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Speaker 1: You Hello, welcome to Fast Politics. I'm Molly Johnfest, and

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Speaker 1: we have such a great show for you today. Later

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Speaker 1: in the show, we'll talk to Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis

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Speaker 1: McGill-Johnson about what she's seeing in reproductive rights world on

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Speaker 1: the campaign trail. But first, we have the Lincoln Project's

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Speaker 1: own Rick Wilson to talk about Donald Trump's ridiculous closing message. Welcome, welcome,

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Speaker 1: Rick Wilson.

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Speaker 2: Hello, Molly. We're almost done for the year.

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Speaker 1: We're 48 hours.

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Speaker 2: Woo!

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Speaker 1: D-Day here. And Donald Trump, we're talking closing messages. We

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Speaker 1: have Donald Trump's closing message. It is caviar.

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Speaker 2: Drag queens.

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Speaker 1: And... Leopard print.

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Speaker 2: And look, separately.

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Speaker 1: It's party hardy at his club with the million dollar

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Speaker 1: initiation fee.

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Speaker 2: Right. And look, take all those things separately. Drag queens, caviar...

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Speaker 2: jungle-themed parties, million-dollar initiation fees in private clubs, and adding

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Speaker 2: them all up as the singular brand of the president

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Speaker 2: who leads one political party with complete control of it

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Speaker 2: in a year where voters are pissed off about corruption

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Speaker 2: and about people at the very top of the economic

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Speaker 2: food chain raping and pillaging their world, it seems like

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Speaker 2: that wouldn't have been the first message the focus group

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Speaker 2: would have told you they wanted to hear.

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Speaker 1: It's, you know, in Texas, in the great state of Texas,

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Speaker 1: where there's the Senate race, where the Democrat has been

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Speaker 1: pulling ahead this entire time, they are having, they are

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Speaker 1: opening plasma centers where people can sell their blood so

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Speaker 1: they can afford to fill their car up with gas

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Speaker 1: or buy groceries. But Donald Trump is laser focused on

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Speaker 1: the cha-cha, caviar, and drag.

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Speaker 2: You know, I have to say, Molly, Donald Trump has

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Speaker 2: been tone deaf the whole year, but he's This being

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Speaker 2: the closing note of the year, this being the closing

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Speaker 2: act where there are no more big rallies for Trump

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Speaker 2: to go to. There is no more money to be

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Speaker 2: spent on advertising to speak of. You may get a

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Speaker 2: lot of text messages tomorrow, but you can't really buy

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Speaker 2: any more TV at this point. You can't really buy

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Speaker 2: much more digital. A little bit's probably available, but not

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Speaker 2: a whole lot. So the tone is set. The die

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Speaker 2: is cast. Trump is going to be what he's going

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Speaker 2: to be, and the party is branded with him. And

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Speaker 2: all these people that are out there thinking, yeah, he's

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Speaker 2: going to pivot to the economy any minute now.

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Speaker 1: You know, I saw a photo of a gold, you know,

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Speaker 1: they painted the, D.C. has been like totally Mar-a-Lago-ed by

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump. And they painted the little sculptures, a sort

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Speaker 1: of very goldy gold that you tend not to see

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Speaker 1: in America, but mostly in like North Korea. Right.

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Speaker 2: Versailles, North Korea, the aforementioned Saddam Cheesecake Factory. Right.

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Speaker 1: It's melting. So even Saddam was able to get his

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Speaker 1: Cheesecake Factory not to where the gold didn't melt.

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Speaker 2: I have to say, the never-ending story of Donald Trump's

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Speaker 2: lack of taste and how it now impacts American politics.

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Speaker 2: It is a gift that keeps on giving. And it's

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Speaker 2: ironic because Donald Trump is one of those people that

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Speaker 2: uses the word classy without understanding that when he uses

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Speaker 2: that word, it reminds everyone that he has none whatsoever

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Speaker 2: or taste or judgment. And when you ram that up

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Speaker 2: against this economic crisis everybody's in, again, like you said,

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Speaker 2: plasma centers so people can afford gas, we are at

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Speaker 2: a point where This is where, if we were in

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Speaker 2: France in the late 1800s, there would be pitchforks and

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Speaker 2: torches and peasants storming the White House.

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Speaker 1: And Donald Trump is laser focused on affordability, but he's

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Speaker 1: also laser focused on suing the Wall Street Journal. So

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Speaker 1: the Wall Street Journal found the Donald Trump letter in

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Speaker 1: the Epstein birthday book because Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein

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Speaker 1: were really close friends.

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Speaker 2: They were very close friends always for years and years,

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Speaker 2: for decades. They were the closest of friends.

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Speaker 1: And Donald Trump wrote a letter for the Epstein birthday book.

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Speaker 1: And it is a picture of a naked lady. And

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Speaker 1: it talks about their wonderful secret.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. And we were told by then White House communications

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Speaker 2: or White House press secretary, Carolyn Leavitt, and a million

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Speaker 2: other people, including Don Jr. My dad never signs anything.

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Speaker 2: He doesn't draw anything. No, no, no. The entire MAGA

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Speaker 2: apparatus came out and screamed bloody murder. that this was

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Speaker 2: a fake, a fraud, a hoax. It was the deep

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Speaker 2: state trying to screw Trump over, all those things. Well,

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Speaker 2: it turns out it wasn't. Turns out Donald Trump drew it,

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Speaker 2: and the Wall Street Journal was going to be able

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Speaker 2: to prove it in court, and therefore, it's over.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so Donald Trump sued the Wall Street Journal and

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Speaker 1: kicked out of court because- Because.

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Speaker 2: He was a lying liar who lies.

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Speaker 1: Yet again. And again, we can, if we're talking about

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Speaker 1: the story, we should wonder again why that part, who

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Speaker 1: leaked that part of the birthday book?

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Speaker 2: That would have been a family member of Jeffrey Epstein,

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Speaker 2: from what I was told.

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Speaker 1: Right. And then who also, I'm not convinced because I

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Speaker 1: wonder since that letter was leaked and then Todd Blanche

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Speaker 1: went to go and see Ghislaine.

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Speaker 2: Oh, well, could have been that. And move her.

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Speaker 1: To a much nicer prison camp where they have doggies.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I think we have to really remember there's a

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Speaker 2: really significant probability. I'm not saying it's a high. I'm

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Speaker 2: not saying it's 100%. I'm saying it's not zero. That

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Speaker 2: the day after Election Day, he pardons Ghislaine Maxwell while

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Speaker 2: he's attacking Iran. Because we're apparently about to go to

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Speaker 2: war with Iran again for three days of heavy bombing.

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Speaker 2: Because I guess we just want to exhaust our entire

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Speaker 2: stockpile of weapons, which is clearly what's going on. Um,

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Speaker 2: but I, I think that, that he's going to go through,

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Speaker 2: he's going to try to keep, keep Ghislaine on, on the,

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Speaker 2: on the, on, on side. Um, because as we saw

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Speaker 2: from the house Democrats this week, oversight Democrats this weekend

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Speaker 2: for this house and Senate, there is much more evidence

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Speaker 2: now that, that Todd Blanchard is running a full on

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Speaker 2: cover up. The Donald Trump is much more. involved in

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Speaker 2: the Epstein matter, again, that we all knew. And you're talking.

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Speaker 1: About the thing that they released, which is a story

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Speaker 1: of Epstein and Trump and rape.

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Speaker 2: Correct. And including new allegations, or not completely new allegations,

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Speaker 2: but new allegations with much more granular detail than had

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Speaker 2: previously been released. And Trump knows he's going to have

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Speaker 2: to run the biggest distraction play ever for the next

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Speaker 2: few weeks to try to keep this out of the press.

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Speaker 2: It's not going to work.

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Speaker 1: And Donald Trump does love a distraction. But it is— it' s

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Speaker 1: a closing message. I mean, it's a closing weekend filled

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Speaker 1: with even more of the kind of problems that this

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Speaker 1: administration has had, right? Not unfocused, focused on, you know,

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Speaker 1: basically Marie Antoinette-ing it with our tax dollars.

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Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and early voting has been... I would like to

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Speaker 1: talk about the early vote. We're not supposed to talk

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Speaker 1: about the early vote because it's very rife for misinterpretation.

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Speaker 2: Sure.

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Speaker 1: And it's a very blunt indicator. But how is the

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Speaker 1: early vote going?

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Speaker 2: We have seen in key states, Texas, Nevada, Florida, Georgia,

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Speaker 2: the early vote numbers for... Democrats, broadly, are way above

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Speaker 2: anything we've ever seen. Way above par for 24. Way

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Speaker 2: above par for 22. And 22 is the nearest analogy year, right?

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Speaker 2: No Trump on the ballot.

