3655 - Platner vs Collins; Talarico vs Paxton; El-Sayed vs McMorrow & Stevens w/ David Griscom

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Majority Report with Sam Seder Episode 3655: Platner vs Collins; Talarico vs Paxton; El-Sayed vs McMorrow & Stevens w/ David Griscom Date: May 29, 2026

Overview

This episode of The Majority Report (hosted by Emma Vigland, sitting in for Sam Seder) centers on three pivotal U.S. Senate races: Maine (Platner vs. Collins), Texas (Talarico vs. Paxton), and Michigan (El-Sayed vs. McMorrow & Stevens). It features an in-depth interview with David Griscom, Texas politics expert, and lively roundtable discussion among co-hosts Matt Bernstein, Matt Taibbi, and Brian. The conversation delves into the intersections of class, culture war politics, establishment vs. insurgent candidates, campaign finance, and shifting voter sentiments across the country, giving listeners an accessible, irreverent, and analytically sharp breakdown of primary-season politics in 2026.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Iran War, Ceasefire Politics, and U.S. Political Fallout

• Emma opens with an update: three months since Trump started an illegal war on Iran. Over 160 children at a girls school killed, Pentagon investigation stalled.
• [08:11] - The Abraham Accords are reappearing in negotiations, possibly to sabotage talks on behalf of Israel, given normalization is not viable post-Gaza genocide.
• Voters, especially the young and “dissatisfied,” are overwhelmingly anti-war and skeptical of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Notable Quote:

"The idea that normalization with Israel right now is in the interests of some of these governments, given how their population would react. I don't know. Some stuff has happened since Trump 1.0, like the genocide in Gaza that make things a little more difficult." — Emma Vigland [08:11]

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2. Maine Senate Race: Graham Platner vs. Susan Collins

• Collins is polling behind Platner by 9 points; Platner's campaign, joined by prominent local figures and energized by grassroots momentum, has reshaped the political landscape.
• Vigorous critique of Susan Collins for blaming individual soldiers for their Iraq war participation instead of acknowledging her own legislative responsibility.
• Platner’s veteran status and antiwar stance powerfully rebuke Collins’ dismissiveness regarding the Iraq war and its impact.

Memorable Exchange:

“She just completely abdicates her responsibility as a lawmaker... Collins is essentially saying, you're on your own under my leadership. You made this decision when you're a teenager. That's on you.” — Emma Vigland [13:15]

Platner’s Response [15:27]:

“This is very, very expected from establishment Republican politicians who love to talk about supporting the troops, but in the end will always desert us.” — Graham Platner

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3. Texas GOP Meltdown and the Talarico-Paxton Senate Race (w/ David Griscom)

Interview Segment: [26:27–60:49]

Cornyn’s Defeat and Trump’s Stranglehold

• Cornyn, an established GOP fixture, ousted after Trump backs Ken Paxton, revealing utter dominance of personal loyalty over ideology in today’s GOP.
• Trump’s base now acts as a political “cult”; traditional Republicans shut out. The old Texas establishment is effectively dead.

Ken Paxton’s Corruption and Party Dynamics

• Paxton keeps office via a corrupt trial system, faces multiple scandals, but loyalty to Trump trumps all. Even minor disloyalty (a 99% voting record) is not enough.
• Growing tension within the Texas GOP and potential for voter fatigue to suppress turnout—which could benefit Democrats.

Talarico’s Populist Playbook vs. GOP “Culture War” Attacks

• Talarico, a progressive openly discussing billionaire influence, faces a barrage of Republican attacks framing him as “out-of-step”—highlighting sexuality, diet, or “six genders," even hiring Dave Rubin as a ‘gaydar’ correspondent.
• Griscom and panel emphatically argue Talarico must avoid culture war distractions and return to core economic populist messaging.

Key Insight:

“They’re trying to get us talking about six genders and vegan and all this other stuff. I really hope they don’t get stuck into it, because now that there is a race and people are excited about it... The winning message is economic populism.” — David Griscom [41:09]

Democratic Infighting and Realignment

• State party split between progressives and centrists; establishment figures skeptical of Talarico’s progressive bona fides.
• Texas’ much-touted “demographics as destiny” thesis is debunked; Democrats must focus on converting non-voters and infrequent voters with materialist, populist appeals.

ICE Voter Suppression Fears

• Real concern about Trump administration, with Texas Gov. Abbott’s complicity, sending ICE agents to polling places as voter intimidation, especially targeting Latino communities.
• “Any kind of mobilization by ICE... is totally unconscionable.” — David Griscom [57:59]

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4. Michigan Democratic Senate Debate: El-Sayed vs. McMorrow vs. Stevens

Segment begins [61:26]

Anti-Centrism Momentum

• El-Sayed, running a progressive campaign with Bernie Sanders’ endorsement, surges as McMorrow drops in polls and Stevens coasts on patchy centrist/establishment support.
• Voters less swayed by establishment “centrism”; are hungry for honesty and principled, populist alternatives.

The Filibuster Fumble

• Stevens tries and fails to explain her filibuster position, demonstrating the thin understanding centrist Dems have for substantive reform demands now central to the base.
• “...they’re not sure-footed because none of these types of politicians have been prepared to enter a world where one of the main demands of your base is this major reform...” — Matt Taibbi [70:22]

Medicare for All vs. Public Option

• McMorrow repeats standard “we can’t wait for a revolution” arguments for public option; El-Sayed sharply counters with a call for fighting for real change and points out her insurance industry donations.
• Again, campaign finance and political corruption—especially as it relates to AIPAC and Israel-Palestine—are central issues.

Notable Quote:

“This revolution's definitely not coming if we're not fighting for it. So let's play a game. If you're on the stage and you have never taken a corporate PAC check for Blue Cross Blue Shield, raise your hand.” — Abdul El-Sayed [75:10]

AIPAC, Foreign Policy, and Dark Money

• Both Stevens and McMorrow dance around the real implications of AIPAC funding; Stevens especially delivers empty platitudes, dodges substantive answers.
• Listeners and hosts express skepticism that these “white noise” responses land with actual voters anymore.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments with Timestamps

• “It’s just incredible how... she just completely abdicates her responsibility as a lawmaker.” — Emma Vigland on Susan Collins, [13:15]
• “Once Donald Trump endorsed Paxton, it was totally over.” — David Griscom [28:03]
• “It isn’t about ideology, it’s totally about loyalty.” — David Griscom [31:10]
• “The only thing I have seen is that basically like Talarico is like a queer is effectively what the Republican argument is. It’s not even an argument for Paxton…” — David Griscom [37:56]
• Dave Rubin on Glenn Beck’s show, on Talarico: “I have no gaydar. I think she's an abomination, Ricky. I think she's probably spend more time in hell than most of us.” [45:31–46:16]
• “The things that have been effective in Texas: economic populism. That’s a good thing for Talarico to pursue.” — David Griscom [42:35]
• “If ever they want to end this experiment in democracy, it will be when they start trying to threaten people at polling places.” — David Griscom [57:59]
• “People can't afford to wait for a revolution that may never come. People … can't afford to wait for Medicare for all…” — Mallory McMorrow [74:20]
• “This revolution's definitely not coming if we're not fighting for it.” — Abdul El-Sayed [75:10]
• “And you actually need to know how to deliver them on this campaign. I have not taken a dime of corporate PAC donations…” — Mallory McMorrow [82:41]

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Important Segments (Timestamps)

• Intro and Headlines: [03:40–8:07]
• Maine: Platner vs. Collins: [08:11–20:40]
• Texas, Cornyn/Paxton/Talarico + Griscom interview: [26:27–60:49]
• Texas Culture War/Campaign Messaging: [37:56–44:01] (Rubin/Glenn Beck “gaydar” segment at [45:31])
• Michigan Debate (Filibuster, Healthcare, AIPAC): [61:26–88:55]
• Healthcare Debate (Medicare for All vs. Public Option): [74:09–76:48]
• AIPAC Funding and Foreign Policy: [79:21–88:09]

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Tone & Style

• Irreverent, biting, and unapologetically progressive.
• Combines sharp policy analysis with humor and pop culture references.
• Regularly highlights hypocrisy, establishment cynicism, and mainstream media failings.
• Prioritizes original language and captures dynamic interplay between hosts and guests.

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Conclusion

This episode expertly navigates the shifting sands of today’s Democratic and Republican parties, focusing on three key Senate races as windows into broader trends: the death of Bush-era conservatism in Texas, the growing rejection of centrist Democrats in Michigan, and the populist antiwar momentum propelling underdog campaigns in Maine. Through humor and critical analysis, the hosts stress the importance of bold, authentic campaigns rooted in economic populism over milquetoast centrism or rightwing culture war reaction. Listeners are left with a sense of cautious optimism—change may finally be breaking through, if only candidates stay true to the substance that galvanized their grassroots supporters in the first place.

Transcript

[Emma Vigland]

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[David Griscom]

the

[Emma Vigland]

Majority Report with Sam Cedar. Where every day casual Friday that means Monday is casual. Monday, Tuesday casual Tuesday, Wednesday casual hump day Thursday casual Thirs that's what we call it. And Friday casual Shabbat.

[David Griscom]

The Majority Report with Sam Cedar.

[Emma Vigland]

It is Friday, May 29, 2026. My name is Emma Vigland in for Sam Cedar and this is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, usa. On the program today, David Griscom, author of the Myth of Red Texas, host of the Jacobin show, co host of the Left Reckoning and of the new substack the Rattler, will join us to talk about the news of the week and particularly the Texas results. Got to get the Texas expert on for that. Also on the program, it's been three months since Trump started his illegal war on Iran, killing over 160 children at a girls school, among many others. No update on that Pentagon investigation. Vance and Trump claim that the US and Iran are close to a deal which would be an extension of the existing ceasefire that the US and Israel keep violating. Speaking of ceasefire violations, Netanyahu orders the IDF to steal 70% of the Gaza Strip. A New York Times Siena poll finds that 2/3 of voters under 30 are dissatisfied with both parties. And when you look at dissatisfied voters more broadly, 80% of them oppose aid to Israel. But this, these are the undecideds. This is the vote. Trump CFTC asked a judge to reverse its own court victory against the Winklevoss twins crypto company. Would you be shocked to find out that they donated to Trump's campaign the ballroom and are in business with Eric? No, you would not. Trump also scrapped an executive order that said I might need regulation and they should volunteer some information. Maybe because David Sacks intervened, worried that it would be mandatory at some point. Trump's DOJ is also suing Massachusetts for refusing to issue confidential license plates to the ICE Secret Police. Pam Bondi testified to the House Oversight Committee this morning behind closed doors of Court Horse. She says that her handling of the Epstein case was totally normal. Sam Alito's son has been quietly working in the Treasury Department even as his dad hears cases involving the agency. At the Supreme Court. Zoro Mandani endorses Darielisa Avila Shivala. Shoot, I. We. I had it. Chalia. Eh. No, Chuval. Chav. Chalier. There we go. I'm so sorry. I'd practiced this, but she's amazing. A former organizer of the Gaza encampment at Columbia. Tough primary race in New York's 13th district, but if, if Zoron's endorsing with a month to the primary, I'd love to see those internals. Seems like she might have a shot. A Trump appointed federal judge gives the go ahead to the administration's attack on mail in voting. And lastly, at least eight protesters arrested outside the GEO Group Newark ICE Jail where immigrants have been on a week long hunger strike. All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome to the show, everybody. It is Friday. Hello, Matt. Hello, Brian. We are without Sam. He is. Thinks he's better than us.

