← The Tara Palmeri Show
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Prices vary based on how you buy. I can do no wrong mentality is what these women have told me. They're taking an issue with the President.
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Welcome back to the Tara Palmeri Show. I hope you've all been enjoying some rest, reflection, and getting a lot of clarity over the holidays. Because the Republican Party is about to come back to Congress with a major problem to deal with. And it's women. They are confronting some of the loudest voices, not on the left, but on the right, within their own party. People who have built their movement, built their careers on the MAGA movement, and they are calling MAGA misogynistic now. And it's not surprising. Just listen to some of the rhetoric inside of the party. There are very loud voices calling for the repeal of the 19th Amendment. That's right, the right to vote. And there are people in President Trump's cabinet, like Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Vice President J.D. vance, who are pushing this sort of trad white fantasy that puts all of the economic power in the hands of men. So I don't think it's that surprising to hear women in Congress and some of the loudest, most influential voices on the right, like podcasters like Brett Cooper and Tommy Lauren, speaking out and saying, hey, this is not what we signed up for. On the flip side, there's the hypocrisy of people like Erica Kirk, a woman who is pushing this trad wife idea that women should put their family over careers. And yet she's been a girl boss all along, like literally from the beginning. Charlie Kirk met her when she was in New York city working her 30s, which, according to Charlie Kirk's book, would be past their prime. A woman who's expired, right? He was in his 20s, so he met an older woman who was obviously quite ambitious. When they were married, she founded a jewelry company, which explains why she has all this bling on her at all time. And then in his death, she decided to step up and take on Turning Points usa, a huge political movement. So she's obviously deciding to be a girl boss, but is telling other women, no, no, no, let me be the soul lady. Let me be that Margaret Thatcher, you could say, of the Repub Party. I also want to talk about another reality that the party has to face. You want to tell women that they should prioritize family over their careers. And let's be honest, we're not in the Gilded Age that President Trump has said that we're in. 80% of independents say they are unhappy with his handling of the economy. We are in an economy where if you have a family, there are two people who have to work to survive. So the idea of women staying home and powdering themselves all day while their husbands work, it's just not going to work because these men, they can't bring home the bacon right now. Both people have to work. As you can hear from my voice, I'm not exactly sold by a group of men who tell us women that we should wait around to be picked and then wait around even more while they live their lives and we stay at home supporting them. Obviously, I am a woman who has a career and loves it and would not want to give it up. My next guest, though, Alina Shirazi, is a senior political correspondent at the Daily Mail, and she has been digging into all of this and more. She has been speaking to women from across Washington, from the Pentagon, where they're not so happy with a lot of the changes going on there under Pete Hegseth, to the House where, where women are rebelling following Marjorie Taylor Greene out the door, angry like Elise Stefanik, who, who just stepped down from her role. They are saying, we want, we want leadership roles in the House. And then there are women across the country who are just generally unhappy right now. And she's talked to political strategists as well, who say that this could impact the midterms in a really big way for the Republicans and beyond. So it's something they've got to deal with. Take a listen. It's that time of year again when you start arranging pumpkins on the stoop, try out a new cranberry sauce recipe and plan out a tablescape that'll outdo last year's. In other words, it's when you break out all your DIY holiday skills. And now ADT is making it easy to DIY your home security, too. Their systems aren't just simple to set up, they also fit within your budget. So get excited for your next project because your peace of mind just went DIY. Visit ADT.com or call 1-800-ADT ASAP. When every second counts, count on ADT here. Alina, thanks so much for joining the show. I really enjoyed your piece in the Daily Mail, and I thought it was interesting the way that you Topped the story the way that you started it by pointing out that actually female voters were instrumental in making sure that Trump won the White house in this 2024 election. Women in the suburbs have historically determined elections, or at least in the last one, they really did. And, and yet, you know, pollsters like the one that you cited, Brett Buchanan from Signal, he said independent women are the Democrat, Democratic, Democratic. Graphic Most likely to break with Trump. So what do you, what are you gathering from this, this lady problem and the fact that Republicans have to deal with it before the next election?