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Speaker 1: Or 2018. Right.

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Speaker 2: Way above 18. The particular subset of early voters that

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Speaker 2: has got a lot of my ex-Republican or my former

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Speaker 2: friends panicked is that in Texas and in Florida, they

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Speaker 2: are seeing gigantic early voting turnout with Hispanics and gigantic

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Speaker 2: early voting turnout with African-Americans. And in every case and race,

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Speaker 2: we have seen that Hispanics are not voting Republican again.

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Speaker 2: They have that, that, that little flirtation is over.

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Speaker 1: It turned out that, that is super secret police force

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Speaker 1: that targets you and anyone with the Latino last name.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And that, um, At the same time, the policies of

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Speaker 2: the White House are destroying your economic prosperity.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Turns out those are not winners.

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Speaker 1: Not winners.

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Speaker 2: For those voters. And they're coming out hard. Yeah. As

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Speaker 2: of today, as of right now, in Florida, Republicans have

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Speaker 2: just finally passed the Democrats in the early and absentee vote.

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Speaker 2: Which is amazing. Today is Sunday. where there are only

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Speaker 2: a few counties where you can do the final day

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Speaker 2: of early voting. They're almost all very blue counties. So

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Speaker 2: we're going to end up going into Election Day with

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Speaker 2: Republicans having only a handful more votes than the Democrats

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Speaker 2: do in the early and absentee voting. And the reason

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Speaker 2: that is so deadly right now is Republican enthusiasm to

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Speaker 2: come out and vote in Florida and Texas both have

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Speaker 2: been mitigated by the fact that the candidates are both

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Speaker 2: perceived as corrupt voters. Ken Paxton even more so than anybody,

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Speaker 2: but Donald's has also been now viewed as corrupt. And

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Speaker 2: the most amazing freaking quote.

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Speaker 1: So let's talk about, I want to just set you

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Speaker 1: up for this. We were talking about this before the show. folks.

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Speaker 2: We were both like, what?

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Speaker 1: So Axios ran, and I wanted to talk to you

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Speaker 1: about Florida because you are very involved in Florida, live

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Speaker 1: in Florida, made Florida red, and now hopefully making Florida blue.

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Speaker 1: No offense or anything, but- Yeah. So this article is

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Speaker 1: called Why Florida Republicans Are White-Knuckled About Tuesday. And in it,

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Speaker 1: there's a quote from a former friend of Rick Wilson

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Speaker 1: who says... I'm going to let you do the quote.

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Speaker 2: We're about to run the biggest experiment to see how

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Speaker 2: racist some of our voters are. A longtime Republican consultant said,

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Speaker 2: calling the county's Donald loss, quote, more culturally Confederate than

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Speaker 2: the rest of America.

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Speaker 1: So.

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Speaker 2: He is not wrong.

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Speaker 1: OK, so part of what's happened here is that Byron

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Speaker 1: Donalds was unable to get to 50 percent in 17 counties. Right.

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Speaker 1: In the in the primary. And again, we will look

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Speaker 1: back at this moment. We'll probably be able to see

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Speaker 1: there were a lot of clues that we saw in

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Speaker 1: the primaries that we didn't want to talk about because.

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Speaker 1: You don't really know until you've seen the whole story

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Speaker 1: what they mean. But a lot of these primaries, we

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Speaker 1: saw bigger Democratic turnout than Republican. And we saw this

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Speaker 1: thing that happened to Byron Donalds, where the counties, talk

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Speaker 1: us through these counties, these Florida counties that did not

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Speaker 1: go for Donalds that are Republican.

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Speaker 2: So there are 17 counties that Donalds lost in the primary.

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Speaker 2: And again, he could not get to 50% statewide in

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Speaker 2: the whole state. But in 17 counties, he lost those counties.

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Speaker 2: And a lot of them, so I live in Leon County,

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Speaker 2: which is Tallahassee. It is a blue county. It's a

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Speaker 2: little blue dot in a big red ocean. But all

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Speaker 2: around this area are counties that are very old, very white,

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Speaker 2: very Southern. They are culturally Alabama or South Georgia. They're

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Speaker 2: not South Florida. They are very, very conservative. It is

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Speaker 2: also the area of the country with the highest single

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Speaker 2: grouping of, by, by, by volume of white supremacists and

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Speaker 2: white supremacist groups. The headquarters of white supremacist movements in,

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Speaker 2: in the country is North Florida. Sad to say it's embarrassing.

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Speaker 1: Um, And these are Jesse Helms. Can you explain that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah. These are people who you could draw their political

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Speaker 2: lineage all the way back to the 1948 Dixiecrat secessionists. Right.

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Speaker 2: And I will freely admit they used to all be

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Speaker 2: Democrats in the 1980s and 70s. And in the early 1990s,

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Speaker 2: guys like me came along and said, oh, those people

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Speaker 2: will vote Republican. They believe in God and guns and

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Speaker 2: they are white people. And we reminded them over and

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Speaker 2: over again that those black people were coming to get

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Speaker 2: their guns and make them worship Satan. And so a

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Speaker 2: lot of those people who are now confronted with the

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Speaker 2: fact that the Republican machine in Tallahassee said, it's Byron's turn.

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Speaker 2: He's raised so much money. We can't walk away. I

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Speaker 2: was told the other day about a secret meeting that

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Speaker 2: DeSantis and his team held in the late spring. And

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Speaker 2: I'm trying to still pin down the date. I'm told

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Speaker 2: it's like late May while the primary is still going

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Speaker 2: on where they studied this. They went out and checked out.

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Speaker 2: They want to try to run some numbers on this.

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Speaker 2: And it came back like red alert. And Byron Donalds

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Speaker 2: is a black guy running in North Florida. And these people,

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Speaker 2: on a good day, they're going to be torn between thinking, well,

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Speaker 2: I got to vote against the communists.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: And I got to vote for that black guy. And

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Speaker 2: they're not happy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and they may not vote.

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Speaker 2: By the way, I can tell you there's been an

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Speaker 2: effort that's been running media in North Florida for the

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Speaker 2: last several weeks, which we'll talk more about after the election.

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Speaker 2: And it's been reminding them that Byron Donalds was a

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Speaker 2: drug dealer who was arrested for selling drugs to kids,

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Speaker 2: that he has a bank fraud arrest. And those things,

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Speaker 2: while those cases were- They.

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Speaker 1: Were before he found Christ in a parking lot of

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Speaker 1: a Cracker Barrel.

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Speaker 2: Listen, I've been to that Cracker Barrel. That's my neighborhood

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Speaker 2: Cracker Barrel. He didn't find anything there except, well, anyway,

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Speaker 2: longer story. Yes, go on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 2: But listen, they've been reminded over and over again, not

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Speaker 2: only in the Republican primary, but now from outside groups

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Speaker 2: working to make sure they remember who Byron Donalds is

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Speaker 2: in North Florida. And that's the reason why- In that

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Speaker 2: same Axios piece today, they're basically saying that Byron's got

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Speaker 2: to win the election day vote by better than two

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Speaker 2: to one at this point. Now, I think it may

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Speaker 2: be lower than that. Right. I don't think he's got

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Speaker 2: to quite go that far.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that would be crazy.

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Speaker 2: But if he's at 1.8 to one, he's not in

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Speaker 2: great shape. Independents are voting and two to one against

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Speaker 2: Republicans everywhere. All the survey work, except for one poll here,

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Speaker 2: has shown independents are going for David Jolly by about

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Speaker 2: two to one and a little better.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: In South Florida, independents are going for David Jolly 2.26

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Speaker 2: to one. Wow. I've got some hard data on that. Look,

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Speaker 2: it's not locked. Nothing's done until it's done. And David's

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Speaker 2: team is running through the tape. They're on the road

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Speaker 2: 24 hours a day right now, going all over the state.

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Speaker 2: Byron is, you know, he had a big rally with

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Speaker 2: Trump on Friday night, but he's getting, Byron's getting 50,

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Speaker 2: 60 people in a room and David's getting three, four, 500.

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Speaker 2: I don't know what that that's anecdote, but it's also

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Speaker 2: the kind of thing I've seen happen before where the

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Speaker 2: gas goes out of one balloon and it fills up

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Speaker 2: the other.

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Speaker 1: And that tracks with a lot of what we're seeing

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Speaker 1: with like Tallarico. I mean, Tallarico has huge crowds.

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Speaker 2: Amy Acton's getting the same thing.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: Big, big, excited crowds.

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Speaker 1: Paxton had to cancel the rest of his Alamo stop

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Speaker 1: and the rest.

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Speaker 2: Of his bus tour. Which, by the way, I know

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Speaker 2: Paxton is not from Texas, right? He's from California.

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Speaker 1: California, yeah.

