1006: PITIFUL GOP Candidate in VA! Goateed LOSER Cooking Books! Leningrad...WHAT?! | Next Level

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Next Level Episode 1006

Title: PITIFUL GOP Candidate in VA! Goateed LOSER Cooking Books! Leningrad...WHAT?! Release Date: August 14, 2025 Host: The Bulwark (Sarah Longwell, Tim Miller, Jonathan V. Last)

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1. Laura Loomer’s Lawsuit Against Bill Maher and HBO

Timestamp: [01:17] – [08:51]

The episode kicks off with a discussion about Laura Loomer's recent lawsuit against comedian Bill Maher and HBO for defamation. JVL (Jonathan V. Last) highlights a deposition snippet where Loomer insults Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene by claiming she "puts Arby's in her pants," a statement both absurd and derogatory.

Sarah critiques the nature of the insults exchanged, pondering whether "Arby's in her pants" is a common derogatory phrase, to which Bill responds, "These are the trashiest people imaginable..." He emphasizes the immature and inappropriate nature of such exchanges, reflecting poorly on the current political discourse.

Notable Quote:
Bill [01:30]: “These are the trashiest people imaginable. ... it is the kind of way in which they fight with each other, and we should all be embarrassed on our country's behalf.”

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2. National Guard Deployment in Washington D.C.

Timestamp: [08:51] – [23:05]

The conversation shifts to recent developments in Washington D.C., where the National Guard has been deployed amidst concerns of rising crime. Bill shares his observations from a Trump press conference, criticizing Trump's deteriorating public demeanor and ineffective communication, notably his confused reference to "Leningrad."

Sarah questions the rationale behind using a single carjacking incident as a pretext for federal intervention, arguing that local law enforcement handled the situation adequately. The trio debates the implications of federalizing police forces in major cities, with Bill highlighting the chronic crime issues exacerbated by budget cuts.

Notable Quote:
Sarah [18:12]: “Using big balls assault as a reason to federalize the government into the city is the most insane thing I've ever heard.”

Bill further critiques the superficial handling of serious issues, stating, “...the police did their job. And, like, the police aren't like magic.”

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3. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s Summit

Timestamp: [28:39] – [35:12]

JVL delves into the implications of the upcoming summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. He speculates that Putin aims to extract concessions from the U.S., potentially involving territorial negotiations related to Ukraine. Sarah counters, suggesting that Trump’s motivations are rooted in personal flattery and admiration for authoritarian leaders rather than any covert Russian agenda.

The hosts express concern over Trump's influence on geopolitical stability, referencing the first Helsinki meeting as a pivotal moment where Trump appeared to side with Putin over U.S. intelligence.

Notable Quote:
Sarah [31:03]: “I think this is Putin's psychological effort to go back to do exactly what you just said, to get it, to bring him back on side, to be like, butter him up.”

Bill adds historical context, noting the irony of the summit being held in Alaska, a territory once purchased from Russia.

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4. Commissioner of Labor Statistics: E.J. Anthony

Timestamp: [37:35] – [41:50]

The discussion shifts to E.J. Anthony's appointment as Commissioner of Labor Statistics under the Trump administration. JVL criticizes Anthony's qualifications, citing his lack of scholarly publications and perceived incompetence in handling critical economic data.

Sarah underscores the importance of reliable labor statistics for monetary policy and expresses doubts about the administration's commitment to transparent data reporting.

Notable Quote:
JVL [41:38]: “He's a total hack ... being put in charge of a 2000 person unit which compiles the most important data used by the Federal Reserve.”

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5. Political Campaigns and Upcoming Elections

Timestamp: [43:16] – [66:54]

The trio evaluates the political landscape ahead of the midterm elections, focusing on Sherrod Brown's Senate campaign in Ohio and the Republican candidate Winsome Sears in Virginia. They express skepticism about the GOP's candidate quality and the likelihood of a "vibe shift" favoring Democrats in traditionally blue states.

Sarah advocates for more imaginative Republican candidates, suggesting that unconventional leaders like local celebrities or sports figures could bolster the party's appeal. Bill remains cautiously optimistic about Sherrod Brown's chances, emphasizing the potential backlash against Trump's influence.

Notable Quote:
Sarah [58:36]: “Can we have some creative? I'm feeling it's reminiscent of the stuff we were doing back in Christmas of '23 where it's like, I guess we're gonna go with Biden.”

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6. Concluding Thoughts and Future Outlook

Timestamp: [67:34] – [69:14]

As the episode nears its end, the hosts reflect on the current political turmoil and its potential consequences. Bill makes a poignant remark about Trump's advanced age in relation to a possible third term, emphasizing the unpredictability and risks associated with extending Trump's presidency.

Notable Quote:
Bill [68:48]: “We should all be happy and thankful that Donald Trump will be 82 years old at the end of his term... the only thing we have on our side about this third term nonsense is the actuarial tables.”

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Final Remarks

The episode of The Next Level offers a critical examination of current political dynamics, highlighting the contentious relationships within the GOP, the challenges facing major cities like Washington D.C., and the broader implications of Trump’s political maneuvers on both domestic and international fronts. The hosts provide insightful analysis interspersed with sharp critiques, making it a compelling listen for those interested in the evolving political landscape.

Transcript

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[Bill]

We should all be happy and thankful that Donald Trump will be 82 years old at the end of his term, because I will tell you, if he was 50. The only thing we have on our side about this third term nonsense is the actuarial tables.

[JVL]

Hello, everyone. This is JVL here with my best friends Sarah Longwell and Tim Miller of the Bulwark Guys. Before we get started, I have a little I want to surprise you.

[Sarah]

Oh, great.

[JVL]

Surprise you. It's not on the map. It's not on the show.

[Bill]

Is it about how you're being held hostage somewhere right now?

[JVL]

I. I'm not being held hostage. Our colleague Will Summer had a piece yesterday in his newsletter, False Flag. Ding, ding, ding. Go to the bulwark.com and subscribe to it. It's fantastic. In which he went through a recent deposition with one Laura Loomer. Laura Loomer is suing Bill Maher and HBO for defamation. And in the course of this deposition, HBO's lawyers asked her about a tweet that she had sent about Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, my friend, or friend that I haven't met yet, in which Ms. Loomer said that Marjorie Taylor Greene had, quote, Arby's in. In her pants. I would like to read to you from the deposition, Counselor. So what is your basis for saying she had Arby's in her pants? Because I know she likes to eat at Arby's, Counselor, and she likes to put it in her pants. You know that. Yeah, Counselor. She puts Arby's in her pants. Loomer. Yeah, she does, Counselor. Okay, if I ask Marjorie Taylor Greene, she would tell you that she puts Arby's in her pants. Loomer, I. It's my best belief that she would tell you that. Yes, that's the best part.

[Sarah]

It's my best belief, using the legal language. I thought you were going to read the part where she talked about the infested snatch. They're going back and forth about whether the snatch and the Arby's were both related to vagina lips.

[JVL]

I feel like I. I feel like the. The lawyer here for HBO actually missed an opportunity quite early on by asking Ms. Loomers, well, how do you know that she likes Arby's? What is your proof on that? Because that, I think, could have maybe explained. I'm not a lawyer. I crushed the lsat, but I did not go to law school, all right? So I went away for a week.

[Sarah]

Sarah. We're not going to get. Sarah's take on the pants. Is that. I was wondering. I'm not familiar with this sort of stuff. So is it, like. Is that, like, a common derogatory phrase in the lesbian community or anything?