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B
Yeah, you know, I think that as the pollster cited, he said that, you know, independent women have really just fallen off of a cliff with Trump. So that's obviously pretty notable. And as you said, it's a huge demographic. Suburban moms. I mean, they really, they go out there, they're, they're political, they care about the kitchen table issues. But when it comes to the MAGA movement, you know, you don't really see that break Trump, the administration, you know, he surrounds himself with loyalists, and his base is really a ride or die kind of base.
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A
Right.
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B
So when you, you know, hear somebody saying, you know, I'm maga, I don't think I am anymore. I think I'm, you know, I want to break with the group. And some of them, you know, they might be more traditional Republicans. You know, maybe they're more libertarians. You know, maybe now they think they're Democrats. I've spoken to all sorts of women on this topic, but there are certain factors that led them to kind of this realization. And it's kind of like a taboo thing for these women who spoke to me, who they didn't really want to be named. I named a few of them and.
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A
Then obviously two names, actually, you had.
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B
Yeah. And, you know, some of them as well. You know, Terry, you did a report that I read, of course, about Speaker Johnson and woman in Congress. And I think that kind of with Marjorie Taylor Greene sort of sparked something for me where I realized that there was sort of a domino effect. And, you know, when one person speaks out, then, you know, the next person will feel more emboldened to do so. And then, you know, besides these politicians, just regular people that, you know, I spoke to and messaging me that I spoke to on the phone and interviewed. And for me, it kind of, you know, for these women, it came down to, you know, the three E's. Epstein, which, of course, you have been, you know, leading the reporting on. Terry, you've been doing a great job. Of course, the the economy is a big one. And ego, you know, it really was the three E's. And, you know, you can get into the nitty gritty on exactly, you know, what they think about those three topics. But it really does kind of file into that.
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For.
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For the women I spoke to.
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A
What do you mean by ego?
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B
We know a lot of the women would say, you know, Trump needs a sort of come to Jesus moment. He needs to know that there's a boundary that he can't cross. You know, with the Rob Reiner post, I think that was another one of those watershed moments where all these Republicans, you know, posted on X and they were like, this isn't okay. You know, what happened here? And I think that's what it comes down to. It's a little bit of the I can do no wrong mentality is what these women have told me they're taking an issue with the president for. And I think that funnels into a lot of the different things that we've seen Trump do.
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A
But I feel like he's always like that. His mantra is never say sorry.
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B
No, really. No, no, it is. And I think as journalists as well, that's been another component too. And people are noticing, you know, how female journalists are treated in the briefing rooms as well. The woman I spoke to, you know, like, the Miss Piggy comments that, you know, they're like, that's not okay. And, you know, it is nice to hear that people are paying attention to that component as well, since we do have very tough jobs, as, you know.
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A
Yeah, exactly. You know, it's interesting to me because, like, you write about a misogynist streak running through maga, and I just, to me, it's shocking that so many of these members aren't surprised by this, because, like, I know we're talking about the fringes of the far right, but they're increasingly louder. And, you know, like, Nick Fuentes is allowed on. Not allowed, graciously embedded on Tucker Carlson Carlson's show, he's allowed to spout his. His, you know, incredibly inflammatory, violent language, frankly, on the show. Um, but, you know, this is the same type of guy who is also spouting the idea that the 19th Amendment should be revoked. That's the right to vote for women. Something that really we've only been afforded for about a century, maybe a little bit more. And so I think, you know, why are they surprised when there are people in their movement that are talking about taking away the right to vote for women when they are people who represent voters? I don't I just don't understand why they don't, they don't see that. Yeah.
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B
And something on that point, that's absolutely a thought that crossed my mind. And I asked them, you know, is Trump more inflammatory this term than he was last?
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A
Yeah.
