← The Tara Palmeri Show
The Tara Palmeri Show
Young Republicans LEAK in POLITICO: JD Vance Refuses to Condemn Racist Messages
00:54:38
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- [00:00]
Tara Palmeri
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. Welcome back to the Tara Palmieri show. It's day 15 of the government shutdown. Should I say happy anniversary? At this point, there is talk that this could drag on until Thanksgiving, snarling up holiday travel. I am afraid to see the airports. In the meantime, federal workers are being fired, some of them rehired, and that's because it's been done in a haphazard mess. And amid all of this chaos, Politico just dropped a BombShell report to 2,900 pages from telegrams, chats from young Republican leaders filled with racist, anti Semitic and sexist garbage, jokes about gas chambers, rape, Hitler, you name it. And somehow Our vice president, J.D. vance, just can't condemn it. Is this some sort of 2028 strategy? We're also going to get into the Marjorie Taylor Greene of it all. Has she seen the light? I have a new piece out in the Red Letter which you can find@tara palmeri.com it's about Marjorie Taylor Greene's latest rebellion. She's even saying deportations have gone too far. This is a woman who wanted to be Trump's DHS secretary and openly tweeted about wanting to deport illegal immigrants. She's also blaming GOP leadership for not putting enough women in leadership roles. Has she become a feminist? I'm trying to understand it all. I mean, she has become one of the best spokespeople for the Democratic Party during this shutdown. But there's gotta be something more here. Is it pure grievance against a party she feels has played her? Or maybe she's plotting for her next act. So I picked up the phones and I called all my sources and I've got all of the inside reporting from those who know her best in my latest Red Letter newsletter, which you can find@tara palmeri.com T A R A P A L m e r I.com just one eye. And it's a place where you can support my independent journalism and help to grow this community. So to to help me unpack all of this and more, the meltdown and the misogyny, I'm joined by Sami Sage, who is the co founder of the Big Bitches Media Network. She created an empire for women that gets prod that gets politics. She is brilliant, and I'm so excited to have her on the show. I'm so excited to have Sammy Sage from Betches Media on the show. I am so impressed with what you've built, a media outlet for women that focuses on all sorts of issues. But I really think you nail the political game in so many ways. And the most. The best part about your story, too, and this is what I learned over drinks, is that you started this with your best friends at Cornell. It's just so. It's such a great story and. And obviously you're brilliant, or this wouldn't have gotten to a place where your podcasts are getting over a million downloads per month, and you. You create viral sensations literally every single day.
- [03:32]
Sammy Sage
Thank you so much. I mean, that is. That really means a lot. It's crazy. We've been doing this for 15 years. I've never done anything other than batches in my adult life, so it's pretty. It's pretty wild. But thank you. And let me just say, like, saying to you, I've watched, you know, even just in the past year, you have grown so much and gotten so many amazing scoops, and I am just. I'm really proud to, you know, watch the way that you've taken on independent media. And like James Carville said, you make your own weather.
- [04:04]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, thanks, friend. That's so sweet.
- [04:08]
Sammy Sage
When he said that, I was like, I'm gonna steal that.
- [04:11]
Tara Palmeri
When he said that to me, I was like, that's. That's really sweet, you know, but thank you. I feel the same way about you. We gotta. We're. This is a new world. There are lots of landmines. We're just trying to navigate it. We're just trying to do the best that we can. I will say I. You guys once made me go viral, which I thought was amazing. I made a meme.
- [04:28]
Sammy Sage
Oh, my God.
- [04:29]
Tara Palmeri
And so I don't remember the day that the court decided they were going to overturn roe. Oh, I remember the day. That night. Yeah. So I was sitting on my couch with my ex at the time, and we were watching Fox News, which I know is weird, but, like, we like to watch. We watch everything. Like, we. He worked in media as well, so we. I would switch between Fox, MSNBC to cnn because, like, you can't be in a silo, which is what I've always said. Anyway, um, and so the panel on this latest breaking blockbuster news, Bombshell News was all men, just format. And I just, like, took a picture of it from the couch and just put, this is a panel on abortion. And you guys picked it up. And I got more. I got more outreach from people I've grown up with than ever before in my entire life.
- [05:18]
Sammy Sage
Oh, my gosh, that. You know, first of all, I do actually remember that meme, like, because it's so. It's just symbolic. And, yeah, I have to say, like, in terms of, like, our media model, and I, you know, I love to talk about this just within the context of independent media. We've always really doubled down on, like, engagement and loyalty. You don't have to be, or at least like kind of in our way of thinking is like, you don't need to be the biggest. It doesn't need to be about volume, but about impact. And I think about that, you know, with everything I post about, I think about that with just like, my general approach that if you can get something to stick with people, like, hit them in the chest and, like, live with them. You don't need a billion impressions. You don't. You don't need to make up lies. You don't need to, like, play the tricks of the game. Like, I think we see a lot of, you know, creators and companies and politicians attempt to do. And I think where, you know, you see a lot of talk about, you know, these politicians that aren't genuine, you know, people don't really trust them. And I think it's because they don't say the things. Maybe. I don't know why, maybe they don't know what they are that will actually hit their constituents and make people believe them.
- [06:40]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, it's. It's just a little too contrived. They have too many talking points. Talking points don't really work in this medium, by the way. By the way. This is about conversation. This isn't about. This isn't really about produced segments and quick Q&As in a cable back and forth. This is a conversation. It goes all over the place. It's a little messy, but it's. But it's more real. And I hope you know that it's harder to fake it. Like, a lot of people say that. Like, I was. There was a politician who's promoting his book and. And one of his spokespeople said to me, you know, we'd like to go on the show, but we're worried that he won't be able to handle it. And I'm like, why? He used to go on Meet the Press all the time. And he's like, yeah, but I feel like he'll fall into the trap of the conversation with you and just say something that he shouldn't say. I'm like, shouldn't say. Like, how is that?
