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Trump's General Election Pivot · Pod Save America

0:20
Speaker 1: Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau.
0:22
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Pfeiffer.
0:23
Speaker 1: On today's show, Team Biden tells anxious Democrats to chill out.
0:27
Speaker 1: Daniela Diaz of Politico joins to talk about the Republican
0:29
Speaker 1: shutdown shitshow. And Dan and I weigh in on what
0:33
Speaker 1: is by far the most consequential issue in Congress this week,
0:38
Speaker 1: what John Fetterman is wearing. Oof, gotta steal myself for
0:41
Speaker 1: that one. Alright, but first, even though the Iowa caucuses
0:45
Speaker 1: are still four months away, Donald Trump is already acting
0:48
Speaker 1: like he beat his primary opponents and the 91 felony
0:51
Speaker 1: charges he's facing. He's now reportedly skipping the third Republican
0:55
Speaker 1: debate in Florida... And he's skipping next week's debate here
0:58
Speaker 1: in California so that he can give a primetime speech
1:01
Speaker 1: in the battleground state of Michigan, where he will pretend
1:03
Speaker 1: to be pro-worker to an audience that will reportedly include plumbers, electricians, pipefitters,
1:08
Speaker 1: and autoworkers, whose union is currently on strike. Trump's also
1:13
Speaker 1: been trying to pretend he's more moderate than most Republicans
1:15
Speaker 1: on the issue of abortion, which is finally getting him
1:18
Speaker 1: some actual criticism from the popular Republican governors of Iowa
1:22
Speaker 1: and Georgia. as well as his sorry excuse for a
1:25
Speaker 1: primary opponent, Ron DeSantis, who hit Trump on the issue
1:28
Speaker 1: during an Iowa radio interview.
1:30
Speaker 3: I don't know how you can even make the claim
1:35
Speaker 3: that you're somehow pro-life if you're criticizing states for enacting
1:39
Speaker 3: pro-life protection. So I think if he's going into this
1:43
Speaker 3: saying he's going to make the Democrats happy with respect
1:46
Speaker 3: to right to life, I think all pro-lifers should know
1:50
Speaker 3: that he's preparing to sell you out.
1:52
Speaker 1: Sounds like Tiny D finally got his head out of
1:54
Speaker 1: his ass, Dan. Do you think he said that because
1:58
Speaker 1: his favorite podcasters advised him to on Tuesday's show?
2:02
Speaker 2: I'm sure he loves you guys.
2:05
Speaker 1: You think he's listening on his way to his next
2:09
Speaker 1: event in Iowa?
2:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely. It is amazing that all of us at The World,
2:15
Speaker 2: ourselves included, thought that Ron DeSantis could give a real
2:18
Speaker 2: challenge to Donald Trump with that voice. It's heading me
2:21
Speaker 2: out of his ass. It sounds like he is broadcasting
2:24
Speaker 2: from a fishbowl.
2:26
Speaker 1: You got to think about the voice. I didn't listen
2:27
Speaker 1: closely enough at the beginning of this whole thing. You know,
2:30
Speaker 1: it's just, it's bad. It's bad. So Trump clearly heard
2:34
Speaker 1: this criticism because he then went back to bragging about
2:37
Speaker 1: ending the constitutional right to an abortion when he was
2:40
Speaker 1: in Iowa. Let's listen.
2:41
Speaker 2: And last year, I was able to do something that
2:44
Speaker 2: nobody thought was possible. We ended Roe v.
2:47
Speaker 1: Wade. I got the job done. I got it done.
2:53
Speaker 3: And it's thanks to the three great Supreme Court justices
2:56
Speaker 3: and others on the court that I appointed.
2:59
Speaker 1: So I guess the big question for the Republican primary is,
3:03
Speaker 1: are there a significant number of Republicans in Iowa or
3:07
Speaker 1: elsewhere who will decide that Trump coming out against a
3:13
Speaker 1: six week abortion ban is just it's a bridge too far?
3:17
Speaker 2: No, there are not. And here's how we know is
3:20
Speaker 2: that in 2016, all of Trump's opponents, they used ads,
3:24
Speaker 2: they used the media to try to paint Trump as
3:29
Speaker 2: soft on abortion by using a clip where he went
3:31
Speaker 2: on Meet the Press in 1999 and said, I'm very pro-choice.
3:34
Speaker 2: The voters rejected that then. Why would they fall for
3:38
Speaker 2: it now after Trump has done everything in office that
3:41
Speaker 2: the anti-abortion groups wanted him to do? And even if
3:44
Speaker 2: there were some voters, the latest polls have Trump up
3:47
Speaker 2: by 30 in Iowa. So you'd have to find a
3:49
Speaker 2: third of Republican voters who thought this in order to
3:52
Speaker 2: catch him. It's just, it's, sure, you know, points for
3:55
Speaker 2: trying here, but it seems very, very challenging.
3:58
Speaker 1: The guy is a cult leader who is worshipped and
4:02
Speaker 1: is- the one who ended the constitutional right to an abortion,
4:06
Speaker 1: the reason that Ron DeSantis got to pass a six-week
4:09
Speaker 1: abortion ban is because of Donald Trump. And he's basically
4:14
Speaker 1: telling his voters that being against a six-week abortion ban
4:18
Speaker 1: is what he needs to help get him elected president again.
