumstances? No. But I do know that initially they tried to spin this as she rammed her car in them. I don't know the answer to that. But then they said she was armed. Well, Jim, she was armed. She was legally armed with a concealed carry permit and a legal weapon. I thought these folks were all about concealed carry in the Second Amendment. You can't turn around then and say she had a gun on her. And by the way, she didn't pull that gun. It was just in her car.

[A]

Right? Yeah. And I mean, and just today, you know, there was a reporter for WGN TV in Chicago. She was detained by ice, tackled and brought to the ground. And, you know, it's just been one thing after another. And the thing I have to ask you about, Adam, because your military background, what do you make of Trump sending in the National Guard into states against the. The wishes of a governor like J.B. pritzker? I mean, you know, there used to be a time when Republicans would talk about. Conservatives would talk about states rights.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Don't tread on me. You know, remember that whole thing? And they're. They're doing a lot of treading right now.

[C]

You know what else Republicans used to believe among the 8,000 other things they flipped on? Remember when we used to believe in cutting out frivolous lawsuits? And now, like the currency of the GOP is to threaten or do lawsuits. It's really unbelievable. But, yeah, the. I mean, with the Guard, it's. Look, and I think this is an important point. So if the National Guard is federalized, and it is federalized when the governor doesn't give consent. So, like, the Texas Guard is federalized. They are not. Right now, the National Guard, if you would look at their orders and status, they are United States Army. They have been what's called chopped. It means change of operational possession. They have been chopped to the federal army. So I know we call them Guard soldiers, but in reality, they're the 82nd Airborne. And the idea of the 82nd Airborne on the streets of Chicago against The wishes of the governor. And by the way, they are from Texas. There's something really creepy about that. It would be different if they were like Indiana. I think it's a huge violation of the Constitution. And unless Trump declares the Insurrection act and then he's going to have to prove insurrection. But look, yeah, this is chilling. It's meant to, it's meant to get us kind of numb to this going on. But honestly, Jim, I kind of, and this is a brand new thought in the last day, I kind of think they went too far, too fast. I'm hoping, you know this because of the backlash. Yeah, yeah. Between that, between the brutality of ice, it kind of feels like most Americans are like, this is getting a little, A little much, I think.

[A]

Yeah. And, and they're getting mocked left and right. I mean, I, I, since it's a Friday, I thought lighten things up a little bit. J.B. prisker, the governor of Illinois, put out a video on this. We tried to play another video earlier. It didn't work. But let's try the Pritzker one, just because I think you'll appreciate it. There's some humor involved reporting from war torn Chicago. As you can see, there's utter mayhem.

[C]

And chaos on the ground. It's quite disturbing.

[A]

The Milwaukee brewers have come in to attack our Chicago Cubs.

[C]

We've seen people being forced to eat hot dogs with ketchup on them and, and our deep dish pizza, well, has gone shallow. So it's a challenge to survive here.

[A]

In the city of Chicago. But there's no hellscape that I'd rather be. It's a hellscape, Adam.

[C]

Fine. Look, I've actually been in conversation with JB Pritzker on some of this stuff, and it goes to show you how, how much the world has changed. I mean, JB Pritzker drew me out of my congressional district. Right.

[A]

Oh, wow. Okay. So that's a sore subject. I'm sorry.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Was scared I was going to run against him for governor, and quite honestly, until January 6th, I was. But now I would consider him a friend because we are allies in democracy. And I think he's handling this, you know, as well as can be expected. But this is, ultimately, it's going to have to go to the courts, and I hope the courts do the right thing.

[A]

Yeah, that's big of you. I mean, I think that that is. You don't hear that a lot from politicians. You know, if you were once adversaries, being able to have a common cause like that. I think That's, I mean, that's admirable. But one thing that may not be admirable or well advised is I think Pete Hegseth, the self described Secretary of War, even though legally that's not the name of the Defense Department or his title. He announced today that. I have to read this just because I want to make sure I get this correct here. I, I don't know if how this could be, so I'm just going to say it. He announced earlier today that the. There will be a Qatari Air Force facility built at a US Air Force base in Idaho. I, I saw this and it just, I mean, I thought that the speech to the generals was weird when he was talking about fat generals and stuff. This might be weirder.

[C]

This is weirder. And let's, let's, let's revisit the history here. Qatar gave Trump a free jet.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

By the way. A free jet that the taxpayers are going to pay to turn into Air Force One. Probably will not be done in time. And by the way, Donald Trump gets to take that with him and it belongs to his museum. Now, some people think that it's going to hang in the museum like Reagan. No, he flies it. He can fly that as part of the museum. So now what happens? This, plus a whole bunch of other deals with Qatar. You know, the Republicans also used to not like the idea of foreign militaries being stationed here. This may be the very first foreign military facility we've had. Foreign military, like in training.

[A]

Training, sure.

[C]

This may be the first, like facility.

[B]

And weird.

[C]

Yeah. And among the first time it's, if it's, if it is foreign troops, that it's not like NATO or something like.

[A]

That, why would they need that? I don't understand it.

[C]

I don't know. It's goofy.

[A]

And I think it's a make good for the Israeli thing. I don't, I mean, I don't know.

[C]

It just makes, it points to corruption and quickly. I'll say, you know, Hexath, we know something is military. Guys. When you have a commander that comes in and he starts to obsess about where you wear your patches or whether you're shaving perfectly or your uniform, those are usually really bad commanders because they know they're bad, so they focus on the things they can control.