- [07:32]
Sammy Sage
If you think that and feel Crazy thing to admit.
- [07:35]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah.
- [07:36]
Sammy Sage
Like, it's like, okay, to. To your point. And I think this also goes back to how we started batches with friends, is that I noticed this with people, not just lawmakers, but it is the worst for them. People, when they come from D.C. they to New York, they kind of feel energetically like they have been landed on a different planet. Like they are so, like, culturally unfamiliar. And I think that that's kind of the problem. Like, you don't like. It's also. They're always in work. They're always in work mode. And. And their idea of what constitutes work is very official when what I believe, and I think I know that you believe this too. It's like you should be representing people. You should be fluent in conversation with anyone in your district. Anyone who you represent, you should be able to speak to. Like they are a contemporary, a friend. Like, just because you have been elected, because whatever, like, crazy shit happened in the system that got you into that position and, you know, probably have a death grip on it. Like, that is a. You know, it's like, it's weird. Like, D.C. is sort of like cleaved off from the rest of the country culturally. And I don't know how you fix that other than having, like, more normal people run.
- [08:56]
Tara Palmeri
Well, they really hang out in D.C. most of the time, if you think about it. Most of the senators live in McLean. The congressmen and women live in Capitol Hill apartments. They go back to their districts from time to time. But after a while, you start, you know, know, drinking the swamp goop. And it's hard to remember where you came from, what you ran on, which is usually against the swamp, which is against the institution. So, you know, they usually run against Congress and then become a part of it and then some upstart. Yeah, it is. Which is probably why term limits are a good thing. So, um, yeah, I want to talk to you, though, about this 15th day of the shutdown. That is when we are recording. As of this morning, we should start making Advent calendars for it. I don't know if you. Yeah, we shouldn't put little chocolates in it because I don't think this is something to reward or look forward to. But they're now reporting that it could go until Thanksgiving or at the very least back up our travel until Thanksgiving. And I love How I'm reading about airports that are refusing to run Christine Ohm's nasty Graham messages blaming the delays on Democrats. I also love when you go through customs and you see a really large wall and there's just like a very tiny picture of Kristi Noem and Donald Trump on the wall. And I think that's in jfk, if I remember correctly. But it's really one of my favorite things ever, because I know that they would probably love to be on the entire wall.
- [10:32]
Sammy Sage
It's very North Korea. I mean, I know that this is a normal thing. Like, I know that presidents are always sort of like, in government buildings, but I don't know why we do that. I don't know. I don't like it. But let me just say, like, we talk about, you know, first of all, if they're saying it's going to go to Thanksgiving, that means what they've already built into their brains as acceptable. So to me, that's a bad sign. And if anything, like, it tells you that they don't care about anybody. They don't care that there is, like, a massive spike in military families who now need to use food pantries because of this shutdown. They don't care that people aren't getting paid. They don't care that people are not able to access their services. And the fact that they would just throw out Thanksgiving so flippantly. It reminds me of when. Hate to make this analogy, but in the beginning of like, or the end of like, 2023, when Netanyahu would be like, oh, I think it's going to take till next summer. And it's like, oh, you know, if he's willing to say that, then they have planned for something much longer. And, you know, everyone who's suffering through that can basically just off.
- [11:41]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, exactly. They have their own timelines and everyone else has to go along with it. And it's usually political. I did have both James Carville and Jeff Rowe on my show last week. Jeff Rowe is a Republican consultant. He's a mega consultant known for that horrific super PAC with Ron Desantis. But before that, he was Ted Cruz's, you know, Karl Robe figure. And he said that the shutdown apparently, yeah, he will have zero. He thinks that the shutdown will have zero impact on the midterm elections. James thinks the Democrats are winning this one. I don't know how anyone wins if the shutdown goes on for, like, for longer than 30 days, frankly. And I remember when I covered Trump's first shutdown, it was A mess. It was really terrible. It was in January. It was around the holidays. You know, you're those people that work in government are getting those bills from the holidays. It was just. I just remember how dark it was and how, you know, he was in Palm beach for a bit of it, golfing and what that looked like. And eventually they folded and, you know, there was a slacking in the next midterm elections, but because of redistricting, who knows, maybe Republicans, you know, keep the House. A lot of people seem to think they might, but this is, this just doesn't seem to end. And in the meantime, they're trying to use it to pull back government grants on major projects in blue cities like New York City. The Second Avenue subway apparently is going to be, in fact, impacted by this. A billion dollars, over a billion dollars in federal grants. They're trying to put a hold on California, you name it, anywhere that is a blue city, they are pulling back grants and they are trying to cut jobs from the irs. Okay, fine, who likes the tax man? Right?
- [13:33]
Sammy Sage
But the tax man, I think if we had a fully staffed irs, we could actually collect more of the taxes. Like, Right. That's the other thing. But no, to your point, there's quarter of the CDC is gone.
- [13:48]
Tara Palmeri
That is what I was going to get to the center for Disease Control. They fired a number of them, a huge number of them, and then had to rehire them because they never, like, think this through, really. And. But the center for Disease Control, I mean, we don't need more diseases. We just came off a pandemic. Does no one remember that?