[Matt Bernstein]

He's gone Hollywood.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah, right. I should give it back to him. You know, when I go out to like promote the show and things like that, I'm doing this for the betterment of everyone involved.

[Matt Taibbi]

He's just, he's actually doing Hollywood things.

[Emma Vigland]

He's actually doing Hollywood things. Just when you thought his head couldn't get any bigger, now he's in show business.

[Matt Taibbi]

Piles into the Rolls Royce as hydra driver.

[Emma Vigland]

Sam's is going to wear sunglasses for the rest of his tenure on the Majority Report. I figured we'd kind of switch things up a little bit on this Friday because there's only so much we can do. The back and forth on the Iran cease fire with Trump trying to posture publicly about his position being stronger than it is. It is notable. I think I saw Trita Parsi make this point, that the Abraham Accords have really appeared at the 11th hour as these Iran negotiations continue and the US is feeling economic pain because the Iranians want to hurt Trump politically. And that makes total sense. I do think it's interesting to see the Abraham Accords come up again because an insertion of the Abraham Accords into these negotiations that the US Is already losing is functionally a poison pillar because the idea that normalization with Israel right now is in the interests of some of these governments, given how their population would react. I don't know. Some stuff has happened since Trump 1.0, like the genocide in Gaza that make things a little more difficult. So whoever's pushing Trump on that, I think is deliberately trying to sabotage the negotiations on behalf of Israel. Something to just put a pin in. Trump and Vance are publicly saying that they're agreeing to this deal, but Iran hasn't said so, and they're the ones who get to decide. But let's turn to Maine here because Susan Collins is worried. She's worried about her reelection chances. A few days ago, there was a poll done by the University of New Hampshire, and they released a poll showing that Platner was nine points ahead of Susan Collins and 6% were undecided. So that's not good news for her. Not, you know, we'll see how the race shakes out. The primary is on June 9th. Obviously, Platner is already onto the general, but he's had an impact on Maine politics more broadly. Troy Jackson is running for governor, and him and Bernie Sanders have rallied with him. He's been surging in recent weeks, along with Platner. The other candidate was kind of considered a shoo in on a really easy path to the nomination and not so much anymore because of the movement that Platner is sparking in the state.

[Matt Taibbi]

And I'd recommend going checking out Troy Jackson on Instagram. He's another. I mean, he's a logger, whereas Platner's an oyster farmer. And it's just refreshing to see people run for politics that don't come from a legal background.

[Emma Vigland]

Exactly. I mean, this is what happens when you run a real candidate, a real candidate in Maine. And so it's Susan Collins is on the trail trying to maintain her position in the Senate, and she's gotta be a little worried, as I mentioned, because of this. And it's hard to imagine that there could have been a worse response to this question than the one that Susan Collins asked. She was campaigning in Auburn, Maine, and this is what she said when asked about her vote to support the Iraq war.

[David Griscom]

Senator Collins, Mr. Platner says that you sent him to war, but in fact, he enlisted twice.

[Emma Vigland]

What is your comment on that?

[Graham Platner]

Well, first of all, he not only enlisted twice after the war was started, but he also went to work for a security company, a controversial one named Blackwater, after. After his term in the service was over. So I respect anyone who steps forward to serve their country, but the fact is, that was Platner's decision to serve. He was not drafted.

[Brian]

Thank you.

[Haley Stevens]

Thanks, guys.

[Emma Vigland]

Hey, you know who wasn't also drafted? Literally anybody. For the past 50 years, it's been at least five decades since there's been a draft. We've had a volunteer force for that entire time. You know, if only the soldiers just didn't show up. It's their fault for RSVPing. Yes. Before they knew what the party was going to look like.

[Matt Bernstein]

If you didn't enlist, you couldn't be sent.

[Emma Vigland]

Exactly.

[Matt Bernstein]

Why would they say that's a plan, too? Like, that way that was framed. Because if you look at the logos on the microphones, that was all media.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah, yeah. And like. And this is honestly Boomer mentality a little bit. Like, I mean. I mean, come on. It's your pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You made this decision. Don't whine and complain now, but the people that are swayed by that argument are already voting for Susan Collins.

[Matt Bernstein]

Yeah. According to the Republicans, you're a man when you're 18 when it comes to joining the military, but you're not a man when you're praising Hitler and you're 40.

[Emma Vigland]

Right, right. That's how. That's. You know, how there's girl math. That's right. That's GOP math. I found that to be absolutely stunning. It's just incredible how I saw Sam say this. She just completely abdicates her responsibility as a lawmaker. But really, I. What I also see from this is how cynically people like Susan Collins view their public service. What does this say about what she views her responsibility really is to her own constituents, which include veterans and young people that she sent to war. You wonder why people don't have trust in government. It's because there are supposed to be folks in the theory of representative democracy that you elect that have some semblance of, like, basic duty to you as a person and have their constituents. Best interests in mind here. Collins is essentially saying, you're on your own under my leadership. You're on your own. You made this decision when you're a teenager. That's on you, buddy. And the Blackwater thing, I. I just. He did security this as a security guard in a diplomatic context. And he has spoken about how, as a veteran, it was really difficult for him to reintegrate back into society because he was struggling with severe ptsd. And Republicans pretend to care about veterans my entire life because they can be used as propaganda objects. But that's how Susan Collins really views veterans. Hey, you decided to go and fight and join the force.

[Matt Taibbi]

The war I sold.

[Emma Vigland]

The war I sold. So deal with it. You're homeless. You have mental health issues. You have ptsd. I mean, can I hand you some bootstraps? Here's Graham Platner's response to her answer here.

[Graham Platner (continued)]

Susan Collins voted to support starting the war in Iraq on three occasions. After that, she voted against withdrawing troops. On at least two occasions, she voted

[David Griscom]

to fund the war.

[Graham Platner]

That was Platner's decision to serve.

[Graham Platner (continued)]

Now, all these years later, instead of acknowledging that she was wrong, she's decided that she's going to blame those of us who, in her late teens and early 20s signed up to serve our country, that somehow it's our fault. Fault that she and establishment politicians like her wanted to abuse our willingness to serve, to go send us off to fight in stupid wars that did nothing but make some people very, very rich at the expense of American taxpayer dollars. It's no surprise to me because even today, she continues to not stand up against the stupid war in Iran. She continues to not stand up against. Against any of the abuses or the idiocy coming out of the Trump administration. No, the answer for Susan Collins is that she didn't have any power at all. Her votes to support the war in Iraq, that didn't mean anything. Those of us who put on the uniform, those of us who joined the US Military, it's our fault for doing that. This is very, very expected from establishment Republican politicians who love to talk about supporting the troops, but in the end will always desert us.

[Emma Vigland]

Boom. Boom. I wish, I wish you could run for president. I really do. I know I'm getting ahead of my skis here, but do some things first. I know, I know, I know. But I'm starting to feel hope again. And I'm not sure what's in the water.

[Matt Bernstein]

Vodka?

[Matt Taibbi]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigland]

Or just. Just proximity to Madison Square Garden. Here is Susan Collins, though, just to make sure that people know, first of all, how long this dinosaur has been in power.

[Matt Taibbi]

October 10, 2020. 2002.

[Emma Vigland]

Sorry, 2002. There you go. Supporting. This is her supporting the Authorization for the Use of Military Force for the War in Iraq, which, by the way, our inability to repeal that is why Trump has been able to wage the illegal war in Iran. So you can draw a direct line from Susan Collins here to where we're at with this horrible war in Iran. But here she is speaking about why we need to invade Iraq in 2002.

[Graham Platner]

Zoom work on nuclear projects. In 1998, according to British intelligence, Iraq also has attempted to obtain uranium from Africa. Mr. President, this is extraordinarily troubling. Since Iraq has no active civil nuclear power program or nuclear power plants, it simply has no peaceful reason to attempt to secure uranium. It wasn't, in addition Iraq government has attempted to procure tens of thousands of high strength aluminum tubes that could be used in centrifuges designed to enrich uranium to produce the fissile material necessary for a nuclear bomb. How soon could Iraq acquire nuclear weapons? Well, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates that Iraq is probably years away from producing nuclear weapons if it has to rely on indigenously produced material. It points out that if Iraq were to acquire nuclear material from a foreign source, the time frame could be reduced to a matter of months. This is the scenario that the institute calls the nuclear wild card.

[Emma Vigland]

Gotcha.

[Matt Bernstein]

I'm sold. Let's go to war for 25 years.

[Emma Vigland]

I was shaking in my boots when she mentioned the aluminum tubes. Those must be manufactured in the same place where the tent poles that are sent into Gaza for people to be able to live in some semblance of shelter are manufactured that can be turned into rockets. That's what Israel tells me.

[Matt Taibbi]

I would recommend people go to Frontline's Truth, War and Consequences documentary which is on YouTube. Go about 45 minutes in. Or you could just check out the Wikipedia page for Niger uranium forgeries. Because this was bullshit intelligence that was kicking around that the French were like, yeah, actually we have a pretty good handle on that Niger uranium production line or whatever, and that's bullshit what they're telling you. But we wanted to use it to go to war. And we had a senator, people like Senator Susan Collins go on this. This is a very difficult thing for me, but I just got scared from something that some intelligence says that it's my job to oversee. It's not the people who sign up to defend our country. Even if, you know, people might look like, say that's a bad thing to do to the American military, whatever, it's senators jobs to oversee this sort of thing and to authorize the war fighting for the executive branch. And she did it and she should take responsibility for it.