[Bill]

Neither of these people are part of my community.

[Sarah]

Okay. Are you sure? I just thought maybe you might have some insight on the. Insight. I just don't know what the common. If there's a common insult there.

[Bill]

What? Are you serious right now?

[Sarah]

Not really. I seem serious.

[Bill]

I don't. I mean, actually, here. Here's my one thought. These are the trashiest people imaginable. One of them is a sitting U.S. congresswoman. The other is the Trump whisperer to whom he listens about personnel issues and other matters. And they, I assume, in, like, the way that. It's sort of like if two trashy women were fighting over a trashy guy, right? And they, like, started to hurl insults at each other at the bar. Hammered. Somebody might say something in this genre in which one might insult the other's genitalia. It's not the kind of thing that a normal person does. It's not the kind of thing that a sane person does. It's not the kind of thing that a decent or kind or mature person does, but it is these two people, both of whom are close to the President. It is the kind of way in which they fight with each other, and we should all be embarrassed on our country's behalf.

[Sarah]

That's thoughtful. That's a thoughtful take. I had one additional thing that I wanted to. To throw into the pot here. So into the kitt. I'd mentioned this to Sam Stein and Will So to speak. And, and they will. Was neutral on this. Sam rejected it. But I, I do have to say I, I agree with Sarah. I think that these are trashy people. I, I do not endorse any of them. But if I, if I had to pick a side in the argument, I think I have to side with Laura Loomer, who once did de. Escalate a fight between me and Kari Lake at a bar in Arizona. And she. I just, I don't, I don't think that, I don't think that Donald Trump slept with her. I'm not sure that I think Donald Trump's dick works anymore. And I think that like the idea that over the last nine years a hound dog like Donald Trump, who's known for sexual assault, who's like, who is known for being a ladies man and a disgusting creep who bragged about touching women with genitalia. You're telling me that the single woman that he has had a sexual encounter with that we have heard about over the last 10 years is Laura Loomer? I refuse to believe it. I don't think his penis works. And I think Laura Loomer is correct that she's being slandered.

[Bill]

Wait, I'm sorry, I. At the risk of having to find out what you guys are talking about.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Bill]

Because I don't want to. What is the precipitating.

[Sarah]

The core of the argument here is that, is that Bill Maher said that Laura Loomer slept with Trump and that's why she has so much power, because there's an affair and she's suing him because she's saying that slanderous. She's a Christian woman, unlike mtg, She's a Jewish woman. She's a Jewish woman who follows traditional mores, unlike mtg, who as she says is a Jezebel who gets on her knees for people. So that's the crux of the argument. And I'm saying that I don't suspect Laura Loomer to have had an affair with Donald Trump. I hate to side with Laura Loomer, but it feels implausible to me. It feels like if Donald Trump was still had a working genitalia and was still grabbing women by the. You know what, that we would have heard about it. Yeah. By the Arby's, there would be other women that we would have, we'd heard about it and it wouldn't be just Laura Loomer. I find that very hard to believe.

[Bill]

Can I just ask another follow up question, which is why was Marjorie Taylor Greene brought into this, which seems to be something that should just be between Bill Maher and Laura Loomer.

[Sarah]

I think just rivalry, lady.

[JVL]

Back to I, I believe the council was attempting to demonstrate that statements such as these about public figures are not intended to be read literally and that Loomer herself has made similar types of statements, which she did not mean literally because there has been no legal action.

[Bill]

Okay. And, and, but what was the context in which Laura Loomer said this to Marjorie Taylor Greene? Was it public?

[JVL]

Twitter. Twitter fight.

[Bill]

It was just a Twitter fight. Okay, I'm caught up now. As much as I like this episode of the Real Wives of the White House, can we talk about something else?

[Sarah]

Yes. My fault for extending and Shavi's elsewhere for bringing it up. It's my fault.

[JVL]

No, I see. You know what? I apologize for nothing. I apologize for nothing. I'm giving the people what they want. All right, so serious stuff. I went away for a week and now you have the National Guard in the streets of D.C. sarah, how's that going for you?

[Bill]

You know, so I was also gone the last couple days, but I, I, we have not been together since, since the press conference. Can we talk for one second about the press conference? Because I watched the whole thing and it's been a minute since I watched Donald Trump in an extended venue then not like so long, but it's been a couple months maybe. He sounds horrible. He sounded horrible the last time I watched him in an extended venue. He sounds worse now. He is mushmouthed. An addled he his and like dentures. Is that what it is? Yeah. He's making his mouth is dental issues. Issues with articulating what he's saying. And that's not the, doesn't say anything about his brain, which is almost completely bald all hither and thither. And then he, he sends out this bleep this morning about the corruption around the Putin thing. And like, it makes no sense. He's talking about Leningrad. I, this guy.

[Sarah]

We could take Leningrad. That was the premise of the bleach was that that the fake news media wouldn't even give him credit if as part of this deal we got Moscow and Leningrad. And let me just say, as a member of the fake news media, that is correct. If we, if we got Moscow and a city that is now St. Petersburg as part of this deal, I would not be happy about it. I'm not interested in having Moscow as part of the deal. Doesn't seem like a good deal to me. So I don't I didn't really like the premise of the. Of the tweet.

[Bill]

Well, congratulations to you for under. Because I literally read it and was like, I couldn't begin to disentangle.

[Sarah]

You gotta diagram the sentences. You gotta do, you know, get out the little, little rectangles.

[Bill]

All right, so you know, you know.

[JVL]

Why he said Leningrad?

[Bill]

I don't.

[JVL]

Because there's a Billy Joel song from the 80s.

[Bill]

Oh, yeah, that was my first thought, too. Was the Leningrad song.

[JVL]

Yes. This is what, in his mind, he knows two Russian cities. The names of two Russian cities. The first one is Moscow, because he knows about Moscow. Cause it's Moscow and it's famous. And the other one is. There was a Billy Joel song. He's a New York guy. He's a New York City guy. What was that song? Leningrad.

[Sarah]

Leningrad. It's like, it made me think of the Tucker and Ted Cruz interview where it's like, how many people are in Iran? And it's like, Donald Trump's. The President's about to go negotiate territory swap apparently between Ukraine and Russia. And it's like, well, before you do this negotiation, can you name two cities in Russia? It's like, sure. Moscow and Leningrad. It's like, okay, great. I'm glad we're really. We're really well situated here for this big, big time showdown. Sorry, Sarah, any other thoughts on the press conference?

[Bill]

It was one of those moments watching him being flanked by Gene Pirro, Jeanine Pirro, Judge Jeanine, and Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth and then some other guy who I didn't know. It was not recognizable to me. Here's the. Can I just. I'm going to indulge myself for one second. I watched the feed. I was waiting for it. I was writing and I was waiting for it to start. And so I had the feed up the whole time. And the room is packed with reporters who are. Who I presume, because this is now going to impact them personally, right? What's happening in D.C. and so there's a greater level of interest. Uh, and they're all hamming it up with the.

[Sarah]

I saw this too. It was fucking bugging me too. I'm so glad you mentioned this.

