Trump and Pod Save America Agree: JD Is Lame

[00:00] Pod Save America is brought to you by SimpliSafe. No one wants to imagine their home getting broken into. But the scary statistic is that every 26 seconds in the U.S., a family experiences a break-in. Scary? Yes. But that's why SimpliSafe has worked to make home security more accessible to more American families. John Lovett set up with SimpliSafe, and boy! [00:17] Is he happy? Safe as hell. Safe as hell. Happy, safe. No one has set it up as well as love it did. Nope. Nobody. You crushed it. Not one. Very quick. And now you get the app on your phone, and so you can sort of run everything from there. With SimpliSafe, there are no long-term contracts or hidden cancellation fees. They earn your business by keeping you safe, not by trapping you in a contract. With SimpliSafe, you can customize your system to fit your needs, then ships fast directly to your door. The app-guided setup is simple, and there's no drilling required, so you can install and arm your system in under an hour. [00:47] to security camera. It's a comprehensive system of sensors, indoor and outdoor cameras, and 24-7 professional monitoring. Over 5 million people value and trust SimpliSafe with their home security every day. Right now, our listeners will get 50% off a new system when you sign up for professional monitoring and your first month is free. Just visit simplisafe.com slash crooked. That's half off at simplisafe.com slash crooked. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. [01:14] Out here on the road, not every exit's worth the stop. But when you spot one with a glowing red Pilot sign, you don't hesitate. Because right now, you can get juicy chicken tenders, crispy seasoned potato wedges, and a nice cold Dr. Pepper, all for just eight bucks. Now that's a meal deal worth the stop. Pilot and Flying J, see you out here. Available at participating locations from May 5th to June 30th, 2026. Terms apply, see store for details.

[01:44] Big color, bigger savings. Sherwin-Williams Super Sale is here. Get 40% off paints and stains June 5th through the 11th with prices starting at $30.89. Whether you're refreshing your interior or exterior, we've got the colors to bring your vision to life. And with delivery, getting everything to your door is easier than ever. Shop online to have it delivered or visit your neighborhood Sherwin-Williams store. Click the banner to learn more. Retail sales only. Some exclusions apply. See store for details. Delivery available on qualifying orders. [02:15] *Music* [02:35] Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Jon Levin. Tommy Vitor. On today's show, we'll talk about the news that Trump appears to be giving up [02:42] on his $1.8 billion insurrectionist slush fund. [02:47] He also seems quite uninterested in ending the Iran War, [02:49] saying he, quote, couldn't care less whether talks break down... [02:53] We're also going to talk about Tuesday's big primaries this week in Iowa and here in California, as well as more turbulence in Maine for Graham Plattner and more turbulence for J.D. Vance and his quest to become Donald Trump's number one boy chosen successor. Then New Jersey Senator Andy Kim talks to me about the horrifying conditions he witnessed at the ICE detention center in Newark, where the senator was pepper sprayed by federal agents.

[03:23] barry weiss of murdering 60 minutes that sounds like a really fun meeting to have attended it was an all-staff meeting convened by um weiss's new hand-picked executive producer nick bilton no weiss at the meeting it's your first day at the office you're trying to find the bathrooms you're seeing which where your badge works and where your badge doesn't work next thing scott pelly's saying you piece of shit i will fucking rake your dead corpse over the bones of don hewitt [03:53] but not as much as you might think. Honestly, it was pretty close. Reading Oliver Darcy's status has the whole transcript of the meeting. It was something. Anyway, I just bring that up because if all of you want to support the growth of an independent pro-democracy media company that Barry Weiss can't murder, at least not yet, please consider becoming a Friend of the Pod subscriber. You get ad-free episodes of this show, all your favorite Crooked Pods, subscriber-only shows like Polar Coaster with Dan Pfeiffer, our secret extra episode of Pod Save America, [04:23] Thank you. [04:23] and full access to all of our sub-stack newsletters like OpenTabs. Check it out at crooked.com slash friends. All right, let's get to the news. [04:31] With the Middle East still a mess and gas prices still high, the president is once again working hard to communicate to the American people how little he cares about these things. Here he is during a hard-hitting Fox interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, focused like a laser on his true passion interior design. [04:48] This will be the entrance into the ballroom. The ballroom will be right here. No, the ballroom is a gift to America from me and from Apple and from lots of great people. How often are you coming out here to check the progress? A lot. We're going to have the inauguration here. Oh, wow. This stone can last a million years. You know, most people would put brass on top of a piece of wood. It would be called laminated, and then in about two years you'd see the brass falling on the floor. You know, we'd delaminate. This is, look, solid brass.

[05:18] Solid, beautiful, solid. It's, it's, it's the putting, look, we've suffered a lot under this guy. The putting labels on the rooms outside the room. The Oval Office, like we know. The whole point of it, man, is we know it's a cool room. It's actually a great thing. You don't need to label it. Did you guys read Ashley Parker's story about Trump as a gay icon in the Atlantic? I didn't see it. You will love it. It's so funny. It's so good. They're having the inauguration out there? No, they're not, by the way. Congress decides. I was going to say, yeah, what's the. [05:48] like the balls and some of the, you know, the balls that would happen around the inaugural. I mean, says him. [05:54] He's not there anymore. Right. He won't be, he shouldn't be that involved in the planning of it. You know, one would hope. He's just going to stay on as like physical plant director. It should be a chaperone for JD. [06:04] JD, you're going home. No, so that was on Fox over the weekend. For Fox viewers who wanted just a little more on what the government is doing about this terrible economy, on Sunday morning, they get to hear this from top White House economic advisor slash Democratic Party plant [06:18] Kevin Hassett. People are spending more on gas, but they're also spending more on everything else, not just groceries, but restaurants and so on. And I think that that's a sign that you would see when people are optimistic about the future.

[06:38] Isn't that the clip from last month when Kevin Hassett said this? And then I have to click on it and realize that he basically said the same thing again, but maybe worse this time. No, they just keep putting MAGA Dennis the Menace on TV to say stupid shit. I mean, they just like they could not seem more out of touch if they tried. Spending more on gas and groceries does not suggest that you're optimistic about the future. It suggests that you need gas and groceries. And those are non-negotiable items. They're not taking out loans to start a business. What are you talking about? It's like, oh, you know. [07:05] hey, man, like most people are just they're just not really paying that close attention to aggregate consumer spending. Right. I mean, that matters to you in your morning meeting. Yes. But then like the Laura Trump interview, I mean, [07:16] Trump clearly wanted to talk about the brass thing he put on the wall. He could write Laura Trump's questions for her if he wanted. It's his daughter-in-law doing the interview. And they clearly went out and they pitched this. He wants to tell us, I don't give a shit about anyone or anything in the world except for myself, my arch. And he seems annoyed almost that we don't believe him at this point. [07:46] people's savings being low, people dipping into their savings. And he's like, well, according to the economic literature, that could be two things. One, the doomer view that you just took, which is that people aren't confident, or they're spending so much because they are confident, and that's why they're dipping into their savings. Yes, people are racking up credit card debt because they're betting on themselves. That's what's going on. That's what's going on. Just thought of it. Thought of it too late. Phantom of the Ballroom. That's what he's sort of aiming for. Phantom of the Ballroom. Something like that. Something like that. Imagine I said it earlier.

[08:16] Imagine I made this joke earlier. University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index. [08:21] is at a record low of 44.8 in May of 2026. That's lower than COVID. It's terrible. So the biggest concern, by the way, is... [08:30] cost of living, and gas prices. [08:32] Yeah, well, you know what the solution is? Turn that frown upside down, all you doomers. Believe. Believe in Donald Trump and his... Look, if a man can do that with brass, imagine what he can do for your savings. That's going out there with the $250 bill, too. Like, the whole thing, it is... [08:47] crazy it is he wants to lose the midterm you see him holding up the the story being like whoever edited this who did a terrible job pissy cadaver he looks so his he has such a terrible like kind of his whole facial expression just like just you did it's so unlikable just the holding up the story with the money on it so obviously none of this is going too well politically for trump but unfortunately for him even his renovations and corruption are running into some uh stiff headwinds [09:17] closed the Kennedy Center for renovations and also ruled that he can't just rename it for himself. There was a very long truth social post where he was ranting about that, that I have to tell you, I honestly couldn't get through at all. It's just he was very upset. But basically, he's like, I'm giving up on the Kennedy Center. That's it. Forget it. It's like, all right, cool. Yeah. Hey, man. Yeah. Leave her alone. [09:41] The same day, another federal judge in Florida reopened Trump's IRS settlement with his own DOJ

[09:47] quote, grievous allegations that the $1.8 billion insurrectionist slush fund was quote, premised on deception. Then another federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked the transfer of money in or out of the fund while she waits to hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging it. Finally, after all these reports that both Republicans in Congress and White House aides were pushing Trump to just give up on the slush fund altogether, it appears as if he's done just that. Two senior administration officials told Axios that Trump will drop the slush fund with [10:17] posted a statement saying it'll, quote, abide by the court ruling blocking it, even though that block is only temporary. [10:24] We haven't heard from Trump as of this recording. We've got to hear from the big boy. Before it's done, it's not done until the big boy speaks. Yeah, and even then, who knows? Even then, right. But do you think he backs down this easily? And I think more importantly, do you guys think this is still a political issue for Republicans? So... [10:40] Uh... [10:41] Also, Senate Republicans actually were pretty bothered by this in a closed-door meeting, of course. John Thune was actually out there saying he didn't like this very much, which is impressive for him. Of course, the only thing Senate Republicans could manage to do is quietly oppose it and then bravely leave town. That was their way of protesting it. It was, we're not going to give him more money for immigration that we don't need, and we're going to leave town to signal our unhappiness with it. I assume and hope that we'll still have votes on it this week. [11:11] There's no given that it's only temporarily on hold and Trump clearly wants to do this. I think Democrats need to get Republicans on record that they would oppose having this kind of a slush fund be legal now or in the future. And so let's get them voting on that, because even if they're privately saying it, they'll have to publicly do something. Yeah, the for now bothered me for now. Part of that report bothered me. I'm hopeful that, you know, when you're primarying John Cornyn, you're primarying Bill Cassidy.