[Emma Vigland]

And just to add to what you're saying, one, I think Platner mentioned it, but David Sirota, the Lever's been doing really good work reporting on these Senate races, including we'll talk about the Michigan debate at some point in the first hour. The lever has done reporting on Mallory McMorrow, really coordinating extensively with the Searchlight Institute and majority Democrats, which is supposed to be illegal, by the way. But I digress. The New York Times Siena poll that I cited in headlines has 43% of voters dissatisfied with both parties. And the poll also points out that it's been 25 years since Americans had A positive vision of where the country was headed in terms of the direction of the country, what happened 25 years ago, everything is the war on terror. And we're still right now having these fights. I got into politics and was first fixated on it because I could not understand how any democrat could support someone like Hillary Clinton in that primary because she voted for this war in Iraq. And that was in 2007. And it's why, you know, Obama was so exciting for so many young people. And we are still having this same fight because of how intractable this is, how corrupted our congress is and how these folks have been through walls of money and campaign finance, corruption, been isolated from true democracy, and like the public, really holding them accountable for the havoc that they have wreaked on the world. So so much of this goes back to the war on terrorists. And I find it really inspiring to see Graham Platner, a veteran, take his experience and move that and connect it to corruption, connect it to political change. And this is how we actually transform our society. It's just. God, it's been taking long. A long time. In a moment, we are going to be speaking with David Griscom. But first, a word from one of our sponsors. Did you know that around 20% of Americans say that learning a new language is on their bucket list? Well, if that's you, it's time to check that off. And Babbel is the language app to use. It's fun and actually worth your time. Learning a language with babbel is all about small steps, big wins and progress. You can actually track and feel. Their bite sized lessons fit easily into your daily routine and are also easy to remember. Just 10 minutes a day is enough to start seeing real results and start speaking with confidence in as little as three weeks. What's great about babbel is it lets you practice real life conversations. You don't have to deal with the stress. You don't have to think of like, oh God, is this like in school when you gotta do these conjugations? Oh, my goodness. It's practical. You build the confidence to speak when it matters. I used this ahead of my honeymoon, going to Italy, and I was able to really use some of the skills even though I kind of. I was worried about the wedding, so I wasn't focused that much on it. So I crammed it in last minute. And Babbel was helpful just to get around the country and know some certain just easy phrases that give you the confidence to. Yeah, not be the dumb American in every context. Or Canadian. Whoever's listening to this, you guys, you guys are better than us. We know. However you learn best by speaking, listening, reading or writing. Babbel adapts to your style and keeps you motivated with personalized learning plans, real time feedback and progress tracking. Make fast lasting progress with Babbel, the science back language learning app that actually works and every course comes with a 14 day money back guarantee. Here's a special limited time deal for you right now. Get up to 60% off your Babel subscription at babel.com Majority get up to 60% off at babel.com Majority Spelled B A B-B-E-L.com Majority Rules and restrictionsmayapply link down below in the video and episode descriptions and at Majority fm. Quick break and when we come back, we'll be joined by David Griscom.

[Brian]

Sa. Jam.

[Emma Vigland]

We are back and we are joined by our dear friend David Griscom, author of the Myth of Red Texas, host of the Jackman show, co host of Left Reckoning, and somehow he still has the time. The writer at the new substack, the Rattler. David, thanks so much for coming on the show.

[David Griscom]

So happy to be here. And thanks for the, for the plugs there, Evelyn.

[Emma Vigland]

Absolutely. I you have a new piece on the Rattler that is extremely relevant and was great to read prior to our discussion today. It's called Class War versus Culture War. Can Talarico Flip Texas? I want to get to Talarico in just a second. But let's just kind of reflect on Cornyn's loss. I mean, this guy was in Congress for decades and it's an embarrassing loss for an incumbent like John Thune was practically begging Trump to endorse Cornyn. And then Trump tried to leverage it into getting Cornyn and Thune to support nuking the filibuster for this, the SAVE act, which is the voter disenfranchisement bill. And Thune doesn't want to do that because we know that the filibuster heavily benefits Republicans, the minoritarian party in this country. And the SAVE act is, you know, I mean, could also hurt Republicans. That's another part of it. It's just so egregious. But Cornyn like kind of said, I might support the SAVE act and hey, I'll name a highway after you, Donald Trump. But it didn't matter. Trump endorsed Paxton and that's all she wrote.

[David Griscom]

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think there's a lot here that I think, you know, is kind of, well, tread ground that Trump controls The Republican Party. But I think the way that you put it is perfectly right. It was a humiliating loss. It was a humiliating loss for Cornyn. Not only, you know, to be such a senior official to lose a race like this, but to lose against somebody who's just such an out and out crook like Ken Paxton. This isn't like typical, you know, Democrat slander against a Republican you don't like. I mean, this is a guy who. The only reason that he still is the Attorney General of Texas is because they had corrupt trial for him. I mean, you know, you have people on record saying they were getting calls for major donors, threats that they would drop $3 million against, you know, opponents in state Senate seats here. You know, that's. But that's just on the, on the Paxton side. Cornyn is a fascinating kind of example of something in the Republican Party which is it doesn't matter how loyal you are to Trump in the sense of your voting record or even your politics, you also gotta kind of kiss the ring. And, you know, Cornyn was constantly going around Texas saying, I have like a 99% vot record in alliance with Trump. That was his major tagline. And what we saw from Texas voters, I guess, is that that 0.8% is too much. Once Donald Trump endorsed Paxton, it was totally over. And I think one thing that is interesting, and I think you're totally right, Emma, that some of the messaging that we had gotten from Cornyn on some votes in the Senate probably played a role because when it did go off to a runoff, Cornyn was initially up, you know, in the lead. And then they also floated the story that Cornyn was going to get the Trump endorsement the week after the first round of the primary. Obviously, that didn't happen.

[Emma Vigland]

Wow. I'm sorry, can we just pause on that for a second because do you think that pissed Trump off? I mean, I like. It's a very delicate thing when somebody's that obsessed with their brand. If you're trying to almost corner him, perhaps he corn in him. Corn is trying to corner him. I mean, that might, that might, that might be a real problem for him. And that might have been where he lost it.

[David Griscom]

I mean, it could have been. And, you know, there's a part of it that probably, you know, to be as fair as possible to Mr. John Cornyn. You know, there's part of it that probably didn't even come from Cornyn himself. As we've seen so many people in the Republican coalition, Senate coalition have been begging Trump to endorse Cornyn and back Cornyn this entire time. You know, so part of it could certainly have been maybe Cornyn and his team, you know, overstepping there. But also probably Trump wanted to remind everybody in the Republican Party, including high ranking officials in the Senate, that, you know, this isn't the Grand Old Party, it's Daddy Trump's party.

[Emma Vigland]

He did. And there was the clip of him at the press conference yesterday saying that he doesn't care about the midterms and it doesn't matter. He certainly, he cares about the taking out people he feels have wronged him within the Republican Party and replacing them with more loyalists, as if a 99% voting record should it. I mean, he doesn't really care about the votes. He cares about personal loyalty. That's what it is.

[Matt Taibbi]

You saw this.

[David Griscom]

Oh, sorry, excuse me.

[Emma Vigland]

No, no, you go ahead.

[David Griscom]

No, just saying, you know, you saw this across the board. I mean, obviously Dan Crenshaw, you know who for a while I remember having conversations with you and Matt about how, oh, man, you know, this guy might be the next big thing in the Republican Party, whatever. I mean, he's totally destroyed even Chip Roy, who I'm sure anytime that name gets said on this show is negative. He got beat out because again, he was seen as not loyal enough to Donald Trump. So it's not really about ide. Is totally about loyalty. And the loyalty that goes again, even beyond just doing what Trump wants you to do, but constantly publicly kissing his butt. And again, just like on Paxton, really quick. Like, don't forget, you know, Paxton has failed as an Attorney General, not just by my standards of what I would like to see an Attorney General of Texas do. He has, you know, let criminals and pedophiles off the hook. And while he's doing that, he's flying up to New York City to hold Daddy's Trump's hand while Trump is going through his corruption trial. Right. Like, that's the kind of stuff that we've been seeing from Paxton. And it's bad for Texas, but it's been very good for, for Texas GOP politics for him at least.

[Emma Vigland]

It's, it's. I'm not trying to be too optimistic here, although I guess I'm in the mood for it today for some reason. But like I, Trump's record right now in special elections since he got reelected is not good. Like, we should not be taking prime. He's taking primary results as some sort of future evidence that the midterms are going to go well for them. You should be taking Special elections as more of an indicator here. He has the cult down, like on lock. I mean, they're sheep at this point. It's a cult.

[David Griscom]

They really are.

[Emma Vigland]

But like, if there were some people that came out and were motivated enough within the Republican base to go out and vote for Cornyn, even though he had such a disastrous overall result, is could you shave off 1, 2, 3% of those not to vote for Talarico, but to stay home? I think that's a real legitimate question here, Emma.

[David Griscom]

I think so. I mean, I think it'd be. Yeah. For a lot of Republicans in Texas, it probably would take a lot, you know, you know, to get at least people who really consider themselves Republicans versus maybe like likely Republican voters to flip for Talarico. But yeah, I mean, one of the things that I wrote about in my piece the Rattler, and I think one thing that people might be missing is that not only is this the kind of humiliating loss for Cornyn, but it really is the death knell of the old Texas gop. And let's not forget, like, you know, they didn't, you know, they did a lot. They took over the state from Democrats, Democrats who had run the state since, you know, effectively since Reconstruction. They passed, you know, massive lawsuit reforms in the state of Texas, which were incredibly beneficial. For a long time. Texas was the place where you would have those big lawsuits against tobacco companies, all those things, because Texas courtrooms tended to be more progressive, at least when it came to coming at corporate America. That was a major part of Bush and Perry and Abbott, actually, you know, of them kind of rising to power. So, like, they did a lot and then they created a one party state, a non competitive state, a Republican state. But what we saw here is you have that old party, Bush, Perry and all these other figures stumbling really hard for Cornyn, and it didn't mean anything. So what this really shows is that that old Republican Party is totally dead. And the big question, Texas politics is always, will the non competitive nature of politics in Texas eventually allow that party to get so insane and so far to the right that normal Texans, not the very small amount of people who vote in the Republican primary, which, remember, Texas is a massive state, you know, we're talking about a very small percentage of people who are voting in these Republican, Republican primaries.