- [14:07]
Sammy Sage
Well, what about Donald Trump saying the other day, he's like, we purposely are cutting the Democrat things, the things that they like. And it's like, okay, I'm glad you think we like health, we like housing, you know, we like energy. But to your point about, you know, who's winning or losing, I almost feel like we, you know, you can use a lot of predictive data to look at, like, what will happen. I almost feel like we've sort of like left that track. Like when we're talking about, you know, redistricting in all these states so that they can reset the congressional seats. Like, that's. We're at a place where I don't even see how you can predict what the way that any of that's going to affect the ultimate count. Now, I agree with James Carville's assessment that people are blaming the Republicans, but that's only because they're the ones with the power at the same time, I'm like, you think people are going to be thinking about this in a year? Like, so many things can happen.
- [15:09]
Tara Palmeri
I mean, literally can't even remember last month.
- [15:12]
Sammy Sage
Yeah, like, exactly.
- [15:16]
Tara Palmeri
I know, but I. For the people it hits, they will be thinking about it. And I do think that those people in Virginia who will vote in a month, and they may be feeling it, and if the Democrats get a win, which they desperately need right now to just get their mojo back in. Abigail Spanberger, who's running for governor, she's a very strong candidate, obviously, the guy who's running on her ticket for Attorney general, Jay Jones, not so much. We'll get into that. But I do think that if this causes a lot of federal workers in Virginia to vote against Trump and by way of voting for Spanberger, this could be the kind of thing that Democrats need and could motivate them to decide to go out and vote rather than sit on the couch. Because that is what a midterm election is, is a decision between the couch and the polls.
- [16:05]
Sammy Sage
It always is. Well, can I ask you, like, okay, if the Democrats are like, oh, my God, this. This Virginia mayoral election is, like, so key for us to get our mojo back, like, doesn't that sound like. Look, I don't want to be such a hater. I feel like I'm constantly ragging on the Democrats, but, like, it's easy, too.
- [16:24]
Tara Palmeri
It's kind of like punching down, in a way.
- [16:26]
Sammy Sage
Yeah, that's why I'm punching down.
- [16:27]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. Yes.
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Sammy Sage
But if that's what you're excited about and if you're worried about New Jersey, like, wake up, like, you have bigger problems.
- [16:36]
Tara Palmeri
Well, yeah, I got that. But New Jersey, I mean, Chris Christie won Jersey, and Jersey's weird.
- [16:42]
Sammy Sage
Jersey is weird to remember. Right.
- [16:44]
Tara Palmeri
I mean, having grown up in Jersey place, a lot of things start in Jersey. For example, Donald Trump, some of his most ardent supporters are there. Apparently, you know, Italian Americans came out, and they were one of the first white ethnic groups in support of him. You can bet they were all in New Jersey. Yeah.
- [17:02]
Sammy Sage
Staten Island.
- [17:02]
Tara Palmeri
So a lot. A lot of mojo comes from Jersey and Virginia because they are so close to New York and Washington, which are the power centers, honestly, of this country in a lot of ways, politically.
- [17:16]
Sammy Sage
So, yeah, I mean, they. I just think they need to be thinking bigger. Like, what are we offering? That is not just like, okay, you need to vote for us because we are not the Republicans.
- [17:30]
Tara Palmeri
Right. Well, Spamberger is an interesting character, and so is Mikey. Cheryl.
- [17:35]
Sammy Sage
Yeah, I have no issue with them. My problem is not with them. It's kind of like the rising tide of the whole party, of having a D next to your name, I think is a drag rather than a. A rising tide.
- [17:50]
Tara Palmeri
I think for some strategists like James Carville, they are also excited to see Blue Dog Democrats like Mikey, Sheryl and Spanberger win these elections because it's proof of concept that Mom Donnies are not the future for the party. So they also need that, too. And I think that's why you're also hearing them talk a lot about these races. There is an existential threat in the party that they're going to have a really messy primary. And let's face it, like the affordability messaging from Mom Donnie, it's really breaking through. Actually going to do a show on this live on my YouTube channel, which you guys can all check out tomorrow, that is Thursday on how Trump and Mom Donnie are really alike in the sense that they use the same playbook and tactics. Same messaging in a lot of ways, too. And I think this also goes back to the Bernie crossover you saw between Trump and Trump voters and Bernie voters back in 2016. This is what, this is what their, their team saw for sure. So definitely we'll talk about that tomorrow on my YouTube channel at Tara Palmeri. You can find me there and we'll, and we'll post it, of course, on the pod.
- [18:57]
Sammy Sage
I'm going to listen.
- [18:59]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, thanks. We're going to. Yeah, we're going to have Steve Schmidt on for that, too. So he's got a lot of perspective when it comes to that. I do want to talk to you, though, about this blockbuster report out of Politico. A. I.
- [19:14]
Sammy Sage
Had the time of my life. Life. Hey, I never felt this way before. From building timelines to assigning the right people and even spotting risks across dozens of projects, Monday Sidekick knows your business.
- [19:28]
Tara Palmeri
Thinks ahead and takes action.
- [19:30]
Sammy Sage
One click on the star and consider it done. And I owe it all to you. Try Monday Sidekick AI you'll love to.
- [19:39]
Tara Palmeri
Use on Monday.com 2900 pages, okay. Of Telegram group chats. When are Republicans going to realize Telegram isn't for them? It's not a safe space to just say, like, you know, send out war plans with emojis, you know, invite reporters. So the leaders of the young Republican groups, they were shooting off a bunch of horrific text messages. Racist, sexist, anti Semitic. These guys are turds. They were literally joking about gas chambers, rape, torture, Hitler, black people referring to them by the N word. And a number of other racist tropes. I mean, at the same time, in these group chats, they're talking about strategy and wanting Trump's endorsement. I would read off some of these messages, but I actually just think they're so offensive that I don't even want to repeat them.