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B
And the answer to that was, not necessarily. But when it came down to a list of current events, I think that's what sort of made them break. The economy is the one thing that really is causing, you know, these women and men, of course, who voted for Trump to say, listen, you know, we defended the president in a lot of things, and we'd say that's just the way Trump is. But when it came down to why we voted for him, it was really the economy. You know, he said that he'd make things more affordable for Americans. You know, he would lower inflation. You know, he would do X, Y and Z. But people just aren't feeling that. And a lot of women, too, you know, with this trad wife movement, this is like the new hot thing. I think a lot of the women I spoke to are like, this is, this is crazy. We can't afford a single income salary. We need two people working. So kind of home death.
- [11:11]
A
I mean, if you really want to bring the Gilded Age, then, yes, ladies may go back to the powder room. Right. But in the meantime, we are not in the Gilded Age, despite what they keep saying. And that means women need to go out and get a job. And also, like, what happens if your husband leaves you? What are you going to do?
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B
That's exactly. I mean, what are you going to do? You have to. These women are sufficient. They're self sufficient. They're independent women. And I, I was listening to another podcast that you did, Tara, and I mean, you were talking about how some woman in maga, you know, hear the word feminist and think it's a, it's a dirty word. It's, it's, it's a bad thing. But a lot of them are, you know, they are being feminists. You know, they are saying, like, hey, like, I'm, I have a powerful job, I make a lot of money, I have a good head on my shoulders. I know what I'm doing. So I don't want to be put into this box. I just don't. It doesn't look good. I don't like it. And that's what I've been hearing from a lot of, a lot of women.
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A
So for me, I think when I hear this, Republicans recoil at the word feminist in the same way they recoil at the Word environment. You know what I mean? Like, there are certain words that they're just like the liberals own that word. But you are acting in every way as a feminist. If you are assuming the power and rights that you have as a woman and using that to elevate yourself in society, to be self sufficient, to be able to make income, to go to Harvard, like Elise Stefanik, to represent people, to assume that you could. I mean, for her, she thought she could be the Vice President of the United States. Now, you know, she's obviously no longer running for anything right now. Who knows what comes in 2028. But you know, you are acting as a feminist. The thing that I don't love about their vision of feminism or they may not even think they hate that word. So the F word, their vision of women's empowerment or just ability to stand on their own is that like there can only be a token woman. A Mochi moment from Sadie who writes, I'm not crying. You're crying. This is what I said during my first appointment with my physician at Mochi because I didn't have to convince him I needed a glp. He understood and I felt supported, not judged. I came for the weight loss and stayed for the empathy. Thanks, Sadie. I'm Mayra Ameth, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit join mochi.com Sadie is a Mochi member, compensated for her story at the top. Right. And I think a lot of Republican men feel the same way. Like they like to appoint a woman to their cabinet. They like to have a female chief of staff, the first female chief of staff. You know, they like to have just one or two women who assume powerful roles and they do so on their own terms. But it's not an all boats rises, you know, sort of vision of feminism or vision of how women should, you know, live and conduct themselves. It's not that, oh, all women deserve men and women deserve as many leadership posts. So I, I take some exception. It's like they almost look at it as like a Margaret Thatcher type. You know, there's one steely lady who is not quite female, but, you know, almost male, like, and manages to, to run things and they will obey her like she's a mother. You know, it's, it's a very weird vision of what a woman can be rather than like, okay, women in their femininity can have power and have roles and, you know, and can have as many leadership roles in the House. I mean, that's a big problem right now is that Mike Johnson only gave one woman a committee to oversee, so that's not a great thing. And, you know, Kevin McCarthy, he made sure to make sure there were more women in leadership in the House. And I think a lot of women are angry. In the top three posts in the House, there isn't a single woman, because Liz Cheney was in the house when McCarthy was, you know, until she was ousted, obviously.
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B
Yeah.
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A
But until she was ousted, she had a. She was in leadership. She was the House conference chair.
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B
I believe that was the one pushback that I got on this story, too, which was Trump appoints women. There's so many women that work in the administration. Caroline Levitt, Pam Bondi, Krissy Noem. But something else that I was hearing is that a lot of these women don't feel like they have a role model within the Republican sphere. That's something I heard quite a bit, because when I asked them, who would you say is your role model within the administration? They couldn't really tell me. One of the women said, Caroline Levitt. To be fair, I think she's doing a good job because, I mean, she's.