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Speaker 3: I get it.

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Speaker 2: Okay. I get that he might miss a cultural um

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Speaker 2: a cultural trigger in the great state of texas but

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Speaker 2: my god he i i When he was going to

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Speaker 2: finish his race at the Alamo, he really should have

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Speaker 2: at this point because it's just like.

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Speaker 1: What in God? Yeah. And Acton also. I mean, Ohio,

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Speaker 1: I think that nowhere has benefited more from MAGA in

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Speaker 1: this last week than Ohio because Amy Acton.

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Speaker 2: I will say, I'm going to draw an interesting through line,

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Speaker 2: I think. from Tallarico when they accused him of being

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Speaker 2: in a mental institution in the MAGA infrastructure, right? All

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Speaker 2: the MAGA media, is Tallarico in a mental institution? Of course,

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Speaker 2: he was not.

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Speaker 1: We have video of him at home with the flow.

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Speaker 2: Right. And then they flipped this to Vivek about 10

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Speaker 2: days later, and they thought, this will be our big kill.

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Speaker 2: This is how we're going to use our... our twitter

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Speaker 2: dominance and we're going to use the algorithm we're going

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Speaker 2: to use all the social media shit that we do

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Speaker 2: in maga world and they thought they were going to

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Speaker 2: win both of those seats based on rat fucking social

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Speaker 2: media trickery and in both cases it's blown up in

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Speaker 2: their face nothing they're doing is working anymore this weekend

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Speaker 2: they're out screaming trans trans trans muslim muslim muslim and

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Speaker 2: and right now the voters are like oh go fuck

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Speaker 2: yourself i can't afford gas Yeah. And that includes Republican voters.

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Speaker 1: And again, this goes back to Tucker Carlson's interview earlier

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Speaker 1: this year where he told Lulu from the New York

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Speaker 1: Times about how culture war stuff doesn't work when people

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Speaker 1: can't afford to eat.

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Speaker 2: Yep. Culture wars are a political luxury good.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: If the economy was booming right now and people were

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Speaker 2: in great shape and everybody said, oh, man, you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm making money. I feel secure. prices are down, inflation

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Speaker 2: is down, it might work. But right now, people understand

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Speaker 2: that there is an underpinning and a foundational thing about

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Speaker 2: using culture war attacks, and it's that everything else has

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Speaker 2: to be normal. You can't be in a forever war.

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Speaker 2: You can't have gas at five bucks a gallon. You

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Speaker 2: can't have diesel at seven bucks a gallon. And nothing

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Speaker 2: feels normal to anybody. The other, other, other part of

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Speaker 2: the culture war is Trump has now allied himself with

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Speaker 2: with tech bro billionaire weirdos who do not represent what

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Speaker 2: the culture warriors love.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And, you know, the gold pimped out, pimped my capital,

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Speaker 2: pimped my White House thing, that doesn't work for the

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Speaker 2: culture warriors in a lot of the levels either.

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Speaker 1: Rick Wilson!

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Speaker 2: Molly's Jogfest! Molly, it's time for the headlines and.

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Speaker 5: I'm going to shock you here, but Trump has assembled

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Speaker 5: an anti-fraud team and, well, It didn't go so well.

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Speaker 1: It's a crack team of very wealthy people who are

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Speaker 1: making money on your tax dollars.

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Speaker 3: Crack team seems to describe what it seems like they're smoking.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Crack team. We have the very ridiculous Scott Bassett. You

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Speaker 1: may know him from as a Dr. Seuss looking character.

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Speaker 1: He's our treasury secretary. He is a. 100 millionaire, and

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Speaker 1: he is leading anti-fraud announcement.

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Speaker 5: I like to think of Besant as a Hunger Games

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Speaker 5: character come to life.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So basically, when first of all, we have Vance

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Speaker 1: or Just Dance. He canceled his event, by the way,

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Speaker 1: just one second on J.D. Vance. He dresses up as

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Speaker 1: Dumbledore after spending an entire week calling James Tallarico gay. Yes.

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Speaker 5: And also, let's just also point out, he skipped this event,

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Speaker 5: even though it said the vice president's task.

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Speaker 3: Force on the sign at the event.

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Speaker 1: Even still like you're going to, you're upset about your,

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Speaker 1: I mean, you're going to implicate, you're going to, you're

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Speaker 1: going to say that some people are gay and then

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Speaker 1: you're going to say that the, the candidate, the Texas

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Speaker 1: Senate candidate is gay. And then you're going to dress

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Speaker 1: up as one of the most famous gay characters, right?

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Speaker 2: Yep.

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Speaker 3: That, that is correct.

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Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I mean, it just seems like kind

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Speaker 1: of nuts to me anyway. Uh, Anti-fraud announcement in Minnesota

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Speaker 1: did not go as planned.

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Speaker 2: J.D.

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Speaker 1: Vance did not show up. And then you'll be shocked

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Speaker 1: to hear that. that Scott Bassett said, yeah, I don't

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Speaker 1: know anything about that. When asked about a strange purchase

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Speaker 1: by the federal government, one of the many, this is

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Speaker 1: the Homeland Security, you know, where they paid $ 495 million

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Speaker 1: for a prison that was on the market for $ 75 million,

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Speaker 1: asked about it, Scott Bassett said, yeah, I don't know

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Speaker 1: about it. It turns out that the waste, fraud and

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Speaker 1: abuse is happening. It's coming from the White House.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, that is the key as to why they know

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Speaker 5: so much about it. So a California judge has ordered

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Speaker 5: the Trump administration to stop threatening U.S.

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Speaker 3: Election officials. Sounds like a healthy democracy to me.

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Speaker 1: Judge orders Trump administration to stop threatening U.S. election officials.

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump is very into threatening people. And he has,

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Speaker 1: you know, he likes to threaten election officials. I want

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Speaker 1: to point out two things here. Seamus and Ruby Friedman

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Speaker 1: got a lot of money. So if you are being threatened,

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Speaker 1: just hold the line and you will sue and you will.

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Speaker 4: Get a lot of money.

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Speaker 1: And there are teams of lawyers. There are teams and

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Speaker 1: teams of lawyers available for you. Nonpartisan 501c3.

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Speaker 2: Com.

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Speaker 1: Funded teams of lawyers who are here to protect you

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Speaker 1: from Donald Trump. So do not let his intimidation intimidate you.

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump is going to do a lot of crazy

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Speaker 1: shit over the next 48 hours and beyond. And we

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Speaker 1: need all of us to know that the rule of

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Speaker 1: law has our back and that everything is going to

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Speaker 1: be OK and that we just need to make sure

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Speaker 1: we vote, make sure we show up, make sure it's

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Speaker 1: too big to rig.

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Speaker 3: Too big to rig.

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Speaker 2: OK.

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Speaker 3: I think this is the most interesting political story.

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Speaker 5: It kind of predicts like more of 2028 than 2026,

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Speaker 5: which is that we have this big, big conflict that

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Speaker 5: Democrats are largely pushing back on data centers. But those

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Speaker 5: AI companies are spending like madmen in this midterm.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there's so much. I mean, the New York Times

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Speaker 1: has an official list of people who have donated to

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Speaker 1: the midterms. And, you know, the numbers are insanity. And

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Speaker 1: I just want to point out they are like they're

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Speaker 1: just nuts. And the number one biggest donor to the midterms,

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Speaker 1: you'll be shocked to know at like four hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty million dollars is a. is Elon Musk and then

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Speaker 1: the U lines. And it's just a rogue gallery of

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Speaker 1: right wing billionaires. And on that list, of course, was

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Speaker 1: fifty three million dollars to the midterms are the Winklevoy,

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Speaker 1: who you may remember for being involved in Facebook. They

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Speaker 1: are big crypto bros. And, you know, everyone in the

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Speaker 1: world is giving money in order to try to influence

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Speaker 1: Trump because Trump is pay for play.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: And also a good reminder, if you shop at Uline,

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Speaker 5: stop immediately. It's one of the worst ones that you

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Speaker 5: can actually change your behavior in. So Molly, we always

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Speaker 5: really love when Democrats find a way to work within

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Speaker 5: the system to do right.

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Speaker 3: And we're seeing a bunch of U.S. attorneys who are

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Speaker 3: freeing children from Trump's deportation machine with an interesting strategy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so I just want to point out they're doing right,

437
00:24:02,810 --> 00:24:05,949
Speaker 1: but they're also writing on the wall here, which is

438
00:24:06,030 --> 00:24:08,909
Speaker 1: that all of this is about to be illegal.

439
00:24:08,270 --> 00:24:08,950
Speaker 4: Again, right?