[Emma Vigland]

19 million people is my.

[David Griscom]

No, Texas. Like 30 million.

[Emma Vigland]

30 million. Gosh, what's wrong with me? Yeah. Okay, then there you go.

[David Griscom]

You know, it's a very small sliver of people who are voting in these Republican primaries. So One day, you know, the question is, like, they'll put somebody up who's so insane and odious to everybody else. And, you know, even with Paxton, so many people in the Republican Party, even though they might not be in power anymore, they were part people who, like, have loyalty to the old party, the party that is constantly getting humiliated, that is getting almost nothing, seeing all of their figures being insulted, seeing people losing office, you know, sooner or later, some of those kind of, like county level Republican Party machines, they might not feel like putting in so many resources to somebody like Ken Paxton, who is a crook not only against the state of Texas, but is a kind of a crook and a villain to a lot of people in the Republican Party in Texas as well.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah, I wasn't hallucinating this. 19 million voters at the very least.

[David Griscom]

Excuse me. Sorry. Yeah, yeah, I meant population.

[Emma Vigland]

That might be just the registered voting population, but, like, you know, I still, I do think this is going to be a high turnout race because we've seen, you know, even though turnout was depressed relative to 2020, the Harris Biden, sorry, Harris Trump election was a relatively high turnout election. I know that's a presidential race, but people are really motivated right now because, like, gas in Texas is $4 a gallon right now, and Ted Cruz was bragging about that. And that doesn't seem like a really good strategy, especially with, like, all the refineries just, you know, in the backyard.

[David Griscom]

No, I mean, you know, I filled up the truck, you know, last week, and it was like $95. Totally, totally devastating. And, you know, I guess we need to get some of those stickers that they have for Biden with Trump pointing at the gas prices, saying, I did that. You know, it would serve them well. I mean, yeah, when this was shop

[Emma Vigland]

down majorityreportradio.com to get the Trump slump stickers. You're preaching to Sam. I wish Sam here, he'd be beaming right now that you set us up for that plug.

[David Griscom]

But anyway, no, I think, you know, I'd be very happy to see some of those around town, you know, and like, when. When it was like this under Biden, I mean, people rightfully were crying. You know, it was a public outcry because it's expensive, especially for a lot of people in Texas who are suffering not just because of high gas prices, because of incredibly increasing rents, property taxes, all these other things that have come again with 30 years of Republican rule. You know, it's crazy. And I mean, what is the argument for Paxton? What is the argument for Trump at this point, I mean, you know, we can kind of get into the weeds about what worked and what didn't when it came to Kamala versus Trump. But I think there's no doubt about it that most people were hearing an economic message from, from the Trump team. And I mean, the only thing I have seen is that basically like Talarico is like a queer is effectively what the Republican argument is. It's not even an argument for Paxton. It's just like, this guy sucks and is a vegan.

[Emma Vigland]

Well, this is a perfect intro to our clip that I want to play with you. But it's kind of an inversion of all of the horrible elements of the Harris campaign of like saying, I mean, she, like the campaign actually did. There were so many things that they did wrong, but they were studious in avoiding her, bringing up her gender, her race. And she was like, I'm a cop, I'm tough on the southern border. They weren't trying to do the culture war stuff, and I don't love that term, but it's hard to describe what this campaign against Talarico is other than culture war stuff. But where they fell apart, as you rightly point out, is that. But Trump won the economic message. And there was a perception, of course, that, that Harrison Biden, it was a continuation of the same thing and that they weren't interested in helping you. That's what the Kamala is for. They, them ads really indicated it wasn't that everybody was motivated because they hate trans people. It was because they were worried about the economy and its impact on their lives. And this, that ad portrayed her as a cultural elite that is uninterested in your day to day pain. Now Paxton is running on like, Talarico likes tofu, he's gay, but he also likes only fans, models on Instagram. We'll figure it out.

[David Griscom]

God has a big old, big old hammer swing, right?

[Emma Vigland]

He's. He's not constantly thinking about God's testicles

[Matt Taibbi]

like as you're, as you're.

[David Griscom]

As your local Texas correspondent, can I add a little bit of insight here too to one of the ads we've been getting? So one of the things, and my sister pointed this out to me earlier today, but one of the main attack as that they're doing on gender is that like he believes in six genders. He believes in six genders. They keep on saying that. I want us to slow it down for a little bit and think about cisgender.

[Emma Vigland]

Cisgender, right.

[David Griscom]

Somebody with an East Texas accent here. Cisgender sounds exactly like cisgender. So, yeah, that might be the origin of this here.

[Emma Vigland]

Is that. Wait, you were thinking the same thing?

[David Griscom]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigland]

Okay, good. Matt doesn't agree.

[Matt Taibbi]

That's not where I looked into where it come from. It was like him at, like a hearing. Like, you know, it's actually way more complicated. And there's not just two genders. Like, you know, there's. And he said there's like, May is six.

[Emma Vigland]

Right. But I think, like, this is so Republican with the Democrat thing.

[David Griscom]

Yeah, exactly.

[Emma Vigland]

Like, they're. They're trying to almost, I don't know, muddy things. I just don't know if it's gonna have an impact like people. I think. And when we talk, he doesn't.

[David Griscom]

If he doesn't get his back on the. On the road and start doing what he made him successful in the first place. You know, the past few days for Talarico have been, I'm sorry, posting that little. I'm not worked up about it, but like, the picture of him with the turkey leg or whatever, it's just like, all right, it's done. It doesn't do that much. And I think you're wasting your time involved, getting yourself involved with that. Which is the entire reason the Republicans are trying to get us talking about six genders and. And vegan and all this other kind of stuff. And I really hope that they don't get stuck into it, because now that there is a race and people are excited about it. Cause Paxton is the, you know, is leading the Republican ticket who everybody, even people in the Republican Party, think is beatable or if anything, is gonna be such a drag on the ticket that, like, you might see significant pickups for the Democrats in the state. Ledge now tell Rico's gonna have all of these new people who are showing up at his campaign office from the Democratic Party and national consultants are gonna tell him, you know what you need to go and a chopped beef burrito, which is something that David Axelrod said. I've never heard of a chopped beef taco in my life. But, like, you know, all these people are just telling him, like, how to be a real Texan, how to be authentic. And I think he needs to ignore all that and get to what got people excited about him, which was him talking about the billionaire class. Him talking about, it's not left versus right, it's top versus bottom. Those are the things that won him the primary. Those are the things that have gotten so many people involved with the campaign. They're getting people to donate, not James Talarico trying to be something that he's not. Because guess what? If you want to pretend and imagine like a, you know, a perfect Texan Democrat, why don't we think about somebody like a football player, maybe somebody who has six generations, maybe somebody, you know, who has, like, a deep connection, deep roots in the state. Oh, wait, that was Con Allred. And they made.

[Emma Vigland]

They.

[David Griscom]

They made him playing football seem lame somehow. The Republican Party, they're very good at this. We got to give them, you know, their credit. So why play this game? Because you're going to lose on it. And it, again, distracts from the winning message, which is economic populism, something that has shown time and time again to be very effective in Texas. And this is a good thing for Talarico to, I think, pursue.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah. And I think, you know, it pairs nicely with his overall affect of, like, you know, choir boy church guy that is, like, gonna. You may not think that he's like, the cool guy to go to the cookout with or whatever, because he's doesn't eat this. This meet convincingly, but you might trust that he's a good person. And I think, like, there's this cynicism right now that people are really sick of about public service and what it means to actually be a representative of people. And if he sticks with his message that he's been successful with here as, like, this kind of, you know, loving Christian guy, as an antidote to the sadism of MAGA and also the corruption of maga, you have just a stark contrast. And so much about politics is contra. Is contrasting yourself with your opponent. So I couldn't agree with you more, David, but to illustrate where we're at here in terms of the, I don't know, Talarico is gay messaging campaign, Glenn Beck brought on our dear friend Dave Rubin onto his show as his gay correspondent. He's like, hey, hey, you like dick? Can you figure out if Talarico's gay? I'm going to outsource this to you. The body language expert for the gaydar.

[David Griscom]

Exactly.

[Emma Vigland]

You pointed out on Twitter what the hell happened to Dave Rubin's face? I mean, he really definitely got a facelift. Not to be petty about this or something like that. And they yanked. They stepped on that guy's head and yanked it back.

[David Griscom]

I mean, for people watching and maybe having a drink of water, eating, like, take a second, because it is. I had a jump scare.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's. It's easy when you take as many vacations as he does if you want to have some recovery time. But here is Dave Rubin on the important question of whether or not James Talarico is gay.

[Dave Rubin]

He's eating a turkey. I think this whole. What I saw on this is here's a guy almost mocking.

[Emma Vigland]

I'm sorry, really quickly we'll go back. But to your point, David, why did he pose for this? It's just like, like such an unforced error.

[David Griscom]

Well, I actually know what's interesting about this photo though, Emma, is that this photo actually comes from a good message campaign from him, which is he went to the Texas State Fair and he was noting about how expensive the Texas State Fair had become because of corporate interest. So it's actually like a pretty good video. But now they keep on posting this as his response to the vegan allegations and it's out of Democrats to get a little silly.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Taibbi]

The Democrats shouldn't have like let it, let that be a frame in the video. You don't need to isolate it and post. Here we come.

[Emma Vigland]

Yes, this is the official Democrats account. Which is why to your point, the consultants get out of this race, let the Talarico team do what they've been doing. Anyway, here's here, we'll restart it now

[Dave Rubin]

is here's a guy almost mocking

[Graham Platner (continued)]

Texans.

[Dave Rubin]

You know, this is what really look like. So I'm going to pretend I'm one of them. However, Ricky, who is absolutely debased. She is, she's not a good human being. She, she comes in and she's like this, this is a, this is appealing to let's say non cisgendered voters. And I'm like, what are you even talking about? And she said, your rumor is, you know, he says he has a girlfriend, yada yada, I have no gaydar. I think she's, I think she's an abomination, Ricky. I think she's probably spend more time in hell than most of us.

[Matt Taibbi]

Wait, wait, I'll just pause there like, yeah, I think that's a woman on staff. But I'll just say like Glenn, you're a, you're a Mormon fundamentalist. When you use the word abomination when discussing gay people, we're not sure what you're talking about.

[Emma Vigland]

That's a great, great point. Also he, he's talking all about like, I looked it up, he's from the state of Washington. So I don't really get what Glenn's. And does he even broadcast from Texas anymore?