[11:41] I don't know if you guys read the big New York Times piece from over the weekend about how the slush fund came together. But it read like the blueprint for a future RICO case. It was like Boris Epstein on the outside, like coordinating things. The Trump kids want immunity for like all IRS audits for their tax returns in the future. The professional staff at DOJ are either horrified or quitting. And then the White House political staff was just cut out of the process because they probably knew that it was toxic. [12:11] And so, I don't know, knowing Trump is probably not the end of it. Schumer is going ahead with or he said he's going ahead with making sure they have to vote on it. And the vote is going to be on, you know, originally, I think the first time we talked about Democrats potentially proposing amendments on this, it was like to restrict the fund or whatever. There was a couple of proposals out there to just ban the fund completely forever. And that's what Schumer is going with, reportedly, he said today. [12:41] like what Republican now is going to vote against the ban now that Trump has said, [12:47] Or at least the White House has signaled that they're giving up on it. So Trump doesn't say anything between now and the vote. Like if you're Republican voting on this, you can either vote against the ban and really fuck yourself in the midterms because now the White House has abandoned it. But now you're on record supporting it. Or you can vote for the ban and then the ban becomes law. And then it doesn't matter if Trump backs off because now it's against the law. Well, right. There's a pretty good position that Democrats are great. This is ridiculous. There's no good vote for the Republicans.

[13:17] because there is no fund. So I'm voting against this because Democrats are playing politics. Just giving them an option to be great. Of course. [13:26] That's another craven. The Republicans have said this is not necessary or it is too late. Those have been two positions they've taken in the past and trying to stop Trump. [13:36] The other part of this too is like, [13:38] In fairness to Trump, he must be surprised that there's any pushback whatsoever. It sort of, I think, must have caught him off guard that Senate Republicans have found a line because they've tolerated Trump. [13:48] so much brazen corruption, the pardons and all the rest that led to this moment. Even as we're speaking, DOJ is trying to vacate the convictions of the oath keepers that Trump only commuted, but didn't pardon. So they still are kind of [14:02] just going full speed ahead without having to worry about the Republicans in Congress. I love that Mike Pence was on the Sunday shows being like, [14:08] Please don't pay the people that tried to hang me. Come on. You know what? McDonald's? I watch. I watch. They tried to hang me. They set up stocks in a noose. I watched part of that Mike Pence on Meet the Press. I don't know why. [14:20] Doesn't sound like me, but but it was he's served to you by accident. His book is about his book is about like the need to take on the right wing populist while he's like up there, just like praising Donald Trump and how on so many things he's doing such a great job. And then he's like, now I do have to say I am a big critical of his continuing to support the people that tried to kill me. But nobody's perfect. It's unbelievable that he's still out here out there like doing this thing.

[14:50] option for Donald Trump is saying, fine, I'll just pocket the cash then. [14:55] Well, he's remember. Remember he had that pissy post last week when there was a lot of political blowback on the slush fund and he was like, I could have just kept the money. Well, that's why he's annoyed. Right. Because he thought I'm going to do a $10 billion lawsuit. Yeah. And then I'm actually going to do something really cool, which is which is going to be like beloved by all because I'm not going to keep the money. I mean, it was like too clever by half. Yes. Yes. [15:20] being annoyed at Todd Blanche for running this drug deal behind their backs. So good. Amazing. All right. Let's talk about Iran, where Trump can't even seem to get a bad deal, let alone one that would justify the insane amount of money and lives the war has already cost. Military strikes have started again. Iran state media said it was pausing negotiations. Trump told CNBC on Monday morning that he, quote, couldn't care less if the negotiations collapsed, [15:50] This was after he complained on Truth Social about how negative, quote, chirping about the war from political hacks is making his job tougher and that we should all just sit back and relax because it will all work out well in the end. It always does. [16:04] Trump then reversed course again and said that talks between the U.S. and Iran were, quote, continuing at a rapid pace. Taking too long and getting kind of boring is also what he said, the one and only time he went down on Havana. [16:19] Jesus Christ. Never going to make that mistake again. Ivana. That's a... God rest her soul. On the ninth green be a blessing. Sorry, everybody. Sorry. It occurred to me. Catching strays from the grave. Okay. Tommy.

[16:40] We were reliably told by Scott Jennings last Thursday that Trump had reached a deal with Iran that got us, quote, everything we want. [16:49] Mm hmm. What happened? Is it possible that Scott led us astray? Yeah. Before I get to Jennings, I want to just read a little more of the transcript of the CNBC interview. Is this what Trump told Eamon Javers from CNBC about the peace talks? I don't care if they're over. Honestly, I really don't care. I couldn't care less. If they're over, they're over. If they're not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring. Again, 13 service members dead, hundreds more wounded, entire global economy is on the brink of collapse, [17:19] wrap your head around a politician saying that a president saying that and it not being a career ending moment kind of like on site but here we are fox news will never air it this will never have happened in the mega media world now scott jannings uh fuck know him from cnn you know him you hate him he's a hack he's a fool he mindlessly regurgitates uh whatever talking points he gets sent from the white house including blatant disinformation so i expect nothing better from him [17:49] that kind of cut and paste whatever some senior administration official told them, whether it's Jared Kushner or the press office or whomever. Just help rethink how you're doing your job. Because I get that journalism is very competitive. I get that reporters are battling for every mini scoop these days. But at best, you look silly. At worst, you are a pawn in oil market manipulations, right? This happens every Sunday. And then ultimately, you're pumping out disinformation to the entire world.

[18:19] because they have no oil and gas. And so on the question of where do we stand on a deal? I don't know. Like one, the deal was off. The deal was on. We're on the cusp of a deal. Then we're bombing the Iranians again. Trump just said he talked directly with the Hezbollah representative. You guys see that today? That's new. That's interesting. And then said that Hezbollah and Israel, they're cool. There's a ceasefire in Lebanon now. The Iran talks are proceeding quickly. Then Netanyahu was like, no, they're not. What are you talking about? So who knows? I also, I mean, you tell me, Tommy, [18:49] I don't think that all the pre-spinning of what the deal is going to include from the White House is actually helping the negotiations that much and, in fact, may be hurting them because every time they get close to a deal, then – and Iran's probably thinking, OK, we're going to do this maybe. And then Trump goes out and is like, we destroyed them. We got the best deal ever. We got everything we ever wanted. And then the Iranians are probably like, well, fuck, no, I'm not going to do this now. [19:19] sanctions relief, unfrozen assets, something, but he refuses to look weak. He doesn't want to look like he gave a JCPOA-like agreement to the Iranians. So you're right. I mean, it sounds like his staff are kind of giving, and then he goes out and says, actually, no, we're going to take the dust. We're going to not give him any money. All the reports are bullshit. And Iranians, okay, okay, fuck you then. Yeah, I feel like there's two things happening. One is [19:41] What an actual deal is. [19:43] will ultimately look like if there is one. And then there's how Trump... [19:47] how the Trump administration talks about the deal and then what's reported. This has been...

[19:51] This has been sort of the media has been getting led around by Trump from when [19:57] Vance went to Pakistan because Vance goes to Pakistan and then within eight hours, 12 hours, the reports are stalemate, talks at an impasse, talks are falling apart. There haven't really been talks. And we've spent the next last several weeks having deal falls apart, verge of a deal. Deal falls apart, verge of a deal. When what would be happening in a normal administration is the [20:27] and like, you know, and puts and whatever. And... [20:31] Instead, it's the kind of through the Trump prism. And so all these outlets are hearing, I guess, from the administration officials from who knows saying we're on the verge of a deal. They report that out faithfully. And then it falls apart the very next day. The reality of there will be hopefully there will be a deal. It will look something like the JCPOA. And then Trump will declare it the best the best deal in history. Like, [20:51] One hopes that that's what we'll eventually get to. And then all this up and down shit will have just been sort of like silly Trump chaos on the way there, I guess. I think what's triggering the hell out of me, though, is like ultimately there will be reporting on it will evaluate the merits of any deal. But that deal could have been gotten without a disastrous war that led to the deaths of thousands of Iranians and thousands of service members in the entire economy. And it's like I'm not worried about this table losing that context.

[21:21] sell a deal by like doing this constant, constant incremental reporting by retweeting, you know, Scott Jennings saying this is a win for the Trump administration, et cetera. It's like, no, this is a disaster no matter what happens next. Yeah. Cause the honest thing to report on this, or if you were some kind of a conservative pundit, the honest thing to even say is glad it's over now, but [21:40] That wasn't worth it. And not not in exactly those words, but like that is the tenor of whatever deal we're going to get is that like there's no way we came out better than we started. Right. Because even like just on the on uranium enrichment, what I saw over the weekend or early today was what was on the table was a 20 year moratorium, which is what up from the 10 year moratorium to that you claimed this was the worst deal in history. Your deal is just a slightly longer timeline on one piece of it with other concessions. [22:10] so who even knows who knows but it's just like obvious like [22:13] He is just – there will be a hard – if there's a deal, it will be a deal that isn't some amazing victory for Donald Trump. He'll call it that. He'll get his 24 hours to say that, and then we'll live with the consequences of having fought this stupid fucking war. [22:35] Pods of America is brought to you by Article. Article makes it effortless to build a home that lasts without the boutique markup. Their curated collections of mid-century coastal and Scandi furniture are designed to mix and match perfectly, so you can create a cohesive designer look that will stand the test of time. We've got a bunch of great Article stuff here at the office. We have chairs, we have desks and couches, and we've bought so many things from them at this point that I've lost count. It's all super high quality. It looks good. It's comfortable. It all holds up for a very long time.