- [20:40]
Sammy Sage
Yeah, they. They. When I was reporting on it this morning, I was like, this is this. It's like a warning or something, what I'm repeating that they're saying, or not even like the actual words, but like the topics.
- [20:52]
Tara Palmeri
It's so vile.
- [20:54]
Sammy Sage
Yeah.
- [20:54]
Tara Palmeri
And it's just that, to me, it signifies the fact that, first of all, we've gotten to this place where these kids who think they want to be leaders in the party, who work for, by the way, various representatives and have some of them been fired, Some of them are, obviously, their jobs are on the line, Think this is appropriate? Think this is the. This is how they should be speaking about people in general. What really startled me, though, Sammy, is that Vice President J.D. vance was asked about this, and instead of condemning it, he equivocated it to Jay Jones, who is a Virginia state representative running for Attorney general, who I mentioned earlier, and he's on the same ballot line as Abigail Spamberger, and he joked about shooting the Virginia House Speaker, Todd Gilbert. That is terrible. It is horrible. Two things can be horrible. But why can't you also condemn what these boys. I call them boys. There are men. They are men. They are adult men. What they have spewed out this vi. These vile messages that they have spewed out. Now, JD Are you pandering to this young group of men, this turning points crowd? You know, you're going to need them when you run in 2028.
- [22:09]
Sammy Sage
Yeah.
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Tara Palmeri
I mean, what is Trump going to say? I mean, I wonder if they're going to ask Trump about what the guy said about the fact that he's spending all this time burning the Epstein files.
- [22:18]
Sammy Sage
I hope that was my favorite. Also, when they were like, oh, if anyone saw these messages, we'd be. It's like, are you? Are you. It's like, okay, J.D. vance, he drives me insane. I mean, this is the kind of thing where it's like, okay, so if you have an issue with J. Jones messages, you obviously have an issue with these messages, Right? And look, I think it's more telling about the kind of world we are living in and, like, the animosity that people have towards each other. Like, do you remember when people were worried, like, oh, there'll be pictures of me drinking in College on Facebook, I can't ever run for office. It's like you're sitting here, like, actively slurring all these groups who you are supposed to be trying to win over as voters that, you know, or maybe.
- [23:08]
Tara Palmeri
They don't think they have to. They don't think they have. Maybe they don't think they have to.
- [23:12]
Sammy Sage
Maybe they're right, you know, that that's the truth. Like, maybe they're not wrong. But I mean, it's the kind of thing where you're like, it's so abhorrent that you're like, do I even need to say it's abhorrent? But then the goalposts get moved by the conversation that J.D. vance. And if Donald Trump were to be asked about it, it's like, it.
- [23:32]
Tara Palmeri
Be it.
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Sammy Sage
Like, at this point, I'm part of why I didn't even want to, like, read the messages on my own podcast was because I was thinking, I'm like, oh, there are people who are going to hear this that are going to not take the message. This is so terrible. They're gonna be like, oh, I guess everyone's doing it, so it's fine if I do. And that is how we've gotten just like a ratchet up in hatred.
- [23:57]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. And I just think, like, the what about ism, this sort of distraction, it's just. That's all we're gonna get. Don't expect any condemnation because never say sorry. Right. Like, this is all now, I guess, appropriate dialogue in American discourse that can just be said out loud. I mean, President Trump doesn't condemn this kind of stuff.
- [24:20]
Sammy Sage
No, he says he would say it. Like, he. Maybe not those exact things aloud, but he would say things to that effect. Like, you know, when you think about, you know, what he always does, where.
- [24:32]
Tara Palmeri
It'S like, oh, it's about him, by the way.
- [24:35]
Sammy Sage
Right.
- [24:36]
Tara Palmeri
That's why I think he might condemn the burning Epstein files thing because it's about him.
- [24:40]
Sammy Sage
But why would he want to pay attention to that?
- [24:43]
Tara Palmeri
Well, he'll have to.
- [24:44]
Sammy Sage
He might have to be asked about it. I think, like, he's gonna ghislaine them kind of like, you know, when he's.
- [24:49]
Tara Palmeri
Like, oh, I wish them well, but.
- [24:51]
Sammy Sage
You know, I don't like that. It's not very good. But like, oh, like, you know, they're young boys, they make mistakes. Kind of like that's how I think it'll be received in the party. Because there's really. There's never any sort of actual reason to believe that they condone this behavior.
- [25:08]
Tara Palmeri
Right. I do love this one part of the story. It's a long one, by the way. But the chair of the New York Young Republicans, Peter Gianta, I believe I'm saying his name wrong, but does it really matter? Because he'll probably fall off the map soon and then be restored, probably as a future member of the New York Assembly. But he called this a highly coordinated year long character assassination and a form of extortion. And I say to him, welcome to politics, young man.
- [25:39]
Sammy Sage
Also, like you said it like no one, no one made those messages for you. Like, if you think this is okay and you don't like that people have a problem with it, welcome to politics.
- [25:51]
Tara Palmeri
Right, exactly.
- [25:52]
Sammy Sage
Like, is it a smear campaign if it's your own words?
- [25:56]
Tara Palmeri
No, no, it's absurd. Yeah, it's absurd. But they're used to it.
- [26:01]
Sammy Sage
They're, they're imitating Donald Trump because he is a special figure who gets away with, with whatever.
- [26:08]
Tara Palmeri
But they're not you. No one.
- [26:10]
Sammy Sage
They're not. No, but they think they are.