[Matt Taibbi]

I think Dallas, right?

[David Griscom]

No, I can't remember.

[Emma Vigland]

Who knows?

[David Griscom]

Yeah,

[Dave Rubin]

he has a girlfriend, yada, yada. I have no gaydar. I think she's. I think she's an abomination, Ricky. I think she's probably more time in hell than most of us. And in the deep.

[Glenn Beck]

I've always liked her, but. Okay, you know,

[Dave Rubin]

what's radar say on him? And what is there. Is she. Is she just going to hell, or does she have a point on this?

[Matt Taibbi]

What?

[Glenn Beck]

You know, I must say, this is very strange. I got a text from Billy Bush, broadcaster Billy Bush, yesterday, asking me about my gaydar on Talarico. This is what the remainder of my career is going to wait.

[Emma Vigland]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[Matt Bernstein]

You dug this grave, dog.

[Emma Vigland]

Billy Bush reflection. The. The Access Hollywood dude reached out to be like, hey, dude, you're the first gay guy I can think of. I know. I've worked in Hollywood, but Dave, you're the one I come to for the gaydar. God. All right, keep going.

[Glenn Beck]

Isn't gay. Well, I have a very long career in politics.

[Emma Vigland]

I don't know that this is what

[Glenn Beck]

I signed up for.

[David Griscom]

I think it's.

[Glenn Beck]

Look, I just know. Look, there's obviously some weird stuff when he tells you that Jesus is non binary and that there are six genders and there's a. Yeah, there is a slight effeminate look. There are effeminate guys who are straight. There are straight acting guys or masculine guys who are gay and all of those things. So to me, that's not so important about myself. Yes, Glenn, as far. I've known you quite well for many years at this point, and I can confirm to the. To the listeners that you are straight, as far as I know.

[Emma Vigland]

No, no, no. I mean, I just.

[Dave Rubin]

I thought. I feel better because I didn't think there was anything to this. Ricky comes in, you know, with.

[Glenn Beck]

I thought. I thought this was. I thought this was just a crazy ruse to get.

[Matt Bernstein]

I'm trying to howl for my food here, but you didn't give me a script.

[David Griscom]

What song do you want me to sing here?

[Emma Vigland]

Well, I mean, and Glenn couldn't even take the slightest bit of, like, cheekiness from Dave about his sexuality. Glenn's like, I brought you on here to confirm to everybody that I'm straight and Talarico's gay. What do you get? Like, what are you not getting here, buddy? And why would you even joke about me being gay?

[Matt Taibbi]

You were invited because we needed a gay guy to call this guy the f. Slur.

[Emma Vigland]

Yep. Right. And the tofu Talarico thing is a little too subtle. I mean, when they call him a vegan, that's literally. They're. They're just saying, like, you're a queer, basically.

[David Griscom]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's also. It's, it's. It's just. It's such a insulting way as. As a Texan, as like somebody from Texas. Like, it is insulting the way that the national media is talking about us too, frankly, around this is like, you know, the only thing that we can think about is like, barbecue. And, you know, it's like we're just like kind of like knuckle dragging, mouth drooling morons, you know? And I don't know, at least for my. You know, it's just like. It is unbelievable. The insult that the Republican Party and the right is kind of. This is the kind of way that, like, we usually thought that liberals were speaking about us, but it's this entire kind of coastal elite class which both Rubin and Glenn Beck are part of. And, you know, it shows that these are folks who are out of touch. They don't understand Texan values. And I hope that we can kick them to the curve pretty soon.

[Matt Taibbi]

Can we just also play how Trump says vegan?

[David Griscom]

Yes, please. I've been looking for this cup. You have it, Matt. Oh, my God, I love this.

[Emma Vigland]

I haven't heard this yet.

[David Griscom]

Oh, no, you're not ready for this.

[Emma Vigland]

He doesn't know how to say it. That's so good. All right, let's go.

[Brian]

I mean, this guy is bad news with his mask from relatively recently. And he's a vegan. He's a vegan all of a sudden. He's not a vegan. He's a vegan now all of a sudden. He's not. Texas doesn't like, bitch, okay.

[Emma Vigland]

It's like. It's like he's saying he's a Vegas

[Matt Bernstein]

resident or a pagan.

[Emma Vigland]

He's a vegan.

[David Griscom]

You know, he worship Thor.

[Matt Bernstein]

He's a vegan.

[Matt Taibbi]

I love the conservative brain, too. Like, the things that make sense to them. Like this guy with his mask from relatively recently.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah. But you know that Trump has not read anything about him because when we're talking about the mask thing, that's. That's the other thing you notice in the ads where they're doing the six genders and he's in a mask in 60 to 70% of the attackers.

[Matt Taibbi]

Because he was recently.

[Emma Vigland]

Because God forbid, like, he, as a state representative was wearing a mask during COVID Yeah.

[David Griscom]

And frankly, you know, these are all old clips again, too. You know what I mean? Which is why they think it's so recent. And I mean, you know, Trump, Trump still. I mean, he's still. Still good off the cuff. Ken Paxton has been trying out some names for. For Talarico that haven't really hit low T. Jimmy has been one of them. Talafrico, I think they're making T shirts with that one.

[Emma Vigland]

You know, you can make that makes them sound cool.

[Matt Bernstein]

I will buy that shirt.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah. Oh, man. All right. Well, I mean, I don't know. Okay. I guess. Can you talk about whether or not you think this has any salience? It's hard to say. I agree that the national media is treating Texans like they're too dumb to understand any of this stuff, but am I wrong to have the optimism that I don't really think Talarico is effeminate is going to be that, I guess, motivating of an issue in Texas?

[David Griscom]

Yeah, I mean, look, it's. It's the only thing that they have. And I think as long as Telorico continues to hit these notes, I mean, it is. This is like autopilot Republican Party politics at this point point to just sit here. Honestly, it's even easier than in the past because at least before, they used have to have a kind of, like, subtext for their insults. Like now they're pretty much all. But, you know, coming out, calling him. Calling him a queer. And I don't think that. That it's going to have very much salience in kind of pulling people away from Talarico. You know, the fact of the matter is, in Texas, despite the dream that many people have had for a long time that there's this, like, kind of sitting mass of Democrat voters in the state.

[Matt Bernstein]

It's just.

[David Griscom]

It's not true. There are people who don't vote and we should try to win them and convince them of our politics. But they're not automatically Democratic Party voters, which has been, I think, the kind of fixation fantasy of people for a very long time. They are people, though, who I think are very open to things like economic populism, like dealing with the healthcare crisis, like lowering the cost of rent in the state, which is just astronomical, you know, meeting people on that kind of economic populace lens. I think you can reach a lot of Texans who either don't vote or vote infrequently or might even regularly vote for the Republican Party. And to win those people, I think those folks might not be dissuaded from Talarico, but he has to go out there and make this kind of general campaign argument to those folks. You also have, I think, unfortunate thing in the Democratic Party too, that is worth noting here. And I don't wanna get too in the weeds, but just like every Democratic Party, there are people who want the party to be prepar progressive and there are people who want the party to be more corporate and centrist. They are worried about Talarico because even though, you know, we might quibble, you and I might quibble about how progressive we think he is, where we think he can be better, he's running as a progressive. That's the lane that he's trying to operate in as somebody who's talking about populism and billionaires and things like that. And there are people who don't want that to be the case, you know, so a lot of people, especially people who are like big time supporters of Crockett, have been advocating against Talarico since he got the job general election. So there's also this kind of internal fight within the Texas Democratic Party, at least with people who are influential around it, that he's also going to have to win. The state convention is coming up. Finding out who's going to be the chairman is going to be interesting. We got Kendall Scooter, the current chairman, who a lot of people don't like, but also a woman, Monique Alcala, who was the executive director of the Texas Democratic Party under Colin Allred, who was regularly advocating against journalists and attacking journalists for asking questions about why Con Allred is not campaigning anywhere in the state like that. Yeah, there's a lot of forces who. There's the things that are progressive and exciting in the Democratic Party. There's a lot of people who might want to claw it back. So, you know, there's going to be a kind of multifaceted fight in Texas. But as you know, I wrote a book about it. I think Texas is winnable. I think that there's a very clear path here. And I think, you know, leaning into that kind of deep Texas tradition of economic populism is something that's very exciting and there's a lot, a lot of opportunity there. And, you know, I think Talarico certainly has shown that he's willing to do that. And hopefully he runs this campaign in a progressive way and pushes back all the forces that might want to be setting him back.

[Emma Vigland]

Yes, and people should read the Myth of Red Texas for a lot of this. I mean, you opened the book speaking about the Allred campaign and contrasting it with the Beto o' Rourke campaign and how allred was, you know, not really going around the state. Beto o' Rourke did, but. But all Reg was more focused on, like, TV ads, traditional Democratic consulting stuff. But Talarico is going to every corner of Texas, and that's really encouraging. Just the way he's campaigning, regardless of, like, what we think about his personal ideology, is an improvement on many Democratic campaigns. Lastly, David, before I let you go, I am just like, we've had an optimistic tone here, but my big concern, and I don't think enough people are talking about it in the fall, is that Trumpet and Miller are gonna send the ICE Gestapo to polling sites. And you're gonna have to have a governor that's eager to collaborate with the administration on that for this to have the most impact. And in these really key Senate races, Texas stands out to me as the number one area where this kind of voter suppression could benefit Republicans, because you're going to have Greg Abbott as somebody who's more than willing to collaborate with the fascists in the White House to get ICE at these polling stations to intimidate Latino voters. As I mentioned, there's 19 million voters in Texas that are registered. They. It doesn't mean if you're voting in Texas, you're legally allowed to. Voter fraud is infinitesimal. It doesn't happen. It's not a real thing. But it doesn't mean that people aren't going to be intimidated from. By seeing federal forces that are racially profiling them and might hurt. Say, they have a family member who's undocumented, but they're able to vote. They might be worried about being surveilled by ice. Like, this is a tactic that I think could really impact the race in the fall. And not enough people are talking about it, especially when you see this. And as you write in the book, like, the demographics as destiny thing is a total myth. But across the country, Latino voters are swinging back to Democrats in large swaths. And. And it doesn't mean it's replicable in Texas, but I think that obviously the administration's gonna notice that.