4:21
Speaker 1: And most of the Republican Party, most of the voters,
4:25
Speaker 1: most of Trump's supporters would rather Donald Trump be president
4:29
Speaker 1: than than get a six-week abortion ban or even a
4:31
Speaker 1: national ban. They don't care that much about policy. They
4:34
Speaker 1: care about Donald Trump. That's who they love. That's who
4:37
Speaker 1: they worship. So I think it's just so silly.
4:40
Speaker 2: The thing about Trump is every politician cares about power,
4:43
Speaker 2: but they pretend to care about policy. Trump doesn't pretend, right?
4:47
Speaker 2: Abortion is only a way to get more power. And
4:51
Speaker 2: he would just tell people, if being for a six-week
4:53
Speaker 2: ban helped him win, he'd be for a six-week ban.
4:54
Speaker 2: But it doesn't, so he isn't, right?
4:57
Speaker 1: That's it. That's it. And he's basically telling people, respect
5:00
Speaker 1: my political judgment. This is what I need to do
5:03
Speaker 1: to get into the White House. And that's the most
5:05
Speaker 1: important goal, not abortion. And most Republican voters are like, yeah, no,
5:09
Speaker 1: we don't care. The big question for the general, though,
5:11
Speaker 1: is whether Trump can fool enough voters into thinking he's
5:15
Speaker 1: not as extreme on abortion as the typical Republican. We
5:19
Speaker 1: talked about this on Tuesday. I said I am a
5:21
Speaker 1: little worried. Apparently, the Biden folks are, too. Politico reports
5:25
Speaker 1: that the Biden campaign saw Trump's comments as, quote, a
5:28
Speaker 1: flashing red light. What do you think?
5:32
Speaker 2: I share your worry. You know, this is a point
5:33
Speaker 2: you make all the time, but it's the biggest chasm
5:35
Speaker 2: in politics. It's not between Republicans and Democrats. It's between
5:38
Speaker 2: people who follow political news closely and those who don't.
5:41
Speaker 2: And yes, abortion was the issue that drove the midterms.
5:45
Speaker 2: It helped Democrats win races we shouldn't have won. That
5:48
Speaker 2: could happen again But it's worth noting that if the
5:50
Speaker 2: turnout in 2024 looks anything like the turnout in 2020,
5:53
Speaker 2: there's going to be about 50 million people who did
5:56
Speaker 2: not vote in 2022 who are in this election. And
5:59
Speaker 2: most of them do not follow political news closely. They,
6:03
Speaker 2: in fact, may not have paid any real attention to
6:06
Speaker 2: politics since the last time they voted. And actually, I
6:09
Speaker 2: think because the way the media environment has changed, the
6:12
Speaker 2: less frequent voters are less engaged with political news than
6:15
Speaker 2: they have ever been in the past because they're no
6:17
Speaker 2: longer running into it in social media in the same
6:19
Speaker 2: way they before, in the local news in the same
6:21
Speaker 2: way they before. And so, yeah, he doesn't persuade all
6:24
Speaker 2: of them or most of them. He just has to
6:26
Speaker 2: persuade some of them. And that is a very real
6:28
Speaker 2: thing that could happen if we are not careful about it.
6:32
Speaker 1: They are also less likely to be either very liberal
6:36
Speaker 1: or very conservative. And I wouldn't use the word moderate,
6:40
Speaker 1: but they have views on issues and a set of
6:44
Speaker 1: issues that are complicated. So they may be pro-choice, but
6:47
Speaker 1: they might not be so pro-choice that that's going to
6:50
Speaker 1: be the issue that they vote on. They may care
6:53
Speaker 1: about inflation more. They may care about immigration more, whatever.
6:55
Speaker 1: People are complicated and they get more complicated in their
6:58
Speaker 1: political views than when they are the type of people
7:01
Speaker 1: who only show up to vote in presidential elections. I
7:04
Speaker 1: know there's a lot of running around and cheering about
7:07
Speaker 1: special elections and Democratic overperformance, which there has been over
7:10
Speaker 1: the last several years, about the midterms when Democrats overperformed
7:13
Speaker 1: and there wasn't a red wave. But again, the way
7:16
Speaker 1: that the coalitions of both parties have changed, we now
7:19
Speaker 1: have voters who are in the Democratic Party who tend
7:23
Speaker 1: to pay attention to the news more closely, who are
7:26
Speaker 1: more politically engaged. college-educated voters, and they show up in specials,
7:31
Speaker 1: and they show up in midterms, and they'll show up
7:33
Speaker 1: in the presidential race for sure. But like you said,
7:36
Speaker 1: there's a whole bunch of other people who are going
7:37
Speaker 1: to show up who have not shown up in the midterms,
7:40
Speaker 1: who have not shown up in these special elections, but
7:43
Speaker 1: did show up in 2016 and did show up in 2020.
7:46
Speaker 1: So Trump not only said that in Iowa, he also
7:51
Speaker 1: truthed about it. He posted a truth that said, I
7:54
Speaker 1: killed Roe. And then Joe Biden... X'd that truth. I
8:00
Speaker 1: hate my life. And he warned that Trump will go
8:05
Speaker 1: even further if he gets back to the White House.