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A
Doing what she needs to do, not for the American people, but for Trump. She's lying for Trump.
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B
She's his mouthpiece, you know, and that's her job, and that's her job. And I think that she is doing that well in that capacity, certainly. I'm sure President Trump is very happy with her. We know that he's very happy with her. But women, they couldn't really tell me a long list of Republican women and also a lot of these right wing sort of stars, conservative media personalities. I also talked about in my story, Alex Clark and, you know, Brett Cooper, and I believe it was Brett Cooper who said that, you know, she was really looking for a conservative, conservative media woman that really represented her and reflected her life. So they have that sort of yearning for that and searching for that. And, you know, apparently they. They don't really have a long list of women.
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A
I don't really think that Susie Wiles and Caroline Levitt are true Republican female role models. I mean, it's impressive. I mean, Susie Wiles is a very impressive person. She has made it. She is a survivor. She's obviously shrewd. She knows how to win elections. She helped Ron DeSantis win his gubernatorial race when he was underwater. She's a very smart person. There's no doubt about that. Caroline Levitt, I remember her when she was. I think she was an intern when I started out as a White House correspondent. Covering the top White House during the first term. And she's come a very long way. She's worked really hard. Basically unrecognizable from the last time I saw her, which is crazy. Yeah. I was like, who is this woman? Then I Googled. I was like, oh, yeah, she was White House aide who let me into the White House from time to time.
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B
She's had a long career trajectory. Yeah.
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A
Yeah. So, you know, but at the same time, I still think there's a certain tokenism to them. And. And I do think that they. Trump sees everyone who works for him as staff. They're not his equals. You know, there's no. Like, even the way that Susie Wiles described her relationship with him in Vanity Fair. Everybody is staff to him. You know, there's no one that's not working for him. I don't. He sort of listens to her, but at the end of the day, he makes his own decision. She's. I think she's really playing cleanup most of the time on the messes that he makes, and I don't know that I would want to be playing cleanup. I think he sees her as like chief staff secretary.
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B
Except for the Vanity Fair interview.
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A
Right.
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B
Except for that one time, which was why it was so shocking, because Susie Wiles, you know, she does, you know, excellent damage control. I mean, she knows what she's doing, to your point, and I think for the Vanity Fair interview, it was like Trump was the one who had to clean up the message, which, you know, some. A White House. Let's call them an insider, you know, someone who used to work at the White House. When I was, you know, asking him, like, what, wow, what happened with his Vanity Fair interview? He was like, it's crazy because, like, you know, usually it's Trump putting the gasoline on the fire, but this time, he had to. He had to try and clean it up. And that was a. That was a wild, wild, wild story for so many different reasons. But you really saw how she. How she really felt. And, you know, the reporter got her comfortable. And I think that's important to do, to really, you know, as reporters, really get into the mind of someone and figure out how they genuinely feel about what's going on and the people around them. But, yeah, Susie Wiles always kind of felt like the mom or the. Or the grandma, you know, figure in the room, you know, with children. And it still felt that way, I think, in the Vanity Fair interview.
- [19:42]
A
Lena, it's so great to have you on, and we are going to get into the people who are possibly even more influential than those in the White House or even those on Capitol Hill. But first, a minute from our sponsors. Alina. Okay, we've got women in the White House that have some power. We've got women on Capitol Hill who are increasingly angry and leaving, obviously, after Marjorie Taylor Greene was the first domino to fall. But it's even more concerning for the Republican Party, probably should be these influencers, these conservative influencers, who arguably have even more power than all of them because of the size of their audiences. I'm talking about Tommy Lauren, who's speaking out. Who? Brett Cooper, who is speaking out. I mean, Cooper said the party has, quote, become as polarizing and puritanical as what the left was years ago. And Tommy Lauren is angry, too, because she thinks that women should be considered in this form of capitalism. Right. That it should be capitalism for all, including women. They're not buying the Erica Kirk model where she's saying, prioritize family over career. Meanwhile, she's running a huge political organization. I also want to point out that she was in her 30s when she met Charlie Kirk, who was in his 20s. She was working in New York City, a God, you know, a city she would never live in now. Right. And she has a jewelry line. I mean, she was a pretty. She had a pretty successful jewelry line as well. That's why she's constantly covered in bling every time you see her. So for all of the things that they're touting about trad wives, staying home, prioritizing family, these women don't actually buy it themselves.