- [26:13]
Tara Palmeri
Apparently the reaction on the right is to call the leaker a traitor and attack anyone who condemns the words. So there we go.
- [26:22]
Sammy Sage
Yeah. I mean, we could have guessed that. That's what they do anytime. Anything is journalists. Any journalist does anything. I mean, we, we kind of, we kind of touched on it or I think you mentioned it, the Pete Hegseth rules for the journalists at the Pentagon. It's like making them sign on that they're not going to report on anything that they don't. That he doesn't personally authorize. It's like. Yeah. So you want them to be a speakerphone. Like what, What? That's not journalists. That.
- [26:50]
Tara Palmeri
No. And it also suggests to me that.
- [26:53]
Sammy Sage
He is doing something.
- [26:57]
Tara Palmeri
Highly paranoid. Oh yeah. To me that he doesn't trust the people around him. He's afraid of the leaks. He feels burned. You know, this is going above and beyond what President Trump is calling for. President Trump isn't making members of the press corps sign documents saying that they will not obtain or use unauthorized internal documents, emails, memo memos or other material from DoD sources. They are a little, it's, it is beta. Yeah, super beta.
- [27:31]
Sammy Sage
Yeah.
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Tara Palmeri
You nailed it. Yeah, always do. It's so beta.
- [27:34]
Sammy Sage
Yeah. That's why Trump wouldn't do it. I mean, like, he would energetically do it, but he wouldn't like do the thing that's so stupid that you put it in writing where even Fox News can't get on board.
- [27:47]
Tara Palmeri
Right. OANN1American News Network has decided that they don't mind being the mouthpiece for the dod.
- [27:55]
Sammy Sage
They should just give their accounts over to them and like, let them have you to.
- [28:01]
Tara Palmeri
I know. It's just the thing I do think to myself is maybe this is a good day in a weird way for the press. Because if they, if all of these members of the press that cover the Pentagon now suddenly have more time, they don't have to listen to his BS press conferences in which he is spewing lies, propaganda, etc. They can watch it on. I don't know. Or maybe they don't have to. He's completely ignored and they spend all of their time investigating what's going on and digging in and finding leaks because he's a highly paranoid person. So however he's treating the press, he's probably treating his staff even worse and the people within the department even worse. And they spend their time cultivating sources, getting the true stories. Investigations will run rampant. It will all fall apart and he will fall on his head again. Just like the signal gate leak, which he somehow managed to get out of without a scrape. I don't think Pete Hegseth is long for this world and I think he knows that or he wouldn't be doing this. And by long for this world, I mean in that position.
- [29:03]
Sammy Sage
Yeah. So we're not the Republicans chat over here.
- [29:09]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. This, this is a guy. Yes. Who, who is. Is terrified. So again, if these reporters end up spending that extra time they have really digging in. And a lot of them are great reporters already doing that right now. I'm excited to just. I'm excited to see what they do with their free time.
- [29:27]
Sammy Sage
Me too.
- [29:27]
Tara Palmeri
I'm excited to see what they did.
- [29:30]
Sammy Sage
Yeah. I think that he, he is protected by the fact that Donald Trump does not want to fire anyone. Yes. Like as a. Just a rule. So that's what I think has led him to survive. But if a scalp has to be scalped, I could see it being Pete Hegseth.
- [29:48]
Tara Palmeri
Where would they put him? Because they're not going to fire him.
- [29:50]
Sammy Sage
So where could ambassador to the Penguin Islands that they tariffed or something like.
- [29:55]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. He'll have to deal with, with Penguin tariffs. It'll be tough. They'll be like snipping at him.
- [29:59]
Sammy Sage
Yeah. Just Pete, like, look, this man's mother called him an abuser of women. So look, if your mother can like be so honest about your character like that should say something about the man running the military.
- [30:18]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. So sad. He's so sad. Little grease ball Yes, I do want to get to a mother though. While we just brought that up, Marjorie Taylor Greene and her makeover. What do you make of this new mtg, who by the way, was, has always been a rabble rouser, has always attacked her own party. But this seems different because it's, it's like she's throwing a lot of shade at Trump lately too. She recently said that she doesn't believe after being like, we should lock up all the immigrants and send them away and, you know, wanting to be DHS secretary. Now she is saying she doesn't believe in mass deportations or they're not doing it the right way to. It's gotten out of hand because it's affecting the construction business, which she is a part of as a small business owner. She wants Obamacare subsidies to to be renewed. She wants the Republicans to reopen the government. She is calling the Republican members weak men. I mean, we can go through all of this, but I have some theories about where this is all coming from. Why has Marjorie Taylor Greene become the best spokesperson for the Democratic Party? And I'm sure you do too. So let's start with you, Sammy.
- [31:32]
Sammy Sage
I mean, new mtg, same as the old mtg. People just didn't recognize her game for what it was. And I say this as like where we started. These beltway people, they come and they are like fish out of water when they go home. And I actually think Marjorie Taylor Greene is a great example of someone who does stay in touch emotionally in touch with her constituents, despite being a DC figure. And there's a reason that out of all of the, you know, people who entered Congress in 2018, between 2018 and 2020, why she is a name amongst all these Mangas, because there's hundreds that didn't that have just gone along with it. You. They fly kind of under the radar. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a weather vane. She is. I think that if people were like able to kind of get away from the what is. Why is she doing this Question and think about like, why is she. Why does she think it's okay to do this? That it actually there's information to be had about her constituents. I think Marjorie has a very strong nose for the direction that things are going in. And like, if anything, I feel like the good news for the Democrats is not that she's doing it, but that she feels safe to do it and whatever it might be. Like, I know you like a lot of this is personal for her. I think some of it could be that she sees a Future without Donald Trump in it, where there's, like, a genius.