[D]

Right.

[C]

That's pxf.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I was going to ask you. I mean, we haven't spoken since, since he gave that speech to the generals where he talked about the fat generals. We don't want fat generals. And so on. But and I'm only going to mention this because you, you have been at the gym it seems as of late and I seem to recall Pete Hexeth not being able to do a pull up or a chin. So I, I just, I just thought, you know, listen, I, I work out a little bit here and there. I go for, I run, I'm more of a runner than a gym guy. But I wouldn't be talking about fat generals if I had trouble doing chin ups. That's just me.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. And it just goes to show this dude all he really is just for show, he's an entertainer and that's what he's doing here. And you know, look, I've talked to some of my friends that are MAGA that are in the military and they think he's a joke. So yeah, I don't think he garners a lot of respect right now.

[A]

Yeah. And the other thing we should talk about because this goes back to the discussion on democracy and it's more of a serious subject. I mean it's obviously serious subject this indictment of Letitia James right on the heels of this arraignment of Jim Comey. According to ABC News, they reported this earlier today. Apparently Pam Bondi was caught by surprise by the news of the indictment of Letitia James, New York State Attorney General. So I mean, it's pretty clear now that Pam Bonnie is not really the Attorney General, it seems to me. And then this is just being dictated by Trump and maybe Stephen Miller or something like that. They're just telling Lindsey halligan, this unqualified U.S. attorney that they picked to run his, you know, political prosecutions in Virginia. They're just running this as like son of a side deal out of the White House.

[C]

She's legitimately as experiences about you and I are. Except she has a law degree. Yeah, look, I, I, it's, it's confusing. The whole not alerting Bondi thing is confusing.

[A]

Wild.

[C]

Yeah. But like here's the deal. The, the fact that Donald Trump and this is the thing people need to remember. It's Wall Street Journal just reported that he, when he sent that tweet to Pam Bondi and he's like you need to go after X, Y and Z that he actually meant that as a direct message to her and because if you notice that was posted and then he delet that is, maybe that's a God thing that he did that because I think that is going to be, you know, evidence A in any case against these people. I wouldn't be surprised if these cases get thrown out, particularly with Comey, because Donald Trump said, you need to go after my enemy, Jim Comey. A new lady comes in, immediately indict him. I think a court's going to look at that and go, that is vengeful prosecution, which is unconstitutional. And I just learned this. It doesn't matter how strong the case is. If they can prove vengeful prosecution, it's thrown out.

[A]

Yeah. And I mean, I, I don't expect any of these cases to go to a trial to the point where you'll have a jury say guilty. I mean, I just don't, I, that would just be shocking to me if that were to happen that way. And, you know, the, you, you bring up interesting point, the fact that Donald Trump can't figure out the difference between a dm, a private message and putting something on Truth Social. I'm kind of wondering what you think lately, Adam, of just his state of mind and what we've been hearing and seeing from him. I mean, it, there's something goofy going on. It's not looking good.

[C]

Yep, yep. And by the way, he signed his DM President djt and he called him Adam Shifty Shift. So this is how he talks to people. Weird. Look, I mean, there's two things going on. I do think there's serious mental decline, obviously physical decline. We can see that. And then Donald Trump is surrounded by sycophants. I mean, for as bad as his first term was, you can still look at it and say there were guardrails in place, there were people that were kind of keeping him within the highway of legality, and now there's not. And so it's the emperor with no clothes. Right. He's basically walking out there naked. Nobody's saying anything. And, you know, yeah, I think, look, I, I think there are some real physical things going on with him. And the fact that, you know, what, a couple weeks ago he said, you know, I need to get to heaven, I'm not doing too well, shows that there's something on his mind. And yeah, I, I, it's going fast. Here's the scary thing, though, Jim, is I think if it would have, like, if Biden would have, you know, had his decline, but also, you know, paired it with some of the things that Trump is saying. I do think at some point the 25th amendment would have been invoked. I don't think there's a soul in the world that will invoke the 25th Amendment until his heart stops. Because they just, you know, they're. They're too cowardly, so you could ultimately end up with a legitimately insane president, which was a frightening thought.

[A]

And. And who knows? We might be somewhere in that ballpark already right now.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, the way he obsesses over Nobel Peace Prize. I noticed you had a. Some thoughts on that. I mean, I don't know, for getting back to his mental decline and what is going on with his cognitive stuff. He keeps talking about solving seven wars, and I just wonder, did he see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers too many times? And he's just got the number seven in his. I. I don't know what it is, but it's just weird the way he's fixated on this and why he would think he would get the Nobel Peace Prize at this point. I mean, you know, if the Hamas thing works out and the hostages are released and, you know, I suppose they could make a case beginning there, but I don't know where seven wars comes from.