[Bill]

I don't know who that guy is, but he asked. He got a question for the President, was basically like, sir, let me tell you about the time that I had a crime committed against me, and why are you so smart and awesome to be taking this action? And I was like, who is this fucking guy that they're all joking around with? Chatting with. And it seems like what's happening is that there was a. The press conference was scheduled for 10:30. It didn't start until like, 45 minutes later, an hour later. And in that period, there's a question of is this conference. Is this press conference happening? And they're all packed in their. Like sardines, but they're also just. Yeah, it's like all a Twitter with excitement. And then when the people.

[Sarah]

Very convivial.

[Bill]

It was very convivial. It wasn't like, hey, the President United States is about to announce a federal crackdown on our city. A deployment of the National Guard in a town which we can all plainly see, if not free of crime, because of course, it is not. And we can talk about the crime being a serious thing in D.C. but sit not remotely in a state of crisis. There are no active protests, except for the boomers that I see standing along the streets that ask you to beep at them sometimes that say, you know, no kings or whatever, but there is no civil disruption that on any level would require this. And so for them, it's a. They're just there as the curious cats of the press. But it's also. Yeah, it was very convivial. And I was losing my mind at this, like, that this is. This is where I just think, like, the media is not meant for the moment because they're just like, oh, look at this fun show I get to go participate in. And everybody's going to be interested in this. But at no point did they seem. It's. The tone should have been somber.

[Sarah]

Yes. Yeah. The federal government is taking over a city, taking over the police force. There's a militarization of the capital city. I agree with you. I was gonna bring this up because I just. I get kind of bored with media criticism, but I was doing the same thing. I was multitasking, kind of had it on the background. And I was like, why are they laughing? And, like, turned it back over. And they're all joking around. And the question, you know, again, and you say they bring out these clowns. It's like literally a weekend talk show co host is taking over the. The city, apparently. And. And now the police department has to report to Pam Bond, to these people who spend most of their time on cable news and said, this is. There are a lot of important, penetrating questions and very serious questions that needed to be asked to these people. And they got some questions. But no, I. I agree, it was. It was pretty shocking. The frog. It's overdone, but like the frog boiling in water analogy of just like these folks who are just now in this bubble and now, you know, maybe it's a coping mechanism not to defend them or whatever, but like, it is crazy the just the lack of seriousness with which. Which this is being taken.

[Bill]

Now, to be fair, I don't know who all of like the reporters who asked questions, all asked insane questions of like, dear sir, tell me why you're so great. Should you get a Nobel Peace Prize? Like, you know, which means that it's stacked with a bunch of right wing, sure, crazy media things. So I don't know, maybe the normal media that are in there were being somber, but in some way are trying to be serious. But just basically the vibe was like, we're all best friends and let's all joke around about what's about to happen. And the guy who asked the crazy question was like emceeing up there anyway. It was alarming to me. And look, the. The. This is just. I'll just. Just hit a couple of things that I think are pretty obvious about why he's doing this. Number one needs to give Pan bodies something to do that she can go talk about on Fox News. That isn't Epstein. Right? This is obviously all of this is a big part of distraction from Epstein. Two, this is a result weirdly, of big balls getting carjacked specifically, which means that they are. And look, it looked like he got seriously assaulted. It looks like it was scary. And again, and I will talk about this later, but like, crime in D.C. is a real problem. Carjacking in D.C. specifically is a real problem. That being said, using big balls assault as a reason to federalize the government into the city is the most insane thing I've ever heard.

[Sarah]

Can we just say really quick about the big balls assault? Yeah, that's a pretext. The big balls assault is Reich tank fire pretext. Like is. Is. We should just sit on for one second. I presuming, which I do, by the way, I don't have any conspiracy theory about this, that it's a fake Reichstag fire situation. But like presuming that it happens, it seems, which seems likely to me given it's 3:00am on 14th street where the bros hang out now. It's like three. Okay, great. Like, what happened was he got jumped. Again, not good. But like, he's in such a policed area, which is 14th street on a weekend where there's like a lot of people drinking and partying and there are cops around. You know that like the cops Intervened in, like, five minutes. And then. And then the guys, the perpetrators, were arrested. Right? So again, like, not good. We don't want people to be beat up. We don't want assaults at any time. I'm not saying anything like that. I'm just saying, like, to use that as a pretext for federalization of the police makes no sense. The police did their job. And, like, the police aren't like magic. Imagine magic supermen that prevent every. That, like, swoop in, right? But, like, the punch is coming and they swoop in and take it for the big ball. It's like big balls got hit. He was bloodied, and then the cops came and then the guys got arrested.

[Bill]

Like, there's no need for the federalization.

[Sarah]

Period, even if they did a bad job.

[Bill]

Yeah. Like, this is where, sorry, the two things can be true. It can be true that in Washington, D.C. where I've lived for 20 years, we have since COVID experienced, like, a real problem with juvenile juveniles in the city committing horrible crimes. Lots of carjackings, lots of beating people up. And it has been like terrorizing residents there. If you go to the Washington Post and they do a poll of the city, in fact, I've got one from not that long ago. It's like 91% of residents say crime is a very or like a very severe or moderate problem in the city. Which is true. That being said, and this is where, like, it sort of gets crazy, the. Because I think some people try. Are trying to argue, like, well, crime is down. Also true. It reached a very, very high level during the pandemic. And so crime is down. It's been coming down. Sure. And that's. That's the thing. So, like, to some degree, crime is always with us. That is true. The inability to prosecute crime in a way that, like, brings the numbers down to the point where people can live safely in their neighborhoods, which is something that everybody wants and deserves. It is not the way the world works, but, like, everybody wants their cities to be safer. It is the job of our, like, leaders and officials to make those cities safer. And so you can. But, like, that is a D.C. issue. It is one that, like, it is working on. It is. It is one that the federal government, if they had a huge problem with. It could say, we're going to give you more money for more cops on your streets. It could be one where they say, we're going to do more after school programs for these youth. Like, Instead, they cut $1 billion out of the D.C. budget. Okay. So that the City can't handle it. And now they're just like posting troops weirdly like down on the mall and in Georgetown, which let me just tell you, is it where the crime happens.

[Sarah]

In Washington D.C. one other specific thing, you know what the fucking feds are in charge of because of weird DC home rule stuff, the parks. So like that might be one thing to start with. Instead of making the police chief report to Pam Bondi and have the fucking blow dried weekend talk show host in charge of the police now you might be like, hey, we're gonna start patrolling the parks more heavily. We're gonna send people, we're gonna clean, we're gonna spend some money to clean up Meridian Hill Park. We're gonna put some lights up here. You know, there'll be more. Like they're. But that's not what they're doing. They're cut, as you said, they cut the funding for all that. So this isn't obviously all pretextual because Donald Trump wants to take over power, I guess is what we are.

[JVL]

And this is, this is what we are going to get in blue state major cities leading up to the midterm elections. I mean, I'm just convinced of that. You know, like you will get this in Philadelphia and Chicago and Pittsburgh and.

[Sarah]

And just one other point on this, on the pretext, which is why this is like, and I don't know the answer to this maybe jvl, you have thoughts or either of you, like they, this is all a setup for when there are more protests and they want like, let's just be like they want this to happen. Like they want somebody to throw a Molotov cocktail at a cop. They want somebody to get hurt. They want in one of these ICE raids for the massed ICE agents to roll up on somebody that has a concealed carry weapon and for it to things to go bad like, because when something like that happens, because it will. Because of their actions, because of the nature of society and the, and how men are fallen people. Like they're sending in more troops into more cities like that. Like that is what's happening. Like they're like, they've just totally laid the groundwork for all of it. It's extremely obvious and they're just waiting for the opportunity. And if the again going back to the stupid big ball situation, like if that is an opportunity, a guy getting mugged and then having the cops like protect him and then arrest the guy. Just think about how small the pretexts are going to have to be going forward as we get Ahead to next.