- [33:08]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, yeah, I believe.
- [33:10]
Sammy Sage
And she's like, oh, I could take that little loser. Which I think she can.
- [33:14]
Tara Palmeri
Or she predicts that eventually people will see him as not MAGA enough.
- [33:18]
Sammy Sage
Vance.
- [33:20]
Tara Palmeri
All of them. Like, I think she sees in 2028 that she could be the standard bearer of the party, that she could be shown that her credentials are stronger than theirs.
- [33:27]
Sammy Sage
I do. And I think if. If Ivanka Trump doesn't run for president, like, Marjorie Taylor Greene will do the best in that primary.
- [33:36]
Tara Palmeri
I can't believe you just said that. My brain is just completely exploded. Ivanka. Ivana. I'm sorry. Ivanka. God, it's. It's gone. That I went to Ivana. Yeah, yeah, we'll run for president.
- [33:49]
Sammy Sage
I think that there's a strong possibility. Like, I don't see why. Like, I know she kind of, like, stepped back, but we're still two years, three years away from, like, an actual election. And she doesn't. She has the name ID she needs. She doesn't need to. All she needs to say is, I'm here, I'm back. Vote for me. And it's kind of like, she doesn't need to do all that work to build up a foundation. I don't see Trump ever wanting to leave his MAGA dynasty to a non family member. He's not that kind of guy. Again, I think a lot of this has to do with his health. With, like, think about how Jared's being positioned in terms of the Gaza deal and how she was on the tarmac yesterday in Israel. Like, she shows up. She's running the UFC fight next year for the 250th anniversary. Like, they're positioning her quietly to not burn out, but to, like, I think, peak at the same time as Donald is maybe, you know, going a little down. And I just think, like, I don't see them being like, yeah, sure, here, J.D. vance, you take over now.
- [34:58]
Tara Palmeri
I do Remember back in 2024, which feels like a million years ago, that she would throw. I heard from sources that she would just, like, throw out randomly in parties, like, should I join the administration again? Should I join the administration again? Like, she likes the attention of people telling her, oh, my gosh, Ivanka, you'd be amazing. She never did it. Yeah.
- [35:18]
Sammy Sage
You know, she's, like, thinking about it, even if that's. She's not thinking about, like, oh, am I. Am I good enough to be president? Like, could I win? She's just like, should I Do it. Why not?
- [35:29]
Tara Palmeri
I think, I think Erica Kirk is an interesting figure right now. Perhaps as like a, as a VP to someone to advance. Yeah. She just seems to really be cutting like an interesting figure.
- [35:43]
Sammy Sage
Oh, yeah.
- [35:44]
Tara Palmeri
But back to Marjorie. I, I do think that she may, she's 51 years old. She may be thinking at her about her political future and she may be thinking, these guys like jd, they're gonna, they're a bunch of squishes. What they've done, they, they've already, you know, they've already done things that they promised they wouldn't bomb Iran, you know, tariff. Well, no, she's pro tariff. I mean, you know, she could change any of this. Oh yeah. Nobody, nobody's really listening, but.
- [36:11]
Sammy Sage
Yeah.
- [36:11]
Tara Palmeri
So here's my thing. I, I do agree with you. I, I just don't think there's. First of all, you're right about her. Her district, it is ruby red. It is not some fancy suburb outside of Atlanta. It's an excerpt. It's hard Scrabble. She gets these people. She, she is a blue collar woman. Bought her construction company from her family. She gets them. She's talking about her sons and the fact that Obamacare subsidies are going to go up. I'm sure a lot of the people in her district are feeling the same way. The Epstein stuff. That is true. Maga. I mean, she wants the Epstein files to come out. Commend her for that, by the way.
- [36:48]
Sammy Sage
So do the chat.
- [36:51]
Tara Palmeri
Exactly. Apparently. But I do just, I do get the feeling too that she feels burned a little bit. I think Marjorie feels like she played ball. I think she feels like she played ball with Trump by being his biggest cheerleader, especially after January six. She campaigned really hard for him. I think she feels like she played ball with Speaker Johnson, who she tried to vacate the his seat, by the way, but she filed that motion to vacate, but she rescinded it. And I think she feels like she's played ball with him too, even though that would, some would say no. And I think she thinks she deserves more. And what I would point to, first of all, I was feeling very mischievous when I saw her at Trump's primary election night party and she was like in the ballroom. It was barely, it was hours and hours before the event started. But they let the press in. She was just milling about, kind of waiting to get time with Trump clearly wanting something. So I figured I'd ask her about Katie Britt, who had just given that horrible union rebuttal. Very creepy. And I was like, what do you think about Katie bit Brit for vp? And I knew that would set her off. And literally, she knew off the top of her head that Katie Britt's Heritage score was 81 and that it wasn't conservative enough. She just, like, had that in her back pocket. Like, she has got numbers on all of you. She said in an interview with the Washington Post yesterday that she thinks that. That these Republican men are weak and they are not giving women enough leadership positions in the committees. There's only one Republican woman that is leading a committee. She has a subcommittee, by the way. That was sort of consolation prize for her, which. But, you know, there is clearly. This is clearly laced in some grievance. I have to believe that as well. And I spoke to a source familiar with her relationship with Capitol Hill and the White House. They said that, like, she's not a calculating person. She really is driven by raw emotion. But they do think that there was a catalyst moment for Marjorie Taylor Greene, and that was when the Trump team told her in May not to run for statewide office because they said that she would not be able to beat Senator John Ossoff.
- [39:11]
Sammy Sage
Right.