8:08
Speaker 1: I imagine that this will continue to be a focus
8:10
Speaker 1: of the Biden campaign's advertising. They've already run some ads
8:13
Speaker 1: about this, about Trump's record on abortion and what he
8:16
Speaker 1: will plan to do. Anything else you think they should
8:18
Speaker 1: be doing?
8:19
Speaker 2: Toots, skeets, threads. Yeah.
8:25
Speaker 1: Toots and skeets. We need more toots and skeets.
8:29
Speaker 2: I think it's good that Biden went after this. They
8:31
Speaker 2: should be opportunistic about opportunities to push back on Trump
8:34
Speaker 2: on abortion, to keep abortion at the top of the
8:37
Speaker 2: political agenda to make sure it's a salient issue. One
8:40
Speaker 2: tactical thing, this isn't necessarily for the Biden campaign to do,
8:43
Speaker 2: but that some political entity could do, is in 2012,
8:47
Speaker 2: one thing that the Obama campaign did that was very
8:50
Speaker 2: helpful was we knew from our polling that Republican efforts,
8:55
Speaker 2: including Mitt Romney's support of defunding Planned Parenthood, was incredibly
8:58
Speaker 2: unpopular with what we used to call our up-for-grabs universe
9:01
Speaker 2: of voters, women within that group who were either deciding
9:04
Speaker 2: between voting and not voting or between Obama and Romney.
9:06
Speaker 2: And so the campaign went up on the air at
9:09
Speaker 2: low levels on programs that over-indexed on women viewers with months,
9:14
Speaker 2: just a steady run of ads about defunding Planned Parenthood.
9:17
Speaker 2: A similar effort could happen here. It's not going to
9:21
Speaker 2: work the same way because the media is very different,
9:22
Speaker 2: but you could see it on Instagram or other social platforms,
9:26
Speaker 2: but a digital and linear TV low-level campaign about Trump
9:32
Speaker 2: and abortion that just goes up soon and stays up
9:34
Speaker 2: the whole time as a way to just make sure
9:35
Speaker 2: that he can't wiggle out of his most extreme positions.
9:39
Speaker 1: And what about putting Biden and other Democratic surrogates, whether
9:45
Speaker 1: they're politicians, whether they're celebrities, whoever, on like non-traditional media,
9:49
Speaker 1: non-political media to like get this message out there. Because
9:53
Speaker 1: as you said, there's just a lot of people who
9:55
Speaker 1: aren't paying attention to or consuming political media, political news
9:59
Speaker 1: like they used to. And, you know, you mentioned women,
10:02
Speaker 1: which is obviously key. Also young people and wherever young
10:06
Speaker 1: people are getting not just their news, but just their
10:08
Speaker 1: content in general, getting some, you know, pro-choice surrogates, whether
10:14
Speaker 1: they're connected to the Biden campaign or not, you know,
10:16
Speaker 1: out there. in those media outlets or in those places
10:21
Speaker 1: where people are getting their content, it seems like that
10:23
Speaker 1: would be a good idea too.
10:24
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
10:26
Speaker 4: All right.
10:26
Speaker 1: So let's talk about Trump's trip to Michigan next week.
10:29
Speaker 1: So far, his only comments about the UAW strike have
10:32
Speaker 1: been when he said on Meet the Press that, quote,
10:34
Speaker 1: the autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership.
10:38
Speaker 1: But the decision to give a speech in Detroit is
10:41
Speaker 1: reportedly making some Democrats nervous because that's who we are now.
10:46
Speaker 1: Here's a political lead from yesterday. Now.
10:48
Speaker 2: That's who we are now.
10:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, right. Yeah, now it's in like 20 years, 30 years,
10:52
Speaker 1: 40 years.
10:52
Speaker 2: A long history of self-assured cockiness.
10:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's us. All right, so here's the political lead
10:57
Speaker 1: from yesterday. Some Joe Biden allies fear that Donald Trump
11:00
Speaker 1: is outmaneuvering them on the autoworker strike. They also worry
11:03
Speaker 1: it's a sign that the ex-president has a more sophisticated
11:06
Speaker 1: campaign than in previous cycles and that Biden's operation needs
11:11
Speaker 1: to step it up. All right, before we get to
11:13
Speaker 1: our party's perpetual angst, What do you think of Donald
11:16
Speaker 1: Trump's attempt to sell himself as a champion of the
11:19
Speaker 1: working class, which, you know, in fairness, he has been
11:22
Speaker 1: trying to do since 2016 with some, you know, varying
11:25
Speaker 1: levels of success?
11:26
Speaker 2: This is a very savvy move from the perspective of
11:28
Speaker 2: trying to get attention because voters are just going to
11:30
Speaker 2: hear Donald Trump heads to Michigan to rally with union workers.
11:34
Speaker 2: And that is a signal that he is unlike all
11:37
Speaker 2: these other Republicans who want to cut taxes for corporations
11:41
Speaker 2: and do all these other things. So in that sense,
11:44
Speaker 2: it's very good. Now, there's a little bit of a
11:46
Speaker 2: myth that Trump has had great success in peeling union
11:49
Speaker 2: voters away from Democrats. As an example, in 2012, according
11:53
Speaker 2: to the exit polls, Obama won the universe by 18 points.