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B
Yeah. And the Erica Kirk was. Was a great point. I mean, you know, how. How can she kind of, you know, stick to, you know, the Turning Point USA kind of line of thought when she is. I. It sounds cheesy, but she's now the definition of a girl boss. She's running a huge organization. And, you know, I just can't think, you know, any woman or girl grows up and says, you know, I want to be subservient to my husband. I don't think any woman thinks that way when they're young. We have dreams, we have ambitions, we have goals. We. We don't think that way. And sure, maybe, you know, a lot of women, you know, we all think about that.
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A
Some women grow up dreaming about being mothers and dreaming of their wedding days and, like, their wedding day and that. So there is a bit of a difference. But we are a generation that has been told that we could do anything we wanted. Right. And we are enjoying the, we are living off the backs of the hard earned women who have fought for that. You know, just for even you and I to be sitting here and saying like, yes, we have gone in and out of the White House freely for years, covering the administration, that is something that, I mean, we are, it is such a new privilege to have and we're so lucky to have that. But to want to tear that away, you know, to take away the thing that you already have, like, it seems crazy to me.
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B
I think the point is you can do both and it doesn't have to be one or the other. You know, these conservative influencers, back to your point, I got them kind of like all lined up here with their quotes. You know, Tommy, Lauren, Republicans need to have a wake up call. We can't take anything for granted. The party's economic message is a strong one, but it should be capitalism for everyone, not capitalism. And women should stay home and have kids. It should be capitalism for all. So same sort of thing. Alex Clark admitted at a Turning Point USA conference that a lot of women feel alienated on the right. She thinks that there's more people out there like her with common sense, patriotic values who feel sort of culturally out of place among conservatives. Brett Cooper, you know, we talked about this earlier. She said the movements become as polarizing as and as puritanical as what the left was doing years ago. She said, you know, women want a nuanced approach to work and family, and that is a possibility. That's what so many of these women. This is what so many, you know, women across the country are doing. You know, why can't we do both? It doesn't have to be one way or the other. And I think that's kind of like, sort of like festered among different branches of government, even military. You know, you have Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. I'm working on a story right now about a woman in the military who, you know, they don't. They're like, what? You know, I worked as hard as a man.
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A
I've jumped harder to get used to the culture there as well, which is designed over hundreds of years for men, not for women.
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B
Right. And, you know, they're upset at the verbiage. And these are Republican women. Yeah, you know, these are Republican women as well. And I didn't even put this in my, you know, the MAGA GOP boys club story. But it is, you know, permeating across different, you know, different forms of government. I mean, it really is. And it's sad to hear because they're upset about it and they don't sort of like the framing. You know, Secretary Hegseth has said, you know, it's all about being in shape. And, you know, for men, it's insulting, too, you know, with the, you know, you have to shave your beard and you have to focus on pt. A lot of men are complaining to me about that. They're like, you know, physical training has been the number one priority at the Department of War, but just, it's been a thing, you know, it's just kind of been snowballing. And that's why I decided to do the story, because I. It just became sort of a really, you know, voice that was growing louder and louder. And then with the midterms, of course, around the corner, it's. It becomes relevant.
- [25:15]
A
Yeah, totally. I think you're right. Because if there are any. If there's any segment of voters that actually go out and vote in the midterms, it's usually women and in the base.