[JVL]

You know what else we're heading for? We are heading for mayoral elections where Republican mayoral candidates are able to say if you vote for me, we won't have federal troops in our streets.

[Sarah]

Or we will maybe.

[JVL]

No, no, it'll be. No, the idea will be if you put a Republican in charge, don't worry, you won't have to have guys with, with M16s standing on every corner when you walk to work.

[Bill]

Yeah, that's. I mean that's not going to work in a blue city. That's not, I don't, that's not how those voters think.

[JVL]

I don't know. I don't know. Man. This is. These things are powerful.

[Bill]

Yeah. I mean here, the thing that I saw. Did you guys see this Washington Post story where they're reporting that the administration is evaluating plans for a domestic civil disturbance.

[Sarah]

Yes.

[Bill]

Quick reaction force composed of hundreds of National Guard troops tasked with rapidly deploying into American cities facing protests or other unrest where they would just like have 600 troops standing by so they can be deployed in under an hour. You don't sort of set one of those things up and then not use it. Like, and, and it just reminds me, you know, when Donald Trump walked across like when there were the black lives protests here and he grabbed Millie and he grabbed Esper, all these guys and he walked and he was talking about like just shoot the protesters and Millie and Esper, those guys were around him at that point because all the behind the scenes accounts said this is where, you know, Millie was telling Jason Miller or not sorry, Stephen Miller to go shut the up and like get out of there. And, and like there were grown ups at the time trying to do something to constrain him. You know, Millie talked a lot about how horrified he was that he walked across in his uniform because he didn't know what he was getting into when he did it. Those people are all gone. And so like there is nobody. Sec. Def. Pete Heath and AG Pambadi. None of them are going to tell him no on any of this stuff.

[Sarah]

Frankly, we've been lucky there have not been worse. And like the thing that we complain about in one setting, rightfully that there's been kind of a lackadaisical mass movement against. I mean there have been stuff like the no Kings protests were good. There have been protests, but I guess compared to last time, it's just, it's been a little less intense. It's been a little bit of an older, you know, kind of crap. The type of crowd that's not going to create trouble, you know, a little more at tote bag, kind of NPR Tote bag crowd at the protest. Like because of that, like they haven't had the opportunity. Like they want to do it. They want to do it. And, and so the fact that there have not been, you know, more Black Lives Matter style protest is like the only reason it hasn't happened yet.

[Bill]

Every time they start to do the, like let their blue haired, pierced, you know, protesters, blah, blah. And I'm like, I don't know, man. Every time I see these protesters, like women, 70 year old women in straw hats and like men with their belts and their, you know, cargo shorts, like librarians.

[Sarah]

A librarian, I think is the key, is the archetype of the protester right now.

[Bill]

I agree.

[JVL]

I mean, I don't know, we're laughing about it, but I think it's all really bad.

[Bill]

We do too.

[JVL]

Yeah, no, I, I know, but it's.

[Bill]

Always, it's really bad every week on the show and we, we do our thing.

[JVL]

Yeah. I'm not, not castigating you, I'm not chastising you. I'm just, I'm just exasperating. No, no.

[Bill]

Is dad mad what's happening here?

[JVL]

No, not at all. Just.

[Sarah]

Just feeling you're the one that started the show with Arby's. You know, you could have started this. You could have started the show with death in the streets.

[JVL]

You know, really good, really good argument for making D.C. estate, frankly. Okay, yeah, we'll move on from that.

[Sarah]

Maybe. We'll see if Hakeem Jeffrey's staff listens to this because I've got them on the pod later this week. And that will be a question that's coming for him.

[JVL]

Tim, you've got a message to us from our first sponsor.

[Sarah]

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[JVL]

I have it.

[Sarah]

Let me tell you.

[JVL]

Maybe they should send me some product.

[Sarah]

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[JVL]

Oh, I have some of that.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Since you're a board plus member. You didn't hear this since you're a daily podcast listener, but I did. I mentioned this on the, on the doe podcast and I mentioned a friend of mine who might, who might use, who might need it and use it. And let me tell you, he was none too pleased with the name check. When he heard about it, when he heard it in the airport, he was like, what? He had to rewind 15 seconds. He's like, was. I just called out on a scalp serum ad. Anyway, listen to this. People are sending in reviews like my hair has never felt this thick and full. My scalp is healthier than ever. And it's not just talk. One skin scientist did a clinical study showing that after six months participants had a significantly thicker and denser hair. If you're ready to give OS1 hair a try, you can get 15% off your first three months supply with code. Thenextlevel at Oneskin Co. You know I've been talking about One Skin for a while. I'm helping a lot of straight men getting them onto one Skin. They're starting to moisturize now. I've been turning to their SPF because some of our. Oh there Sarah's showing her one Skin product.

[Bill]

I put it on my face this morning when I got into the office. I keep it here and use it.

[Sarah]

I love being anti, we love being antioxidized Sarah, you and me. I do anyway. One Skin is the first skin longevity company. By focusing on the cellular aspects of aging, One Skin keeps your skin looking and acting younger for longer. For a limited time you can try one skin with 15% off using the code the next level at oneskin co. That's 15% off at oneskin Co with code the next level. After you purchase they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. What else are we talking about? JVL.

[JVL]

2 days from now we're going to welcome a war criminal onto American soil and feed him as a peer to the United States president. That sounds great. I, I don't know what your guys level of concern about the summit between Trump and Putin is. Mine is actually sort of lower. And then I think this is all just a way for Putin to finally prize America fully away from Ukraine. I think that's what this is about. They're not going to get any peace deal. There can't be a peace deal. But if Putin and gets Trump to sign on to just give us a fifth of Ukraine and we'll stop the fighting and then Ukraine says that then Trump can say see I tried to bring them peace but Zelensky that that rat faced Jew wouldn't do it. And okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm coming back from vacation with no fuck to give. And now we can stop all of the aid. That's what I think this is about.

[Sarah]

Yeah, well, I think that's a Putin strategy. So this is like where I've differed from some in our never Trump world who, like, who believe in the Krasnov theory of the case that Trump has been a Russian asset since 1982 and he's always doing Russia's bidding. I think Trump is just easily flattered. And like, Putin had his number and Putin had his number for many years. And he also thinks that he and Putin are on the same side since Putin helped him win in 2016. And so he's tended to be on Putin's side for that reason, the flat end, because he likes dictators, like for all of those Trump's flaws and weaknesses as a human reasons, rather than it being like whatever Manchurian situation. And so if you looked at it through that prism, it's like, okay, well, Putin was getting everything he wanted out of Trump up until the point where Trump was like, I want my Nobel Peace Prize. That's. I need to be flattered. You're not flattering me enough. Like, the real flattery I want is the Nobel Peace Prize. And you're fucking that by keeping. You keep bombing Ukraine Kyiv when I said that was going to be over. So now I'm starting to get mad at you. I'm starting to turn and to me, I think this is Putin's psychological effort to go back to do exactly what you just said, to get it, to bring him back on side, to be like, butter him up. I want you to get the Nobel, Donald. It's gonna happen. We just gotta give me a little bit of the Donbas.