- [39:11]
Tara Palmeri
And they think that this was the moment when Marjorie snapped and was like, I'm off.
- [39:16]
Sammy Sage
You know, I think I. I believe it, but I. Yes, I think that's true. I think Marjorie Taylor Greene is a lot like Donald Trump. The way she does politics, the way she speaks, the things she chooses to speak about her, like, backtrack, you know, her test, the water, backtrack style. The fact that it does spring from a combination of personal grievance and, like, a certain type of intelligence. People want to deny that Donald Trump has a certain type of intelligence, but.
- [39:48]
Tara Palmeri
He does animal like. And it's got. It's guttural.
- [39:51]
Sammy Sage
Primitive. Guttural is a perfect word. A primitive sense of, like, what people are going to respond to. Like, what, you know, the fact that she had those numbers on Katie Britt, like, she's thinking about it. She knows what the end goal is. She knows, like, there's a. Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene share this sense of, like, they both can intuit where the North Star is politically. Everyone else in the Republican conference, with a few exceptions, they just follow her and they're faking her and him. And, you know, they just. They're like, okay, what's everyone gonna say? I'm gonna jump on that. That's why you don't know their names. That's why we know her name. Like, because she can tell. And she's just like, Donald Trump. Like, I think she is the true heir to and to maga. Like, the, you know, if you give it a cohesive philosophy, like, that's her as a person. And I think that, like, people on, you know, underestimate her at your peril. And it might be personal, but, like, so much of this is personal. For them, it just comes down to their own egos.
- [41:00]
Tara Palmeri
Everything is about ego and politics. By the way, if you want to read my piece about Marjorie Taylor Greene, it's called Hell Hath no Fury, Marjorie Taylor Greene's grudge against the GOP. You can find it at tarapaulmieri.com T A R A P A L m e r I.com Sign up for my newsletter, the Red Letter. It's a way to support my independent journalism. No one standing over, no corporate overlords telling me how to report this. Just me talking to my sources and getting deep into the story and finding out what is going on with Marjorie Taylor Greene. So, yeah, I think you're right. I think it's all of this, and I think she wants to be an iconoclast. Yeah. I think she knows that, that, that people ruin, reward that, especially when you run against an institution that is so unpopular. She ran against Republicans. So did Trump. She gets the game in that sense. Can you get her on the show?
- [41:56]
Sammy Sage
I would like to hear you talk to her.
- [41:58]
Tara Palmeri
Oh, I've tried that. We'll see.
- [42:02]
Sammy Sage
She knows you have good questions. Maybe that's the issue. Yeah. She was cnn.
- [42:08]
Tara Palmeri
Yes. And that was weird. I don't know if you saw that. I could never imagine her on CNN just because, like, normally she'd be going on there and just scream at the anchor the whole time. But at the same time, I do think that CNN was like, oh, you're saying nice things about. The Democrats will also treat you in a different way. They treated her like an adult. Like a, you know, she acted like an adult. Right. She did. But they all. She also wasn't saying anything that they find objectionable. So it was a different type of.
- [42:35]
Sammy Sage
It was just studio.
- [42:37]
Tara Palmeri
It was in studio. It was different. It felt weird. I mean, I can't forget that this woman also called for Obama to be hung.
- [42:46]
Sammy Sage
Nancy Pelosi, Jewish space lasers. Like, she said Jan. 6 was caused.
- [42:51]
Tara Palmeri
By Black Lives Matter. Yeah. So it's, it's a little weird.
- [42:54]
Sammy Sage
It's, it's weird because, like, we're not used to applying the Trump standard to someone else and.
- [43:01]
Tara Palmeri
Right.
- [43:02]
Sammy Sage
If, if we did, it would be like, oh, she makes Perfect sense. This gives me no pleasure to say. I. I've always kind of thought that the first female president, if we ever have one, would be a Republican. I don't know if it'll be. I don't think it's going to be her necessarily, but, like, she has a certain power that comes from being this mix of a Republican woman, someone who, like, hits emotional truths, but hit, but does not hit intellectual truths and likes to lie and will say anything and kind of be this chameleon. And like, it's. I think it. If people don't take her at face value, that's the best way to talk about Marjorie.
- [43:48]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. I mean, to dismiss her is perhaps to give her power in the same way that people dismiss Trump and then he was able to slide through. I don't know.
- [43:57]
Sammy Sage
I mean, maybe, like, she's an idiot because she's not an idiot. Just because she says stupid things. Like, they're so good at that. Like saying things that are just patently false. Yeah. So you're like, how do you think that? You don't believe in facts and then like, no, there's an intelligence there that, like, is not understood by, like, the coastal elite mind.
- [44:17]
Tara Palmeri
So someone, the source that I spoke to said that, you know, she's not very calculating. She. It's hard for her to think two steps ahead. She doesn't know when to speak and when not to speak. But you could also say that about Trump.
- [44:27]
Sammy Sage
That's instinct.
- [44:29]
Tara Palmeri
That's insane.
- [44:30]
Sammy Sage
Good instincts. Like, she is. She is like Trump. Like, there's a calculation, but it's. They're. They're never afraid to, like, you know, certain people will make like, a five year plan and they're not going to deviate from it. Like, think of Kamala Harris is like this.
- [44:44]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. He's got like, her list of exactly what my future looks like. It's a, It's a bit nauseating even to the biggest supporters, I think.
- [44:52]
Sammy Sage
Right. Like, there's a very clear sense of, like, how we'll do things. Marjorie is, like, flexible and she's gonna respond to the, the moment. And that is. It's a primitive intelligence.
- [45:07]
Tara Palmeri
Primitive intelligence. There you go.