440
00:24:09,369 --> 00:24:15,629
Speaker 1: Putting children in jail. But anyway, so this legal strategy

441
00:24:16,010 --> 00:24:19,129
Speaker 1: is that they file petitions of habeas corpus in federal

442
00:24:19,170 --> 00:24:22,980
Speaker 1: court demanding freedom for their young clients. And this is

443
00:24:23,020 --> 00:24:27,440
Speaker 1: part of a new movement. But it's also, this is just, again,

444
00:24:28,050 --> 00:24:32,750
Speaker 1: We're jailing children in this country. Why are we jailing them?

445
00:24:32,850 --> 00:24:39,020
Speaker 1: Because Stephen Miller, no one was nice to him when

446
00:24:39,100 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 1: he went to high school in Santa Monica. That's really it.

447
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,100
Speaker 1: No one was nice to him. He felt that people

448
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 1: of color got his stuff. He was very angry and

449
00:24:49,220 --> 00:24:51,770
Speaker 1: he became a terrible racist, despite the fact that he

450
00:24:51,830 --> 00:24:55,520
Speaker 1: came from a family that survived the Holocaust. Where, you know,

451
00:24:55,880 --> 00:25:01,480
Speaker 1: if there ever were a group of Jews like myself

452
00:25:02,010 --> 00:25:05,830
Speaker 1: who are committed to social justice and his uncle has

453
00:25:05,910 --> 00:25:09,070
Speaker 1: written extensively about what a Shonda is.

454
00:25:10,130 --> 00:25:10,949
Speaker 4: Stephen Miller is.

455
00:25:11,010 --> 00:25:15,160
Speaker 1: But anyway, the point is we are jailing children. These U.S.

456
00:25:15,220 --> 00:25:17,960
Speaker 1: attorneys are doing the right thing, but they're also very

457
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,220
Speaker 1: much reading the right writing on the wall, which is

458
00:25:20,780 --> 00:25:25,370
Speaker 1: America is going to be back soon, hopefully. And and

459
00:25:25,710 --> 00:25:28,030
Speaker 1: we're not going to tolerate this kind of thing anymore.

460
00:25:29,550 --> 00:25:35,750
Speaker 1: Alexis McGill-Johnson is the CEO of Planned Parenthood. Welcome, welcome,

461
00:25:35,950 --> 00:25:37,400
Speaker 1: Alexis McGill-Johnson.

462
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:38,889
Speaker 4: Hi, Molly. Good to see you.

463
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 1: Good to see you. So talk us through where you

464
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,850
Speaker 1: are in this moment right now. Post-Roe, you know, we're

465
00:25:47,010 --> 00:25:49,030
Speaker 1: all sort of trying to find our way in this

466
00:25:49,090 --> 00:25:52,290
Speaker 1: new wilderness. Talk us through where we are at this

467
00:25:52,390 --> 00:25:54,850
Speaker 1: moment when it comes to Planned Parenthood, when it comes

468
00:25:55,010 --> 00:25:56,129
Speaker 1: to reproductive freedom.

469
00:25:56,470 --> 00:26:01,010
Speaker 6: We are, you know, in much the same moment, right,

470
00:26:01,170 --> 00:26:05,379
Speaker 6: in a post-Obs world where... You know, roughly 20 states

471
00:26:05,470 --> 00:26:10,940
Speaker 6: have significant bans on abortion access, 13 of those states

472
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:15,100
Speaker 6: have criminal bans. And, you know, we are still navigating

473
00:26:15,220 --> 00:26:18,530
Speaker 6: and moving people around the country, right, as if that

474
00:26:18,630 --> 00:26:23,200
Speaker 6: is the future state of what reproductive access is. access

475
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:28,900
Speaker 6: to abortion should look like. Planned Parenthood has, you know, survived,

476
00:26:29,350 --> 00:26:32,609
Speaker 6: I would say, a year of defund that came out

477
00:26:32,670 --> 00:26:36,450
Speaker 6: of the big bad betrayal of a bill where we've

478
00:26:36,490 --> 00:26:40,990
Speaker 6: had to close 30 health centers in rural and medically

479
00:26:41,050 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 6: underserved communities because you know, this administration decided to attack

480
00:26:47,140 --> 00:26:52,170
Speaker 6: a political opponent and really, in reality, attacked birth control and,

481
00:26:52,450 --> 00:26:56,310
Speaker 6: you know, STI tests and, you know, wellness exams because

482
00:26:56,330 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 6: they wanted to, you know, enact a backdoor abortion man.

483
00:27:00,619 --> 00:27:03,180
Speaker 4: And You know, I think having been.

484
00:27:03,500 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 6: On the ground, you know, over the last few months

485
00:27:06,940 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 6: with this election cycle, it is so clear to me that,

486
00:27:10,619 --> 00:27:14,159
Speaker 6: you know, reproductive freedom is still so much top of

487
00:27:14,220 --> 00:27:20,209
Speaker 6: mind for folks. Their fear and their deep connection to

488
00:27:20,609 --> 00:27:23,690
Speaker 6: kind of what it has meant to live under the

489
00:27:23,770 --> 00:27:27,390
Speaker 6: tyranny of this administration for two years is And that

490
00:27:27,430 --> 00:27:30,690
Speaker 6: through line between not having access to health care in

491
00:27:30,730 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 6: their community, not being able to, you know, afford gas.

492
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:35,780
Speaker 1: Right.

493
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,939
Speaker 6: And like making some real tradeoffs between health insurance rent

494
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,639
Speaker 6: and just what it means to actually get basic care

495
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:44,939
Speaker 6: like that. That's still really, really top of mind. And

496
00:27:44,980 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 6: it does come back through reproductive freedom for us.

497
00:27:47,140 --> 00:27:51,100
Speaker 1: But also women are still dying trying to get abortions

498
00:27:51,340 --> 00:27:56,119
Speaker 1: or trying to have miscarriages. So please tell us about that.

499
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,090
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, what we have seen

500
00:27:59,330 --> 00:28:02,570
Speaker 6: over since the Dobbs decision is abortion bans have made

501
00:28:02,609 --> 00:28:07,050
Speaker 6: pregnancy more dangerous. And so you were seeing kind of

502
00:28:07,070 --> 00:28:10,830
Speaker 6: a full spectrum of, you know, reproductive health care under

503
00:28:10,950 --> 00:28:16,369
Speaker 6: attack and even more alarm and concern from the providers

504
00:28:16,470 --> 00:28:19,820
Speaker 6: who are, you know, on the ground having to make

505
00:28:19,859 --> 00:28:20,210
Speaker 6: these decisions.

506
00:28:20,540 --> 00:28:24,380
Speaker 4: You know, real literal life and death decisions.

507
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,060
Speaker 6: We have seen a deepened maternal health crisis since, you know,

508
00:28:29,100 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 6: since the Dobbs decision, maternal mortality and substance gone up

509
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:33,320
Speaker 6: by 234%, right?

510
00:28:33,340 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 4: I mean, let me say that again, 234%. Black women.

511
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:45,750
Speaker 6: And so, you know, it is what what we can't

512
00:28:45,830 --> 00:28:49,750
Speaker 6: do is normalize that, you know, in, you know, one

513
00:28:49,790 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 6: of the richest economies on earth that we could allow

514
00:28:55,220 --> 00:28:57,060
Speaker 6: that deepening of a crisis to happen.

515
00:28:57,590 --> 00:29:01,190
Speaker 1: Can you explain why that is? Like, there are a

516
00:29:01,230 --> 00:29:05,170
Speaker 1: number of elements here, right? Women are not dying on

517
00:29:06,110 --> 00:29:10,470
Speaker 1: operating tables like they did in the 1970s. They're dying

518
00:29:10,710 --> 00:29:13,320
Speaker 1: in a very different way. So can you explain that?

519
00:29:13,580 --> 00:29:18,560
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, they're dying largely in the postpartum context, right?

520
00:29:18,580 --> 00:29:24,700
Speaker 6: You know, underlying health conditions that have, I mean, particularly

521
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,460
Speaker 6: women of color, particularly Black women, have lived at the

522
00:29:27,500 --> 00:29:31,670
Speaker 6: intersection of kind of poor health outcomes. And that has

523
00:29:31,730 --> 00:29:35,810
Speaker 6: everything to do with just basic access to general health

524
00:29:35,830 --> 00:29:42,530
Speaker 6: care and wellness, to transportation, you know, redlining. to impacts

525
00:29:43,270 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 6: on the relationship to the economy and to education. So

526
00:29:45,860 --> 00:29:49,220
Speaker 6: all of the social determinants of what public health folks

527
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,720
Speaker 6: would name, we were sitting at the intersection of those.

528
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 6: And then you layer on the kind of racism in healthcare,

529
00:29:57,260 --> 00:30:04,060
Speaker 6: the denial of kind of pain management, the denial of self-advocacy, black.