11:56
Speaker 2: In 2020, Biden won it by 16 points. But just
12:00
Speaker 2: simply seeming a little bit less like a corporatist shill
12:04
Speaker 2: than other Republicans could help Trump in a state like
12:05
Speaker 2: Michigan for sure.
12:08
Speaker 1: And it's also, I mean, This issue is about union workers.
12:12
Speaker 1: It's also an attempt more broadly to just peel away
12:16
Speaker 1: working class voters from the Democratic Party, which Trump has
12:19
Speaker 1: had some success doing among, certainly among white working class voters,
12:23
Speaker 1: but increasingly non-college educated working class Black and Latino voters
12:28
Speaker 1: as well, particularly men. You know, and look, he's out there,
12:32
Speaker 1: he makes a lot of noise about the ills of
12:35
Speaker 1: free trade and foreign competition and you know, says that
12:39
Speaker 1: the Democrats, so the message now from Trump and J.D.
12:42
Speaker 1: Vance and all those assholes is, you know, Democrats have
12:45
Speaker 1: sold out the working class to the coastal elites in
12:49
Speaker 1: their base in Hollywood and academia. And it's like, you know,
12:52
Speaker 1: it's like shit that Republicans have been saying since the 70s.
12:55
Speaker 1: But now you've got the leader of the party doing it.
12:58
Speaker 1: And I will say that Trump's approach is quite different
13:02
Speaker 1: than his opponents. If you want to hear what a
13:04
Speaker 1: pre-Trump Republican sounds like on these issues. Here's what Tim
13:08
Speaker 1: Scott had to say about the strike. I think Ronald
13:10
Speaker 1: Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided
13:15
Speaker 1: they were going to strike. He said, you strike, you're fired.
13:19
Speaker 1: Simple concept to me, to the extent that we could
13:21
Speaker 1: use that once again, absolutely. I mean, wouldn't you rather
13:27
Speaker 1: run against that message than Trump's message, even though we
13:29
Speaker 1: know Trump's message is a fucking lie and complete bullshit?
13:33
Speaker 2: A hundred percent. Trump is– I don't necessarily agree from
13:38
Speaker 2: that original political quote you read that Biden is getting outmaneuvered.
13:41
Speaker 2: But this is evidence that Trump is running a more
13:43
Speaker 2: sophisticated campaign than he has in the past for sure.
13:46
Speaker 1: I think he is too. Yeah.
13:47
Speaker 2: And we should– everyone should be well aware of that
13:49
Speaker 2: fact as we– how we think about this race. But
13:52
Speaker 2: one thing he is doing is he's getting back to
13:53
Speaker 2: his 2016 roots. And his 2016 roots is run right
13:57
Speaker 2: on cultural issues and tack a little bit left on
14:00
Speaker 2: economic issues from your party.
14:02
Speaker 1: Remember, in that race- Rhetorically, at least. Rhetorically, yeah.
14:06
Speaker 2: The man campaigns like Pat Buchanan and governs like Paul Ryan,
14:09
Speaker 2: but he ran in that race. He said, no cuts,
14:13
Speaker 2: Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. He talked, even though it
14:17
Speaker 2: went against his own white papers, about being against tax
14:20
Speaker 2: cuts for the rich and corporate tax cuts and wanting
14:23
Speaker 2: to close the hedge fund loophole and all these other
14:25
Speaker 2: things because he understood that the Republicans had this working
14:30
Speaker 2: class base that they had to appeal to. And that
14:33
Speaker 2: he's he lost that in 2020. He turned the whole
14:35
Speaker 2: thing into a bunch of grievances about himself. And he's
14:37
Speaker 2: returning to those roots, whether it'll work or not, whether
14:40
Speaker 2: he can stick to it is an open question. But
14:42
Speaker 2: there are some troubling signs there. Yeah.
14:45
Speaker 1: And look, he also had a record in when he
14:48
Speaker 1: was running in 2020. He had a record that Democrats
14:50
Speaker 1: pointed out where he stopped a minimum wage hike. restricted
14:54
Speaker 1: overtime pay, made it harder to join a union, gutted
14:56
Speaker 1: health and safety protections for workers, tried to take away
15:00
Speaker 1: health care for millions by repealing the Affordable Care Act,
15:03
Speaker 1: and then passed a big, giant tax cut that benefited
15:06
Speaker 1: the richest people in America and corporations, especially those that
15:11
Speaker 1: want to ship people's jobs overseas. So that was his record.
15:15
Speaker 1: And Democrats pointed out, and I do think we probably
15:18
Speaker 1: need to do that again, because I miss the days
15:21
Speaker 1: when Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would brag about how
15:23
Speaker 1: they wanted to gut people's healthcare and retirement to give
15:26
Speaker 1: tax cuts to the rich because the rest of America
15:29
Speaker 1: is filled with lazy freeloaders who are just mooching off
15:31
Speaker 1: the government. They were honest about it at least. And
15:36
Speaker 1: it's much more difficult to pin Trump down because he
15:39
Speaker 1: does have that record from when he was president. But again,
15:42
Speaker 1: a lot of people are just watching the speeches or
15:45
Speaker 1: looking at the headlines and not really checking out what
15:48
Speaker 1: the record was. And so I think that's part of
15:49
Speaker 1: Democrats' job and Biden's job to remind people.