[C]

I don't either. And you could make a case. And then you compare that to the fact that we're bombing boats. Right. Without authorization to use a military force. We are. You know, he's basically invoking a war within the country, trying to. Speaking like that. So, yeah, and his seven are made up. He's probably had an impact in one or two of those. But, like, even India is. Wasn't even going to play the game and say, like, yeah, you solved the India Pakistan thing. Now, that was solved by the fact that neither side wanted to nuke each other. And that was the. That was kind of the path they were on. And that's why, in fact, Jim, we believe that's why he ended up adding the 25% tariff to India. He claimed it was because they were still buying Russian oil, even though he hasn't actually gone after Russia. But it was actually because India said, no, we're not nominating you for the Nobel Peace Prize. Honestly, Jim, if somebody called me, if they'd have called me this morning and said, adam, you got the Nobel Peace Prize, I'd have been like, all right, cool. I guess, like, you know, that's why he's obsessed about it.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

It's so strange. And. And kudos to the Venezuelan opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, she's actually doing the kind of work that you would expect from a Nobel Peace Prize recipient opposing Maduro in Venezuela. That's the kind of. I mean, just earth to Trump. That's why Nobel Peace Prizes are handed out for truly heroic things like that. Not.

[C]

And by the way, they also, I think, typically get people that are pretty humble about what they've done.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

You know, not campaigning for it.

[B]

Right.

[C]

You out and campaign for it. I'm sure the committee is going to be like, well, no, if he's going to try to.

[A]

No.

[C]

It's truly crazy.

[A]

I know. It's, it's, it's sort of like the Academy Awards. You know, there's a, there's an art to it. You know, you, you want to be considered, but you don't want to go over, over the top and overdo it. But what do I know? I haven't won a lot of awards. That might be a surprise to a lot of people, but, no, not, not too many awards. But, Adam, great to see you, man. Thanks so much. Have a great weekend.

[C]

Thank you. Thank you.

[A]

Let's do it again soon. Bye. Bye. All right, hang tough. All right. You notice my biceps are way down here during the interview. They're nowhere near up here because it's just. It wouldn't be a good idea when, When Adam Kin singer's on. Let's, let's try to keep the good times rolling here a little bit. I know it's. It's been a tough week. A lot of serious stuff to talk about, but I want to bring in Tommy Christopher from Mediaite, because. Tommy, or Tom Christopher, if you will.

[D]

I just, I panicked. The thing. I was trying to set the thing up, and I just. Because he kept asking me to, like, permission to use my camera and, like. Yeah. Why do you think I'm here? So I, I, I didn't have time to write, Tommy. I thought I'd save a little time.

[A]

In this very litigious world, we, we cannot be too safe these days. But I like the. Is that like a Rastafari Rebel logo there? Is that what that is?

[D]

No, this is. This is a Pride of Rebel logo.

[A]

Oh, Pride of Rebel. Okay. I like it.

[D]

I like it.

[A]

Very well done. Well done.

[D]

We are a Pride family.

[A]

Good to see you, man. Good to see you. I was kind of doing this a little bit with Adam. There's a lot of serious happening. Right. There's no question about it. I don't want to take anything away from that, but I do like the way that J.B. pritzker is having some fun with the situation in Illinois, and he put out the video with the flak jacket on and everything. Oh, Tommy, are you there?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Hello?

[D]

I. Can you hear me?

[A]

Oh, okay, you're there.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

I think the video might have frozen. There we go. Okay, you're good now. You're good now.

[B]

All right.

[A]

But there's also, and I'm sure you've seen this, Tommy, these protesters in Portland dressed up in the funny costumes, sort of mocking the idea that Portland's a war zone. Let's show a little video of that outside the ICE facility in the evening on. I love this stuff. I don't know about you. It's been very disturbing. We've shown the disturbing videos. But I thought, I mean, some of this needs to be mocked.

[D]

Yeah, no, I, I, I agree. And I think, you know, the, the, the protests really can capture the imagination. You know, one of my favorite forms of. Well, you know, when you went and talked to those people at the Epstein statue, you know, this is, this is great stuff because it, it does, it, it captures people's attention. And you know it, there's a lot of bang for the buck. Let's just say, you know, you got a frog costume on and you get, you get a lot of attention.

[A]

And it kind of, I mean, it points out how totally ridiculous it is. I mean, Kristi Noem was out there posing in front of the cameras. I think she just landed long enough in Portland to pose in front of the cameras. And then I guess just in the last 24 hours, they had her film a video blaming Democrats for the shutdown. We can show a little bit of that.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And see, it is TSA's top priority.

[B]

To make sure that you have the most pleasant.

[A]

And she did one of these TSA videos that you see at the airport. I'm like, don't you have other stuff to do?

[D]

No, I know.

[A]

And because of this, what are your thoughts on how all this has been going down? TSA employees.

[D]

Yeah, well, appreciate your insights, I gotta say. And I, I hate to be like that, you know, that everything looks like a nail. But the thing that's driving me the craziest about this is the media. The way the media, I don't know how long ago it was. It doesn't. And that wasn't, it was like a week or two weeks ago where Trump was, was, was tweeting about how he's watching Portland is burning, the city is burning. It was because he saw four year old videos on that they were replaying on Fox News. And not only does he keep running when he keeps saying the Portland's burning, but the media just doesn't, like, they don't, they don't say, like okay, this guy doesn't know that he's looking at videos from four years ago. Like, he's, he's like, you know, your great grandpa knows better than this and not grandpa.

[A]

Great grandpa. Yeah, that's a good point.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Nothing against great grandpas, you know, we love them.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. But, like, I mean, look, I'm, I'm not a spring chicken either. And sometimes I see some. Somebody tweets a video and I'm like, oh, shit. And then they're like, oh, no, that was like last week.

[B]

Week.