530
00:30:03,860 --> 00:30:05,560
Speaker 4: Women in the maternal space.

531
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:11,380
Speaker 6: And it's not for lack of patients naming, that they

532
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:16,480
Speaker 6: are experiencing significant concerns, but it is whether or not

533
00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:18,850
Speaker 6: they're actually being heard and seen and cared for. And

534
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:24,090
Speaker 6: in those moments, you know, as parents post delivery, when,

535
00:30:24,630 --> 00:30:29,430
Speaker 6: you know, your body's very vulnerable to many things, your

536
00:30:29,470 --> 00:30:32,230
Speaker 6: mental health is very vulnerable to many things, and you've

537
00:30:32,270 --> 00:30:35,350
Speaker 6: got a newborn and a lot of additional stress on

538
00:30:35,370 --> 00:30:40,500
Speaker 6: your body and your family, those are times where your

539
00:30:40,540 --> 00:30:43,440
Speaker 6: care gets impacted even more.

540
00:30:43,500 --> 00:30:44,660
Speaker 4: You have to pay more attention.

541
00:30:44,740 --> 00:30:47,080
Speaker 6: And so to be honest, we don't even know the

542
00:30:47,140 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 6: depth of the crisis in this moment. So many of

543
00:30:50,070 --> 00:30:54,390
Speaker 6: these states that have enacted abortion bans have also disbanded

544
00:30:54,450 --> 00:31:00,650
Speaker 6: their kind of record keeping, their maternal morbidity committees that

545
00:31:00,930 --> 00:31:04,000
Speaker 6: track what has happened and why.

546
00:31:04,060 --> 00:31:06,550
Speaker 4: And so I think A lot of this is still

547
00:31:06,590 --> 00:31:06,970
Speaker 4: to come.

548
00:31:06,990 --> 00:31:09,960
Speaker 6: It's going to be contingent upon, you know, incredible reporting

549
00:31:10,020 --> 00:31:13,820
Speaker 6: like you do and others to really understand what the

550
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 6: what the full impact has been.

551
00:31:15,540 --> 00:31:21,870
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting because this is also partially the

552
00:31:22,220 --> 00:31:26,430
Speaker 1: like like. There's been serious defunding of Planned Parenthood, and

553
00:31:26,470 --> 00:31:31,830
Speaker 1: Planned Parenthood is not just abortion. Tell us what Republicans

554
00:31:31,870 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 1: have taken away from different states. I mean, it's like

555
00:31:37,540 --> 00:31:42,000
Speaker 1: STD testing, but it's also cancer testing. I mean, just

556
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,459
Speaker 1: give us a sort of quick top line on what

557
00:31:45,510 --> 00:31:49,410
Speaker 1: we've lost since Republicans, since Trump's been back in office.

558
00:31:49,570 --> 00:31:52,020
Speaker 4: You know, I mean, sanity.

559
00:31:53,580 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 1: Yes, yes.

560
00:31:55,380 --> 00:32:00,260
Speaker 6: You know, I think it's a collection of assaults. You know,

561
00:32:00,540 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 6: for the last two years, you know, I think about

562
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,340
Speaker 6: this through the lens of the Planned Parenthood patient and

563
00:32:05,380 --> 00:32:09,709
Speaker 6: what they are experiencing. So since this administration came in,

564
00:32:09,770 --> 00:32:13,630
Speaker 6: this 2.0 version came You know, we started off with

565
00:32:13,750 --> 00:32:17,530
Speaker 6: attacks on our Title X funding because of DEI, because

566
00:32:17,770 --> 00:32:20,350
Speaker 6: of the fact that many Planned Parenthood health centers see

567
00:32:20,390 --> 00:32:21,970
Speaker 6: patients who are undocumented.

568
00:32:22,010 --> 00:32:23,950
Speaker 4: So using kind.

569
00:32:23,790 --> 00:32:29,680
Speaker 6: Of policy as a cudgel to like advance their ideology

570
00:32:29,780 --> 00:32:33,300
Speaker 6: around hating, you know, everyday folks. They're just bullying people

571
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:35,780
Speaker 6: that they think don't, you know, that no one else

572
00:32:35,820 --> 00:32:39,240
Speaker 6: cares about. So picking fights on trans communities, picking fights

573
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,580
Speaker 6: on Medicaid patients, picking fights on black and brown patients

574
00:32:42,620 --> 00:32:45,560
Speaker 6: picking fights against women, you know, like that is essentially,

575
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 6: you know, kind of what we have seen.

576
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:48,900
Speaker 4: And then the defund.

577
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,820
Speaker 6: Bill, you know, which was a year, it was one

578
00:32:50,860 --> 00:32:53,870
Speaker 6: year that started kind of the precursor to what we're

579
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,350
Speaker 6: going to see now with Medicaid cuts kick in after

580
00:32:57,370 --> 00:33:01,710
Speaker 6: the election, started on July 5th and ended on July 4th,

581
00:33:02,450 --> 00:33:06,890
Speaker 6: you know, took significant resources away from Planned Parenthood health centers.

582
00:33:06,890 --> 00:33:09,190
Speaker 6: 30 of them, right, were closed. And that is a

583
00:33:09,270 --> 00:33:13,820
Speaker 6: very difficult decision for any Planned Parenthood CEO in community

584
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:19,180
Speaker 6: to walk away from rural or medically underserved populations for

585
00:33:19,220 --> 00:33:21,210
Speaker 6: whom Planned Parenthood may be the only point of entry

586
00:33:21,350 --> 00:33:23,790
Speaker 6: into the conversation. We believe what they were trying to

587
00:33:23,830 --> 00:33:27,110
Speaker 6: do is actually engage in a backdoor abortion ban because

588
00:33:28,190 --> 00:33:30,870
Speaker 6: many of the states that relied on Medicaid funding or

589
00:33:30,910 --> 00:33:35,140
Speaker 6: got Medicaid reimbursement are also the same states that provide

590
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:40,570
Speaker 6: access to abortion. You know, they're very clear on, you know, again,

591
00:33:40,650 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 6: what their, you know, what their ideology is.

592
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 1: But there's also a real abortion ban coming, too. So

593
00:33:47,700 --> 00:33:51,740
Speaker 1: there's abortion. They ban abortion in the red states. Also,

594
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:57,090
Speaker 1: that causes hospitals and gynecologists not to practice in the states.

595
00:33:57,150 --> 00:34:03,050
Speaker 1: So you have states like Idaho where there's no, you know, gynecologists, women,

596
00:34:03,070 --> 00:34:07,320
Speaker 1: high-risk gynecologists. So you have or even, you know, maternal...

597
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:12,640
Speaker 1: fetal health people. So you have these women being medevaced.

598
00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,140
Speaker 1: And there was a Supreme Court case about this. Yeah,

599
00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,319
Speaker 1: they just I mean, it just fuck it does. I mean,

600
00:34:17,380 --> 00:34:21,790
Speaker 1: it's like living in Kabul. And Yeah. But I would

601
00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:24,250
Speaker 1: love you to talk about, but there's worse stuff coming.

602
00:34:24,270 --> 00:34:25,310
Speaker 4: There's more stuff coming.

603
00:34:25,390 --> 00:34:26,070
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.

604
00:34:26,170 --> 00:34:26,430
Speaker 2: Okay.

605
00:34:26,469 --> 00:34:30,070
Speaker 6: So on the horizon, we have a review of Miphipa Stone, right?

606
00:34:30,180 --> 00:34:32,780
Speaker 6: By the, you know, that was put in place.

607
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:34,940
Speaker 4: By this, I don't know if you can call him

608
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 4: HHS secretary.

609
00:34:35,620 --> 00:34:36,879
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.

610
00:34:36,900 --> 00:34:36,980
Speaker 2: Yeah.

611
00:34:37,670 --> 00:34:41,170
Speaker 1: And by the way, I mean, just with methapristone, that

612
00:34:41,250 --> 00:34:44,620
Speaker 1: is the reason. The reason we have methapristone and that

613
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:47,240
Speaker 1: is why women are not dying in operating.

614
00:34:47,380 --> 00:34:50,460
Speaker 6: Yes, because people because the majority of people get access

615
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:55,070
Speaker 6: to or are able to terminate their pregnancies through medication abortion.

616
00:34:55,610 --> 00:34:57,210
Speaker 4: And methapristone is one of.

617
00:34:57,620 --> 00:35:01,250
Speaker 6: Two medications that are used in that regard. So what

618
00:35:01,290 --> 00:35:02,910
Speaker 6: are they doing? You know, I think the whole, but

619
00:35:02,930 --> 00:35:04,930
Speaker 6: first let me just put it in context, like Molly,

620
00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:07,299
Speaker 6: the reality is abortions have gone up, right?