15:51
Speaker 4: Yeah.
15:51
Speaker 2: I mean, this could be a savvy move. It could
15:54
Speaker 2: also blow up in his face because he is the
15:55
Speaker 2: most anti-worker president in American history and he's going to
15:58
Speaker 2: stand with workers. So if he leads with his chin
16:01
Speaker 2: there and you punch him right in the jaw, then
16:03
Speaker 2: it's not going to be a savvy move at all.
16:05
Speaker 2: But we determine whether that happens. That's something Democrats have
16:08
Speaker 2: to do.
16:09
Speaker 1: Well, speaking of that, there's apparently been a back and
16:11
Speaker 1: forth in the White House over whether Biden himself should
16:13
Speaker 1: join the UAW on a picket line, which is something
16:16
Speaker 1: no president has ever done. What do you think about that?
16:19
Speaker 2: He should absolutely go. Absolutely.
16:22
Speaker 1: What do you think the conversations are like in the
16:23
Speaker 1: White House? Because I was imagining this, and I'm guessing
16:27
Speaker 1: that there is some group of people who are saying, okay,
16:31
Speaker 1: the most important governing and political objective here for the
16:35
Speaker 1: White House is a resolution that gets... the best deal
16:39
Speaker 1: possible for workers and gets them back to work. And
16:42
Speaker 1: that's good for workers. That's good for the economy. And
16:44
Speaker 1: then politically that's good for them.
16:46
Speaker 4: Right.
16:46
Speaker 1: So that's like the ultimate objective. And they're probably like, well,
16:48
Speaker 1: anything that gets in the way of that, you know,
16:51
Speaker 1: maybe good for a couple of headlines, but it's, it's
16:53
Speaker 1: not good for the longterm objective of getting a deal.
16:56
Speaker 1: And the UAW leadership is out there being like, we
16:59
Speaker 1: don't want politicians involved, whether, and they don't, we should
17:02
Speaker 1: say also, they do not like Donald Trump. And so
17:04
Speaker 1: it's not working on the UAW, what Donald Trump's doing
17:07
Speaker 1: in the leadership. They, have been blasting him. But they're like,
17:10
Speaker 1: even if it's President Biden, we just don't want politicians involved.
17:13
Speaker 1: We want to do this ourselves. So I wonder if
17:17
Speaker 1: there's that faction in the White House that is like
17:19
Speaker 1: offering that caution, though I agree with you that he
17:22
Speaker 1: should go do it.
17:23
Speaker 2: I could just stand here and do a one-act play
17:26
Speaker 2: of that meeting. I know exactly how it's going. That's
17:29
Speaker 2: the economic team is saying, we got to.
17:32
Speaker 1: Get this done. Lawyers probably involved too.
17:34
Speaker 2: If we don't get this solved, it's going to hit
17:36
Speaker 2: GDP by 0.93% in the third quarter and what that
17:39
Speaker 2: would mean. And then you have other people who are saying, well,
17:42
Speaker 2: just so you know, if you do this, then the
17:45
Speaker 2: next call we're going to get is from the Screen
17:47
Speaker 2: Actors Guild and the Writers Guild to come to that one.
17:52
Speaker 2: And what about when the teachers are on strike? Are
17:53
Speaker 2: you going to go walk with them? And then there
17:55
Speaker 2: are going to be people who say, well, now it's
17:56
Speaker 2: going to look like you're responding to Trump. Because Trump
17:59
Speaker 2: is going to Michigan. I get all of that. And
18:01
Speaker 2: these things are never.
18:02
Speaker 1: As easy as they sound. We're going to get a
18:03
Speaker 1: call from the NLRB, from the National Labor Relations Board.
18:06
Speaker 1: They're going to say that you're not supposed to insert
18:07
Speaker 1: yourself and this is the regulation and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah.
18:10
Speaker 2: But the only thing I would say, and these things
18:13
Speaker 2: are never as simple as a bunch of podcasters just
18:15
Speaker 2: like shooting from the hip as I just did there.
18:17
Speaker 2: But the biggest challenge for Biden on the economy is
18:20
Speaker 2: getting attention. He did it. He's done the right things.
18:24
Speaker 2: He largely says the right things, but no one hears him.
18:26
Speaker 2: This would be one of the rare... high-profile moments that
18:30
Speaker 2: people who do not watch CNN and listen to Pod
18:33
Speaker 2: Save America would actually know about. So you've got to
18:35
Speaker 2: take it. And that's really what I think these next
18:38
Speaker 2: few months are. Between this and the shutdown, these are
18:41
Speaker 2: the most high-leverage moments he's going to have to change
18:45
Speaker 2: the political trajectory on the economy and perhaps himself that
18:49
Speaker 2: he's going to get until the campaign kicks off. And
18:50
Speaker 2: you've got to take them. You've got to roll the dice.
18:53
Speaker 2: You need a high-variance strategy here. It's risky, but I
18:55
Speaker 2: think it's worth doing.