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[24:59] flavor sampler in your welcome kit with your first AG1 subscription, an $82 value. That's drinkag1.com slash crooked. And if I see you in a free morning person hat, I will punch you. [25:14] As you're listening to this, voters in Iowa and California are voting in some very consequential elections. Let's start with Iowa, where State Representative Josh Turek and State Senator Zach Walls are in a tough primary fight for the state's open Senate seat, which will be hugely important. This one has become yet another meta-commentary on Chuck Schumer and the DSCC trying to influence key primaries, in this case in favor of Turek. Schumer hasn't [25:43] It's reported that he was sort of a Schumer recruit, much to Turek's dismay. Yeah, he should endorse Walls. Tommy, you interviewed both Turek and Walls on the show. For people just catching up, what are each of them bringing to the table? What were your general impressions? Yeah, so Josh Turek, he's a state rep in Western Iowa in Council Bluffs. He was born with a spina bifida, uses a wheelchair. He's a two-time Paralympic gold medal winner in wheelchair basketball. [26:12] determined guy. He got cut from the men's team six times before he actually won the gold medal. He just kept coming back and competing. There's videos of him. He literally like [26:23] climbs out of his wheelchair, climbs up the stairs with his hand, drags the wheelchair up after him, and then knocks on doors. That's how he goes door to door. So gritty dude, clearly benefiting from being Schumer's pick and an associated $9 million vote vets ad buy that has drastically increased his name ID because no one knew who any of these guys were. And then Zach is a member. Zach Wall is a member of the Iowa State Senate. He's from Iowa City. He was Senate Minority Leader for a couple of years. Our listeners probably saw him speak in 2011, even though they don't remember

[26:53] He was a 19 year old. He delivered a speech asking Iowa legislators not to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions that went super viral back in 2011. And it was a great speech, really powerful speech, like supercharged his career. So I interviewed him both. I liked him both a lot. [27:09] Um, everyone seems to think that Josh is likely to win. A lot of people I know who work in Iowa politics think he is more electable because he's one in more conservative parts of the state. But what is going to take on Congresswoman Ashley Hinton for Joni Ernst's seat because she's resigning? And, uh, no matter who wins, Iowa is like ground zero for politics this next cycle. Cause you got Rob Sand, uh, who could be the next governor. You have this open Senate seat. Uh, and then there's like three competitive house races, a bunch of other statewide things. So like Iowa is absolutely crucial. So this was one we're going to be watching going forward. [27:39] I've been impressed by both of them, by both Josh Turk and Zach Walls. And I know some of these Senate primary fights are particularly intense. And I know this one is, too. I do know, like, I was kind of joking about Josh Turk, probably wishing that Schumer didn't spend some PAC money on him or necessarily recruit him. But, like, I think that. [27:58] I understand why Walls is, you know, Walls has tried to make this a race about sort of an outsider versus the establishment as Turk as the establishment. I kind of think that, like... [28:09] You know, Turek being picked by Chuck Schumer is not quite the same as Turek being part of the establishment or the establishment spending money on him. Like a lot of the money that's spent on him is vote vets. So it's like it's not... [28:20] At least for me, it doesn't worry me that he's some establishment pick necessarily. I feel like the case for that isn't as strong as in some of these other cases. But I also like, you know, Zach Walls was in here too. I thought he was very compelling as well. So I like both of them. Love it? Anything? No.

[28:37] I think there's some races where being seen as like the Schumer guy, the DC guy, I think has been a real cross to bear. I think that happened in Maine, which we'll talk about in a second. [28:50] time, in part because this VoteVetsBuy has been so big and so significant in helping push Josh forward. Also, he's a known quantity in Western Iowa. I think he's never been worked in D.C. Yeah, so I think it's harder to lay that on him, but we'll see. We should also say that for people wondering, the reason that VoteVets is spending money on him is not because he's a veteran, but his father was in Vietnam and potentially exposed to Agent Orange. And that's why they think Josh has spina bifida, but also I think VoteVets is seen as doing Schumer's political [29:20] Yes, also true. Also true. All right. Let's turn to California. The big race, of course, is the jungle primary for governor. We have covered the campaign a lot. In between us, we've interviewed Tom Steyer, Katie Porter and Matt Mahan. We also reached out over a dozen times to the apparent front runner, Javier Becerra. And even though they expressed interest, they unfortunately wouldn't commit to a time. [29:41] Okay. [29:42] Same question for each of you. Who'd you end up supporting and why? [29:47] Who else did you like? If this were ranked choice voting, who might you support after that? Well, my ballot still hasn't been filled down. So I'm still gettable. I'm still gettable. I'm still gettable. I am going to vote for Tom Starr. [30:00] Because I would like to see if Becerra, if the polls are to be believed and they've been pretty consistent, Becerra is going to move on. One other will. There's a chance Tom Steyer can be that second person. I would much rather have two Democrats battling it out for the future of the Democratic Party in this state than I would have Becerra versus a Republican who has not passed the threshold question of opposing Donald Trump's election lines. That to me is a threshold question. You could be frustrated with Democrats in this state.

[30:30] But if you can't say that Donald Trump lost that election, if you can't stand up to him, then that is so fucking dangerous. And he is a nut for that. [30:39] That's where I'm at. I also really like my conversation with Tom Steyer. I think he had good answers for some of the questions about where Democrats have gone wrong in California and some of the criticisms. I also really like Katie Porter, but she just hasn't. [30:52] risen to the top of the polls like she was she kind of slowly fell behind and i think it's it sucks because i really like her but i'm trying to be pragmatic with my vote [31:01] Yeah, if I could wave a magic wand and make someone governor, it would be Katie Porter. But she's down in the polls, and I have the same rationale. I want to vote strategically because I think Steyer and Becerra going to a runoff would be great. It would kind of be annoying if we had to deal with running in Steve Hilton, who's a random British short king who's deep in the tech community. I don't think his height's a problem. I do love that that triggers you of all the criticism. [31:31] to drop out still, even though Hilton is crushing Bianco and Trump has endorsed Hilton. But that's where I was. Yeah. If I were doing ranked choice, I would be Katie number one. No question. Because that's who I'd vote for. But that's not the world we live in. I had a real hard time with this. And I voted a couple of days ago. Yeah. [31:52] I, California is a big state with a, it's hard to govern, a lot of problems. I don't really feel... [32:00] I thought about Becerra, but like, I don't feel confident giving the top job to someone who's had, he's had 35 years in elected office to to prove himself, but has received mainly bad reviews from his colleagues. And the one exec, especially in the one executive job that he's had, which was HHS secretary under Biden. And, you know, just like I think his housing policy, which was also like he's very late to introduce any kind of housing policy whatsoever until after ballots dropped. And then even then it was like.

[32:30] more nimby than sire or porter or anything else. And now I hope I'm wrong. And if he wins, then like, great, maybe he'll be a great governor. But I was like, I just it. [32:40] prevented me from voting Becerra. Steyer, like, I'm more confident in Steyer, but even then, like, on the experience question, there was just something... For me, it was like the combination of he's never had any... [32:54] experience in elected office or governing anything and is a billionaire who basically like, you know, ran for president first. [33:02] flamed out there than spent just the, the, uh, GDP of a small country on this race. And like, I think he had, like, I, I like his positions better than Becerra and a lot of the other candidates, but I'm just like, there's just something a little icky to me about it. And I am not as worried if it's Steve Hilton versus Becerra or Steyer because the state registration is going to take care of itself. And there's just, I just, I'm, it's, it's not a concern I have that Steve Hilton is going to become governor. Um, yeah. [33:30] So I just voted for Katie Porter because I like her. And it's like I realized that she has – it is the least strategic thing I could do. But Katie to me is like – I've known her a while. The temperament with her staff stuff is obviously – it bothered me a lot because we've known her forever. And I actually didn't know that until those stories came up. And I also don't think she's going to win at this point. But I'm like, who do I want to be governor? She's thought about the job a lot. She has like a really well-fought-out policy platform. [34:00] and getting things done when she was in Congress. And I feel like she's just like done the work for the job more than anyone else. But if you would rather Tom, I feel the same way. But I would rather, like as of right now, and I want to talk to Javier Becerra if he's willing. Now, like I think Javier Becerra has said he wants to come on the show, but he's hoping that he and Hilton get through the other side, right? And then of course we're doing an interview about a Democrat versus a Republican, which is very different than a conversation about a Democrat versus a Democrat. But as of right now, I think Tom Steyer has answered some of the harder questions better than Javier Becerra. And if it's Becerra, I'm voting for him.

[34:30] trying to get the best, because I believe you, I don't think Hilton's going to be the governor of the state. I want the best person to be the governor of California. And right now, if there's, I want to see, and maybe also Becerra having to beat Tom Steyer would make him a stronger candidate too. So that's my kind of hope that we can get Tom Steyer through this thing so that we have a better debate on how Becerra has to be put through his paces if he is going to win. [35:00] era like [35:01] prove me wrong and become a great governor. And you're right, maybe if it's Becerra and Steyer in a runoff, then there's even more time for them to duke it out and show that they're ready for the job. [35:11] We also got a mayoral race going on here in L.A. Love it. Interviewed challenger Nithya Raman for the show, who we all know. And I supported Nithya, donated to her, known her a long time. We also reached out to Karen Bass, who has come on the show before, but she opted not to come on before the primary. Nithya and Bass are in a close race with reality TV personality turned mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, a registered Republican quasi endorsed by Trump. [35:38] who said, I like him. I hear he's MAGA. I like him. And Pratt was in New York over the weekend, closing the campaign like this. That even testing your drugs on a dog is the least of the worst of what these demons are doing to these poor animals. They're lighting them on fire. They're raping these dogs. They're abusing them. They're breeding them to the point that they die because they've been so overbred. Sir, this is a Wendy's.

