Podcast Summary: "HOW do we SAVE AMERICA? – A Conversation with Steve Schmidt"

The PoliticsGirl Podcast, October 14, 2025 | Host: Leigh McGowan | Guest: Steve Schmidt

Episode Overview

This urgent, impassioned episode focuses on the existential threat to American democracy posed by the MAGA movement and the failures of both political parties to match it with effective resistance. Host Leigh McGowan interviews Steve Schmidt, former Republican strategist and co-founder of the Save America Movement PAC, exploring what must be done to reclaim America's moral and democratic core. The discussion is wide-ranging, candid, and often blistering, offering both deep critiques and a rallying call to action.

Main Themes

• The clear and present danger posed by MAGA authoritarianism and the normalization of lawlessness in U.S. politics
• The necessity for a broad American identity to fight the anti-democratic, cultish MAGA movement
• A call for real accountability and courage, both for Democratic leadership and everyday Americans
• Strategies and goals of the Save America Movement, including innovative activism and information campaigns
• A critique of elite institutions, including big law firms, corporations, media, and academia, for their complicity or cowardice
• The vital importance of unity, proactive action, and rejecting fear in the face of authoritarian power

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. America at a Dangerous Tipping Point

• MAGA's Existential Threat: The episode opens with a striking metaphor—Trump as someone shaking America's metaphorical "tree," causing the "rotten fruit" of appeasers and profiteers to fall away, exposing who has backbone left.

  • Quote (Steve Schmidt, 00:00): "You think about America like a tree, right? And Trump is shaking the tree and all the rotten fruit sloughed off the branches...higher in the branches, that's where the fuck you monkey lives...there's a tougher, meaner American up there."

• Urgency & Abnormality: McGowan stresses the abnormality and seriousness of the moment, criticizing those who would normalize the current political climate.

  • Quote (Leigh McGowan, 02:05): “Anyone who's trying to normalize what's going on here is making me completely frantic because what's happening is so serious.”

• Fascism & Extremism: Schmidt directly calls out Stephen Miller and others surrounding Trump as fascists, even likening Miller's rhetoric to Nazi propaganda.

  • Quote (Schmidt, 02:36): “Stephen Miller at the Charlie Kirk Memorial was quoting verbatim Joseph Goebbels...Stephen Miller, he's a Nazi.”

2. On Democratic Failure & The Power of American Identity

• Democratic Party's Shortcomings: Both speakers criticize Democratic leaders for self-importance, purity tests, and lack of strategic self-reflection.

  • Quote (McGowan, 03:21): “Purity tests are going to be just the death of this nation… The Democrats are not up to this moment right now.”
  • Quote (Schmidt, 04:51): "The Democratic Party is filled with political leaders who make judgments...who have found the voters not worthy of them."

• MAGAs Appeal: Trump offers people “something to belong to,” an identity defined by loyalty, no matter past mistakes.

  • Quote (Schmidt, 04:51): “You get to exist in a world where nothing is ever your fault...You're the victim. And it’s easy.”

• American Identity as Antidote: To defeat MAGA, opposition must rally around a broad, non-hyphenated American identity and moral clarity.

  • Quote (Schmidt, 04:51): “The one identity that is powerful enough to defeat the MAGA identity...is the American identity that says I'm an American because I'm an American with no qualifications and no hyphens.”

3. The Save America Movement: Goals & Actions

(See 09:41 for detailed segment on the movement)

• Broad Coalition and Tactics: The movement boasts a diverse steering committee (veterans, clergy, scientists, artists) and campaigns nationwide, including “Liberty Vans” documenting abuses and advertising near military bases and prisons to underline accountability.
  • Quote (Schmidt, 09:41): “Liberty vans...outfitted with a chaplain, a veteran, a lawyer, 4K camera crews...bearing witness using the First Amendment...to make a historical record.”
• Accountability and Messaging: They focus on counter-propaganda and on reaching military personnel and law enforcement directly, alerting them to future reckoning for illegal acts.
  • Quote (Schmidt, 09:41): “Advertising to the guards in these prisons, saying...everything you do here will be known and will be, will be held to account.”
• Plans for 2026 and 2028: The near-term aim is rebalancing Congress in the 2026 midterms to check Trump’s power, with a longer goal of ending MAGA dominance by 2028.
  • Quote (Schmidt, 09:41): “Our goal at the Save America Movement is to build a movement of millions...resetting the balance of power...removing the MAGA Congress...to put a check on Donald Trump.”

4. The Need for Offense, Not Just Defense

• Proactive, Not Reactive: McGowan pushes for more aggressive tactics and less hesitation or conciliatory language towards MAGA.
  • Quote (McGowan, 12:34): “It feels like we need to stop hesitating or placating the Republicans or the MAGA faithful.”
• Accountability at All Levels: Schmidt expands on this, describing a post-MAGA reckoning—naming and shaming corporate and legal elites as well as political perpetrators, and calling for a realignment of the Democratic Party to serve everyday Americans.
  • Quote (Schmidt, 13:55): “Justice demands two things. The first is accountability. And so every detail of who did what, where and when and why and how will be known.”