[David Griscom]

Yeah, I mean, I would just note there, I saw you tweeting about this, and a lot of people, you know, very normal kind of Republicans are responding to you and be like, well, you know, if you're so afraid of, you know, of ICE and you're an American citizen, you know, you're delusional. I'm sorry, ICE has killed American citizens. ICE detains American citizens. ICE beats American citizens. They do not discriminate. And that's totally Ludicrous. And there's a reason why we don't allow any kind of intimidation, especially in places like Texas. I mean, as I write about in my book, I mean, you know, one of the biggest things that defeated the populace and the progressive movement in Texas was the fact that, you know, white supremacists and gangs would stand outside of the polling place to intimidate folks. All of those people were American citizens and had the right to vote, but they knew that they were being seen. They were being that they, that they could potentially face violence. Maybe not there, but later. No doubt about it. I mean, any kind of mobilization by ICE is, you know, totally unconscionable. And it's something that, you know, we should take seriously. I think that, you know, the people to really think about this is the people in our city governments and remember, you know, the places that they would be doing that are Texas cities. Texas cities tend to be very much, you know, Democratic. And we really, I know it's tough and I always try to give people a lot of grace because it's tough to be a Democrat official in Texas. The Republican Party of the state and now the federal level is constantly waging war on them. But we have seen too much acquiescence from figures, especially in Houston when it comes to collaborating with ice, collaborating with the Republican Party. And if there is any kind of mobilization like this, it is not the time to be squeamish at all. So. So I think I tend to agree. It's something to definitely be worried about and keep your eye on. And I think that the only way in the short term that we can kind of push back on this like one with collective power labor, but also encouraging our Democratic Party officials on the city level, especially on the county level, to stand up if we get these kind of fights. Because if ever they want to kind of end this experiment in democracy in this country, it will be when they start trying to threaten people at points, places. Absolutely.

[Emma Vigland]

Well, David Griscom, always appreciate being able to catch up with you. Author of the Myth of Red Texas, host of the Jacobin show, co host of Left Reckoning, which is co hosted by Matlack as well. And check out David's new substack the Rattler, where you can read his opening article about this upcoming Senate race is the title of it is I'm opening it now. Class War versus Culture War. Can Talarico Flip Texas? David, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

[David Griscom]

Thank you so much. And folks, if you're in Austin on Monday, June 1st, I'm going to be at Batch Kolache talking about the Myth of Red Texas with Alex Bernal at 5 Central. That's Bach Kolache right here in Austin, Texas. So come and see me if you're local. Thank you so much, Emma for having me. Last time I was on was right before my last book talk and the room was filled with people who came from majority of ports. So it'd be great to see all those friendly faces.

[Emma Vigland]

Oh, awesome. Yes. And you're on a world tour right now or at least a US tour to promote your great book. So everyone check that out if you are in the area. Thanks David, for coming on the show. Really appreciate it.

[Brian]

Thank you.

[David Griscom]

I'll take care.

[Emma Vigland]

We're going to just quickly before we head into the fun half, since this is the Senate race casual Friday, I want to touch on this Michigan Senate debate that happened yesterday. So another key important race in the country in the Michigan Democratic primary is in August. It's a three way race at this current moment. But Mallory McMorrow is dropping in the polls somehow. Haley Stevens is maintaining a certain level of support. It seems like a lot of McMorrow voters are like, I might just go with Abdullah Sayed. And this is how winning starts. When you get momentum and people think that you have the possibility to win, they are much more likely to support you. And this is important to when we're looking at broader momentum across the country for progressive candidates and even like Democratic socialists like Zoran Mamdani got people engaged who weren't even in New York City because, wow, this is what public service can look like. Wow. Abdullah Sayed is leading in the polls and I like a lot of what he has to say. And I'm not terrified that we're going to lose to a Republican on this basis because of how insane they are. It frees people to vote based on their interests. And that's why the Democratic establishment has spent decades trying to convince people that the only way to win is centrism. The reality though is that people don't buy it anymore. They don't buy it.

[Matt Bernstein]

It Mom, Danny was the first time I ever, I registered as a Democrat so I could vote in the primary.

[Emma Vigland]

Yes.

[Matt Bernstein]

I always felt like that was registering as a sex offender.

[Haley Stevens]

Wow.

[Emma Vigland]

Everyone's clutching their pearls here. Don't say anything about how you voted for Jill Stein or something like that. We'll lose.

[Matt Bernstein]

No, I voted yes. I didn't want to register.

[Emma Vigland]

But to your point, like people get square squeamish about that I think within, you know, the Democratic Party primary voters who, you can understand it, who see Republicans as the existential threat that they are.

[Matt Taibbi]

The problem is the centrists don't agree with.

[Emma Vigland]

Exactly. The promise is that the centrists aren't good at winning and they can't govern. And now people are realizing those things. It's just taken a while because of all the propaganda and the institutional leverage that has been exerted on candidates that are looking out for the working class. They've been kind of excommunicated from the party in many ways, but that's changing and voters are not interested in it anymore. So Haley Stevens here, who is number two in many polls right now, despite her staunch Israel support, seeing Israel and her visions of the future, she's a non denominational Christian Zionist crying about Israel,

[Matt Bernstein]

is a real freak.

[Emma Vigland]

She's a real freak and somehow more authentic than McMorrow. Yeah, because she's a freak in an authentic way. And not that I appreciate her or want her anywhere near power, but I'm more entertained by her.

[Matt Bernstein]

Right.

[Emma Vigland]

And it's because McMurray knows better. I know she knows. You can tell she knows better. And she's trying to stake out this, like, middling centrist position between the two candidates. And it's just kind of so obviously a performance and not based in your actual ideology that I think people are turned off by it. But this is a long way to intro this, this, some of the clips from, from this, from this debate. So here's Haley Stevens asked about her stance on the filibuster. And this is a little uncomfortable because within the same breath she says that we have to use the filibuster.

[Haley Stevens]

Haley Stevens, the people of Michigan deserve a functional Congress. And as someone who has been recognized by the center for Effective Lawmaking as the most most effective Democrat for Michigan in the House of Representatives, Meaning I write bills, I pass bills on behalf of the great people of Michigan. I have also used my position and communicated very clearly that the filibuster is no longer serving the people of Michigan. When our voting rights are under attack, when we are on the eve of seeing a black man for the first time in the history of this country become the speaker and they are racing seats held by African American men in the South. That is wrong. The filibuster must go. The filibuster must go so that we can codify health care. And by the way, Nolan, to your other good question about the debt and the deficit, we should use the filibuster to not allow the big ugly bill to pass that increased our debt and. And at the same time, eradicate.

[Emma Vigland]

So we're not gonna filibuster here.

[Brian]

So. Wait, wait, you said. You said you would.

[Matt Taibbi]

It's a small thing. Before they tease out what she means by saying we should. The filibuster no longer serves people now, so we should use it. The way she even frames that, like, look, I think it's bad. Like, talk about the people being disenfranchised by this. Jeremiah, not that, like, your colleagues are losing seats. Seats. Like, that's. That's like a second order thing.

[Emma Vigland]

That's exactly. That's exactly right. That's. That's a good point.

[Haley Stevens]

And by the way, Nolan, to your other good question about the debt and the deficit sucking up to him. We should use the filibuster to not allow the big ugly bill to pass that increased our debt and at the same time eradicated.

[Emma Vigland]

So we're not gonna filibuster here.

[Brian]

So wait, wait. You said. You said you would get rid of

[Emma Vigland]

the filibuster, but you also want to use it. Which one is it?

[Haley Stevens]

I said I want to remove the filibuster.

[Emma Vigland]

Right, but then you just said you should filibuster what's going on with the deficit. Right.

[Haley Stevens]

I'm saying that I want to change the rules of which I've been a part of. I voted for rules packages on behalf of the people of Michigan, and I believe I. Stephen, what I said is we should remove the filibuster so Democrats could have voted down the legislature legislation, the tax bill. That's what I was saying. Democrats should have been able to vote down the tax bill. Stephen. That's why I said we need to get rid of the filibuster tax bill. Should not.

[Emma Vigland]

It's so uncomfortable. It's so uncomfortable.

[Matt Bernstein]

Especially because she's wearing 1990s NFL show. Charles Haley.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah, I mean. I mean, that. That was the sleeve length for those uniforms, too. Right. Okay, so I don't understand. She's a member of Congress. She's won in a purple district. That's why Chuck Schumer was enamored with her. Plus, the whole, you know, a pack candidate thing. Girl, you understand that the filibuster was bypassed via reconciliation to pass the big ugly ass bill. Like, that's kind of pretty important to understanding how the Senate functions, that there's an exception for bills that are related to taxing and spending and the budget.

[Matt Taibbi]

Yeah, it's famously how Obamacare got through and bday. Filibuster didn't have got to avoid a filibuster because it was in the is in the resolution.

[Emma Vigland]

What she I think was trying to say is that if we get rid of the filibuster we could have blocked the big ugly ass bill.

[Matt Taibbi]

No. Why they still had the votes. The filibuster doesn't even come into.

[Emma Vigland]

Right. Exactly. She should have said that's right. Exactly right. She wants to get rid of the filibuster but prior to that she wants to get rid of the bird rule.

[Matt Taibbi]

She wants to get rid of the filibuster but also reinsert it in places that wasn't actually useful.

[Emma Vigland]

Right.

[Matt Taibbi]

What she said is like, I mean what she should have said was if the filibuster worked for a goddamn we would have been able to use it to stand up for the big ugly bill. But we weren't able to. But instead she had to say like we should use it somehow to stop it. Even though it passed last year and again it got to in budget reconciliation. The filibuster doesn't. It's already, we've already got rid of the filibuster for that part of legislating.

[Emma Vigland]

Yes.

[Matt Taibbi]

So it's irrelevant.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah. She really got caught in a little bit of a maze there.

[Matt Taibbi]

But the tax bill.

[Matt Bernstein]

This is like trying to explain a David lynch plot. What she's saying.

[Emma Vigland]

Where does come from? She is a surrealist.

[Brian]

David Lynch.

[Emma Vigland]

Amazing. I mean, I mean it down to the accent it shows like they're, they're,

[Matt Taibbi]

they're not sure footed because none of these types of politicians have been prepared to enter a world where one of the main demands of your base is this major reform of like how the Senate does its business which what we need and it's a good sign for this country when this sort of conversation gets started this sort of thing about how we get rid of the filibuster. How does the Senate work in a modern world was a question that was brought up during the civil rights movement and it is a problem and it needs to be reformed. And the filibuster has always had to go. And even if you know, people haven't quite worked out what that means yet if you're Haley Steven.