621
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:11,720
Speaker 1: You know, because- Because you're not- Investing in birth control.

622
00:35:11,940 --> 00:35:12,980
Speaker 4: Yes, exactly.

623
00:35:13,020 --> 00:35:17,340
Speaker 6: But also because people are getting access through medication. And so,

624
00:35:17,700 --> 00:35:22,649
Speaker 6: you know, the next battle line, right, after the Dobbs

625
00:35:22,670 --> 00:35:26,930
Speaker 6: decision is, well, we need to now control access to mifepristone.

626
00:35:27,430 --> 00:35:29,969
Speaker 6: And so they put together the sham review. We know

627
00:35:30,090 --> 00:35:33,150
Speaker 6: mifepristone has been, you know, on the market for.

628
00:35:33,170 --> 00:35:33,850
Speaker 1: Since 1981.

629
00:35:33,830 --> 00:35:34,049
Speaker 2: Yeah.

630
00:35:34,270 --> 00:35:35,720
Speaker 1: And even before that.

631
00:35:35,739 --> 00:35:36,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, gone.

632
00:35:36,420 --> 00:35:37,020
Speaker 2: Exactly.

633
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:41,259
Speaker 6: But I mean, it's been studied hundreds... you know, peer-reviewed studies,

634
00:35:41,460 --> 00:35:45,850
Speaker 6: you know, millions of women have used and trans folks

635
00:35:45,870 --> 00:35:51,370
Speaker 6: have used bifepristone to safely terminate pregnancies. It is not

636
00:35:51,430 --> 00:35:56,500
Speaker 6: an issue that needed to be restudied by HHS. But,

637
00:35:56,620 --> 00:35:59,040
Speaker 6: you know, the sham review we know will come out

638
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,259
Speaker 6: in the next few months after the midterms, and they

639
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 6: will try to use it again. to limit the ability

640
00:36:06,219 --> 00:36:10,020
Speaker 6: of providers to be able to provide it without seeing

641
00:36:10,060 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 6: a patient in person, right? So it's just creating another

642
00:36:12,180 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 6: barrier to access, which is the intent. And I think

643
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:21,009
Speaker 6: it is because they are afraid that people will continue

644
00:36:21,110 --> 00:36:23,530
Speaker 6: to get the care that they need, just as they

645
00:36:23,969 --> 00:36:27,390
Speaker 6: did before Dobbs, just as they did before Roe, because

646
00:36:27,430 --> 00:36:31,919
Speaker 6: we're not gonna let these politicians determine what our, you know,

647
00:36:31,940 --> 00:36:33,700
Speaker 6: how our bodies are being managed.

648
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:34,240
Speaker 3: Right.

649
00:36:34,420 --> 00:36:36,900
Speaker 1: And that is where we are. I would love you

650
00:36:36,940 --> 00:36:41,800
Speaker 1: to talk about the RFK Jr. of it, because RFK Jr.,

651
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:45,340
Speaker 1: besides being a complete, and my favorite is he's also,

652
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:50,360
Speaker 1: he's anti-Muslim, Islamophobic, racist. That was the most, the newest

653
00:36:50,620 --> 00:36:54,130
Speaker 1: foray into RFK Jr. But I would love you to

654
00:36:54,190 --> 00:36:57,720
Speaker 1: talk about the many, Like he's clearly in there doing

655
00:36:57,940 --> 00:37:01,090
Speaker 1: real damage to our health and human services. And I

656
00:37:01,140 --> 00:37:03,589
Speaker 1: wonder if you could talk about what you see in

657
00:37:03,690 --> 00:37:06,610
Speaker 1: planned parenthood world that reflects that.

658
00:37:06,850 --> 00:37:10,969
Speaker 6: It is alarming to understand, like to truly understand like

659
00:37:11,070 --> 00:37:16,109
Speaker 6: what he is doing. Anecdotally, what we know is that

660
00:37:16,430 --> 00:37:22,300
Speaker 6: many of the institutions that, um, You know, are governed

661
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:28,420
Speaker 6: by HHS that are so critical for guiding our health community.

662
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:34,050
Speaker 6: You know, just from watching the whistleblower complaints, just watching

663
00:37:34,070 --> 00:37:35,810
Speaker 6: the staffing levels go down.

664
00:37:35,989 --> 00:37:36,430
Speaker 2: Right.

665
00:37:37,050 --> 00:37:40,850
Speaker 6: We don't have somebody who believes in science and the

666
00:37:41,110 --> 00:37:44,590
Speaker 6: impact on those people who have been guiding, you know,

667
00:37:45,110 --> 00:37:47,920
Speaker 6: you know, the CDC and A.H.

668
00:37:48,140 --> 00:37:51,280
Speaker 4: And, you know, the FDA. Like, that's a real problem.

669
00:37:51,340 --> 00:37:54,160
Speaker 6: There's a, you know, I think of, you know, what's

670
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,609
Speaker 6: happening at HHS right now is just like it's just

671
00:37:56,670 --> 00:37:57,710
Speaker 6: been reduced to rubble.

672
00:37:57,910 --> 00:37:59,870
Speaker 4: You know, and then they continue to layer it on.

673
00:37:59,930 --> 00:38:03,990
Speaker 6: Like if you think about the candidate for the nominee

674
00:38:04,030 --> 00:38:08,750
Speaker 6: for to be FDA commissioner, Heidi Overton, who is, you know,

675
00:38:08,890 --> 00:38:13,319
Speaker 6: fully anti, who is fully, you know, someone who I

676
00:38:13,340 --> 00:38:15,779
Speaker 6: think we need to be deeply concerned about being in

677
00:38:15,820 --> 00:38:17,819
Speaker 6: a role where she would be able to govern things

678
00:38:17,860 --> 00:38:21,660
Speaker 6: like Mipha Prastone. You know, she is somebody who refused

679
00:38:21,739 --> 00:38:26,240
Speaker 6: to even say that Mifepristone was safe and effective. So

680
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:30,080
Speaker 6: it's both the world in which we're living in and

681
00:38:30,140 --> 00:38:33,049
Speaker 6: then the people that are also coming into support.

682
00:38:33,250 --> 00:38:34,570
Speaker 4: And RFK Jr.

683
00:38:34,610 --> 00:38:40,450
Speaker 6: who has already essentially professed his anti-science behavior. And now

684
00:38:40,489 --> 00:38:42,950
Speaker 6: we're going to actually continue to staff these agencies with

685
00:38:42,989 --> 00:38:45,160
Speaker 6: people who are hostile to the care.

686
00:38:45,219 --> 00:38:46,660
Speaker 4: That's what we need to be alarmed about.

687
00:38:46,860 --> 00:38:50,859
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just such... insane moment in American life

688
00:38:51,219 --> 00:38:55,680
Speaker 1: I wonder if you could give us any sense of

689
00:38:55,780 --> 00:39:01,290
Speaker 1: like what these elections would mean so say Democrats win

690
00:39:01,630 --> 00:39:04,609
Speaker 1: the Senate and the House wouldn't that mean they would

691
00:39:04,650 --> 00:39:07,190
Speaker 1: be able to do a lot of stuff when it

692
00:39:07,230 --> 00:39:10,390
Speaker 1: comes to like impeaching cabinet members but also when it

693
00:39:10,469 --> 00:39:15,650
Speaker 1: comes to like not letting Republicans put in the kind

694
00:39:15,830 --> 00:39:19,060
Speaker 1: of uh cabinet members. So talk us through that.

695
00:39:19,340 --> 00:39:22,000
Speaker 6: So yeah, I mean, look, this is our first check

696
00:39:22,060 --> 00:39:24,940
Speaker 6: on tyranny, right? And it'll be huge, not only to

697
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:27,569
Speaker 6: like pass these horrible budgets that are doing things like

698
00:39:27,610 --> 00:39:31,779
Speaker 6: defunding Planned Parenthood and Medicaid, but you know, we will

699
00:39:31,820 --> 00:39:35,140
Speaker 6: very likely have one, if not two Supreme Court justices

700
00:39:35,300 --> 00:39:37,770
Speaker 6: who may step down in the next.

701
00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:38,029
Speaker 1: Couple of years.