[36:04] Yeah, I don't doubt that there's... [36:07] horrible things happen to animals in some of these places, but what is it? It's very weird that he decided to go to New York for several days. I think dropped $34,000 on his hotel rooms and left the state the week before the election. Yeah, there's billboards all around, or at least I saw, I think I saw these two in [36:23] downtown LA of him saying, if you're, you know, dogs vote for Spencer Pratt. So he's trying to make this like the closing thing, that for whatever reason they think this is something that's going to break through for them. I don't know. What do you guys think of this race? What do you think of that? Apparently Spencer Pratt's already sold the rights to do a reality show if he becomes the mayor. I think this applies to both the governor's race and to the LA mayor's [36:47] There is a [36:48] Steve Hilton, Bianco, Pat Pratt, [36:52] They are capturing what is a very real frustration with democratic governance in the state, with mismanagement, with a kind of fecklessness and lack of emotion and passion for good government and making shit work, work better, work faster, answer people's concerns. I don't think the answers that [37:10] that these Republicans are offering or that Spencer Pratt are offering are what we need. But the fact that there's an opening speaks to the failure of Democrats, both on policy, but also just as candidates to rise to meet what is like real and deep frustration with people in Los Angeles. These are all Democratic voters, almost all Democratic voters. And they have real anger about what they feel is the decline in Los Angeles. Now, I think Nithya

[37:37] uh, cares deeply about the city. I think that she is thinking hard about how to actually address these issues. I think what has been a challenge in both in that debate, I think with her on the campaign trail is, you know, when I talked to her, she made this point, which had really resonated with me that like, there's this feeling when you talk about Karen Bass, like, where's the energy? Where's the, the hunger? Where's like the speed? Where's the sense of urgency, right? That's been, that was about the fires, but everything else. And I wanted to see more of that from Nithia. [38:07] that she's promising to bring if she becomes mayor. But I do think that she has thought a lot about how to address her housing issues. She saw a lot about what is has allowed production to leave Los Angeles. I am voting for Nithya. And my hope is that Bass and Nithya make it out of the primary so that the two of them can go head to head. And then I think that'll be like a great contest. Yeah, so I'm full disclosure, I'm a Nithya donor, mostly because your wife asked me to be. But I [38:37] lot of Spencer's rage about the fires, especially the communications issues after the fires or during the fires. I don't think he's the answer to those problems, but I share his anger at the frustration. And the problem, it wasn't just that Mayor Bass was out of the country when the fire started, although that was extremely bad and kind of, in my view, was hard to forgive. But it's, I think, hard to overstate how bad the communication was from the city during that period and how scary it was to live here when the sun would go down and the winds would pick up and you'd lie in bed

[39:07] people's heads were and there was just like, [39:09] The communication wasn't just bad. Remember that night when there was like four mistaken, like fake Amber alerts telling people to evacuate when they didn't need to write like that shit is unforgivable. So that is why I voted for change. But if we were being honest, like I do think Nithya has struggled in this race. She's struggled to articulate like clearly what she would do. She seems to struggle to connect with voters on the campaign trail. And then the debate was quite bad. Like Spencer Pratt, I think, defined her as like a co-incumbent at the debate. And she didn't seem like a challenger. [39:39] off and I really hope she does, she's got a lot of work to do to get things back on track and to, you know, run a lot harder against whoever her opponent is and take back that kind of like insurgent, like I'm not the status quo message. [39:54] It seemed to me like in this race, we've ended up with three archetypes of candidates that we see across the country and have for the last decade now. Which in Bass, you have someone who is very much establishment, along with all of the lack of energy that comes with that. And she's kind of just, you know, running around bragging that we've reduced homelessness by 17%. [40:24] like 17%. It doesn't look like 17%. And is that a big number? And has also been more NIMBY on housing has sort of gutted a lot of the housing reforms or hasn't pursued them. Hasn't been a great communicator. And, you know, it's just kind of in the job and doesn't communicate well or a lot. And then in Nithya, you have someone who is like, she...

[40:47] This is like what I was just saying about Katie Porter, right, who has really thought about these issues, who I think is a wonderful public servant and I think could be a really good public servant, but like has not met the sort of performance related requirements of a candidate. And it is unfortunate that you can't just be ready to be good at the job and be really smart and into the policy and stuff like that, and that you also need to perform. But we've said this a million times on the show forever. Like, that's what you need. And we also have like a lot of Democrats like that across the country. [41:17] You have someone who, when there is democratic governance... [41:19] and a person in power does not fix the problems that an area is facing, it is fairly easy for a right-wing populist who's good at getting attention, and no one's better at getting attention than a reality TV star, to come in and tell everyone, [41:32] Yes, you are pissed. I'm pissed, too. And if you elect me, then you can stick it to the people in charge, even though his plans are not just cruel. They're just stupid and that he can't do them. They're against the law. Like he doesn't have the power to do a lot of the shit he's talking about. He's just making a bunch of fucking, you know, empty promises that he's not going to be able to fulfill if he wins. But no one cares about that. People care about like, OK, he's angry and I'm angry and that's enough. It was so cool when Nithya just like, you know what, fuck it. And drove down and said, I'm going to run for mayor. [42:02] It was so exciting because it was like, you know what? She's nobody else is stepping up. People, no one, everyone is frustrated with Karen Bass. There's a collective judgment that Karen Bass just like just didn't bring like the the energy and and direction that the city needs. And she's going to jump in and be the one to do it. And I've wanted that same energy in the campaign, but just hasn't been there. Like with Bass, like, you know, she I when I talked to her in love to leave it a couple was right before she came out. She she ran claiming she was not going to be an NB.

[42:32] housing policies that were pretty good, but then they got watered down through consensus. Also sounds like what Becerra did. Right. And then you and then she comes out against SB 79 because that's what the city council is doing. Took her years to put to put in charge somebody to make someone the czar of filming in L.A. Right. Like she's just no deputy mayor for housing. And so like that, that to me and, you know, part of why I think the campaigning does matter and why I think I want to see Nithya be a stronger candidate and stronger campaigner [43:02] In politics today, how you campaign, showing that you can do it, that's a big part of what it is to be a mayor. Like someone who's going to be out there every day, like hitting the message. Someone who's going to be like making news all the time, showing people what you're doing, showing people what matters, right? Like it's not just about the kind of performance. It's not just a show. Yeah. Now, I will say there's been a ton of commentary on this race and analysis, people talking about it. I have no fucking idea what's going to happen because – God knows what this electorate looks like. I know. [43:32] for people who don't know LA, it is 15% registered Republican, right? And so even if, you know, Spencer Pratt and some of these polls is getting like 20%, anywhere between 20 and even as high as 30%, that's still... [43:45] like nowhere what you'd need to win a general election, certainly, and maybe not even to advance in the primary. Also, the way L.A. is set up, Santa Monica has its own. Like if you're in Santa Monica or West Hollywood or Beverly Hills or Pasadena, like you're not voting for mayor of L.A. A lot of people think they're Pratt voters and then they're going to get to the polls and figure out that they're not eligible. Exactly. Because they're in L.A. county.

[44:15] of LA just like dutifully vote for Karen Bass or Nithya. Like we, I just, I don't know. So pretending that I know what's going to happen is just crazy. It is an interesting window into just sort of the zeitgeist of the electorate. I mean, there is a anti-incumbent rage across the country right now, but we're in California, a state where there's all democratic governance. And so Spencer Pratt is from channeling that in a different direction. It's interesting to see. It's also interesting the way he's kind of exposing the incoherence of the MAGA and the Maha agenda. [44:45] uh, the COVID vaccine. And now Spencer Pratt is like, I will take all the drug addicts and I will lock them up for five days or whatever and force them into treatment. It's like, Oh, okay. Well, that's different than, than, uh, [44:57] The freedom agenda that we were talking about under Robert F. Kennedy, but okay. Well, the way it works, it's a freedom for me. Not for thee. Not for them. I don't know if you guys are excited or looking into any other races in California, but Michael Tubbs for lieutenant governor. Remember, crooked contributor and former crooked guest is running for lieutenant governor. Love Michael. And our buddy Jake Levine is running against Brad Sherman, Congressman Brad Sherman, in the California 32nd, which is Palisades and upwards towards Encino in that area. So Jake's giving him a good challenge. [45:27] hope there right is that that he can keep sherman because sherman is is well known in that district and is expected to to like sort of leave the polls and old he's old um but if jay can get it to keep him under 50 and then they can go on to a runoff oh one other thing for people watching the returns um a lot of democrats including john lovett here have held on to their ballots till the very end and california is always notoriously uh late in counting ballots and so it's a high probability

[45:57] That this will have a red mirage in the voting as the returns come in, especially this year. Someone did a party breakdown. I think it was Galen Druk. That in 2022, the final party breakdown was 50% D, 29.5% R, 19.9% other. Right now, the party breakdown and the ballots that have come in, and this is like election day, basically, 45.9%, 33.5%, 20.6%. [46:27] So it's already like... [46:29] it's it's off and so the first ballots that are gonna be counted are the ones that are already in and so now the electorate could also be more red but i am i am already worried about the spencer pratt and who knows donald trump could jump into and be like we won and then suddenly we're being overtaken as the ballots are counted later in the week so everyone should prepare for that one possibility i think is like pretty high on the list of possibilities is on election night you have becerra one hilton two and then actually a couple days it goes becerra [46:56] and then all of a sudden Hilton is saying, I was knocked out by the Democratic machine. The good news is, yeah, that message I think will resonate nationally. I think California voters are pretty well conditioned to how stupid and long it takes us to count ballots. I wish it was faster. This is like the whole thing. It's like, that's how it is in California. We do it the stupidest way fucking possible. Why? Why? Other states can count ballots in a couple of days. Why does it take here two weeks? It's fucking stupid. I think it's all the mail, right? [47:26] on June 2nd, on the day of the primary, then it takes at least a couple days for the mail to get it. Yes, but then that is not the... It's still long. It still keeps going. But there's some built in just because of the mail-in. Of course. That's why you've got to get rid of those mail-in ballots, like Trump says. Thank God we have mail-in ballots. Our ballot is very long. It's complicated. There's lots of things you need to research. So long. There's lots of positions you've never heard of. It's very...