[D]

So I get it. But like, it's been two weeks and he's still saying this. And the media is just like. So they don't even mention it. Like, that's the craziest part of this to me. I mean, obviously, you know, sending the troops and all that stuff, it's, it's all that authoritarianism, but, like, at a very basic level, it's just insane that the president either doesn't know that or actually he was looking at videos from four years ago and didn't. Still doesn't know it two weeks later. Nobody told him or they told him. He doesn't believe it. It's just crazy.

[A]

Yeah, No, I agree with you. And I, I add that to the list of things that makes you call into question his cognitive abilities at this point, whether he's in a state of cognitive decline.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Are we allowed to say that? Am I allowed to say. I mean, are we going to get banned for saying that? Shut down.

[D]

I know, right? I mean, I know, right. Should, should you be allowed to speak? Isn't that the, that he said this.

[A]

Week that you said something about freedom of speech? We, we got rid of freedom of speech.

[D]

We got rid of freedom. That's another thing. Look, you know what?

[A]

And it flies right past the media.

[D]

Yeah. No, I mean, it doesn't, because I did, I did. I wrote an article about it because, you know, I, I saw that he said that, and I was like, why isn't this everywhere? And I, like, I did a search on, you know, on our media thing, and there was one solitary mention of it on, on cnn on, on Abby Phillips show, which, by the way, Abby, Phillip, a great show. She does great work. Yeah, you got the, you have the clip here.

[A]

And here's Trump right here. I mean, he's been, he said crazy last week about the, about the Democrats in front of.

[D]

Can you imagine if, if, if Joe Biden or any Democrat said, we got rid of freedom of speech.

[A]

Yeah. Or how about just Joe Biden in A in a giant red hat with giant white letters on them with ridiculous orange makeup.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

If Joe Biden were doing that and stumbling and getting stuff wrong.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Fox News would have a heart attack. They would, Their heads would stuff.

[D]

Yeah. Although I'm gonna, I'm gonna defend. Not defend Fox News, but I don't really care that much what Fox News does. What bothers me is when people are supposed to know a difference, know the difference. Don't. You know, I don't want to, I don't want to name any names here, but there's a certain person who obsessed over every stumble that Joe Biden did and wrote a book about it. And, you know, I, I was like, I, I know he was on his book tour this week and he said.

[A]

Something like.

[D]

Well, you know, he was talking about Trump's fumbles, and he said, that's an entirely different wing of the hospital. And, you know, but I don't see him, I don't see him obsessing over it on CNN where, you know, that's where, that's where it matters. They're support. They're supposed to be, you know, the. Down the middle, you know, here's the, here's the news, you know, and, you know, you don't hear about it.

[A]

And what about, what are your thoughts on the Barry Weiss situation over at cbs? Apparently, she put out a memo today to the staff. I don't know if you saw this, saying it was basically asking staff members to tell us, what have you done?

[D]

Yeah, I saw the headline. Yeah.

[A]

That Doge workers that. I mean, this is getting weird over there.

[D]

Right. Like, you know how there's like the, there's the Jurassic era and the Cretaceous period. This is the ish period. This is like, have taken over everything.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

And I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna plead not guilty to being an okay. And so there's a place for okay. But, like, literally everything now is just run by. That's the main thing. They're just complete. Like, usually likeness is like a means to an end. No, this, the just is the point. Yeah. And so who are we talking about? Barry Waste? Well, yeah, so, like, so of course her first move is going to be, you know, what's your job? You know.

[A]

Yeah, no, it's true.

[C]

But they're gonna pay.

[D]

Listen, CBS is going to pay a price. Just like Disney paid a price. They paid a price quick.

[A]

They did.

[D]

I think CBS is, I mean, look, CBS was always the Tiffany network for old people who, like, want to watch Matlock and Survivor. Yes, that's me. Not Matlock, but Survivor. I do watch Survivor. You know, CBS was never the young people's network, but, like, look, there's a lot of old hippies now, man. I'm old, you know.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And so they will. I think they will pay a price if they, you know, I mean. And, you know, she can't help but ruin everything over there, but, you know, I think they will pay a price and they'll regret it.

[A]

Yeah, no, I mean, there are some networks that exist for people who don't want to get up and pick up the remote control. But I won't go. Let's not go down that road.

[D]

You used to work at cbs, didn't you?

[A]

I did. I worked at CBS a long time ago. I worked there when Dan Rather was there. That's how my ass is. And Bob Schiefer came in after Dan left, and I. I will tell you, Tommy, I. This has been painful for me to watch the last few weeks, and, you know, to me, Barry Weiss coming in, it just sort of typifies this moment that we're in right now where these giant corporations are taking over some very important institutions, and they're just going to just hand them off to the. To the far right. And, I mean, I just like CBS News. Are you really going to screw with 60 minutes? Barry Weiss are really going to screw with 60 minutes. Are you really going to do that?

[D]

I mean, listen, not to be the dead horse, but, like, I really just. I think that this is the. The adage, you know, the squeakiest wheel gets the grease. That's what, you know, everybody think because they make so much noise about how, you know, like, Joe Rogans and, like, you know, everybody, you know, and how, you know, all this stuff swung the election so that now, apparently, like, these people are, like, hot now, and they're gonna find out. They're gonna find out just how small, you know, I think it's good business.

[A]

To have running things, basically.

[D]

Yeah, I guess. Yeah. It's. It's crazy. Yeah.