[JVL]

Maybe he can bring his own made up prize like Tim Cook did. Like, he could bring his own little glasses. They already did thatching on it.

[Sarah]

They already did that. They gave Witkoff. They gave Witkoff the med for the parent of the kid that had psychological issues that want to fight for Russia anyway.

[JVL]

Maybe he could talk to Tim Apple to get a Rusky version of the Apple Prize and he could give that to Trump.

[Sarah]

Yeah. So that's kind of what I think the play is. And then that, you know, he commits them. It's a realistic deal. Trump goes with it. And then Trump can be mad at Zelensky again because it's Zelensky that's keeping him for his Peace prize because he won't give away the Donbas. That's what I kind of expect is going to happen. I don't have a crystal ball. That, that's my, that's my instinct on the situation.

[Bill]

I think that's about right. I will say the fact that this is happening in Alaska, two things. One, Trump keeps saying it's happened, he's going to Russia because his brain is melted cheese. And two, and because it's cold like Russia. And also the fact that it is happening in Alaska, I don't know exactly what to think about it, but, like, there's historical significance to this because we purchased Alaska, we purchased Alaska from the Russians. And I don't know, this is like, weird with Putin being like, yeah, territory that used to be ours, like the Donbass region or Ukraine. We want those things back. And so the idea that they're going to have this meeting in Russia just feels weird. And that has not escaped the Russians as a matter of historical significance. Yeah, but I look, the, the first meeting between Trump and Putin, you know, it's funny you said the idea that they're peers. I don't, I agree with Tim. I don't think it's like a Manchurian Candidate thing. I do think that Donald Trump, the one thing that Donald Trump doesn't share with a lot of dictators and authoritarians is I don't think there's not like an appetite for blood on his part. Like, he does kind of do the, like just shoot the protesters or whatever. But I don't think Donald Trump wants to order people pushed out of windows. And that's good.

[Sarah]

He's a coward. Yeah.

[Bill]

Right. And so I think. But he admires those who do. Like, he admires people who he sees as having the stones to go throw someone out of a window. Or like the North Korean dictator who murder mass murders people in order to keep people in line. Like this is. Trump has always admired that in people. And so when he gets in a room with Putin, Putin alphas him in a way. Like, just think about the Helsinki meeting, which was the very first to me, jaw dropping geopolitical event of Donald Trump's existence. He stood on the stage with Vladimir Putin and he cited against America's intelligence community, which said the Russians interfered in our election. And when he was asked about it, standing next to Vladimir Putin, he says, well, he says he didn't do it. So I believe him. And it was so nuts, so nuts that Trump walked it back later by saying he didn't actually say what he said on the tape, which is very clear. He's like, I said I. Not that I did trust him, but that I didn't trust him. You know, like, he. He tried to walk it back, but when he gets with Putin, he does what Putin wants. And so I do think that this is a time for Putin to try to get Trump to be like, remember, I'm your daddy. And Trump does go all week in the knees for these guys.

[JVL]

It's another stain on America. I mean, I feel like at this point, we just put it on the list. Once upon a time, this would have been a defining moment. And now it's just like a Friday. That's great.

[Bill]

It might be defining another Friday in Russia.

[Sarah]

It might be defining. We'll see how it turns. I mean, it could be worse than what we're saying.

[JVL]

I guess that's possible.

[Sarah]

Hard to believe it's better.

[JVL]

I guess that's possible.

[Sarah]

Maybe.

[JVL]

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[Sarah]

Shocking. Surprised to hear that. Really?

[JVL]

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[Bill]

E.J.

[JVL]

Anthony. Did you guys follow the E.J. i wrote about him yesterday? I don't know if you're still reading my newsletter, Sarah. Did you guys have thoughts about ej?

[Sarah]

I had a really busy day yesterday. I usually read your newsletter just with anticipation and alacrity.

[JVL]

Nobody read yesterday's news. Let me tell you. I wrote like 2000 words on E.J. anthony. Anthony. It was just cricket.

[Sarah]

That's what happens. You go on vacation. You know, I noticed this. You go on vacation and the people get out of the habit. They got to get warmed back up to you, you know, so it's going to take a couple of days.

[JVL]

People were trying to teach me to never go on vacation.

[Sarah]

People need a couple of days to warm back up to you. It'll happen. So why don't you brief us? I mean, I know the gist. Like, he's a total hack who basically every economist that I have any respect for thinks he's the stupidest person they've ever encountered in their life. But maybe. Do you have any additional.

[Bill]

37.

[JVL]

So he's 37. 37.

[Sarah]

That's. I think that's an appropriate age for the Commissioner of Labor Statistics if the person was a statistician.

[JVL]

Unclear if he went to an accredited undergraduate university. He did go to the University of Northern Illinois. Northern Illinois University for Red Hawks. PhD, I think. Huskies, maybe Huskies. Who can say? I didn't read the whole thing, but I skimmed through his PhD dissertation.

[Sarah]

Oh, really?

[JVL]

And holy shit. I mean, he can't write. And I don't mean like, he can't write the way, like, professional writers write. I mean, even by the standards of grad students, it's gobbledygook. It's just unintelligible. I can't.

[Bill]

Oh, he's a numbers guy. We are people of letters.

[JVL]

I don't get that.

[Sarah]

Damn it. It is the Huskies. Shout out jbl.

[JVL]

To be honest, he doesn't seem to be A numbers guy either. He.

[Bill]

Oh, that's a problem.

[JVL]

Just, just not smart. And he does not seem to have many or any scholarly publications. You know, publisher Parish and he was writing for the Federalist and the Daily Caller. Not so much like the Journal of Economics or anything like that, but what he did do was go on Fox a lot. And so this guy who's never run anything is being put in charge of a 2000 person unit which compiles the most important data used by the Federal Reserve to figure out monetary policy in the United States. And I was kind of surprised to hear that.

[Sarah]

I have to say that showed my ignorance about this when I, when I read that. That there were 2,000 people.

[JVL]

Yeah, I mean, it's a big job. Yeah, it's a big job.

[Sarah]

It doesn't just happen. It's not just magic. You know, the labor statistics don't just kind of appear out of ChatGPT. You know, you got to do some work.

[JVL]

And, you know, there, there's a private sector version of this put out by adp, but for complicated technical reasons, the ADP is like a sanity check because it's only private payrolls and they don't have as much resources to go into this as the federal government does. But here's, here's my, my big takeaway that I want to present to you guys is that Trump's doing this is a statement. He does not. He's telling people he doesn't want you to trust government statistics. Right. If he wanted to preserve some sense that like, hey, I can manipulate the data and pull one over on everybody, then he would have put like Kevin Hassett in charge of the bls. Putting this guy in is him telling everybody. And in fact, he said it on Truth Social on Sunday night or Monday night. I think it was Monday night. He was like, the economy is booming and from now on, the statistics will show that that's just telling people how this is going to be done now out loud, literally.

[Sarah]

So I have an aesthetic question.

[JVL]

Sure.

[Sarah]

Trump cares about that a lot. Did you see the photo of him and Trump together when he congratulated him?

[JVL]

It was, it was on my newsletter. That's how I saw it.

[Sarah]

Oh, God. He.

[Bill]

So suffice it to say, I have not seen this picture.