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[49:25] We also had more news over the weekend in the main Senate race, where Graham Plattner is likely to win the nomination in next week's primary. [49:31] Stories in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported that as his campaign began last year, [49:36] Plattner's wife, Amy Gertner, told a campaign staffer that Plattner had exchanged sexual messages with several women. And this was after Plattner and Gertner were married in late 2023, but that they had stopped before the campaign began and Plattner and Gertner had gone through therapy. The entire situation is very messy. The staffer that Plattner's wife told, Genevieve McDonald, has since left the campaign. And she was the one who originally talked to The Wall Street Journal. [50:06] Plattner said that at least some of what McDonald told the New York Times wasn't true, but both he and his wife, Amy Gertner, and the campaign have all confirmed the existence of the messages. [50:18] who suspended her campaign in April, said in an interview on Sunday that actually she's still on the ballot. And she also just posted the first tweet from her campaign account since the tweet where she suspended her campaign. And it was a happy Pride Month tweet. Well, that's a sort of neither here nor there. Just try or don't. Yeah, you can't half run for office. Come on. What are we doing here? Well, you could make the argument that she kind of half ran in the first place. [50:48] All right. What do you guys think about this latest development and how it might impact the race? I mean, I think the main risk for Platiner is the cumulative impact of these stories and scandals along with the Reddit stuff. Because I think main voters were shown to be quite willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for the past Reddit posts and accept his explanation that I was in a bad place. This happened in the past. I've grown. I've changed and moved on. You know, I think voters like, OK.

[51:14] We get that. This latest, what are we calling it? Sexting scandal. Like this stuff was very recent. We're talking like 2023. And so I think these days, sexual allegations of where it's just infidelity or infidelity adjacent, like don't tend to be campaign ending, especially when Amy Gertner said, [51:35] this is a private matter. We worked through it. I love him. I have a great marriage, et cetera. But I do worry that the cumulative nature of this stuff might make voters think one, like, is this guy a good guy? And two, um, what else do we not know about him? And so I think, [51:52] Plattner's campaign can weather this. They will likely weather this. I would recommend less criticism of the media for covering the story. I think it's a valid story to cover. And the New York Times and Wall Street Journal ultimately got the story right. Right. And I would just say, you know, I think you have to own it. You have to own that this was shitty behavior. It was a mistake that we've moved, that the two of them have worked through privately. And then in a few days from now, that's when you sort of pivot to the message about getting [52:22] up, but there's going to be a period of time where folks talk about this because it just broke. And I think you can't scold the press for covering a thing that was valid enough that your spouse brought it forward to your campaign staff to talk to them about. So, you know, it's fair game, obviously. If Susan Collins was slinging nudes on Snapchat, like we'd be talking about it. You know what I'm saying? So by the fall, we might be. [52:43] Sorry. All that said, like, I do think what Plattner's... She's got that hammer and sickle tattoo, too.

[52:52] Lattner Stafford did here is... [52:54] really shitty on a human level. It's unethical. If I were Amy Gertner, I would be furious. And so that part of it's pretty gross. Yeah, like... [53:07] If a candidate just had the Reddit story, so like I was going through a really tough time in my life and I posted some heinous shit. It was like and I regret it, but I've been through a lot of therapy. It had to do with my PTSD and I'm on the other side of it. You'd be like, OK, people grow and they change. [53:23] The tattoo, you'd say, this was a stupid tattoo. I didn't understand what it meant at the time. I'm covering it up. Okay. Early in my marriage, I was in a really shitty place and I was having these, I don't know what he was doing, sexting, whatever. But [53:40] my wife and I have worked through it and it's a private matter. She's with, we're together because we love each other and that's all that should really count. You'd say, okay, I feel like you add them all up together and then there's all these insinuations that there's more coming, more coming, more coming. You see why people would be concerned. What I find like sort of [53:59] hard to wrap my mind around this is that like, like, [54:03] Why do we care about red flags? [54:06] All these are not... [54:07] What kind of center is he going to be? [54:09] Is he a good person? Does he have our values? Does he does he have a good character at root? Or is he a is he a flawed person who's made terrible mistakes, who's trying to become a better person? Or is the insinuation that all this adds up to evidence that he will be a bad senator who's actually not going to do the things he is claiming he's going to do, that he's going to be a Fetterman, right? That he's going to disappoint us in some way, that he has like fundamental flaws. And I don't know the answer to that.

[54:39] about these things claim to know with such certainty about this, right? Like they know, they know, and they're so shocked that other people don't agree with them. And I look, I'm not a Maine voter, but, but a lot of this is, do you think he's a bad person? Do you think that he's going to lose because of these stories, which is just another way of saying you think the voters of Maine will think he's a person of bad character? I don't, I don't know, but I just, I find that it's a lot of people kind of fighting, right? [55:05] over not whether or not Graham Plattner is going to do the things he says he's going to do and is the person he claims to be now, more kind of re-litigating their arguments and anger at the factions of the party that they're always in dispute with. Yeah, in thinking about this, I was trying to separate my personal feelings about this with my political analysis of what it means. [55:35] judgment. I also... [55:36] For me, it's like it's not a deal breaker if a candidate with past infidelity issues has worked through those with their spouse. [55:44] to their spouse's satisfaction, which is the case here. It's like still not great, but it's not a deal breaker. If it's a deal breaker for other people, I don't judge that either. Like you make your own determinations. I think in terms of like the timeline when everything happened, it is very clear to me. I think it's probably clear to everyone now that Graham Plattner. [56:02] Did not think he was going to be a candidate for office up until the minute he was a candidate for office and lived his life accordingly. And probably, you know, other people say, well, I didn't make mistakes like he did and I didn't get that kind of tattoos. Correct. Right. Like he he lived his life not thinking he would ever be a candidate for public office. And then he ran for office and then they were like, all right, what's in the past? And all the stuff's coming out, including at the time he decided to run for office, these messages, which his wife brought up to the campaign.

[56:32] and all the stories about Plattner have been from about behavior and things he did before he started running for office. Right. And so for me, I think, okay, the whole, like I've changed and I've grown. It's not about like I was a kid and did crazy things. It was, [56:46] I was never going to run for office and now I'm running for office and I'm trying to be your Senator. So what kind of Senator are you going to be? Right. Um, [56:53] politically, [56:54] my analysis of this is you're right that like these things start stacking on top of each other and i think that the larger issue for people becomes trust right because and this is where the is more going to come out or why didn't the campaign like first of all some people like why didn't the campaign tell us this if they knew this i don't think campaigns are necessarily in the business of dumping all of the opposition research they do on their own incredibly personal painful stuff right into the public like that doesn't usually happen absolutely not on this [57:24] happened in our past, but we're good. It's not an issue. We're together. We're happy. That is never, of course they don't come up. That's a private matter. Right. But I think that, um, look, [57:33] Andrew Kaczynski on the tattoo story, who's reporting I trust a lot and is a very good reporter, has the story that maybe Plattner knew what the tattoo signified sometime after he got up, but before he ran. And Plattner's been a little sort of sketchy on explaining that. And now this one, it was like, well, I think that she lied to the Times and the Times story wasn't right, but it was.

[58:03] them is like, there is a trust issue now that could become a bigger trust issue. And I do think that the campaign and Platinum, I think these issues are, [58:11] don't matter or they're private or whatever, but he has to now work to build people's trust and keep people's trust between now and November, because people, even people who like him are going to start to question, well, is he telling the full truth about everything? Is there more? Are they transparent? You know, like, and that to me does bear on what kind of senator you are. So I think the most important thing for them is to like, go and do the work and like earn people's trust and take all the tough questions and give all the explanations you need until people are [58:41] the questions. Yeah, I think you've got to [58:43] probably be a little more transparent on this one. I look, I also, you know, I hear what you're saying on how you sort of think about this. I don't think most people though, draw a line at when you decided to run to office for kind of like when they judge your decision-making or the morality of this. I think, I think if like the tattoos are bridged too far to you, I understand that. I'm not going to tell you otherwise. I mean, what, what I, what I, [59:03] When I talked to him about this, when they showed us the video, the thing that I always... [59:09] stuck with me was he took his shirt off and sang that song at his, was it Brother's Wedding? And his sister-in-law is Jewish? So, like, you have to be a real asshole [59:19] to do that and display that tattoo kind of knowing full well and being fully cognizant of what it meant at that wedding. That to me was a convincing explanation, but I've read Andrew's reporting to that. Maybe there's some questions about the timeline. I think that's a fully a totally reasonable thing to wonder about. I think the threshold question is, are there other things in this guy's past that suggest he ascribes to Nazi or fascist ideology? And that's where the Reddit archive is actually quite useful. Yes. Is what it shows is the exact opposite. I know. Right. And then that's where I think people kind of