[A]

No, and. And, And, Tommy, you and I were texting back and forth. You may have a big interview coming up. Can we talk about that yet? Or is it not fully. Should we not go there? Would you just analyze me with the prospect that you have a big interview coming up?

[D]

No, I do.

[A]

I do.

[D]

Yeah. I do want to announce. That's the main reason that I. Because I'm tired of hell, man. I had such a week, but I wanted to come on here because you've got, you Know, Jim's got like the, the, I don't know, like the second biggest following on Substack or something.

[A]

I don't, may not be that good, but it's not bad. It's okay.

[D]

And he's my pal and so yeah, I wanted you to be the first to hear. He was the first to hear that. I've been working on this for a while, but on Monday the 20th, I will be interviewing the son of, of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. And that would be our Hunter Biden is going to be my exclusive interview guest. And unfortunately for, you know, it's, it's for the live stream will be for paying subscribers only and then the full interview I will put out about a week later. The main reason for that is that I just want to be able to control how the content gets used. You know, I, I like if any, if just anybody can watch and clip it, then you know, you're gonna have like, I don't want to name names again, but you'll have people clipping things out of context and you know.

[A]

Yeah, well, you need to come back on after you do the interview. Oh yeah, you can play some of the clips and talk about it because I'm sure he's got some choice words on a lot of different subjects.

[D]

Yes. Yeah. Well, here, and this, let me just say this because I, you know, we, we've talked a fair bit on the phone and first of all, that interview he did, that three hour interview he did with that guy Andrew Callahan, that was really like, you know, that's kind of, that's just who he is. He just is who he is. And I found it, you know, I just thought he was such an effective messenger for his dad and for Democratic priorities and against Trump and, and so I really can't wait to talk to him. And, and it's really great because I, I thought because he did that interview, I was like, oh well, he must be doing a tour or something. And no, he's not. He hasn't been doing any interviews and so this will be a really rare opportunity to hear from him. And you know, I'm really looking forward to, I appreciate you letting me announce it to your viewers and you know, well, Jim, you, you, you are one of my few, you paying subscribers. So you will be able to watch it live and then we can, yeah, we can, we can have like a post.

[A]

Well, there are folks out there who want to join Tommy's posse. You, you go ahead and sign up, be a paid subscriber or just subscribe I, I always say that helps too. You know anybody? Yeah, look, I try to make it.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, I, I try to put my videos out like a week later so that people can, can see them even if they didn't pay. But like, you know, having, having the paywall, it helps me sort of control and you know, I just, you know, I also want the people I'm interviewing to know. You know, it's sort of a little layer of protection for them too. Yeah.

[A]

Tommy, best of luck on that. Can't wait to see it. Thanks for coming on as always and, and may the force be with you.

[D]

Thanks, Jim. You too.

[A]

All right, see you, man. Happy Friday. Take care. You know, one of the things that in my thanks to Tommy, we'll be looking for that interview when it happens. One of the things that has been on my mind and I've been wanting to get into is to talk about the farmers, talk about what's been happening in the heartland. And a recent interview guest of mine suggested that I get in touch with Art Cullen and let's bring him on the program right now. There's Art right there. He is the editor of the Storm Lake Times Pilot. And I have been to Storm Lake, Iowa. I used to cover a certain congressman out there who is quite controversial, Steve King. And you know, that part of Iowa, to me that's, that's real America, that's real Iowa. But Art, you've made a, you've made sort of a, you know, a living out of kind of skewering some, some sacred cows in Iowa from time to time, including the agricultural industry. And you have been, and we can mention this, you've written a book about how the farming community has been dumping a lot of pollution having very adverse effects. There it is right there. Dear Marty, we craft in our nest. Notes from the edge of the world are great to see it. Let's, let's dive into these issues. How are things going out there by the way?

[B]

Well, first, Jim, the most important news of the day is I think I've identified a cousin of yours from Sligo. His name would be Tom Snee from Iowa City.

[A]

Is that right? Oh my, yes.

[B]

I saw you the other night on public television exploring your roots in Ireland and Cuba. Very interesting hot headed combination there.

[A]

It's true, it's the, I call it the Cuban temper and the Irish grudge. But anyway.

[B]

Only a 500 year grudge.

[A]

Yeah, that's right.

[B]

But anyway, Tom Snee, look him up and he's a great guy. Went to school with him at the University of St. Thomas up in Minnesota.

[A]

How about that? Yeah. No, it's true, Art. I did finding your roots on pbs and they traced my Irish roots back, which I never knew about, to Sligo county in Ireland, where there are a lot of sneeze. And my mom used to talk about her great grandmother, I think, Anne Marie Snee in New York in the Bronx. And so that's where some of my Irish roots come from.

[B]

So that he thinks he's probably related to you.

[A]

I bet we are. Yeah. And so what were we talking about again? We were talking while we were talking about Iowa and the farmers and how pissed are the farmers these days?

[B]

Yeah, it's very difficult to tell. They're in the throes of harvest right now, and I think they're fairly comfortable with the fact that they know they're going to get a big bailout from Trump. The Trump administration, the Ag Secretary, Brooke Rollins, said when she, at her confirmation hearings that her job, number one was to engineer bailouts because she knew the tariffs were going to be very damaging to ag export markets. And in fact, they have been. And so it's, it's unclear to me what the mood of the actual farmers are. However, they only comprise, you know, maybe what, no more than 5% of the vote, even in rural Iowa.