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B
Absolutely, absolutely. And we did this. Yeah, they got it. They got to figure it out. They have to figure it out. We did this poll, which I thought was interesting, with Daily Mail and Jail Jail Partners. They. They surveyed about a thousand voters. This is just like two or three days ago, I believe. And there's New Year's resolutions for Trump. I guess this is timely since we've got New Year's right around the corner. I just, I just wanted to see what you thought about this. Democrats and independents say Trump's New Year's resolution should be to resign. Republicans resolutions for Trump fit into three broad categories in this order. Take a better tone, more self control, fewer insults, tweet, less focus on the economy, prices, jobs, taxes, and maintain focus on MAGA and putting America first.
- [26:27]
A
So it's interesting that they really care about the tone of the president and the way he represents America. That's what I see when. And, and, and that's a priority for them, even over the economy, which is interesting.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And that's an easy thing to fix, but not for someone who's been that way forever and isn't his 80s and. Yeah, that's good. Luck with that. You're not getting that president. You might have to wait a few more years. Although it's not like J.D. vance is much, much better. I mean, he's sort of cut from the same cloth. He's basically like cast president in waiting, so.
- [26:59]
B
Right. Even though he didn't, you know, he. His comments, you know, before were, you know, anti Trump and Susie Wiles pointed that out in Vanity Fair.
- [27:09]
A
Yeah, well, he. Yeah, that he was a political convert.
- [27:12]
B
Yeah.
- [27:13]
A
Because he saw opportunity.
- [27:15]
B
Yeah.
- [27:15]
A
Yeah, they all did. They all hated Rubio, ran against Trump. Let's not forget that. My Marco say.
- [27:21]
B
I was going to say. I was going to say the same thing. And with. It's. I'm also doing another story about leaving maga. There's a group, I've been doing a lot of leaving MAGA stories recently, I guess, but it's this group, and basically they talk about why they left maga, and a lot of them have been recently, and it's obviously men and women, and they talk about how they just feel like MAGA and what they voted for. All the positives of maga. Putting America first, you know, which. Which is, you know, an honorable thing. You live in America, you want to put America first. That's good. They just feel like, you know, President Trump hasn't been delivering on that. He's been fighting wars abroad, and he's just trying to get that Peace prize, which we know he's wanted for some time, to be fair. He's done, you know, a lot overseas, but that's just not why his base voted for him. And that's another part to all of this, I think.
- [28:20]
A
Yeah, they didn't. They literally voted to end all wars on day one and no foreign entanglements. America first, I don't think. Bombing Nigeria. I think that happened last night on Christmas night. Christmas is really what people were hoping for. This was fascinating. Thank you so much for coming on the show and great reporting. Really smart to be on the ground and talking to people and getting their, Their. Their true opinions and. And you have your finger on the pulse of the movement. So I think we'll have to see how people turn out and vote over the next year. And if that reflects this disenchantment with the president and his leadership and the leadership of Republicans right now, will women be the ones to revolt? Yeah, we'll see.
- [29:07]
B
Turn the same way.
- [29:10]
A
Yep, we'll see.
- [29:11]
B
Who?
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A
The Democrats. If the Democrats give them a better option. That's also important, right? Options.
- [29:17]
B
Yeah, absolutely. And if anyone else falls off the cliff, who else is going to fall?
- [29:22]
A
Right. Thank you so much, though. I'd love to have you back on the show, and I hope you have an amazing Christmas and New Year's and enjoy Miami.
- [29:31]
B
Thank you so much. It's so great to be on with you. You're doing such a great job. I'm always reading and watching your stuff, so thank you. Keep on going.
- [29:40]
A
Thanks. You too. Our Palmari Show. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you like this show, please rate it, subscribe, Follow, share it with all of your friends. If you want to support my independent journalism, go to tarapaul mary.com Sign up for my newsletter with a red letter. It's how you can support my independent journalism and get exclusive reporting straight to your inbox. Happy Holidays to everyone. Thank you for tuning in. I know this is a dark subject that we're dealing with over the holidays. I'm really thinking a lot about the victims right now as they process what they are seeing, which is an administration that is not taking them seriously. Again, I want to thank my producer, Eric Abenate. I want to thank Abby Baker, who does my social media and research. I want to thank Dan Rosen, my manager, and Adam Stewart on the graphics. Thank you.