[59:47] refuse to kind of engage with this broader body of factual information that we have when we want to assess what this man believes and i and i will say this is why i personally and people have seen me do this online but this is why i get more frustrated with people people's um uh with people being upset at the at the tattoo thing more than uh if you're upset with all the old reddit stuff and you feel like he's apologized for that but um the apology not accepted then like that's your [1:00:17] I understand that. If you're upset about the sexting scandal, then I understand that. But... [1:00:22] You're right. The tattoo thing, the guy just posted on Reddit, again, like he was never running for office anonymously, has all these things that he said that he's now regretting that are some are offensive, whatever else. None of them even hinted that he has a subscribes to any of this kind of ideology. Sounds like a commie. And everyone's like, I saw it when we, yeah, when we were, when you were about to interview him, Tommy, and we saw the video, I was like, what's the problem? It's a skull and crossbones. Now, everyone now can be like, you didn't know it was a fucking blah, blah, blah. Tone commie. No, we knew it was a tone commie. [1:00:52] sure maybe if Andrew's story is correct, then at some point, someone said to Plattner, "Hey, that skull and crossbones you've got, did you know that's a Nazi tattoo?" And he's probably like, "Well, I've been screened for the army twice, and they screened tattoos for this, and no one ever said anything, and I have a Jewish family, no one ever said anything." So maybe he then Googled it and was like, [1:01:09] Oh, yeah, it is. But again, was probably like, well, what do I like? I'm going to go cover it up. I'm not. And then he did. Clearly, something changed in their thinking between when I talked to him and a couple of days later. So when I talked to him, he was like, no, I did this. This is the deal. It was a stupid tattoo. I was an infantryman. I was in Croatia. I was a dumb kid, whatever. And a couple of days later, he got it covered up. Right. So that something occurred to him that, oh, actually, this is a real problem that I should fix. This is where people just sort of call him a Nazi. And it's like and then then it's like you say, well, hold on a second.

[1:01:39] You don't have to take more information in. You don't have to have a nuanced view. You can just call somebody a Nazi if you want. The reason symbols matter is because they're supposed to symbolize something, right? Like we battle about symbols on social media because that's what the medium is for. It's for taking little tokens of something and drawing a conclusion about it. It's a very small space. So we do it with symbols. But the symbol has to mean something. It has to be a red flag of something. Do you think he's a Nazi? Of course you don't. Of course you don't. You think maybe he's a stupid tattoo. [1:02:09] That's a fair argument. Maybe he was pointed out and he'd take it seriously enough. That's okay. All of it's like, just, but like, can we just have an honest conversation about it rather than like, it's a no for me because of the tattoo. It's like, okay, you're free to do that. We're just gonna have the rest of the conversation even if you don't want to have it. Also, the other thing, and I think, [1:02:29] Ultimately here, this is up to the people of Maine and this is up to the voters of Maine. And if this whole time he was going down and down and down and down in the polls and people and people are not buying this. I mean, like, OK, then then he shouldn't be the nominee. And it's like even even Mills stayed in the race because she wanted to fight it out. Well, so even even Mills now saying, like, I'm technically still in the race or whatever. Like, that's fine. If she wants to campaign for the last week and if she's on the ballot, we're going to be talking about this race on June 9th.

[1:02:59] instead of Graham Plattner, because of this last scandal and everything else, then they should do that, and then the National Party should get behind Janet Mills and we'll be off to November. Because she saw the writing on the wall, because she didn't want to go down in her last race, which is fine. But if Plattner gets a ton of votes in the primary and still does really well, then that's what the people of Maine wanted, and they met him. It wasn't just online discourse like they met him, so we've got to kind of take the lead of the people in Maine. Yeah, so a lot of like a [1:03:29] I know we're all used to losing and being fucking losers, and we have a loser mentality. And a loser mentality is like, this is bad. We have to do something else. I'm scared. I don't like this. This is bad. I'm done with this. We can't do this. We have to do something else. And it's like, guys, if there was someone else running, you could have a debate and maybe vote for somebody else. He's right now the only person that's putting up a fight for this race. If you want to say that John Mell should get back in, if you want to say that he should drop out, whatever, say what you want. But really what you're saying is, I'm worried he's going to lose. Well, people are also comparing it to like that. [1:03:59] Biden out when they thought that Biden did sit there and I'm like, but that was the opposite. Because in that scenario, the whole country didn't want Biden and Biden and his campaign were saying, yes, yes, you will get him no matter what. Well, that was this is a this is a this is a flip thing where we're the voters of Maine are like, no, no, we like him. And then other people are worried about it. You know, it's just a different. The Biden thing is so.

[1:04:20] It could come to that when people change their minds, when nobody was challenging Biden and Biden was the nominee. And it still seemed like there was a chance he could win. That was actually when we when we were talking about how we were concerned he wasn't addressing his age issues. But he's going to be the person. So we've got to do everything we can to help him win because he's the only person that we're going to have. Then he eats shit in that debate. Joe Biden thought he was having a stroke. Didn't tell us at the time. OK, babe. But but but then it was now clear that he could not win. And so it was time to do something in an emergency because it was pragmatic. It was crazy. [1:04:50] It was risky, but it was actually pragmatic because it was the only hope of winning the election. Nobody can make that argument right now based on the polls around Grand Plata. They just can't. All right. So that's that. I'm sure we won't talk about that anymore between now and November. One more thing we couldn't resist. Over the weekend, the New York Times published a brutal and hilarious report titled, Is J.D. Vance the 2028 Frontrunner? [1:05:12] Trump has questions. According to the Times, Trump is, quote, not so sure about Vance. Trump has pointed out that Vance's political success has largely depended on Trump's support, that Vance takes too many vacations, that Vance opposed the war in Iran, and that Vance, frankly, sometimes doesn't look or act very presidential. We, of course, didn't want to be unfair to J.D., so we thought we'd check the tape of some of the moments in question. Let's play. J.D. buds into conversations. I want to have that for at least a couple of days, okay, J.D.? [1:05:42] My wife [1:05:49] has the right to skydive. But she doesn't jump out of an airplane because she and I have an agreement that she's not going to do that because I don't want my wife jumping out of an airplane.

[1:05:59] do anything. [1:06:00] I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday and one today. I'm sure they're going to call that racist too. [1:06:07] What is, uh, Zach, you're going to have to help me out with her name here. I lost my page here. [1:06:12] Okay. [1:06:13] All right. Now you can't fool me. I'm the vice president of the United States. It's couch fucker. You're going to pick a couch buddy? Couch fucker. That's J.D. Vance. Go fuck it. [1:06:23] Oh, she's again. Great. Oh, my God. That's so funny. What did you guys think of the story? I love the story so much. J.D. Vance is just the gimp from Pulp Fiction. Trump wheels him out, that little box humiliates him, puts him back in. The details are so funny. Like the man who spends one third of his time at Mar-a-Lago thinks J.D. Vance takes too many vacations. [1:06:43] delicious i love that trump thought the uh the trophy incident that we just watched there twice was as embarrassing as we all did and that it just exposed jd is just like a phony non-sports fan loser i love that suzy wiles took away jd's phone privileges and made him stop texting or tweeting like he's some you know like her teenage son got in trouble uh that clip of trump scolding [1:07:13] beautiful like they set him up they went through like his failure tour it was the iran talks the victor orban campaign stop uh indiana indiana republicans trying to jawbone them into redistricting failure failure failure uh he killed pope francis people forget about that but jd vance was so annoying to pope francis got us an american pope though yeah he did get us a better pope which who he then uh now he attacks him like yeah don't be a be careful shut up and dribble yeah and like

[1:07:43] because whoever comes next, if it's J.D. or Rubio or whoever, if they win, Trump will say, that's because of me. If they lose, he'll say... [1:07:51] Can't win without Trump, right? So he's pumped no matter what, but it is so fun watching him just fuck with these guys. One other thing that jumped out to you is – [1:08:01] The article just states it as a fact that I didn't really wouldn't have occurred to me as a fact that Trump is just spending more time with Rubio than he is with J.D. Vance, because Rubio is, of course, not just Secretary of State. He's his national security advisor and J.D. Vance can't ride on the plane with Trump. [1:08:17] because he's vice president. Vice president can't go on Air Force One with the president. It just doesn't happen. And so he's a little bit outside of things. I will say that the like, [1:08:25] J.D. Vance's whole life just having FOMO. [1:08:33] in the Biden administration. [1:08:35] I would say. He is more actively involved. He's in the room for big decisions. I think they've given him almost as annoying jobs, though. For sure. For sure. But I think they actually listen when he says stuff. I'm on a run. [1:08:46] That's true. Well, yeah, fair enough. But I mean, even though he was by the end, Benz was saying he was in favor of doing if we're going to go big, go big or go home. So even he tried to stay on the right side of that. But anyway. [1:08:58] I think what Trump sees is what we see. Vance can't help but reveal his nature. He can't help it. He can't go into a donut shop and be normal. He doesn't know how to talk to people because he's putting on a show. But that ambitious little nerd, that thing inside of him, it just can't stop from coming out and it makes everyone, including Trump, uncomfortable. And I love it.