[A]

And because it's such a big corporate production these days, big business, ag business.

[B]

There are very few people who actually are riding in a tractor these days. And but they, they hold an outsized influence on our, on Midwestern politics, definitely Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana. And there's a lot of unease in rural communities over declining prospects that have been, it's been going this way for, since Ronald Reagan was president. And we've seen depopulation. You know, the family farm died probably around 1998 when they eliminated the independent pork producer. And so there's a lot of anger out on the rural routes. And they give Trump a break because he, he continues to, to come up with these bailouts for him and he will again.

[A]

Yeah. And Art, you have put forward the theory, and I think it's a very good one, that this is where a lot of maga's energy comes from. In the heart.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

This is where it started. This is where the MAGA revolution started, when they, you know, they attacked the Michigan state capitals and the Minnesota and Minnesotas as a run up to the January 6th insurrection. They tried to kidnap the governor of Michigan and they tried to occupy the Minnesota capital. And one of the first people through, in, in Washington was a Guy from Ankeny, Iowa. And there's a lot of pent up anger here, irrational but well founded. I know that sounds goofy, but they really have gotten a good hard screwing from Wall street over the years. Whether it's, you know, Tyson, Cargill, the Cokes, you know.

[A]

And how. So what do you mean by that? For the folks who, you know, for those east coast types who don't understand that, what do you mean by that?

[B]

Well, you know, they get all the money and we get all the hogshit. That's how it works. Tyson gets the money, we get the hog. About 40% of Iowa's hogs are owned by a subsidiary of China Incorporated. Smithfield Foods and farmers all know this. They, they know that, that the, the chemical companies are running their lives. And if you don't farm according to the prescription of Bayer and Coke and use anhydrous fertilizer on top of chicken manure on top of hog manure to get those 200 bushels of corn per acre, you're going to be out of business. And so you farm their way or the highway. And that's where the resentment starts. And it starts with, they've just bulldozed the main street of Pomeroy, Iowa, town of about 700 people. They just bulldozed all the buildings because there's no use for them and they're going to fall down.

[D]

Wow.

[B]

And people see this happening around them. A school just closed 12 miles south of me, early Iowa. And people see that and there's a real loss that turns to anger. We've been going through the stages of grief here for 50 years.

[A]

Yeah. No, and, and I, and it's interesting you bring this up because I've detected this during my trips to cover the campaigns and whatnot in Iowa because there's this, you know, perception that Iowa nice and Field of Dreams and if you build it, they will come. And everybody's so nice in Iowa. But you know, there, there are people who are not nice. I mean, just like anywhere, including our governor. And I was just gonna, I was just about to ask you that you wrote about, and you've talked about how the current governor of Iowa is very different than the legendary Terry Branstad, who is people, you know, you might not like his politics and so on, but just a really nice grandfatherly type of guy. I think he got mad at me one time. We did an interview, but I still, still think he's a nice guy.

[B]

He was basically honest and straightforward.

[A]

Yeah. But stylistically very different than Kim Reynolds.

[B]

Oh yeah. She had to get down to the Mexican border to show the Texas Rangers how. How do you patrol the border? You know, she sent the Iowa State Patrol down there to show the Texas Rangers how it's done. And, you know, there's no bailouts for the Mexicans working in the meatpacking plants. There's bailouts for the farmers who are farming a thousand acres with $500,000 tractors, combines, but there's no bailout for the guy cutting the pork chop in the, in the meatpacking plant. They're living in abject fear of being deported. And Kim Reynolds celebrates it. And it's, it goes back to the pandemic when the governors of Iowa, Nebraska, that would be Pete Ricketts, and South Dakota, that would be Kristi Noem, the dog hunter. And they got together and said, we have to keep these meatpacking plants open, otherwise food prices will go up.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And so they forced these people, many of them, most of them immigrants, forced them into these meatpacking plants without any vaccines, any protective gear, nothing. And I don't know, I can't remember how many of them died in Storm Lake by being forced into those conditions under the Defense Authorization act, which Trump signed. And now he's saying he'll deport them. They kept meat prices in check during the pandemic. Now he says he's going to deport them. And of course, he hasn't attacked Tyson yet, which has a huge pork and a turkey processing facility in my town, Storm lake, where about 3,000 immigrants work. And he hasn't touched them yet because if he did, meat prices would shoot up 50% in a week. And there'd be there. Then there would be trouble on the streets of Chicago.

[A]

Yeah, well, then they're perfectly happy to scoop up people off the streets of Chicago, but they are very worried about, and they're very leery of pissing off a lot of these corporate interests in places like you're talking about there in Iowa. And, and I was just kind of curious. I didn't read whether or not you had any comments on this. I'm just throwing this out there, kind of a spitballing thing, but Joni Ernst recently announced she's not going to run for re election.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

And was it basically because she said that crazy thing about we're all going to die or something like that, or was she just not looking good in general? And there are some Democrats who might be able to pull this off. I talked to one of them recently, Josh Turret.