[Sarah]

Okay. He has a. I mean, he has awful facial hair, like off, like Trump does not famously does not like facial hair. But, you know, there's some people have good facial hair. Burt Reynolds, you know, looks great in a mustache. You know, sometimes you got guys at the five o' clock shadow look very nice. Brad Pitt looks very nice. This man has the hideous. Most hideous goatee I've ever seen in my life. It is just like it makes your skin crawl. This person's goatee and then his outfit, like, he's dressed like a. Like a coroner from a small town in South Dakota. And he's the black and the black and the vet and the shirt, and he's got, like, a wallet chain. What appears to be, like, a wallet chain.

[JVL]

I bet that's a pocket watch. I bet it's a pocket watch.

[Sarah]

And it's just like, Trump has to look at this guy and be like, give me a break. Give me a break. This is the best we could do.

[JVL]

Not central casting, not central cast. Trump, who famously loves central casting. This is not.

[Sarah]

And so I say this because, in part because it's funny to make fun of the way he looks. He looks horrible, and he's such a hack and he's a bad person, but also just because it tells you that, like, Trump really does, like, the most important thing in this situation is that this person just does what Mr. Trump wants. You know, he's like, fine, if you have to give me the fucking. Whatever it is, pocket clock, whatever, 58.

[JVL]

Million jobs last month.

[Sarah]

Yeah, yeah. If you got to give, to the best of my knowledge, who is the undertaker's handler?

[JVL]

Paul Bearer.

[Sarah]

Yeah, if you got to give me Paul Bearer to do it, then fine, I'll. I'll. I'll do. I'll. I'll take Paul Bearer.

[JVL]

So, Sarah, this is one of those things that I feel confidence in saying precisely 15Americans will care about. Correct?

[Bill]

I think more than that. I mean, this is so. I think that Donald Trump wants this guy to pause the job numbers. Right? That's what. They've already floated that. Right.

[JVL]

They've got to get going on.

[Bill]

They got to figure. They got to figure out who did it. They got to go find the real killer of the jobs. It's not Donald Trump. It's. It's. You know, this is. This is. Donald Trump is the guy who said the best way to get rid of COVID is to just stop testing. Right. And this is. This is the same way. This is how you do it. The market's booming. As long as you don't know about all the jobs that we're losing. And so let's stop finding out how many jobs we're losing. Here's the problem. The reason that we spend so many resources on this, the reason that there are 2,000 people in these roles is because these numbers are deeply important to people who think about our economy. And so when you say 15 people, maybe a guy in Minneapolis, like Minnesota who works construction, yeah, he doesn't care about the BLS numbers. But everybody, every bank, everyone who cares about interest rates, like there are a million people these numbers matter for. What is, what is Jerome Powell and the Fed supposed to do when they think about how they're going to cut or not cut interest rates? How are they supposed to do that if they don't have reliable jobs data? Like the number one way for them to get the rate cut that they have been looking for is to actually convince them that the jobs numbers are as bad as the revit.

[JVL]

Yeah, see that's, that's the rub, right? Trump wants a rate cut, but in order to get a rate cut you need bad news. And so he doesn't want bad news. But I think this way he can have his cake and eat it too, right? I mean he can do away with the bad news and eventually he's going to take over the Fed. He's going to put somebody like this E.J. hanson, he guy in charge of the Fed when he replaces Powell. This is Argentina again. They're talking Argentina.

[Sarah]

They're talking about, they've already floated like just not putting out the number at all. Right. Which I, which again I don't have a crystal ball but I think that's probably where it lands. Like if I had to guess, they probably decide that like we're just gonna do, we changed our mind. We're gonna do a more rigorous process and we'll do a nine month report, you know, now instead it'll happen to come out next. All we need, we need a year really. So it's next September, right before the midterms. We'll put out a report about how good things are. And it's just a one time thing because like I don't, you know, it's very barrel on last week and he made that and barrel is more sanguine about all the stuff than we are. But his point is like it's very challenging to cook the books unless you go full china, right? You have to like, you kind of have to go full China, right? Because there's no intermediate step. Because it's like if you cook the books a little bit one month and you got to cook them more the next month to, you know, to make the last month look right. And he's like, it's hard to do that. And so it's so, you know, the option is just to stop doing is to go full China and put out fake numbers, which I think is a big step. And so intermediary up to that is like we're just not going to do it anymore or we're only do it far less.

[JVL]

I think that's right. And, and eventually he will control the Fed because he will have a, essentially a political appointee in charge of the Fed and so he'll be able to just do the interest rate numbers himself. This, but again, this, this is what like failing economies look like. This is like Greece and Argentina and I, I don't know, I mean this is like in class you guys took economics, right? As undergrads. Like this. Corruption. Corruption is a tax.

[Sarah]

You did it. Kenya didn't make you take macro 101.

[Bill]

I literally went to Kenyan because it had no math requirement. Go Owls.

[JVL]

Anyway, the point is corruption is a tax and this is like part and parcel. Like with having the chip makers pay 15% bribes so that they can export things. And like with Apple forcing Apple to pretend that they're going to build a $600 billion manufacturing center here, which they aren't. They did the same thing the first Trump term. Right. All this stuff is corruption. Corruption is a tax. It slows the economy. It's a drag on economy, economies and. But we're kicking it to a place that is again, when you start messing around with fundamental things like measuring where the economy is so that you can do monetary policy for political reasons, that takes you out of first world territory. And I, you know, the extent to which America is just committing suicide or at the very least mutilating itself over the stuff, it's just wild to me. I've, I have never seen an important nation make choices like this before.

[Bill]

Yeah, decline is a choice in this case. Here's, here's my question. Like the Wall Street Journal, when you say like this is, this is my, my big pushback is just the idea that people won't care. Like, I think the Wall Street Journal crowd is going to care a great, great deal. How are they supposed to figure out whether or not we're in a recession?

[Sarah]

Here's my pushback to this. I agree. I think they should as well. And so start to do the tease here in the self promo, but I guess already published by the time this is out. I interviewed Jason Calakian. That's from the all in.

[JVL]

Oh, hold that for the end. I was going to do that for the very end.

[Sarah]

Okay. I'm sorry. It's quite relevant to this current topic, though, can we just do it now instead?

[JVL]

I guess it just, it's, it's such candy, though. I was going to make people wait until the very end.

[Sarah]

Okay, well, sorry, we can. I like, sometimes you get candy as a appetizer and we're in the main meal at this point anyway.

[Bill]

And here's 50 minutes in.

[Sarah]

Yeah, he, he, It's a very frustrating conversation. I guess I would just say I was hoping it would be a little. And I don't, I appreciate him coming on. I don't like to do these things and come on and like, trash people. I don't, I don't mean to. So I just want to just explain, just give my candid thoughts on, on why it was frustrating. And it's like I kept asking him this, like, aren't you guys worried about that? Right? Like, he's, he's not as pro Trump as his colleagues in the podcast. Like, he's on this podcast with three other guys who have gone basically full Trump. Jason's like, Trump skeptical, which I thought would be an interesting conversation. He's like, I like some things he's doing. I don't like some things he's doing. I find that absurd, but I'm like, it's good to at least hear from somebody with that perspective, try to understand what it is, try to get underneath it. And it's just like motivated reasoning all the way down. Like, I just, I, I asked her, I was like, aren't you worried about this? Like, the things were fine under Biden, like, all you. And all you guys were getting rich and everybody's making a lot of money and the market was doing good. And I understand you didn't like some of the antitrust policies and some of the red tape and like, I don't like some of that either. But like, on balance, it was all going good.