5. Hypocrisy, Elites, and Corrupt Institutions

• Rot at the Top: Both speakers discuss how elite institutions—law firms, corporations, and media—have capitulated to Trump or simply protected their own interests.

  • Quote (Schmidt, 31:14): “It's this incredibly sanitized, diluted view of what's going on in the world...America's elites, when the stakes were real, were the first people to get on their knees.”

• Media Manipulation: Special attention is given to the corporate media’s role in shaping a distorted narrative, often serving billionaire owners’ agendas.

  • Quote (Schmidt, 28:02): “The news is a projection of the sensibility of the billionaire who lives an extremely cloistered life.”

• Hypocrisy as a Driver of Rage: Historical parallels are drawn between the hypocrisy of Prohibition and COVID rules, and today's resentment towards double standards for elites.

  • Quote (Schmidt, 23:14): “Nothing that drives people more banana ram as crazy than that hypocrisy.”

6. The Power and Contagion of Courage

• Courage vs. Fear: The atmosphere of mass anxiety is acknowledged, but Steve argues that courage—like fear—is contagious and vital to revival.
  • Quote (Schmidt, 32:53): "What courage is is appreciating that there's something that's more important than that fear, right? That there's something worth fighting for."
• Major Protest Movements: Upcoming mass marches are cited as evidence that Americans are not cowed, that resolve is only increasing as pressure mounts.
  • Quote (Schmidt, 33:15): “Next weekend, millions...of Americans carrying flags will march together...the resolve of millions more will be hardened to stand up when their time comes.”
• Historical Parallels: References to America's founding and to Pope John Paul II’s historic speech in Poland emphasize that unity and bravery have always been key to overcoming tyranny.
  • Quote (Schmidt, 42:59): “Do not be afraid.”

7. On Being American: Defiance, Humor, and Teamwork

• Defiance as National Character: Schmidt proclaims that Americans are “the most defiant society on earth” and that increased MAGA pressure breeds greater pushback.

  • Quote (Schmidt, 45:54): "The harder MAGA presses, the more defiance there will be...the terrible danger that's being created..."

• Bravery, Humor, and Nonviolence: Both take pride in the nonviolent, even humorous approach to grassroots protesting (“Freedom Frog” mascot, for instance), suggesting this baffles and frustrates MAGA forces waiting for violent backlash.

  • Quote (McGowan, 46:40): “If you are trying to sell that this city is under siege...and what you're seeing is like a bunch of unicorns and that little Freedom Frog out there, it is hard to sell that message.”

• Call to Action for All Americans: The podcast closes with a plea that everyone has a skill to offer, and that the Save America Movement needs all hands on deck in the information war.

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• "If you think about America like a tree, right? And Trump is shaking the tree and all the rotten fruit sloughed off...higher in the branches, that's where the fuck you monkey lives..." (Schmidt, 00:00 & 31:32, metaphor repeated)
• "Every Nazi was a fascist, but not every fascist was a Nazi. There are many fascists around Trump. But Stephen Miller, he's a Nazi." (Schmidt, 02:36)
• "Purity tests are just the death of this nation. We need people like you who are in it to win it. People...who aren't about playing nice." (McGowan, 03:21)
• "What courage is is appreciating that there's something that's more important than that fear." (Schmidt, 32:53)
• "We will all hang separately or we will hang together and they don't have an army big enough to hang all of us." (Schmidt, 38:21)
• "Defiance will grow as MAGA presses harder; that's the American character." (Schmidt, 45:54)
• "Everybody has a skill to do something." (Schmidt, 48:58)
• "The one idea powerful enough to defeat the MAGA identity is the American identity. And we need to build our opposition around that moral core." (McGowan, 49:43)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 - Opening metaphor: Trump shaking the American tree
• 02:03 – 04:51 - Establishing the stakes: Fascism, Democratic failings, MAGA's appeal
• 09:41 - The Save America Movement: mission & activities
• 12:34 - Offense vs. defense for pro-democracy forces
• 13:55 - The meaning of real accountability
• 23:14 – 24:59 - Historical hypocrisy, COVID, and elite impunity
• 28:02 - Media ownership’s influence over truth and narrative
• 31:32 - Critique of American elites, courage under pressure
• 33:15 – 34:56 - Power of mass protest & collective courage
• 38:21 - Historical inspiration & need for collective courage
• 41:02 - Autocracy, fear, and the misuse of propaganda
• 46:40 - Humor, protest, and American resilience
• 48:58 - How to join or support the movement

Summary

This episode is a forceful, no-holds-barred call to action. McGowan and Schmidt paint a stark picture of the threat confronting America, lambasting both the Republican and Democratic parties for their roles in enabling MAGA authoritarianism. They lay out the Save America Movement's strategy: build a broad coalition, hold elites to account, counter propaganda, and replace fear with contagious courage. Both speakers evoke American history, humor, and a spirit of defiance, urging listeners to take up their part in saving democracy. The message is clear—America’s future depends on active, unified resistance, and every listener is called to the cause.

To get involved:
Visit the Save America movement.org – "Everybody has a skill to do something...and that's what it means to be American right now." (Schmidt, 48:58)

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