[1:09:21] Zoom in again on the social media part with my Twitter pen pal, JD Vance. This is what the Times says. [1:09:29] Mr. Vance frequently scrolls his phone and he uses social media to fight with his critics. The president frequently posts a truth social, but he does not spend time replying to people online as Mr. Vance does. I just love that they have separated out the kind of poster. Reply guy. Trump's out there. He's posting like 30 times a night in the middle of the night. Yeah, he's a producer, really. He's just putting it out. And Mr. Vance is there just replying to people online. How dang, sir. [1:09:59] together to tell him to have an intervention and say that uh that the fighting was beneath his office the idea that anyone in that fucking building is going to tell anyone what's beneath the office and yet they do i know i believe it i know i absolutely believe it but they made him say it was for lent yeah i know i know and then he's like i liked it so much i just kept it off my phone uh-huh giving up for lent sure i love that i love that i took it off my phone finally [1:10:23] You did? This weekend. I'm proud of you. Yeah. It was the Platinum stuff that did it. I was like, I can't. Yeah, that discourse is real. I saw it starting blowing up. I was like, I'm just going to save my thoughts for Monday. I was like, I can't have a Grand Platinum thing and then two fights going on. Dave Portnoy tweets at me and then Nira with like five tweets. I was like, I'm done. Yeah, you need to go. It's like the quadrennial tweet review where you can't be fighting. You have to be able to hold one front and also win on another front at the same time.

[1:10:53] the J.D. Vance thing. Yeah, I'll fight with J.D. Vance. No, not that this is what I did this week. It was not good. Okay. Not good. Yeah, it's not fun. Nice to admit that. When we come back, New Jersey Senator Andy Kim will talk to me about the conditions at an ICE detention center in Newark where he was also pepper sprayed by federal agents. [1:11:15] Pod Save America is brought to you by Quince. As the temperatures heat up during summer, you want pieces that feel lighter and more breathable, things that are easy but still put together. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. They focus on high-quality essentials that feel and look amazing. Well-made basics but without the luxury markup. It's that rare balance where everything feels elevated but still effortless. Quince European linen pants and shirts are the perfect warm-weather upgrade to add to your rotation, starting at just $34. Their tees are soft and easy to wear, and their lightweight cotton sweaters are perfect for cooler summer nights. [1:11:45] Everything at Quince is priced 50% to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality, not brand markup. Quince goes way beyond clothing. Custom upholstered sofas, ceramic cookware, premium bedding. It's the kind of brand you end up recommending to everyone for everything. I just got one of the lightweight cotton sweaters. [1:12:08] Nice. Yeah, because it's good for, you know, it gets a little chillier at night in L.A., even more warm in the day. And so the lightweight sweat is perfect. [1:12:16] Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com slash crooked for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash crooked for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com slash crooked.

[1:12:35] Senator Andy Kim, welcome back to Pod Save America. Yeah, thanks for having me back. So, for anyone who hasn't been following the story, there's a privately run ICE detention center in Newark called Delaney Hall. Around 300 people are being held inside. Some have started a hunger strike over the conditions. You tried to visit last Sunday, were turned away, got in on Monday, Memorial Day, and then by the end of the day, you got pepper sprayed by federal agents. [1:13:00] Can you just walk us through that whole experience and what you saw? [1:13:04] Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks for shining a light on this, because this is a problem not just for us in New Jersey, but all over this country. This is a facility that has about 800 right now, several hundred of them participating in the hunger strike and the broader protests. But I was been able to go there a couple times and look, some of the things that I've heard most recently, these are people that [1:13:28] are, for instance, a man telling me that he's got stage three lung cancer, doesn't want to be anymore, willing to go back to his home country, but not being allowed to do so, not getting the medical care that he needs. You know, there's a pregnant woman there telling me that she's not getting the medical care that she needs as she's gearing up to have a baby. And she's literally looking me in the eye and she's saying like, do I need to be prepared to have a baby here in Delaney

[1:13:58] next in the courts. The woman that was translating this for me turned out to be an 18-year-old high school senior who's in there by herself. I actually talked to her mom outside of Delaney Hall, and she was born sick. You can imagine having your daughter, an 18-year-old high school senior, in a detention facility by herself. This is a young woman who was telling me all she wanted [1:14:28] telling you these are the worst of the worst. [1:14:31] Telling you that he's going after the violent criminals. You know, I wanted the people across this country to just hear what I'm hearing inside that facility. And sure, they're complaining and raising the concerns about the medical care or the lack of medical care about the horrible problems what they're having with food. Like one man ran up to me with a milk carton and showed me what was inside and it was just congealed solid on the inside. I mean, it's disgusting. [1:14:59] And, you know, they're raising concerns about the extreme heat that they're feeling. And I felt it, too, as I'm sweating there in their room. [1:15:05] And it wasn't even a particularly hot day. [1:15:08] But what they were also flagging is just like the lack of any movement on their cases. I mean, some of them in there for eight months, some of them in there for over a year. [1:15:17] Not having any movement forward in any credible way. [1:15:20] You know, one man ran to the hallway and grabbed a piece of paper off the bulletin board and... [1:15:26] showed it to me, and it showed me that on one day, when the courts came back into session after the Memorial Day weekend, on one day, on that Tuesday, this one judge had 74 cases before her in just one day. And I did the back of the napkin map. That's about five minutes per case. I mean, it's a farce.

[1:15:46] of a legal process that's just keeping them there while these conditions are terrible, not moving anything forward. And who's paying the bill? It's us. It's the taxpayer dollars that are paying GeoGroup millions and millions of dollars to run these facilities. So that's at least what I saw in science. [1:16:08] First of all, that is just horrific. And it seems like the delay in hearing these cases is both a function of how many people they are detaining. Clearly not the worst of the worst, but a whole bunch of other immigrants, some of whom I imagine could be here legally, as well as just the sort of failure to properly resource the immigration courts with enough judges. [1:16:38] to properly resource these facilities? Is that what you took away from it as well? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, some of this is absolutely just a lack of investment. I mean, as they're surging up ICE and CBP through the reconciliation bill, and I'm down here at the Capitol now because they're about to try to push another $60, $70 billion towards the enforcement side, but where's the energy towards the courts? We already had millions of cases of backlog that [1:17:08] a decade or so just to be able to get through. Like we all know that we need to invest in the courts, that we can have a judicial process that can hopefully take on these cases in a matter of days and weeks rather than years or even longer. And that should, you know, that backlog is what is putting so much strain on our system and it's costing us so much. So that's part of it. But like, look, you can't help but think through, I mean, like this is GeoGroup, you know, for those that

[1:17:38] a for-profit company that runs this facility, runs 19 other facilities, about 20 facilities around this country in charge of detaining over 20,000 people for ICE. You know, this is a group that, you know, is just making money off of this all. They're just printing money off of this all. You know, they're getting paid by the bed, by the day, you know, so they're not certainly complaining about this process. And like when you, you can't help but think like, look, when, you know, when you're [1:18:07] Tom Holman comes from GeoGroup into the White House. They run this process. When they just chose, actually, today is the first day of the new head of ICE that they just picked. And it came, again, straight from GeoGroup. You can't help but think like this revolving door of just profiting off of this human misery. You can't help but think like this is... [1:18:30] The point that they are trying to make things so bad for the detainees there that detainees just give up and sign whatever papers that they want or whatnot. And, you know, and I felt it there like there was just so little accountability. Like, as you said, I tried to get into the facility on Monday, early in the day. I tried to get in. [1:18:50] I actually even let them know ahead of time and got approval to be able to go into the facility that day. I show up at the gates, and the GeoGroup guards are just like, nope. [1:19:00] Like, you're not allowed in. [1:19:02] And you're like, I'm a U.S. senator and I've had authorization to do this.

[1:19:19] And so finally, they let me inside and I go inside and I talked to the head of geo group in the facility. I told him, by the way, your guards just told me that I can't come inside. [1:19:29] And he just looked at me and said, you're a liar. He just literally to my face called me a liar. I mean, I give you that not because it was insulting to me, but I give you that because I want you to understand... [1:19:39] Like the kinds of dynamics that there are like that, that, that situation was very indicative to me of the lack of just a lack of care about any accountability or transparency. Like they don't feel like. [1:19:56] Geo Group doesn't feel beholden to the American people, certainly doesn't feel beholden to Congress. And that is, you know, that is because of just this dynamic between ICE and groups like Geo Group and CoreCivic and these other companies. [1:20:26] and feel nothing. [1:20:28] And then when I came out from that facility... [1:20:32] and was alerted by my team and the people on the ground that there was now like a standoff of people outside. So not only is there chaos inside Delaney Hall, but now I come out and emerge outside and see that there's a standoff between ICE agents, [1:20:46] They have a row of ICE agents that are armed. They have an armored vehicle. And they're just on a standoff with the protesters there.

[1:20:57] I mean, look, you know, like my immediate... [1:21:00] Concern was like, this cannot become Minnesota. We saw what happened to Renee Goode and Alex Pretti. I was terrified that, you know, we're going to see that type of violence and potentially bloodshed in the streets. [1:21:17] So I was trying to figure out, like, is there any way to be able to off-ramp this? Is there any way we can be able to lower the temperature? And I was talking to the head of ICE outside there, and at some point he just told me, like, look, we're going to just drive these vehicles, our vehicles out. [1:21:36] And I looked across the field there and I said, like, you cannot just simply plow your vehicles through a crowd of civilians. Like, you have to try to figure out, you know, how we can try to do this without the violence. And, look, I was trying to see if there's any arrangement. But, like, again, like, it shouldn't be just on me. Like, when it comes to de-escalation, like, what role are their officers supposed to play? Like, and that's what I think was so alarming, John, is, like, yeah. [1:22:05] There was just like at some point just a feeling of inevitable violence. [1:22:10] And it was just so... [1:22:12] jarring to me. Like, the ease with which ICE just... [1:22:17] Went out and drove their vehicles literally through a crowd, just not even like not even putting effort to try to avoid that circumstance. [1:22:26] It shouldn't be that easy.