[JVL]

Were you losing money, Jason?

[Sarah]

Yeah, right, exactly. On balance, it was all going good. And, and here we are now. And this guy is going to just be completely erratic. He's going to fire the auditor. So you don't know what the numbers are. You know, if you're a company that doesn't want debilitating tariffs, you got to go in unbended knee and give him gifts. You know, like he is a third rate royal, you know, some lower European country. And it's like, what? Like, for what? Why? Like what? And you just don't, it's just power. Like, you just don't get good answers. Like, the reality is, like, I think the reality Is they. They think their side, you know, like, it's in group, out, group, right? It's like, you know, look, Trump gives us access. You can contact him, you can do deals with him. It's anarcho capitalism, uses that word. It's not really capitalism. I wish we had real capitalism. But anarcho capitalism is better than socialism. And, you know, anyway, people can listen to it. You just hear all the rations.

[Bill]

It's not a narco capitalist.

[JVL]

That's socialism.

[Bill]

It's crony capitalism or patronage, which, by the way, becomes a real feature of communist countries.

[Sarah]

They think that they're on the inside, I guess, is what. I guess this is my point.

[JVL]

They are.

[Sarah]

They think, yeah, they're on the inside. And I think that Wall street is going to. And the Wall Street Journal crowd is going to feel that way. And there'll be some principled people that write on the Wall Street Journal editorial page about why this is wrong. They'll. They'll publish that stuff for sure. But I think that, like, I just. My insight, if you want to call it that. Is that right? Is that. That it's like they've decided it's a fair trade and it's. And in prepping for that interview, I listened to some other of the all in podcasts recently, and they had been Shapiro on it as a guest previously. And Ben, who would agree, like, in a vacuum, right? In a world where you're just, you don't know which team everybody's on, you just present, pen a piece of paper, and he's like, here's what has happened. You know, there's a president who's acting like a king, and he's fired the labor side because he's trying to pressure the Fed. Like, Ben Shapiro would be like, that's, that's crazy. Like, we want a free market system. Like, I would be against that person. But what you hear from Ben in that interview is he says, I just, I'm just resigned to the fact that we're in a place where in this country we're just going to trade back and forth between two sides that want to be authoritarian, and one side's going to be socialist, quasi authoritarian, and the other side's going to be quasi capitalist authoritarian. And it's not my preferred system. But, like, I just think that's where we are right now. And we should get, you know, we should do whatever we can within this system. I got. That's not a direct quote, but, like, that was essentially his rationalization. And I just, I think that's where these guys are going to land on all this unless things really get really bad.

[JVL]

I guess my question to them would be, why do they think we'll trade back and forth?

[Sarah]

Because they can't. Because then. Because accepting the alternative that the TDS people are right and that this might be a real authoritarian grab goes against the self identity.

[JVL]

Right.

[Sarah]

Like you'd have to accept wrongs.

[JVL]

You're on the side of the actual authoritarian.

[Sarah]

Yeah, right, right, right.

[Bill]

Also, someone might expect you to do something about that in that. Say something.

[JVL]

We're going to pause here so Sarah can talk to us about our friends at Naked Wines.

[Bill]

Yeah, I was just thinking about how this show drives me to drink even at, you know, look at me at 11:00am like, hey, Judge Janine, what kind.

[Sarah]

Of, what kind of varietal you got there?

[Bill]

It's a Pinot noir, which is my favorite, which they've sent me. And you know, at 11 a before lunch glass of wine. We could all use it right now in France.

[JVL]

It's totally normal.

[Bill]

It is, it is. My team was like, we cannot give you this bottle of wine to drink on the show. Like, you'll be asleep afterwards. And I was like, I'm not gonna drink the whole bottle while we're sitting here. Okay. Do you ever walk into a store and have no idea what wine to get? Are you agonizing over what wine to bring to a party that says I'm a perfect party guest? Me too. Thankfully, the days of staring at that giant wall of wines with the same look, they all just look the same. All those wines. That is over thanks to our sponsor, Naked Wines. Naked is a wine club that directly connects you to the world's best independent winemakers. So you can get world class wine delivered straight to your door. Which I like, because who wants to go into a store anymore? What is 1995? Use the code, the next level for the code and [e-mail] and get six bottles for just 39.99. That is like the cost of one, you know, pretty good bottle of wine. You get six excellent bottles of wine.

[Sarah]

You know, that lasts you a half decade. 39.99. You can have wine until. Until, you know, J.D. vance is the commissar.

[JVL]

Sounds good.

[Bill]

So we have fallen in love with Naked Wines here at our office. We drink it at happy hour all the time. My team was very excited that I was going to open this for the show because it means they get to drink the rest of the bottle at happy hour today. So how do they Pull off these great prices. Well, Naked brings you amazing wines straight from the winery at up to 60% less than what you would pay in store. By cutting out extra costs like middleman markups, winemakers can pass those savings on to you without skimping on the quality. Naked Wines has been around for over 15 years and backs over 90 independent winemakers around the world to make the wine you love to drink. My wife and I no longer have to debate between red and white because I'm a red person, she's a white person, you know, a white wine person. So my wife and I never lost. We don't have to debate between red and white. We can mix and match to our heart's content. Now is the time to join the naked wine community. Head to nakedwines.com thenextlevel, click enter voucher and put in my code. The next level, all one word for both the code and the password. The next level for six bottles of wine for 39.99. That's a hundred dollars off your first six bottles. @nakedwines.com thenextlevel and use the code and password. The next level for six bottles of wine for 39. 99. What a deal.

[JVL]

Sherrod Brown got a run for Senate in Ohio. Would have been nice if he had maybe kept his seat and not let J.D. vance become vice president, but that's okay. That's okay. He, he had a good think on it. He's gonna run again. Sir, do you think he can pull this off?

[Bill]

It's like, uphill, but nobody else can do it in Ohio. Like, if anybody can, he can. And I'm pro. And I mean, look, he's banking on something that I think is possible, which is that there is a massive backlash to Donald Trump in the upcoming election. And that even in a place like Ohio, a lot of the Trump voters don't turn out in the midterms. And so you get your college educated suburban voters that put people like Mike the Wine in the governor's mansion, that, you know, like a moderate like Mike DeWine, that they might vote for Sherrod Brown and that he might pick up a bunch of Trump, like, white working class Trump voters who've always liked Sherrod Brown. So it's possible Ohio is getting more and more out of reach, but this is a better idea than a lot of other ones. I'm, I'm pro.

[Sarah]

I've got, I've got two thoughts about it. One, I think it's a better idea, like a lot of other ones, because at least Sherrod Brown isn't just generic D. I'm like just stop running. You know he's got, he's got his own little brand. He's a little independent various ways. He's populist. What we'll see kind of how it works out. You know he had a base of support maybe that of people that used to vote for Trump that, that like him. So I'm, I think it's, it's good, it's fine idea. Do you know he's running against. By the way, either of you guys know I got quizzed on this on Pod Save America the other day. Couldn't come up with it. So just to let you off the.

[JVL]

Hook, I forget it.