[Emma Vigland]

Right. So let's now turn to this other section. I think we'll, we'll end with the APAC part. I sent the time codes Matt in the, in the chat. This is relevant because Dr. Abdullah Sayed has made Medicare for All central to his political project. He's written a book about it. I Have it. It's a great book that explains how Medicare for All would work. And he's. It's part of why Bernie Sanders endorsed him as, as soon as he jumped into the race. There's around 30 million Americans that are uninsured in this country. That number's increasing due to the Republicans gutting health care, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid. Around half of Americans are on employer based insurance, but 2 in 5Americans are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. I bring up that and then everybody else. It's a, it's a hodgepodge or they're uninsured. And to be clear, because this came up also in our interview with Mallory McMorrow that I did with Matt Bernstein about her opposition to Medicare for All. She repeatedly, in one of, in the clip that we played, said that Medicare for All is all government run health care. That's not it. Medicare. Medicare for all is just expanding the existing Medicare system. It is government run insurance. Medicare for all promises no premiums or deductibles because it's like Medicare replaced through a system of taxation. What Mallory McMorrow supports is a public option maintaining the private system and its infrastructure and creating an option for the public to be able to buy into a government system that would still involve premiums, it would still involve deductibles. And additionally, a public option is just a lot more inefficient because you would still need the government to artificially, through subsidization and different mechanisms, keep costs down because a public option and doesn't prevent the option or the scenario where high risk, there's a high risk pool and healthier patients stay on private plans and that's what keeps costs up. What's so good about the Medicare for All proposal is that it would create the maximum amount of leverage possible to bring costs down because it makes the government as the single, the single negotiator for those prices.

[Matt Taibbi]

It's simple math when it comes to insurance that the larger the risk pool, the more efficient the insurance is.

[Emma Vigland]

Yes. So with that said, this is here part of the debate on health care. And I think this is relevant because McMurray represents the public option position that I just laid out. And of course, Abdullah Sayyad represents Medicare for All. Abdul El Said has called for Medicare

[David Griscom]

for All repeatedly during this campaign. What's your answer to rising health care costs and increasing access by the citizens to health care?

[Mallory McMorrow]

Thank you. What I know is that our residents simply can't afford to wait. One of my constituents shared that she outright Canceled her health insurance plan. Her Premiums went from $200 a month to $2,000 a month when the Republicans voted to eliminate the ACA tax credits. People can't afford to wait for a revolution that may never come. People who are rationing their insulin right now can't afford to wait for Medicare for all. When we have options on the table right now to lower prescription drug costs, to restore the ACA tax credits, to allow any Michigander who wants. Wants to. To opt into Medicare regardless of their age to create a real public option that gives people choice and that forces private health insurance companies to bring their costs down.

[Abdul El-Sayed]

I'll tell you, this revolution's definitely not coming if we're not fighting for it. So let's play a game. If you're on the stage and you have never taken a corporate pack check for Blue Cross Blue Shield, raise your hand. Anyway, all of that is to say I think we're really can fight for a world where everybody can be guaranteed health care. I think we really should fight for that world because too many people in this country are going without the health care that they need and deserve. $225 billion in medical debt to. That's bigger than the GDP of half the states in this country.

[David Griscom]

Thank you, sir.

[Abdul El-Sayed]

No, no, no, I'm not done yet.

[Emma Vigland]

Let me just move on.

[Abdul El-Sayed]

I just want to say one more thing. It is important for us to recognize that all of these issues go back to how we finance campaigns. And it just keeps coming back, coming back.

[Brian]

Thank you.

[Emma Vigland]

We've heard. Thank you. Okay. And we'll touch on how campaigns are finances in just a second because I want to make sure to round out our coverage of this debate that we cover the AIPAC part, but very well done there. He pointed out he's talking about political corruption there and the donations that both McMurraw and Stevens have received. But it's like when she says we have to wait, and she thinks that voters are gonna take that at face value, or we don't have time to wait, and this is why we have to wait. No one is, like, inherently believing you at this point that your scenario for pragmatism is more or less realistic than the guy that's standing up there offering you something you haven't delivered. There's no credibility to make that case anymore. The constant losing to Trump, the constant capitulation. Democratic voters are cynical for, like, the first time in a really long time. And it's a good.

[Matt Taibbi]

And they've seen the other side. Size exercise power.

[Mallory McMorrow]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigland]

Right. And McMorrill, like, I mean, it's just it.

[Haley Stevens]

She.

[Emma Vigland]

I mentioned this earlier, but the lever has done really good reporting on how the Searchlight Institute and Majority Democrats, these political action committees, or at least majority Democrats, is. I forget exactly what the Searchlight Institute's construction is legally, but, like. Like, they are not supposed to be coordinating this closely with McMurray's campaign. And yet they are. They are. So she is trying to position herself as somebody who's between the corrupt candidate and the guy that's so unrealistic and pie in the sky. But she's so much closer to Stevens than she is to Abdullah Sayed. And the voters seem to be responding to it. And that is like. And I think it's almost just the fact that she takes this money and is dishonest about it may be hurting her. Like, McMorrow is dropping in the polls like a rock and Haley Stevens is still somehow maintaining some of the support, but she's taken $5 million of dark money via a pack. And McMorrow, it's more opaque, but she filled out this AIPAC position paper and has been taking donations from Zionist groups or at least accepting their support. Dropside News reported on that AIPAC position paper, but which has not been made

[Matt Taibbi]

public, as far as I can tell.

[Emma Vigland]

Yes, but the support that she's getting from Majority Democrats in Searchlight Institute. We played aschinclaas on the show who is of Majority Democrats, who was saying and hinting that he might not. He might support Susan Collins over Platner, like that is. These are the waters that McMorrow is swim. Is swimming in here with her campaign and the money that she's accepted to

[Matt Taibbi]

support her closet Republicans. I mean, Ajan Klass used to be a Republican. He's my age, so, like, pardon me if I don't think like him. Changing to a Democrat during the second Obama term. Is that impressive? Like, these people shouldn't be trusted.

[Emma Vigland]

Exactly. But here is this part where each candidate is asked about spending on their behalf, particularly aipac. Vince, you take money from aipac.

[Dave Rubin]

Walk us through what that money means

[Emma Vigland]

and what it buys and maybe what it does.

[Haley Stevens]

Well, look, my campaign for U.S. senate, for Michigan is a love letter to our state. Deeply proud to have grassroots support coming from grocery clerk workers to retired teachers to factory workers to Benjamin Netanyahu. I'm also deeply honored to have the support of former governor.

[Emma Vigland]

Can you pause it? Don't take it off the screen. Congresswoman does seem like she supports the filibuster Huh? I mean, come on. Everyone hears this and goes, bullshit. Answer the question.

[Matt Taibbi]

Like, let me talk to you about the elderly people who I see in grocery store parking lots.

[Emma Vigland]

Who does this work on anymore? Everyone's already listening to podcasts, White noise. They're tuning into the debate to hear your freaking answer.

[Haley Stevens]

Lady workers.

[Matt Bernstein]

Although this is some white noise.

[Haley Stevens]

Workers, too. Retired teachers to factory workers and the like. I'm also deeply honored to have the support of former Governor Jennifer Granholm, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence and Debbie Stabenow standing alongside me. Individuals who fight for Michigan and win for Michigan, which is absolutely what I want to do as Michigan's next U.S. senator. Look, Michiganders are frustrated because I've not done comprehensive campaign finance reform. Mike Rogers will not vote for comprehensive campaign finance reform like I have in the House of Representatives. We squarely need to put people at the front of our agenda about movements of ideas. Stephen, that can. Campaigns are about movements of ideas. And I articulate positions of freedom and democracy and what mission is to succeed at the global stage.

[Abdul El-Sayed]

And you're also just not answering the question.

[Emma Vigland]

Go ahead.

[Matt Taibbi]

Look.

[Abdul El-Sayed]

At the end of the day, it also buys $3.5 billion sent to a foreign military that could be used here to give glasses, here, to provide health care here, to build schools here. That's where our money should be used. And look, people know me. I say the same thing everywhere. I come to Mackinac, tell you all I want to tax billionaires. I go down south, tell people I want to tax billionaires. I say the same thing to everybody. If you want to support my campaign, fantastic. If you don't, if it comes down to having more money from a donor or having a message, I'm going to choose a message every time. And I think that's the difference. That's what we need in our politics.

[Brian]

We're going to go to Mallory tomorrow.

[Matt Taibbi]

Excuse me, I wasn't done talking about the retired factory working teacher.

[Emma Vigland]

She's just going through the Alphabet and putting work around the end. Oh, and there's Mr. Mailman.

[Matt Taibbi]

I hate Mr. Mailman.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah, I have the support of him. And, and, and like, Abdul didn't even need his full time. El Sayed was just like, yeah, straight up. And to contrast that with how she so, like, laboriously listed all the people that support her that aren't apac. It's just like, if people are actually looking at this, I really think that folks are starting to get it. Here's McMorrow's answer to this question.

[Mallory McMorrow]

I appreciate that. And messages are Great. And you actually need to know how to deliver them on this campaign. I have not taken a dime of corporate PAC donations. I have not taken a dime of a PAC donations. This campaign is entirely funded by 120,000 individual donors. More grassroots support than my opponents combined. The most amount of money from Michigan. And we are building up a campaign that shows that we can run very differently, that we can win very differently.

[Emma Vigland]

Thank you. But we want to focus the Democrats.

[Abdul El-Sayed]

I just want to focus on these two campaigns, though.

[Emma Vigland]

We want to focus on the issue

[David Griscom]

and get some more.

[Haley Stevens]

And we were talking about foreign policy, yet we're talking about campaign finance.

[Emma Vigland]

Excuse me, Misty.

[David Griscom]

We want to focus on this question.

[Emma Vigland]

This is the vices issue. All right, that's good.

[Matt Taibbi]

Everyone losing patience with Haley Stevens.

[Emma Vigland]

No, Haley Stevens, like, realize, dang. Okay, I've got to maybe put a button on this because it did not go so well. It's touchy for her because AIPAC is touchy for everybody else and people are sick of the genocide. This was another. Just to again round this out because I'm enjoying Haley Stevens for some reason she avoids here in this interview answering a question about AIPAC as well. And this is. She got a little bit testy with the interviewer the other day.

[Haley Stevens]

Not hiding anything from voters. I'm not breaking FEC laws.