[1:22:29] to have violence in the streets of America. It shouldn't be that easy for federal agents that... [1:22:35] are supposed to swear the same oath that I swear about protecting and defending the Constitution and supporting the American people to find themselves in a circumstance. So it's just like, you know, I saw this unfold and immediately, you know, my instinct was to run. [1:22:49] Thank you. [1:22:50] run into it and try to put myself between [1:22:53] the ICE agents and the crowd. I was trying to keep that physical separation [1:22:57] Because that is where we saw so much of the violence escalate in Minnesota. If I could at least keep them physically separated, you know, perhaps we could avoid the worst. But it was so jarring. It was really scary just to see that type of violence escalate. [1:23:17] in my state, frankly, anywhere in the country. And to know that this is still could very well be a problem. [1:23:26] that we see continue in my state and elsewhere. [1:23:29] And so because you put your body in between the protesters and the ICE agents, the federal agents, eventually they started shooting pepper balls. I believe that there was one that struck by your feet and and, you know, you inhaled it as well. [1:23:50] Secretary Mullen and DHS are saying just a number of things that don't seem to be true and certainly are not your account, that there is no hunger strike, that the complaints are about certain inmates not getting or certain people that are being held by the facility not getting their ethnic food of choice, that the conditions aren't bad, that nobody was directly struck by pepper balls about you.

[1:24:20] all of this. [1:24:21] Well, first of all, just again... [1:24:24] Like I saw what I saw. Like I talked to the people that there is a hunger strike going on inside and a larger protest. [1:24:31] And there are certainly people that are not getting... [1:24:35] Basic care, you know, like, like, again, they're not they're not asking for the moon. They're they're they're asking for just a certain baseline. [1:24:44] of human dignity as we're going, especially as we're, again, keeping them there for indefinite amounts of time. I mean, I was in the medical isolation area, and there was a man there in a wheelchair. He hadn't left that room in four months. [1:25:00] Because that facility is just not meant to handle someone with a wheelchair. So they're like, you're stuck in this room now. [1:25:07] Like, you know, and like not able to go and leave. He was like, can I at least be at a hospital? And frankly, look, there was actually someone who was sent to a hospital, a woman that was sent to a hospital for quite a number of days. By the time I got there, it was like day 12 or 14. The family didn't even know where this woman was because ICE wouldn't tell her what hospital that she was at because of security concerns. So you can't tell them where your hospital, which hospital you're at. [1:25:37] the [1:25:37] severity of the problem that she had to be at a hospital. I mean, she was there for like 12 to 14 days. That's a significant amount of time in a hospital. And the family has no idea. They can't visit them. And so I asked, like, what can the family do to learn about this? And literally, like, it breaks my brain thinking about this. Like, I looked me in the eye and said, oh, the family can FOIA this information. You know, just like thinking to myself, like, what?

[1:26:04] their family member could be in some life-threatening situation at a hospital and you want them to FOIA this information about their loved one. Like that's like the, just the craziness of it. So like when, [1:26:16] When Secretary Mullen or others say this, [1:26:20] They're just in damage control mode. They saw what happened in Minnesota when the American people actually saw what was happening. [1:26:28] And the American people, they're smart about this. They understand that there are just lines that should not be crossed. And whether that's for American citizens or anybody in this country. And frankly, look, a lot of the people I met with at Delaney Hall, they are married to American citizens and parents of kids that are American citizens. You know, that's what I think they're afraid of. They're afraid that the American people will be afraid. [1:26:55] understand and learn the truth about what is happening in our name, with our money, and [1:27:01] But without our say and without our approval, and that's just wrong. And that's what needs to be changed here. We have the capacity to do so. It's just a matter of political will that this administration refuses to put towards this. [1:27:19] I know that Governor Sherrill sent in state police to help set up protest zones and sort of ask demonstrators to lower the temperature. Some of the activists outside Delaney heard that as her policing them instead of the feds. Where do you come down on some of the tension between trying to conduct oversight, give people a safe space to protest while also trying to maintain oversight?

[1:27:43] safety in the general area? Yeah. I mean, first of all, look, I mean, this is chaos that is inherited from ICE that they have been fomented. And then look, they've been threatening to bring many, many more ICE agents to New Jersey, basically threatening a surge similar to Minnesota. So I understand, look, we're going to try to avoid that scenario. But look, there are [1:28:13] legitimate reasons to be able to protest that. And I want to make sure that we are trying to address that. Like we are allowing that kind of space. I get it. Like, you know, we can't have this unrest continue on. In fact, I'm hearing it from people. [1:28:27] The families of the detainees saying that it's been preventing them from being able to visit their loved ones, that the attorneys are not able to get access because, you know, because some of the roads have been shut down and other things. So, like, look, like we want to make sure we're not getting in the way and losing sight of what we're really trying to address, which is the detainees and their conditions. [1:28:50] But, like, there's got to be a way that we can do this, you know, while we are also making sure that, you know, people have the rights afforded to them in the Constitution, especially for free speech.

[1:29:20] has thrown our state into. But it is difficult, but I'm trying my best to be able to push forward in a way that is going to make sure that, again, we're keeping the needs and the plight of the detainees front and center here. As you mentioned, one opportunity to make some change here is the Senate's schedule to consider this $72 billion budget bill funding for ICE that would fund ICE [1:29:50] seem like Democrats have the votes to stop it in the Senate because it would only require 51 votes. But are you and or other Democrats planning to offer any amendments that you think might actually be able to pass with some Republican support that might rein in some of the abuses we're talking about or make any kind of corrections to some of the things that you saw? Well, look, here's what [1:30:20] are facing Delaney. And I want people to know, like, it's not that Delaney, Delaney is not some bad apple that is just, you know, we just have to address that. This is a system wide failure and problem. [1:30:33] As I said, GeoGroup's got 19 other facilities, CoreCivic and other – and now ICE is trying to build these warehouse detention facilities, and hopefully we can push back and stop this. But there's a broader problem, systemic – [1:30:47] not just in the culture, but just in the broader process. And that's what I'm trying to expose. And so there's three things in particular I'm trying to push towards, both through the legislation as through other means. First, let's surge some medical support to Delaney and these other facilities. There are clearly people who are not getting the care that they need, and Secretary Mullin can dispute that. But again, there's...

[1:31:15] It's not what I'm hearing. It's not what I'm seeing. And I just don't see why anyone's going to stand in the way and say, like, look, let's just try to see. I mean, the DHS has a medical unit. You know, we can be able to surge up there in that kind of capacity right away. [1:31:45] Number two, let's have a real investigation into these different claims that are about there, whether it's about the food or the other conditions. And number three, the detainees were very clear with me that... [1:31:57] It's not just about the conditions. It's just it's about having that movement forward on their cases. So I'm trying to, again, take what I'm hearing and figure out how to put it in action. You know, I've been talking to Secretary Mullen this week, telling him what I'm hearing on the ground, trying to see what we can move forward, because they can do this on their own if they wanted to right now. You know, they could demand, you know, additional doctors. They could demand, you know, efforts to be able to surge this. [1:32:27] got a nearly billion dollar contract for Delaney Hall. So they could hire more doctors tomorrow, today, but that's going to be less profit for them, right? Like they could have better quality food or fix the extreme heat that I'm hearing. But then again, that's cutting into their profits, right? So we can change that. So I have been and will continue to be pushing for amendments,

[1:32:52] Along these lines of just saying, like, let's have a baseline of medical resources available. I hope we can all agree that regardless of the circumstances that someone's in there, like, we want to make sure that they're getting some semblance of medical care for key needs. You know, I'm trying to push forward on something that is about de-escalation trade. I literally submitted that amendment to. [1:33:17] before I even went back to Delaney Hall about how we can ensure that there's [1:33:22] There's de-escalation training for ICE and CBP after what we saw in Minnesota, and every single Republican on the Homeland Security Committee voted against my amendment. And then I went back to Delaney and saw and experienced what I did. So I'm pushing for it. But again, this is something where we really need the American people to kind of come behind us on this. The only times we've seen this administration back down. [1:33:47] Or pullback has been when there is wide public outrage. You know, we saw that with Minnesota. We see that actually just today. It looks like we're seeing it when the Trump administration seems to be backing off that $1.8 billion slush fund for January 6th, rioters. [1:34:05] I hope that's true, that they're backing off of that. [1:34:08] But, like, you know, that's what we really need is for us to say, like, you know, this cannot be – [1:34:15] what is happening in our country and to be able to try to stop it and i know you know reconciliation and voteramas in the senate this is not like must watch tv like this is not something that's gonna necessarily like uh you know have people tuning in at whatever god out god awful hour in the middle of the night that you know the republicans force us to to vote on these but like i i ask people please like like

[1:34:41] For my state, for our country, please tune in to what is happening because what they're trying to do is give upwards of $70 billion more for ICE and CBP. Not only is there no reforms and accountability in there like what Americans have been demanding since Minnesota, but there's not a dollar in there for you to help you with your health care. There's not a dollar in there for you to help you with your groceries or for the rising gas prices. There's nothing in it for you. [1:35:11] more money that's going straight into geo groups pockets to just continue this lawlessness that we see. This cannot stand. And this is something that we have to do everything we can to let people know and try to push back against this in Congress. Senator, I know you have to run because you're working on this issue, but I just wanted to say thank you for joining us and thank you for everything you're doing to highlight this issue, including literally putting your body in the way [1:35:41] Delaney's. So please, please let us know how we can help. And, and thank you again. [1:35:47] Yeah, thanks so much for shining a light on this. It's so important. [1:35:57] Thanks to Andy Kim for coming on. Alex Wagner and I will be back with a new show on Friday.

[1:36:27] . [1:36:31] you