18:58
Speaker 1: Now, A few weeks ago, you and I talked about
19:02
Speaker 1: some of the Democratic anxiety over the fact that Biden
19:05
Speaker 1: was not really mentioning Trump all that much and was
19:09
Speaker 1: not focusing on Trump. And that's because, you know, there's
19:13
Speaker 1: still a Republican primary playing out and it's still early
19:15
Speaker 1: and he's got plenty of time. Well, now we have
19:18
Speaker 1: Donald Trump, who is looking past the primary and now
19:21
Speaker 1: focusing almost exclusively on Joe Biden. because he's, you know, 30,
19:26
Speaker 1: 40 points ahead of all of his rivals and he's
19:27
Speaker 1: skipping the debates and all that kind of stuff. Do
19:29
Speaker 1: you still think that Biden should ignore Trump or is it,
19:33
Speaker 1: is it time to start the general here? Cause like,
19:35
Speaker 1: I kind of think it's time to start the general.
19:37
Speaker 2: I think it's time to start the general, but I
19:39
Speaker 2: don't think that means that every day Joe Biden has
19:40
Speaker 2: to talk about Donald Trump. I think he should be
19:42
Speaker 2: opportunistic about it. I think Trump– whether Biden goes to
19:47
Speaker 2: the strike or not, you could engineer a moment where
19:50
Speaker 2: Biden is with a bunch of workers somewhere or in
19:53
Speaker 2: some sort of environment where he gets asked a question
19:56
Speaker 2: about Trump going to Michigan. He just hammers them for
19:58
Speaker 2: his anti-worker positions. He calls them basically full shit without
20:01
Speaker 2: using those words. You can find some moments to do it,
20:04
Speaker 2: but you don't have to do it all the time.
20:05
Speaker 2: I do think for the outside groups and others who
20:08
Speaker 2: are already on the air running pro-Biden ads, we're probably
20:11
Speaker 2: getting closer to the period of time where you're going
20:14
Speaker 2: to mix in some contrast stuff with Trump to begin
20:17
Speaker 2: laying a foundation for the campaign when it really kicks
20:19
Speaker 2: off next year.
20:22
Speaker 1: Maybe Biden should call him full of shit. That'd get
20:23
Speaker 1: a headline. Yeah.
20:25
Speaker 2: I mean, actually, you know what? What did he call
20:28
Speaker 2: Peter Doocy? Oh, son of a bitch. Maybe he doesn't
20:30
Speaker 2: have to go that far, but- It would get attention.
20:32
Speaker 3: Yes.
20:33
Speaker 1: Guys full of shit. Speaking of Democratic anxiety, here's a
20:36
Speaker 1: headline from Axios. Biden's team tells nervous Dems, just chill.
20:41
Speaker 1: In true Axios fashion, the piece doesn't actually have anyone
20:43
Speaker 1: saying those words, just chill. But it does say that
20:46
Speaker 1: Mike Donlan, Biden's senior advisor, has been telling anxious Democrats
20:49
Speaker 1: the two issues, abortion and Donald Trump, will propel Biden
20:53
Speaker 1: to reelection and that the White House plans to continue
20:56
Speaker 1: its rose garden strategy with a three-pronged message that focuses
21:00
Speaker 1: on protecting democracy, abortion rights, and a resilient economy, including
21:04
Speaker 1: a historically low unemployment rate. And here's the kicker, quote,
21:08
Speaker 1: in those private conversations, Democrats have been struck by top
21:11
Speaker 1: White House aides' confidence. Some worry it's hubris. How did
21:15
Speaker 1: you feel after reading that piece? Better, worse, neither?
21:18
Speaker 2: Just mainly angry at Axios.
21:23
Speaker 1: That's it. That's why we wanted it live.
21:25
Speaker 2: It just seems like something that was engineered to infuriate everyone, right?
21:31
Speaker 2: I know. Biden tells Democrats to chill the F out.
21:33
Speaker 2: We got this. And that's not– no one said that.
21:36
Speaker 2: We know Mike Donilon. That's not how he talks, right? No,
21:39
Speaker 2: it's not.
21:40
Speaker 1: He's a very soft-spoken, mild-mannered man who is very thoughtful.
21:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not. The point of the headline was to
21:48
Speaker 2: trigger Democrats who think Biden– shouldn't run, is being complacent,
21:53
Speaker 2: who thinks we're all sort of fiddling while Rome burns here,
21:56
Speaker 2: all of that. And that's not– that's just not what–
21:59
Speaker 2: there's nothing in the Biden campaign's body language or activity
22:01
Speaker 2: that suggests they're being complacent here. They are on the
22:04
Speaker 2: air right now spending real money because they see the
22:08
Speaker 2: same stuff in their polling, I assume, that all the
22:10
Speaker 2: rest of Democrats are reacting to in the public polling. Yeah.
22:14
Speaker 1: I was going to say, if they really are like
22:15
Speaker 1: super confident and everything like that, like, Hey, show us
22:18
Speaker 1: your polling. I don't, I don't think their polling is
22:22
Speaker 1: that much different than, than what we're seeing publicly. Yeah.
22:25
Speaker 2: And they're not out there unskewing the polls, right. Or
22:27
Speaker 2: complaining about it.
22:28
Speaker 1: Right.