[B]

Yeah, it's hard to know why Joni Ernst pulled out. She probably would win re election. It's very, very difficult to upset an incumbent in Iowa, especially a Republican. And I think she, you know, she likes a man in uniform, and I think she wants to be a lobbyist and make a big pile of money and have some fun in Washington without the pressure of being a US Senator and f put up with Trump's crap. And I think that's really what's going on. And as you said, it does present an opening. And in the governor's race as well, Kim Reynolds is not running for reelection. And they have a real shot there with a guy by the name of Rob sand, who's the state auditor.

[A]

Sand, Right.

[B]

He's the only statewide elected Democrat, and that could really change the calculus here in Iowa. He has 10 million bucks because he's married into a very wealthy family.

[A]

That doesn't hurt.

[B]

Yeah. And, and in the net Senate race, there's a very impressive array of Democrats running. Josh Turek, who is wheelchair bound but is determined to win that race. And he has. He, he, he was encouraged, I think, by former Senator Tom Harkin. And then there's Zach Walls, who's a popular legislator. And Jackie Norris, who was Barack Obama's Iowa campaign manager, won his first Iowa campaign. But she's been caught up in a controversy recently involving the Des Moines school superintendent. Yeah, he's the president of the Des Moines School Board, and he was. He was arrested for.

[A]

I saw that. Yeah.

[B]

Immigration violations. He's a native of Guyana, he's black, had a gun with him. So it looks very, very bad for Jackie Norris.

[A]

Yeah, that was stunning to see that happen, that arrest take place. When you mentioned Barack Obama, it reminds me, I mean, I covered the 2008 campaign. I remember that battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton and Obama winning the caucuses in Iowa. That is one of the more stunning things that has happened in politics in a very long time. It gave him the launch pad to win the presidency. Can Democrats retake Iowa? Is that something that could happen? I mean, I remember there was this whole controversy over the Des Moines Register poll, and Trump wanted to go after. I think he wanted to deport the nice lady at the Des Moines Register.

[B]

He sued her.

[A]

He sued her. Yeah. And I mean, that was just awful. But it, you know, I do wonder, do Democrats have a chance in these upcoming presidential cycles, or is it just too far gone?

[B]

They do have a chance if they'd show up.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And quit disrespecting us. I mean, Joe Biden did his level Best to disrespect Iowa. And when you've got a problem with rural voters, the first thing you do, of course, is dump the Iowa caucuses. And, you know, that was the last method that they had to communicate with rural voters early in the cycle, and they blew it. They've got to show up, and they've got to show up in western Iowa, where I live, which is very deeply Republican, very deeply read, because they've got to lift those margins. They've got to narrow those margins by about 10% in western Iowa in order to win statewide. But they just don't show up because there are so few Democrats here. And also, there's very little support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee or the Senate campaign committees to help win. To win Iowa, you need state elected Democratic officials, and there aren't any. Except for Rob Sand.

[A]

Interesting. Yeah. No, I mean, I was very much a place where you have to hit the ground. I covered Rick Santorum's campaign in 2012, and he won the caucuses, I think by a whisker was sort of back and forth between him and Romney. But Santorum went to every county in the state of Iowa. He made a point of doing that, and I think he did it before anybody else did, and it. It helped his campaign. And. And you know, there's something about retail politics still works in this country.

[B]

It worked for Jimmy Carter, worked for Barack Obama, worked for Santorum, and. And it worked for Donald Trump with his airport rallies. But Democrats thought that I was too racist. Well, we elected Barack Obama twice, but of course he wasn't black enough and that were too liberal, which is just ludicrous. I don't know where they come up with that idea that we're too liberal. And they just don't want to come here in cold weather and do that hard work. That's. They would rather buy TV ads and Facebook ads. It's a lot easier than going to Storm Lake Iowa in January.

[A]

Yeah, I've stood on those bridges in Des Moines in January. It is very cold, and there aren't enough layers you can put on. Not for a Cuban Irish guy like me to stay warm.

[B]

I'd rather be in those hurricanes in Miami.

[A]

I think so. But you rather go out and be in the cold in Iowa than be in the political wilderness, which is where the Democrats are right now. But, Art, great conversation. Really enjoy your work. And I'm so glad it was Beto o' Rourke, I should mention. So you got to talk to. You got to talk to Art. And there's the book right there. Hold it up one more time so folks, get a look at it. I love the title. Talk about not where you eat. Art's got the title. We crafted our nest. And that is. That is basically it.

[B]

The point of the book is that we set out to conquer the people we found here. That would be the Iowa Indian tribe. And then we stole all their land and we have made a mess of it. And that's the point of the book. We made a mess of our food production system, which promoted a civic rot.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's in full bloom right now.

[A]

It's. It is in more ways.

[B]

We can salvage. We can salvage democracy if we stick together. Stick with Jim Acosta.

[A]

Yeah. And stick with Art. And. And don't forget the heartland. Don't forget. Absolutely.

[B]

By the way, that I just saw footage today of ICE agents tackling WGN News.

[A]

I saw that. Yes. Unreal there. It's totally unrelie.

[B]

We're there.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

We are there. We are. All right. Thank you for standing at your post. We appreciate it. Let's do it again soon.

[B]

I appreciate you.

