The Tara Palmeri Show – Episode Summary

Episode: MTG Is Out. Trump & Zohran Mamdani Are… Together?!
Host: Tara Palmeri
Guest: Andy Borowitz (comic/satirist, The Borowitz Report)
Date: November 24, 2025

Overview

This episode covers a rollicking, tumultuous few days in American politics, focusing on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (MTG) sudden resignation from Congress, the oddball alliance between Donald Trump and progressive firebrand Zohran Mamdani, escalating intra-GOP chaos, and the economic discontent fueling political shifts. Tara Palmeri is joined by Andy Borowitz for a blend of incisive analysis and sharp satire, exploring the absurdity and intrigue of the current political landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Sudden Resignation

• Surprise Announcement: MTG abruptly declared her intention to step down at the start of the new year, even without informing GOP leadership.
• Narrowing GOP Majority: This move makes the Republican House majority razor-thin, down to "basically two Republicans on a party line vote." (Tara, 02:40)
• Motivations:
  • Facing a primary challenge backed by Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc.
  • Unpopularity of Trump and the GOP even in red districts, exacerbated by economic dissatisfaction.
  • Personal political fallout—MTG allegedly on a “revenge tour” after being blocked from a Senate run.
  • “She’s actually not an idiot… She’s capable of stringing together a sentence that makes sense. Much more so than Trump is.” (Andy, 06:15)
• Rebellion in the Ranks: The shrinking majority empowers Democrats and mischief-makers like Thomas Massie to utilize tools like discharge petitions for pushing bills past leadership.
• Loss for Satire: Andy jokes, "The most unforgivable thing Trump has done is made me agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene." (05:21)

2. Republican Infighting, Populist Fractures, and Successors

• Explosive Divisions: GOP splits deepen as populist, nationalist, and conspiratorial wings feud.
  • “Boebert and MTG, who hate each other, calling each other names on the floor of the House… got in a fight in a bathroom stall, I believe.” (Tara, 08:17)
• Potential Successors:
  • Anna Paulina Luna: “Keep our eye on her... she could really step up and take Marjorie Taylor Greene’s crown of ass clownery... steeped in alien lore.” (Andy, 08:32)
• Populist Tools: Use of discharge petitions by both House left and right as leadership weakens.

3. Trump’s Growing Political Weakness and The Economy

• Economic Discontent:
  • Panel attributes the anti-Trump mood to the “shitty economy”—voters feel left behind and angry across the spectrum.
  • “It’s interesting how it all comes back to people’s wallets… Once people are pissed off, then all kinds of other mischief can happen.” (Andy, 04:27)
• Lame Duck Status: Trump described as a “lame duck” far earlier than expected due to the collapse of his coalition and sagging popularity.
• Inauthentic Populism: Trump’s support among “the little guy” is increasingly hollow, his grievances personal rather than shared by struggling Americans:
  • “He’s very authentic in being aggrieved...he’s angry because his father was horrible to him and he feels empty and hollow inside. He’s not angry about prices.” (Andy, 16:22)

4. Trump Meets Mamdani – The Unexpected Bromance

• Odd Alliance: Trump and progressive New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani shared a “love fest” in the Oval Office.
• Unexpected Sympathies: Both appeal to left-behind voters seeking economic relief and affordability.
  • “What he told him, apparently, was like, 'My voters voted for you'… The people who voted for Mamdani wanted the same thing from Trump: affordability, lower costs.” (Tara, 12:30)
• Populist Seduction:
  • “Really good retail politicians… love to seduce. And Mamdani is a better seducer than Trump.” (Tara, 11:56)
• Shared Tactics with Bernie Sanders:
  • “Another Democratic socialist who has a lot of the same appeal as Donald Trump… is Bernie Sanders.” (Andy, 14:07)

5. Trump’s “Foreign Policy” and the Ukraine Peace Plan

• Peace Plan Farce:
  • Trump touts a new Ukraine proposal that’s “literally everything Russia wanted. Just take the land and claim it as their own,” and “Rubio… trying to turn this into something that the Ukrainians will agree to by Thanksgiving.” (Tara, 17:24)
• Satirical Jabs:
  • “I’m pretty sure Ukrainians do not celebrate Thanksgiving.” (Andy, 18:23)
  • “Rubio... got the Kremlin’s proposal, then went on Duolingo to translate it to American.” (Andy, 18:45)
• “Peace Plan” Messaging: A pattern of hyping announcements (“ceasefires”) that rarely manifest meaningfully: “It’s just messaging hyped up into a peace plan.” (Tara, 19:35)