702
00:39:38,050 --> 00:39:42,230
Speaker 6: Alito certainly has has named his his his intent at

703
00:39:42,290 --> 00:39:44,070
Speaker 6: some point. I know he would like to do it

704
00:39:44,130 --> 00:39:48,509
Speaker 6: under under this administration and a Senate that's favorable. But

705
00:39:48,570 --> 00:39:51,030
Speaker 6: to win not just one, but two chambers would allow

706
00:39:51,110 --> 00:39:57,790
Speaker 6: us to have the opportunity to block more anti-justices from

707
00:39:57,830 --> 00:40:00,260
Speaker 6: being on the Supreme Court. So I'd start there because

708
00:40:00,489 --> 00:40:04,100
Speaker 6: that continues to be obviously crucial for our health and

709
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 6: our democracy. I would say, again, confirming some of these

710
00:40:08,780 --> 00:40:11,580
Speaker 6: really horrific people that are going to come in and

711
00:40:11,620 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 6: continue to attack our rights and freedoms. I would say, too,

712
00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,080
Speaker 6: on the pushback side, all of that is going to

713
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 6: be important. On the offensive side, I think we have

714
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,509
Speaker 6: to be thinking about, like, what is our play, not

715
00:40:22,530 --> 00:40:25,270
Speaker 6: just for the next two years under this administration, but

716
00:40:25,330 --> 00:40:27,609
Speaker 6: where do we want to get, like, 28 starts, you.

717
00:40:27,530 --> 00:40:29,710
Speaker 4: Know, November 4th, right?

718
00:40:29,830 --> 00:40:34,930
Speaker 6: And so our opportunity to, you know, put into play

719
00:40:35,239 --> 00:40:37,820
Speaker 6: the legislation we want to see when we get a

720
00:40:37,900 --> 00:40:43,370
Speaker 6: trifecta in 2028. and to get people inspired and energized

721
00:40:43,550 --> 00:40:47,310
Speaker 6: around not restoring Roe, because we know Roe didn't serve everybody,

722
00:40:47,410 --> 00:40:51,810
Speaker 6: but rethinking and reimagining what a federal right to abortion

723
00:40:51,950 --> 00:40:55,589
Speaker 6: looks like that can be codified in federal legislation. You know,

724
00:40:55,670 --> 00:41:00,440
Speaker 6: that to me is an issue that is a majoritarian issue.

725
00:41:00,540 --> 00:41:04,700
Speaker 6: We know we are winning state ballot initiatives everywhere because

726
00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:08,460
Speaker 6: this is not a, you know, a Democrat or Republican issue.

727
00:41:08,540 --> 00:41:11,420
Speaker 6: This is an issue that, you know, I think a

728
00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:15,759
Speaker 6: new freedom majority truly understands. And when I think about

729
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:17,930
Speaker 6: what I've experienced over the last few weeks on the

730
00:41:17,969 --> 00:41:22,700
Speaker 6: campaign trail, You know, I look at like kind of

731
00:41:22,989 --> 00:41:26,299
Speaker 6: drawing a line between the Dobbs decision in 22, right,

732
00:41:26,340 --> 00:41:30,000
Speaker 6: which stripped away our constitutional right to the Calais decision

733
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:33,239
Speaker 6: this year, right, which weakened the Voting Rights Act. And

734
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,400
Speaker 6: we've had this barrage of attacks on our fundamental freedoms, right?

735
00:41:36,460 --> 00:41:38,860
Speaker 6: The freedom to vote, freedom to make decisions about our body,

736
00:41:38,900 --> 00:41:42,660
Speaker 6: the freedom to protest without getting killed, right? And we

737
00:41:42,700 --> 00:41:48,959
Speaker 6: are also seeing a set of anger around affordability and

738
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:53,160
Speaker 6: dwindling freedoms. Higher gas prices mean we have less freedom

739
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,779
Speaker 6: to travel, means we have less ability to pay for

740
00:41:56,820 --> 00:41:58,660
Speaker 6: food and housing and healthcare.

741
00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:03,190
Speaker 4: And we're watching all of our.

742
00:42:03,090 --> 00:42:08,460
Speaker 6: Freedoms disappear while billionaire freedoms are growing. And I think

743
00:42:08,500 --> 00:42:11,700
Speaker 6: that through line still comes back through reproductive rights.

744
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:12,880
Speaker 4: It is like that.

745
00:42:12,820 --> 00:42:16,989
Speaker 6: First kind of hit around 22 actually gives us an

746
00:42:17,170 --> 00:42:21,390
Speaker 6: arc to say in 2028, going to 29, we have

747
00:42:21,410 --> 00:42:23,950
Speaker 6: the ability to restore all of that again. And that,

748
00:42:24,050 --> 00:42:26,629
Speaker 6: you know, this moment, you know, not knowing what will

749
00:42:26,670 --> 00:42:31,000
Speaker 6: happen exactly on Tuesday is going to be, you know,

750
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:35,410
Speaker 6: the way in which we, you know, claw back and

751
00:42:35,489 --> 00:42:38,009
Speaker 6: actually kind of push forward on what we want to

752
00:42:38,050 --> 00:42:39,750
Speaker 6: see and what freedom really means. We're not going to

753
00:42:39,770 --> 00:42:42,190
Speaker 6: let these folks hoard freedom from us. We are going

754
00:42:42,210 --> 00:42:45,420
Speaker 6: to fight every step of the way back towards it.

755
00:42:45,510 --> 00:42:48,109
Speaker 6: And that, to me, is the work that we need

756
00:42:48,130 --> 00:42:48,470
Speaker 6: to do.

757
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:53,640
Speaker 1: Alexis McGill-Johnston, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, Molly.

758
00:42:53,660 --> 00:42:58,120
Speaker 2: And now your moment of suffering.

759
00:42:59,100 --> 00:42:59,920
Speaker 1: Rick Wilson.

760
00:43:00,340 --> 00:43:01,100
Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.

761
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:07,029
Speaker 1: You're our moment of fuckery. It's a good one.

762
00:43:07,050 --> 00:43:10,230
Speaker 2: All right, lay it on me.

763
00:43:10,570 --> 00:43:15,000
Speaker 1: She lost her primary despite getting tens of millions of

764
00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:20,980
Speaker 1: dollars from APAC. She was not a great candidate. She

765
00:43:21,060 --> 00:43:26,950
Speaker 1: is now in the last weekend right before the election

766
00:43:26,969 --> 00:43:30,210
Speaker 1: in a black church with Mike Rogers.

767
00:43:30,550 --> 00:43:32,410
Speaker 2: Is it Haley Stevens, America's sweetheart?

768
00:43:32,670 --> 00:43:33,270
Speaker 1: That's right.

769
00:43:33,590 --> 00:43:37,150
Speaker 2: What? And by America's sweetheart, I mean that bitch America

770
00:43:37,190 --> 00:43:39,830
Speaker 2: wants to tell to go fuck herself. Not Haley Stevens?

771
00:43:40,050 --> 00:43:44,810
Speaker 1: The joke is that Schumer could have nominated Mallory McMorrow

772
00:43:44,930 --> 00:43:46,450
Speaker 1: or just stayed out of it.

773
00:43:47,090 --> 00:43:52,220
Speaker 2: Yep. This is one of those extra moments where Washington, D.C.

774
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,520
Speaker 2: political committees do not understand the things on the ground,

775
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:59,240
Speaker 2: and they'll find somebody, as Stevens was, who is obviously

776
00:43:59,260 --> 00:44:00,160
Speaker 2: a very flawed candidate.

777
00:44:00,219 --> 00:44:01,399
Speaker 1: Terrible candidate.

778
00:44:01,719 --> 00:44:04,299
Speaker 2: Terrible candidate. You can throw as much money on that

779
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,439
Speaker 2: bonfire as you want, and it's not going to work.

780
00:44:06,860 --> 00:44:11,020
Speaker 2: And now... The only people benefiting from the existence of

781
00:44:11,060 --> 00:44:16,239
Speaker 2: Haley Stevens right now is Republicans and MAGA. And think

782
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,040
Speaker 2: about this, guys. You could have had somebody who would

783
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:23,680
Speaker 2: have been more problematic for the Democratic caucus than Fetterman.

784
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:25,569
Speaker 2: And that takes some damn work.

785
00:44:26,070 --> 00:44:28,399
Speaker 1: And it is, and I think it's such a good

786
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:31,360
Speaker 1: example of why Haley Stevens never should have been the

787
00:44:31,420 --> 00:44:35,790
Speaker 1: nominee is A, she would, they gave her a million, 10,

788
00:44:35,790 --> 00:44:38,060
Speaker 1: 57 plus million dollars.

789
00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:39,239
Speaker 2: Bit of seven. Right.

790
00:44:39,540 --> 00:44:41,799
Speaker 1: And she was a fucking disaster. She was never good.