22:29
Speaker 2: Which is the right thing to do, whether their polls
22:30
Speaker 2: say something different or not, but still.
22:32
Speaker 1: Yeah. Don't unskew polls, please. Um, I also it said
22:36
Speaker 1: Rose Garden strategy in there. And I'm like, what Rose
22:39
Speaker 1: Garden strategy? Joe Biden's like out on the campaign trail
22:41
Speaker 1: all the time. And he's like flying around the world
22:43
Speaker 1: as president. Like, I don't I don't see a Rose
22:45
Speaker 1: Garden strategy from them.
22:46
Speaker 2: That also was not in quotes either.
22:49
Speaker 4: Right.
22:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. What do you think about the issues
22:52
Speaker 1: that they said that they're focused on and how those
22:54
Speaker 1: issues are going to propel Biden to reelection? Because I
22:56
Speaker 1: do think that we can yell about the piece, but
22:58
Speaker 1: I thought that's the piece, the part of the piece
23:00
Speaker 1: worth talking about.
23:01
Speaker 2: Abortion clearly is. is going to be one of the
23:03
Speaker 2: most important issues in selection. It's going to be incumbent
23:05
Speaker 2: upon Biden and Democrats to ensure, as we just talked about,
23:07
Speaker 2: that it remains at the top of voters' minds. So
23:11
Speaker 2: clear there. The economy, Biden needs to improve his numbers
23:15
Speaker 2: on the economy. No one has won a campaign in
23:18
Speaker 2: modern political history without winning on the economy. Biden is
23:20
Speaker 2: trailing significantly on the economy right now. Now, the use
23:25
Speaker 2: of the term resilient in there is also something not
23:28
Speaker 2: in quotes.
23:30
Speaker 1: Right.
23:31
Speaker 2: But it is consistent with how the Biden campaign's advertising
23:35
Speaker 2: has been, which is, here's where we were.
23:38
Speaker 4: Terrible.
23:38
Speaker 2: We did these things. Here's where we are now. Now
23:40
Speaker 2: we've got to go finish the job. And I think
23:42
Speaker 2: that's probably what they mean. But I've been really trying
23:46
Speaker 2: to find a way to write about the politics of
23:50
Speaker 2: the economy. And I've been digging into the polling. And
23:53
Speaker 2: it's so confusing. But one thing that is clear is
23:56
Speaker 2: that people are still hurting.
23:58
Speaker 4: Right?
23:58
Speaker 2: It's not all polarization. It's not all political. There's a
24:01
Speaker 2: Navigator poll out this week that shows that 91% of
24:04
Speaker 2: voters say that inflation is a major concern. And that's
24:07
Speaker 2: not all just Republicans watching Fox News or just are
24:09
Speaker 2: hearing about it. There are 85% of Democrats say that.
24:13
Speaker 2: The numbers when you get lower down the economic scale
24:16
Speaker 2: are worse. And so that says to me that even
24:20
Speaker 2: though inflation is getting better, people are still feeling the pinch.
24:23
Speaker 2: And I think that is different than I think we
24:25
Speaker 2: thought the economic messaging would be maybe a few months
24:28
Speaker 2: ago when we saw consumer confidence go up and we
24:31
Speaker 2: thought maybe it was time to make the turn. And
24:33
Speaker 2: I think that there's going to have to be a
24:34
Speaker 2: little more balance in that. And now democracy really depends
24:37
Speaker 2: on how you message it. Because what are we talking
24:40
Speaker 2: about there? Is it about Trump and the big lie?
24:42
Speaker 2: Is it about protecting a political system that a recent
24:44
Speaker 2: Pew poll shows has record low approval? It's just that one,
24:48
Speaker 2: it's just how they talk about that will be very
24:50
Speaker 2: interesting to me.
24:52
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, there is a school of thought that
24:56
Speaker 1: economic sentiment is based on vibes. And if Joe Biden
25:01
Speaker 1: went out there and Democrats go out there and talk
25:03
Speaker 1: the economy up more than they do, then everyone will say,
25:06
Speaker 1: oh yeah, the economy is great. And Part of that
25:09
Speaker 1: is based on, you know, Trump running around during his
25:11
Speaker 1: presidency talking about how it's the greatest this ever, you know,
25:14
Speaker 1: lowest unemployment rate for black people and lowest unemployment rate
25:17
Speaker 1: for Latinos and women. And I'm doing the greatest thing ever.
25:19
Speaker 1: It's the greatest economy in the world. And I don't
25:22
Speaker 1: know necessarily that there's evidence that Trump just talking up
25:25
Speaker 1: the economy is what made people think the economy was good.
25:28
Speaker 1: Because when you do, you ask people about the economy
25:31
Speaker 1: right now and they think the economy is shit. But
25:33
Speaker 1: then you ask people about their personal finances and it's
25:37
Speaker 1: a little bit better, but You still, in that recent
25:40
Speaker 1: CBS poll, I think, too, ask people like, you know,
25:42
Speaker 1: are you better off than a couple of years ago
25:45
Speaker 1: than you were before the pandemic? And a good chunk
25:48
Speaker 1: of people are not better off. And then there's another
25:50
Speaker 1: good chunk of people who are the same. And there's
25:52
Speaker 1: only sort of a small percentage who say that they're better.