[A]

All right, Take care. Thanks a lot, Art. Thanks so much. And yes. And Art is absolutely right. If you haven't seen the news, there is a reporter for WGN TV in Chicago, one of the big stations there, who was tackled by ICE as she was trying to cover the situation there in. In Chicago. And it just goes to show you just how out of control ICE is. How out of control the Trump administration is, how out of control Stephen Miller is right now. And I have shown these abusive videos time and again. I'll continue to show them on this program, but I wanted to make a point today of showing a video of. Of all of this being mocked, of all of this. Of this ridiculous hatred and insanity being mocked. And I, I don't think it's a laughing matter, but I do think from time to time, we have to lighten the mood and, and, and point the finger and laugh at the insanity of all of this. I want to show video of one, of one guy who was outside of a detention facility in Chicago and in the Chicago suburbs. Let's play that.

[B]

And.

[A]

Not. ICE agents hate all races except white faces bright and early to catch brown people.

[C]

No expression, just regression.

[A]

The tear gas going up their asses. He doesn't like that expression. No expression. And I find it kind of funny.

[C]

I find it kind of sad that.

[A]

ICE makes more money than all our veterans.

[C]

MAGA World.

[A]

MAGA World indeed. MAGA World indeed. Listen, it's Tough out there right now. But I think to some extent we need to make sure people understand the reality of the situation and like the people dressed in the funny costumes in Portland to show that, again, just the outrageousness of Trump and his cronies and his acolytes and his aides trying to make it sound like that, that Portland, Oregon is some kind of a war zone. And so kudos, Kudos to some of these good citizens dressed up like frogs. I don't know. I think they're there to show moral support to another guy who started showing up in the frog costume. I think that's what it is. And so there's this. There's the sign right there, Frogs together, strong, but you know it. And there's the unicorn. And I think, Is that a. I think that's a peacock and a baby shark and a polar bear. And there's a. There's a panda bear. Love the panda bear, of course. And, you know, to some extent, yes, we have to protest this stuff. We have to stand up to tyranny. We have to stand up to these inhumane tactics. But every once in a while, every once in a while, we need to poke fun at it, too. We need to mock it. We need to show them that they haven't taken away our ability to laugh, our ability to have joy, our ability to. To express ourselves, show our freedom of expression in all sorts of ways. And, you know, maybe the guy in Chicago is not your cup of tea singing. And I think it was a Barney outfit or a dinosaur outfit. I'm not sure what that was. But the absurdity of the situation right now, the absolute absurdity of the situation needs to be pointed out in addition to the inhumanity. And so I, you know, kudos to some of the folks who are showing up out there. You know, there's no. Listen, what would be the justification to tackle and arrest this man for being obnoxious, for singing off key? I suppose that you, you know, let's not give them any ideas, but good, good for that guy right there. And good for the folks out in Portland to say to the folks at ICE you know, you guys are a joke. You guys are a joke. What you're doing right now, the way you're treating people in this moment. And I'll continue to show the other videos, too, the other videos of the tear gas in the neighborhoods and the tackling of the. Of the migrants and. And tackling of U. S. Citizens. The nice lady who was picking up her kid in Chicago the other day, we showed that video, turns out she was a DACA recipient. She had legal status. They had to let her go. So we're going to continue to report on all these things and, and, and shine it, shine a light on it, hold it up to the light of day. And, and sometimes you have to do that with humor as well. That this lady right here, it turns out if you, it turns out she was pulled out of her car as she was picking up her kids the other day. There she is right there. Turns out she was a DACA recipient, she had DACA protection. And it just goes to show you what's happening right now, folks. They are just grabbing brown skinned people, people who look Hispanic, people who are, who are Latino, people who have Spanish last names, Hispanic last names like mine. And that's what's happening right now. That's what's happening in America in October of 2025. And we have to find our ways to, to speak out against. I do it on my podcast, I do it on this program. Other protesters are showing up outside these facilities and, and maybe we'll get out to some of these facilities to take a look and see what's going on. But it's on all of us. And I think that was a message that we heard from some of our guests today. It's on all of us. We can't take this lying down. We have to stand together. We have to stand together as a people, as one people against this. This is, this is tyranny, folks. What you're looking at, what you, what you are seeing as you're scrolling through your Instagram and tick tock feeds and seeing these videos pop up, you're looking at straight up tyranny, folks. And, and it, and it is, it is shameful and it needs to be denounced and it, and, and people are going to express themselves in all kinds of ways. And, and my, and Donald Trump earlier this week made some cockamamie comment about how he's ended freedom of speech in America. The hell with that. It's very much alive and well on this Friday at the end of this week. I want to thank Adam Kinzinger, want to thank Tommy Christopher, want to thank Art Cullen. I'm so glad we've gotten that perspective out from the heartland. I've been meaning to do that. It's been on my mind so, just so glad to have been able to do that as well. And thanks to all of you for watching week after week. I don't do this enough, but please, if you like the program, hit a like button if you want to subscribe to the program, hit a subscribe button, even if it doesn't cost you any money. You know, I understand everybody's subscribing to lots of different things these days, but it means a difference. It makes a difference, and it means a lot to me when folks show that kind of support, helps support the work of this program and all that we do. Earlier this week, we had a live program where we covered the arraignment of James Comey at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. We put some resources into that and had some great people involved, people like Olivia Troy and Miles Taylor and Glenn Kirschner and. And so when you support this program, when you subscribe, when you follow, when you, like you are helping us continue to do that, continue to shine a light on injustice in America, shine a light on attacks and assaults on democracy in America. We're going to continue to do that on this program and just want to thank you all again for that kind of support. Really appreciate it. In the meantime, still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a great weekend. I'll see you next time.