791
00:44:42,100 --> 00:44:45,899
Speaker 1: But then more than that, it's that she has no

792
00:44:45,940 --> 00:44:49,030
Speaker 1: loyalty to the party. So she was going to do

793
00:44:49,070 --> 00:44:52,770
Speaker 1: shit like this if she had been the nominee or

794
00:44:52,810 --> 00:44:57,590
Speaker 1: the senator. And meanwhile, everyone was so hard on Dr. Abdul,

795
00:44:57,850 --> 00:45:00,870
Speaker 1: who is a PhD MD and they've, you know, who was,

796
00:45:01,650 --> 00:45:05,800
Speaker 1: you know, from East Lansing. And they have, I mean,

797
00:45:05,820 --> 00:45:09,299
Speaker 1: it just is such a great example of how conventional

798
00:45:09,340 --> 00:45:13,259
Speaker 1: wisdom is not, you know, is neither wise nor conventional.

799
00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:15,839
Speaker 2: Look, I think of it as this. I always want

800
00:45:15,860 --> 00:45:18,880
Speaker 2: to predicate conventional wisdom with DC conventional wisdom.

801
00:45:19,020 --> 00:45:19,320
Speaker 1: Right.

802
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:25,000
Speaker 2: Because that culture there, look, it's like, The Democratic Senatorial

803
00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:27,800
Speaker 2: Committee right now has been dealt a great set of cards.

804
00:45:27,860 --> 00:45:31,440
Speaker 2: It's not by their own choice. They got lucky in

805
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:36,120
Speaker 2: a lot of these places. They got enormously gifted a

806
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 2: lot of these things. And frankly, Abdul El-Sayed has turned

807
00:45:40,140 --> 00:45:44,330
Speaker 2: into a terrific candidate. He has the skill. He has

808
00:45:44,410 --> 00:45:47,830
Speaker 2: the gift. He connects with people. He's in a modern campaign.

809
00:45:48,110 --> 00:45:50,230
Speaker 2: Mike Rogers flies up from his house in Florida where

810
00:45:50,270 --> 00:45:52,890
Speaker 2: he lives. Does not live in Michigan, folks. He lives

811
00:45:52,950 --> 00:45:54,510
Speaker 2: in Florida, in Naples.

812
00:45:54,530 --> 00:45:58,210
Speaker 1: But he doesn't want to pay taxes. In his defense,

813
00:45:58,250 --> 00:45:59,390
Speaker 1: the taxes are much better in Florida.

814
00:45:59,410 --> 00:46:00,950
Speaker 2: I mean, look, I will say there's a reason I

815
00:46:00,989 --> 00:46:03,230
Speaker 2: don't move out of Florida. But then again, the question

816
00:46:03,250 --> 00:46:06,670
Speaker 2: here was never going to be, is Haley Stevens going

817
00:46:06,690 --> 00:46:09,290
Speaker 2: to be the nominee? We knew from the minute she

818
00:46:09,350 --> 00:46:12,830
Speaker 2: started campaigning what a terrible candidate she was. She was

819
00:46:12,950 --> 00:46:15,950
Speaker 2: not graceful. She was not connecting with people. She was

820
00:46:16,030 --> 00:46:18,739
Speaker 2: not fast on her feet. And now what she's doing-

821
00:46:19,340 --> 00:46:23,520
Speaker 2: is running this game where in her head she thinks

822
00:46:23,540 --> 00:46:26,310
Speaker 2: she's going to teach everybody a lesson now and elect

823
00:46:26,350 --> 00:46:28,850
Speaker 2: Mike Rogers. And look, Syed has been doing well in

824
00:46:28,870 --> 00:46:30,950
Speaker 2: the polls. It's going to be close no matter what

825
00:46:31,450 --> 00:46:33,410
Speaker 2: in Michigan. But I think he's going to win. And

826
00:46:34,130 --> 00:46:37,900
Speaker 2: it's really important, Democrats, that you have people in charge

827
00:46:37,940 --> 00:46:40,700
Speaker 2: of the Senate committee who the next time she pops

828
00:46:40,739 --> 00:46:44,200
Speaker 2: her fucking head up, you cut it off. The next

829
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:46,710
Speaker 2: time she says, I want to run for— The next

830
00:46:46,730 --> 00:46:48,850
Speaker 2: time she says, I want to run for it, before

831
00:46:48,930 --> 00:46:51,900
Speaker 2: she says the word Senate, that you say, run for

832
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:53,219
Speaker 2: the fucking door. Get out.

833
00:46:54,540 --> 00:46:58,279
Speaker 1: And I do think it's also, you know, this is

834
00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:03,739
Speaker 1: really a moment that D.C. establishment created for itself. And,

835
00:47:03,940 --> 00:47:06,319
Speaker 1: you know, and also I just want to point out

836
00:47:06,420 --> 00:47:10,239
Speaker 1: one other thing, which is this polling, the CNN polling,

837
00:47:10,420 --> 00:47:17,890
Speaker 1: that actually being somewhat antagonistic about America's relationship with Israel

838
00:47:17,910 --> 00:47:22,530
Speaker 1: at this moment. Right. actually polls better in the state

839
00:47:22,630 --> 00:47:27,350
Speaker 1: of Michigan. So it turns out, like, I know a

840
00:47:27,410 --> 00:47:32,469
Speaker 1: lot of us have anxiety about Israel. I personally do

841
00:47:32,530 --> 00:47:36,410
Speaker 1: not because I think they have been really betraying us

842
00:47:36,750 --> 00:47:39,930
Speaker 1: in a number of different ways as a part of

843
00:47:39,950 --> 00:47:46,320
Speaker 1: the diaspora. But either way, what he's doing is actually

844
00:47:46,460 --> 00:47:49,570
Speaker 1: where the electorate is. At this moment.

845
00:47:50,010 --> 00:47:53,910
Speaker 2: A hundred percent. And look, I had a friend of

846
00:47:53,950 --> 00:47:56,089
Speaker 2: mine the other day, a former consultant who had worked

847
00:47:56,110 --> 00:47:59,230
Speaker 2: for APAC a while ago, but he said to me,

848
00:47:59,250 --> 00:48:02,250
Speaker 2: he goes, I think there's a moment that has occurred

849
00:48:02,270 --> 00:48:05,530
Speaker 2: and nobody's figured it out yet, that the benefit APAC

850
00:48:05,590 --> 00:48:07,830
Speaker 2: money can do for you in a race now is

851
00:48:07,930 --> 00:48:12,270
Speaker 2: outweighed by the negative connotations that APAC is BB and

852
00:48:12,330 --> 00:48:16,680
Speaker 2: BB is APAC and nobody looks at that these days

853
00:48:16,739 --> 00:48:20,620
Speaker 2: and says, wow, that's protecting the lives and safety of

854
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:24,060
Speaker 2: the people of Israel. They think AIPAC is so that

855
00:48:24,100 --> 00:48:27,450
Speaker 2: Bibi can run the American government. Whether you think that's

856
00:48:27,550 --> 00:48:31,050
Speaker 2: real or not, that has become an association with candidates

857
00:48:31,070 --> 00:48:34,230
Speaker 2: taking AIPAC money, and she got a lot of AIPAC money.

858
00:48:34,750 --> 00:48:36,390
Speaker 1: And I just want to say one last thing, and

859
00:48:36,469 --> 00:48:38,089
Speaker 1: I say this and people get mad at me, but

860
00:48:39,350 --> 00:48:45,720
Speaker 1: conflating Zionism with anti-Semitism hurts only Jews in the diaspora.

861
00:48:46,090 --> 00:48:50,660
Speaker 2: Yep. It is. And look, you would never in a

862
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:55,319
Speaker 2: million years, if you had any integrity, do what she's

863
00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:59,569
Speaker 2: doing right now. Yeah. Because she clearly is okay with

864
00:48:59,630 --> 00:49:02,150
Speaker 2: Trump keeping the majority in the Senate. That's what she's

865
00:49:02,190 --> 00:49:04,890
Speaker 2: really telling us. And that's a lot more important than

866
00:49:04,930 --> 00:49:10,259
Speaker 2: the hypothetical, notional, speculative bullshit that of, oh my God,

867
00:49:10,600 --> 00:49:13,830
Speaker 2: is Al-Sayed, does he love the Muslim Brotherhood? Whatever, it's

868
00:49:13,910 --> 00:49:14,450
Speaker 2: all crap.

869
00:49:14,810 --> 00:49:19,870
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, also Mike Rogers voted to support the Muslim Brotherhood.

870
00:49:21,270 --> 00:49:25,279
Speaker 1: in 2013 because of the Arab Spring and that they

871
00:49:25,340 --> 00:49:29,600
Speaker 1: were the government then. So anyway, Rick Wilson, I hope

872
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Speaker 1: you'll come back.

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Speaker 2: I will indeed. I love you much. We'll see you later.

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Speaker 1: That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in

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Speaker 1: every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday to hear the best

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Speaker 1: minds in politics make sense of all this chaos. If

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Speaker 1: you enjoy this podcast, please send it to a friend

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Speaker 1: and keep the conversation going. Thanks for listening.