6. Trump’s “Health Care Price Cuts Act” and Economic Policy

• Policy Details:
  • Trump pushes a two-year extension of Obamacare subsidies and raises income limits for eligibility.
    • Tara provides breakdowns: single persons up to $109k, four-person families up to $225k (23:15–24:45).
  • Andy’s satire: “If he reduces drug prices by 5,000%, all the drug companies have to pay us when we get a prescription filled.” (24:49)
• Branding Irony: Trump branding Obamacare with his name: “That’s a level of chutzpah I wasn’t really aware of… No, that’s actually Obamacare.” (Andy, 24:52)

7. Billionaires, Media, and Trump’s TV Nostalgia

• Billionaire Class Out of Touch:
  • Trump “has assembled this team of out of touch billionaires and Fox News personalities” (Andy, 22:25)
  • Tales of hedge funders not feeling economic pain.
• Media Power Plays:
  • Reports of Trump encouraging Larry Ellison (CBS owner) to bring back film franchises like Rush Hour.
  • “I love the idea of becoming President and then just exhuming shows that didn’t get a chance.” (Andy, 26:04)
  • Trump’s love for 1980s TV and Broadway musicals (notably Phantom of the Opera and Cats) discussed for comedic effect.

8. Trump’s Early Flops and Foretold Failures

• Broadway Bombs:
  • Trump’s first (failed) investment: a flop show at age 23, “Paris is Out.”
    • “There is no more surefire way to lose money than investing in a Broadway show. So it predicted everything… All his achievements… we could have predicted from that one investment on Broadway.” (Andy, 29:11)

9. Looming Tech and Bureaucratic Consequences

• The Doge Chapter:
  • Short-lived tenure at Doge (a government tech office), “Big Balls” as a meme, and the lasting chaos and security vulnerabilities left in Doge's wake.
    • “The American people will be dealing with the repercussions of Doge for a long, long time… they fired people who then they had to rehire.” (Andy, 31:06)
    • Concerns about government IT system integrity and “letting Elon and Big Balls right in… as Secretary of the Treasury, I swore an oath to defend this department for the good of the American people.” (Andy, 32:16)
  • Tara jokes about Russian meddling and security risks.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Andy Borowitz on agreeing with MTG (05:21):

  “The most unforgivable thing Trump has done is made me agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Heinous that I’ve been put in this terrible position.”

• Tara Palmeri on political divisions (08:17):

  “Boebert and MTG, who hate each other, calling each other names on the floor of the House… got in a fight in a bathroom stall, I believe.”

• Andy Borowitz on Anna Paulina Luna (08:32):

  “She could really step up and take Marjorie Taylor Greene’s crown of ass clownery… steeped in alien lore.”

• Tara on Trump and Mamdani (12:30):

  “The people who voted for Mamdani wanted the same thing from Trump: affordability, lower costs.”

• Andy Borowitz on Trump’s authenticity (16:22):

  “He’s very authentic in being aggrieved… His grievances are different from the grievances of the voters… His father was horrible to him, and he feels empty and hollow inside.”

• Andy on Trump’s economic policy branding (24:52):

  “Putting Trump's name on Obamacare is a level of chutzpah I wasn’t really aware of.”

• Andy on Trump’s taste in entertainment (26:04):

  “I love the idea of becoming President and then just exhuming shows that didn’t get a chance.”

• Tara and Andy on Trump’s first Broadway flop (28:08–29:11):

  Tara: “Paris is Out. It ran for two months.”

  Andy: “We could have predicted all his achievements… from that one investment on Broadway.”

Important Timestamps

MTG resignation, discharge petitions, narrowing GOP majority

• 02:40–04:59

Republican infighting & Anna Paulina Luna as successor clown

• 08:17–09:39

Trump’s declining popularity and coalition fractures

• 13:00–14:54

Trump/Mamdani "love fest"—populist overlap

• 11:56–14:54

Ukraine "Peace Proposal" satire

• 17:24–19:47

Trump’s Health Care Price Cuts Act (Obamacare subsidies expansion)

• 23:15–25:30

Billionaires, out-of-touch policy, “Trumponomics”

• 22:25–23:15

Trump’s nostalgia for TV/Broadway, Rush Hour, first Broadway flop

• 25:56–29:34

Doge, tech chaos, and government system worries

• 31:06–32:38

Tone

Conversational, sharp, irreverent, and deeply skeptical of political doublespeak—mixing biting satire and real policy analysis.

This episode humorously unmasks the wild turns of US politics at the close of 2025, while deftly connecting the circus in Washington to deeper issues of economic malaise and public distrust. It’s a can’t-miss for anyone seeking the story behind the headlines—and plenty of political gallows humor.