- [45:08]
Sammy Sage
Yeah.
- [45:09]
Tara Palmeri
Street fighters, which I. Oh, by the way, I loved your video where you explained why only a mafia don like Trump could get the, could get the Israel deal to happen with, with, you know, with Netanyahu, because they speak the same language, the same mob language. And I think it's interesting. I love that video. I watched it twice, and that's why I really Love your content and I think you are so great at nailing it all down. He strong armed him. You're totally right. But then again, this deal is just a deal on paper. It's basically, and obviously the hostages being released. It's a big deal. But there's, there's new reports now that Hamas is lining people up in the streets and shooting them.
- [45:53]
Sammy Sage
Yeah, there's like clan wars in Gaza, like who will control Gaza. It's a, I mean I think that the, the fact that it's held this.
- [46:02]
Tara Palmeri
Long and, and Israeli forces are continuing.
- [46:05]
Sammy Sage
To delay aid because they're not returning the bodies fast enough. So they also have to give back the bodies. But like the thing is these are specific, like the fact that, that they even got to an agreement like to, to your point about, about that video, I feel that like it's not about this deal, it's about how we're working these days. Like there's no more pretense of human rights or democratic norms or diplomatic norms. Like it's might money and like mob rules, like who is going to, who is going to show their strength or like threaten strongly enough that something can.
- [46:53]
Tara Palmeri
Be achieved while also dangling the carrot of real estate and money and investment. Because the truth is, is that these people like Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff who have taken lots of money from Qatar and Trump, who very much would like to expand his presence in the Middle east, would like people to think that this is a safe place to live and vacation. So if the bombs continue to, you know, they continue to be launched, this is not a place that anyone would invest in. So there is always money on the line. That's why we don't talk about, you know, the Uyghurs and nobody cares about that. So yeah, they're not even there.
- [47:32]
Sammy Sage
Like BB is not. Well, I mean Abbas is in, was in, is at the Egypt summit, but like Bibi's not even there.
- [47:40]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, well, this is a very tenuous peace deal. Yeah, it could be like a peace thought, but I do think Hamas accepted the peace deal. The Hamas has lost a lot of leverage though by handing over, well, the hostage.
- [47:54]
Sammy Sage
Well, there's like the cutter of it all that like think about what they've gotten my feeling on. This is like we're gonna wake up in 10 years and be like, what, what, what happened there? Because they're, they now have access to one of our air force bases in Idaho. They now have NATO level security guarantees from the United States, which is unprecedented for a Gulf country. And they were the ones housing Hamas. They still are. So it's like this willingness to kind of.
- [48:24]
Tara Palmeri
Although they gave us a jet, though.
- [48:25]
Sammy Sage
We. We didn't get a jet. Donald Trump got a jet. That is.
- [48:29]
Tara Palmeri
Right, right, right. Excuse me. I said that. You're. You're right. We're not unfortunately, probably a very much bugged jet.
- [48:39]
Sammy Sage
Oh my God. Like, that's the thing. It's like Biden or any other administration couldn't make that happen because they weren't willing to entertain like that flexibility in deal making because that flexibility probably will turn out to be dangerous.
- [48:55]
Tara Palmeri
I mean, Cutter started obviously influence the evolution of Qatar. I mean, that's a story in itself.
- [49:02]
Sammy Sage
Oh, my God. One day it's gonna be like everyone's gonna start like it's one of those things where it's like in a few months everyone will be talking about Cutter for whatever reason. We don't know what it'll be yet, but suddenly everyone will like be thinking about it. It's. Yeah.
- [49:21]
Tara Palmeri
Tammy, I always feel like I've learned so much with you and while also having a great conversation over drinks. So thanks for coming on the show. I'm a huge supporter of Betcha is what you guys are doing bringing information in brilliant, digestible ways. Sammy always comes up on my feed first when I open Instagram and I think that's a testament to her content. Guys, go out there and subscribe to her many podcasts here. She has created a true network like she. This is a girl boss of bosses. So I'm always looking at you and I admire what you've done. Thanks for bringing your brilliance on this show.
- [50:04]
Sammy Sage
Thank you. It is totally mutual. I am rooting for you. I love watching this channel grow. It makes me like personally happy to see your success. And every time you get a scoop and anytime you're on table talking about Epstein because.
- [50:18]
Tara Palmeri
Oh yeah, yeah. It's just more and more. It never stops the drip, drip, drip of Epstein. And I know a lot of you love that. That topic and we'll keep on it. But you know, there's other news too. So that's why Big enough skin. Oh, the. It's the tip of the iceberg and it's. It these kind of stories, they just. You can't. The genie will get out of the bottle. You just can't contain it. So I'm keep. I'm working on it, but I think right now emerge when there's really big news on it and when I've got a scoop that. That. That I need to get out and, and in the meantime, I'll just keep digging.
- [50:57]
Sammy Sage
I think it's something we'll be talking about for years to come. So keep at it.
- [51:01]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, totally. Well, thanks, Sammy. Appreciate it and have a Great Wednesday. Number 15 of the shutdown. Okay. Hopefully soon to be the last day. That was another episode of the Tara Palmieri show. If you like this show, please rate, subscribe, share it with all of your friends. If you want to support my independent journalism, please go to tarapaumeri.com that's T A R a P a L m e r I.com and subscribe to the Red Letter. That is my newsletter where you can get all of my exclusive reporting straight to your inbox. And it's also a way to support my independent journalism. I want to thank my producer Eric Abenate. I want to thank Adam Stewart on the graphics and Abby Baker who does research and social media. I'll be back again this week.