[Sarah]

John Husted, you John Houston. I was going to say a special fuck you to John Husted who like was just a normal Jeb Bush, Tim Miller style Republican forever back in the day. He is, I got this. These people should have been extinct. He Get Mike DeWine names John Husted which made you think that oh maybe he'll be like Mike DeWine and not not be a hero but from time to time step out. I didn't even realize John Houston was, had been a senator since, since the Trump term. There's not been one time that he's voted against a single nominee. He hasn't separated himself for Trump on any issue. There's no point in him, in him existing. I like there's kind of no point in having a legislature at this point because the Republicans are going to be in charge. But, but just like where what are you? Do you have, you have no backbone, you have no nothing. You have no integrity. Apparently not. So I just fuck John Husted down the line. Here's my, here's what I would like though. Just something I just, I just want to put this out in the world. Sherrod Brown's a fine choice. I don't know if he's the best choice. Like is there not. You know how the Republicans keep kind of recruiting football coaches?

[Bill]

Yeah.

[Sarah]

Do we not have like an anti woke Ohio State coach? One of the Ohio State coaches? Can't one of them just be a Democrat who likes to every once in a while you know, say the P word? Like can't we have that? Isn't that really the answer? Like in a state like Ohio or one of these states? Or could we at least try that? I'd like to try the Democrats, right. Recruiting somebody who's like a football coach who's a little gruff, so rough around the edges. Who doesn't have, you know, who respects people from all walks of life but you know, doesn't really, you know, it doesn't walk on, on eggshells when it comes to you know, kind of talking like a sports talk radio type guy. But also the Ohio Bill Burr. Yeah. Can we, does that this person exists?

[JVL]

The Ohio Shane Gillis.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Who's on this job? I guess, I guess this is my Sarah. You go to conferences with lots of rich pro democracy people. Can we give some billionaire this job? Can you, can you assign, can we go hire like a recruiting firm like you do if you're looking for a CEO and can we go around the country and try to find somebody who is a local celebrity who is you know, who kind of codes Republican or at least codes not, not whatever coastal elite lib and, and have them give it a try in one of these states Because I would like that. I just, I'm looking at the, the recruits in all these states. They're all fine in their own way. I don't have anything against any of them personally. Many of them are nice people but. And I'm speaking mostly about the red state people, the Iowas, the Texas to Florida, Ohio. I'd like to try something else.

[Bill]

I guess not showing a lot of imagination and I totally agree with this. I 100%. The only, the only pushback I would give you is he lost last time by 3.8 points. Right. To Bernie Moreno.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Bill]

And that's makeupable. Like I, I sort of actually I agree with you more that people should be more imaginative in a bunch of these red states. Ohio's kind of must win to change the map camp and I'm not sure they have a better person that they are pretty confident can make up four points in a race against a no name senator that people don't care about in a way like Bernie Moreno campaigned, you know for. This guy's done nothing. He's like a big zero. So totally. I just, I see the rationale for it in a way. I think, I think you're right.

[Sarah]

Broadly maybe it's in Iowa it's Kirk Ference available. I'm just going to start naming football coaches but yeah like that's, that'd be a different state. But yeah, I hear you. I'm fine with the shared running. It's just a general. I just, I have this general like a little bit of a, I look at the map of the names that are emerging. I'm just, I don't know, we're a long way away it's August 13th. It's kind of like, can we have some creative? I'm feeling it's reminiscent of the, of the stuff that we were doing back in Christmas of 23 or whatever where it's like, I guess we're gonna go with Biden. And I guess we're stuck with Biden. Kamala. And then Bill would be like, but maybe we should consider an astronaut. And that's kind of where I'm at right now. Should we at least let's try to consider it so we've got some folks in that world that listen to this. That's my suggestion. Might be a worthwhile endeavor for someone. Sarah.

[JVL]

Well, I have a question for Sarah, but we'll do it after the word from Quint.

[Bill]

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[JVL]

So my question is, Sarah, like, are we 12 weeks away from there being a vibe shift? If New Jersey and Virginia go well for Democrats.

[Bill]

Yeah, I think we're going to be in a vibe shift anyway. I just I think we're in an August, like a weird August spot. But yeah, we're about to have some elections. And I was just out in Virginia and I don't know if you guys saw Chris La Savita just like crapping on Winsome Sears, like even Republicans.

[JVL]

What did he say?

[Bill]

I think somebody said. Somebody said something like about how absolutely uncharismatic she is and made a pun that was historical in reference that I can't remember. And he, quote, tweeted it saying it's more like the Bay of Pigs, her race. And like they're just crit. They're sort of criticizing out of the gate the idea that Winsome Sears is the novel.

[JVL]

He didn't call her low IQ though.

[Bill]

He did not. He did not. But the Republicans all think that it's a joke. They're mad that, you know, they had to go with Winsome Sears and, you know, the.

[JVL]

Because of the Deis. Is that why they had to go with Winsome Sears?

[Bill]

No, it's because she was the deputy governor, Lieutenant governor for that job.

[Sarah]

Because of DEI though, or for her.

[JVL]

I mean, voters. The party voted for her. No. I mean, does the Virginia Republican Party have some DEI problems?

[Bill]

Did you seen her on any interviews? Like, oh, yes. I mean, this is a person. This is not a person qualified for this job.

[JVL]

Anything.

[Bill]

Yeah.

[JVL]

You would not hire her to run a cash register at the Dollar General.

[Sarah]

No, I'd hire her for that. I'll just say I'd ira for that. Point taken. But I'd hire her for that job.

[Bill]

She knows how to use a gun against intruders because that's sort of the big thing about her. She was like this gun toting black woman Republican, but she'd hire E.J.

[Sarah]

Anthony to run a cash register Dollar General because he seems to not be able to count.

[Bill]

Yeah. Abigail Spanberger is going to crush Winsome Sears. I got to tell you, I'm not sure. There's a state that's probably more angry about the Doge cuts than Virginia where, you know, a lot of these jobs or people who live there are related to the federal government. And so I think that. And Abigail Spanberger is a perfectly normal. And I think above, like, I think she's better than normal. I think she's quite great. And I think she's going to cruise to victory. Mikey. Cheryl's gonna have a slightly tougher race, but I don't know. Jvl not that you live in New Jersey. I know it's adjacent to where you live in New York City, but yeah.

[JVL]

When I look across the, the Hudson, things look, I, I think she's looking good for Mikey. I think she's gonna do well. I, I just think that the environment is going to be not great for Republicans.

[Sarah]

Since I took your dessert away from me, I do have to run. I'm going on a very strange Gen Z podcast. We'll see how that turns out. But just coming across the wire here, Trump's doing something at the Kennedy Center. Who knows? And Lindsey gr up in a Trump 2028 hat.

[JVL]

This is, you know, I, I, I've been saying this for years at this point, and I, I am waiting for the, for, for somebody in who called me with my TDS derange to be like, oh, I guess he is going to try to run.

[Bill]

Well, it's because it's a troll. He's, he's not gonna run, but it's a troll.

[JVL]

He's gonna try to run. He's going to try to run. I'm not sure he's going to succeed, but he's going to try. All right, guys, that's, Lindsay will be for it.

[Sarah]

Here's the thing. I don't know if he's going to try or not. He could, let me tell you, if he tried, Lindsey Graham would be for might. Lindsey Graham might be saying it. Are you acting like it's a troll right now? But push came to shove, Lindsay would be for it.

[Bill]

Can I just, let me just say, just as an end of good news, we should all be happy, happy and thankful that Donald Trump will be 82 years old at the end of his term. Because I will tell you, if he was 50, I would be com in complete agreement with JBL. The only thing we have on our side about this third term nonsense is the actuarial tables.

[Sarah]

That's nice. That's a nice thought.

[JVL]

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