[Emma Vigland]

Nice.

[Haley Stevens]

You know, by any stretch of the means. In fact, I'm compliant with the FEC laws. And you know what. What's going on here? So maybe that's something on the.

[David Griscom]

Trying to see whether.

[Haley Stevens]

And also, Chad, you know that individual contract. No, I'm not. Okay. No, I. Look, I. You're asking me. Why are you. Why would you ask me that question, first of all?

[David Griscom]

Well, I'm asking because they're your opponents or may are gonna like hanging as one of their big issues they're going to try to use against you here

[Haley Stevens]

in the next three months in paid communications or just when they're out there talking. And why do you think they're doing that?

[Emma Vigland]

I'm sorry, go back slightly. The tick that her face when she. When she gets pissed there and she looks to the side. That is the most human thing I've ever seen. Keep going.

[David Griscom]

I'm asking because they're your opponents are going to like hanging it as one of their big issues they're going to try to use against you here in

[Haley Stevens]

the next three months in paid communications or just when they're out there talking. And why do you think they're doing that?

[David Griscom]

Trying to tap into some anti Israel Sentiments in the Democratic.

[Haley Stevens]

You think it's a foreign policy? Yeah, look, I think it. Like we should talk about foreign policy. Not.

[Emma Vigland]

Okay, so that's the other. So why. That's exactly what her stupid answer was on stage too. That. I thought we were talking about foreign policy. Now we're talking about campaign finance reform. Yeah, that's the whole. That's the whole deal. That's the whole. That's the whole thing that we're talking about. We're talking about how we have a lobby that's corrupted our government and they're do acting and committing genocide on behalf of a state. That is. And the will of the people is against what you're doing and you're doing it anyway. That's the whole thing that we're talking about right now.

[David Griscom]

Also.

[Matt Bernstein]

Isn't she supposed to be having these conversations with her team? Like, it feels like she's hashing out her policy with the reporter.

[Emma Vigland]

It was like that. It was like that Becerra clip that we played where he was like, I thought this was going to be a softball interview. It's like. No, you. You got to figure that out beforehand. Stop saying this on camera. What do we have here?

[Matt Taibbi]

This is two months ago. A little video posted by APAC to their YouTube page.

[Haley Stevens]

Hi, everyone. It's Congresswoman Haley Stevens and I want to communicate.

[Emma Vigland]

I love the standing triumphant music and

[Haley Stevens]

freedom standing with our allies abroad, standing alongside the only democracy in the Middle east and making sure that we continue to support an incredible relationship that yields trade, that yields economic growth, and that keeps our

[Matt Taibbi]

keep our freedom safe with a apac.

[Matt Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigland]

Honestly, I feel really inspired.

[Matt Taibbi]

You want to talk about foreign policy?

[Emma Vigland]

Filibuster. Emma. Watching Stevens feels like Brandon watching a cop get a dui. There's something about that. Yeah. But left this big pharma plug. Okay. Haley Stevens is the real life Selena Meyer. They think that's. That's true.

[Matt Bernstein]

Well, I don't know if she's as sassy and funny and quick.

[Emma Vigland]

No, no.

[Matt Bernstein]

It's a bit bumbly,

[Emma Vigland]

but that's the comedic impact that I didn't know I was needing in my life.

[Matt Bernstein]

I'm fascinated by her.

[Emma Vigland]

Me too.

[David Griscom]

Yeah.

[Emma Vigland]

We should get a drink. Kaylee.

[Matt Taibbi]

I would.

[Matt Bernstein]

I would, but it would be more like how you go to a zoo. I would just, like, observe her.

[Matt Taibbi]

I just want to play this. This one part again just because it's like, it's. It's funny. It's like. Yeah. We think it might be an issue

[Haley Stevens]

question, first of all.

[David Griscom]

Well, I'm asking because they're your opponents. They're gonna like hanging is one of their big issues they're going to try to use against you here in the

[Haley Stevens]

next three months in paid communications or just when they're out there talking. And why do you think they're doing that?

[Matt Taibbi]

Like a catcher, like arguing with the pitcher about like, I don't think you should throw the curveball again.

[Emma Vigland]

I mean, she got so pissed there that her lower teeth. Teeth went above her top teeth. Like when your jaw. When you just, like, are so right. When you're so angry that you can't even control how you're clenching your jaw, man. All right, well, those are three major Senate races. I feel like we did a really good job covering them in the first hour. I don't know why I'm fixated on the format, but it's just, gosh, some of the Trump stuff, it's. You need a little bit of reprieve from it. Constantly talking about this clown every single day. And it's a good reminder that there are some real people that could change our country in a positive way that are running in major Senate races across the country.

[Matt Bernstein]

It gets very tiring. Just like when he tries to juice the markets.

[Emma Vigland]

Yes.

[Matt Bernstein]

These deals and we have to cover it like it's news.

[Emma Vigland]

Oh, another head fake about the Iran negotiations. Great total Groundhog Day situation, folks. It is your support that makes this show possible. Go to jointhemajorityreport.com you can become a member. It helps us stay resilient in times like these when we're on these third party platforms that we don't have much control over. When we have members, we don't have to rely exclusively on, you know, ad revenue on YouTube or Twitch or whatever like that. So. Plus, you can IM the show and we might read your IM on air. Like Reese from Tacoma said, like a shih Tzu effing killed me. Coffee came out of my nose. It just hit me just right. So left is big pharma plug. Imagine Matt Bernstein out with McMorrow, accidentally running into Emma with Haley Stevens. Same bar. Because at the end Matt Bernstein said, like, I'd be fine getting a drink with her. I just don't think you should be a senator.

[Matt Bernstein]

That's that polite line.

[Emma Vigland]

Oh, it's just devastating coming from him. It really is. Oh, and people should look out. I did another collaboration with him. It's not out yet. Maybe I don't want to spoil it, but we cover an odious person currently in the news and we do A deep dive into him.

[Matt Taibbi]

There is a dove.

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah. Think AI data centers. Little teaser. Matt, what's happening on Left? Reckoning and the Jackman Show.

[Matt Taibbi]

Jackman show with Abby Martin coming up at 3 o' clock Eastern Time right after the show today. Go subscribe to Jackman Meg YouTube and be ready for that.

[Emma Vigland]

All right, See you in the fun half. In a second. Once.

[Matt Bernstein]

Okay.

[Emma Vigland]

Emma, please. Well, I just. I feel that my voice is sorely lacking on the Majority report. Wait, look, look.

[Matt Bernstein]

Sam is unpopular.

[Brian]

I do deserve a vacation at Disney World, so. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome Emma to the show.

[Emma Vigland]

It is Thursday.

[Matt Taibbi]

I think you need to take care for Sam.

[Brian]

Yes, please.

[David Griscom]

No, no, no.

[Matt Taibbi]

I'm.

[Emma Vigland]

I'm.

[Brian]

I'm gonna pause you right there.

[Emma Vigland]

Wait, what?

[Brian]

You can't encourage Emma to live like this, and I'll tell you why. Who was offered a tour? Sushi and poker with boys. Tour, Sushi and. And poker with boys. Who was offered a tour?

[Emma Vigland]

Yeah.

[Brian]

Sushi and poker with boys.

[Emma Vigland]

What?

[Brian]

Twerk. Sushi and poker.

[Emma Vigland]

Tim's upset.

[Brian]

Twerk, Sushi and poker with tooth boys was offered with twerk sushi and. That's what we call biz. Twerk, sushi and poker with poop boys.

[Emma Vigland]

Right.

[Brian]

Twerk, sushi and poker.

[Emma Vigland]

We're gonna get demonetized.

[Brian]

I just think that what you did to Tim Pool was me.

[Emma Vigland]

Free speech.

[Brian]

That's not what we're about here. Look at how sad he's become now. You shouldn't even talk about it. I think you're responsible.

[Emma Vigland]

I probably am in a certain way. But let's get to the meltdown here.

[Brian]

Sushi and poker with the boys. Oh, my God. Wow. Sushi. I'm sorry. I'm losing my mind. Someone's offered a tour. Yeah. Sushi and poker with the boys.

[Matt Bernstein]

Logic.

[Brian]

Sushi and poker with boss. Boys. Boy. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a kid. Twerk. I think I'm like a little kid. I think I'm like a little kid. Had this debate 7,000 times. A little kid. Think I'm like a dick. I'm losing my mind. So I'm not trying to be a dick right now, but, like, I absolutely think the US should be providing me with a wife and kids.

[Emma Vigland]

That's not what we're talking about here.

[Brian]

It's not a fun job. A twerk. That's a real thing. That's a real thing. Real thing. Willie Walker. That's a real thing. That's real. That's a real thing. That's real thing. Real thing. That's a real thing. That's real. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Rogan has done it again. That's a real thing. I think he might be blowing it out of proportion. Real thing that's offered a work. That's a real thing. That's poker. Let's go. Joey. Twerk. Sushi and poker. Sushi and poker. Things have really gotten out of hand. Sushi and poker with the boys. Illusional.

[Matt Taibbi]

We're looted.

[Brian]

Sushi. You don't have a clue as to what's going on live YouTube. Sam has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

[Emma Vigland]

Sam doesn't want to do this show anymore.

[Brian]

Anymore.

[Emma Vigland]

It was so much easier when the majority report was just you.

[Brian]

Let's change the subject through. Rangers and Knicks are doing great now.

[David Griscom]

Shut up.

[Emma Vigland]

Don't want people saying reckless things on your program.

[David Griscom]

That's one of the most difficult parts about this show.

[Emma Vigland]

This is the pro killing podcast.

[Brian]

I'm thinking maybe it's time we bury the hatchet.

[Emma Vigland]

Left his best trump. Violet.

[Brian]

Twerk. Don't be foolish and don't tweet at me. And don't.

[David Griscom]

The way Emma has all of these people love it.

[Emma Vigland]

That's where my heart is. So I wrote my honors thesis about it.

[Brian]

She wrote an honest thesis.

[Matt Bernstein]

I guess I should hand the main

[Brian]

mic to you now. You want to go right up to the unformed policy.

[Emma Vigland]

We already fund Israel.

[Brian]

Dude.

[Emma Vigland]

Are you against us?

[Brian]

That's a tougher question. I have an answer to.

[Emma Vigland]

Incredible theme song. I bumbler. Emma Vilan. Absolutely one of my favorite beats.

[David Griscom]

People actually.

[Matt Bernstein]

Not just in the game like period.