25:54
Speaker 1: So that's like that's people talking about their personal finances
25:57
Speaker 1: and their personal feelings, not how they view the economy
26:00
Speaker 1: writ large. Right. Which you could argue is more dependent
26:04
Speaker 1: on headlines, what politicians say. what you see on the news,
26:08
Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera. But when you're asked a question
26:10
Speaker 1: about your own personal finances and your own financial situation,
26:13
Speaker 1: and if a whole bunch of people are saying that
26:16
Speaker 1: it's not great, then who are we to tell them otherwise?
26:20
Speaker 2: I will disagree with you slightly here. I think Biden
26:25
Speaker 2: could improve his numbers on the economy by talking it
26:29
Speaker 2: up more. But I think that would be a false
26:31
Speaker 2: signal because the difference between Biden and Trump is that
26:34
Speaker 2: Trump always got more Republicans to say the economy was
26:37
Speaker 2: good than Biden gets Democrats to say the economy is good.
26:40
Speaker 2: So there's a bunch of people who are going to
26:42
Speaker 2: vote for Joe Biden who are currently telling pollsters they
26:45
Speaker 2: don't think the economy is good. Or even that they
26:48
Speaker 2: may not approve of Joe Biden's economic record or trust
26:51
Speaker 2: him in the economy or whatever else. He can improve
26:52
Speaker 2: those numbers. It's not going to improve him in the
26:54
Speaker 2: horse race. It's just going to get people already voting
26:56
Speaker 2: for him to say, to tell pollsters they think the
26:58
Speaker 2: economy is good. But the risk, the backlash to that
27:02
Speaker 2: is potentially taking these people who could react negatively to
27:06
Speaker 2: overselling the economy, who are not in your camp yet,
27:09
Speaker 2: who fall into that persuadable universe, if that sort of
27:11
Speaker 2: convoluted thinking makes sense.
27:13
Speaker 1: Yeah. And I just think we've got to... I mean,
27:16
Speaker 1: I'm like a broken record on this, but I think
27:18
Speaker 1: we have to get away from the question, do you
27:23
Speaker 1: think the economy is good or not? And get to
27:26
Speaker 1: the question, Who is more likely to fight for you?
27:29
Speaker 1: Who is more likely to fight for the middle class?
27:31
Speaker 1: And Biden's message should be, elect me, elect a Democratic majority.
27:36
Speaker 1: Here's how we'll finish the job. And if you don't,
27:39
Speaker 1: if you vote for them, here's what they'll do. Here's
27:41
Speaker 1: what Donald Trump will do. And here's what the Republicans
27:43
Speaker 1: will do. And then the choice becomes the Democratic vision
27:46
Speaker 1: or the Republican vision, which we're going to be, you know,
27:49
Speaker 1: ours is going to be much more popular according to
27:51
Speaker 1: most of the polling. And it gets you out of
27:53
Speaker 1: the question of, is it good? Is it bad? Is
27:55
Speaker 1: it better? Is it not as good? Which is just,
27:58
Speaker 1: you know, first of all, it's hard to answer. And
28:00
Speaker 1: second of all, it's largely dependent on the economic conditions,
28:02
Speaker 1: which we can't predict.
28:03
Speaker 2: And I would say to the White House's credit, they
28:05
Speaker 2: made that pivot two weeks ago. That is Bidenomics versus Manganomics.
28:09
Speaker 2: That is what they are trying to do.
28:10
Speaker 1: Right. Which is great, which is what they should be doing,
28:12
Speaker 1: I think. All right. Before we go to break, two
28:15
Speaker 1: quick housekeeping notes. The next Republican debate is Wednesday, September 27th,
28:18
Speaker 1: which means it's time for another Friends of the Pod
28:20
Speaker 1: group thread. Join us on Discord for live reactions and
28:23
Speaker 1: commentary during the debate. Don't miss out. Subscribe to Friends
28:26
Speaker 1: of the Pod to join our group thread at crooked.com
28:29
Speaker 1: slash friends. And maybe while you're yelling at the TV,
28:32
Speaker 1: you'll want to wear one of Crooked's Fuck That Guy t-shirts,
28:35
Speaker 1: which are back and better than ever. Maybe Joe Biden
28:39
Speaker 1: should wear a Fuck That Guy t-shirt.
28:41
Speaker 2: How are they better?
28:42
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. I just read what's
28:44
Speaker 1: in front of me. Someone send me one.
28:45
Speaker 4: All right.
28:46
Speaker 2: Thank you, Ron Burgundy.
28:47
Speaker 1: Pick one up and let it do some of the
28:49
Speaker 1: yelling for you this election season. Head to crooked.com slash
28:52
Speaker 1: store to shop. When we come back, Politico's Daniela Diaz
28:55
Speaker 1: joins to talk about the House Republican shit show that's
28:58
Speaker 1: heading towards a government shutdown. The government will shut down
29:14
Speaker 1: in 10 days if Congress can't pass a funding bill.
29:16
Speaker 1: And thanks to the utter chaos in the House Republican caucus,
29:20
Speaker 1: it's not looking good. Here's Kevin McCarthy feigning surprise, surprise
29:25
Speaker 1: that Republicans would try to burn the place down.
29:28
Speaker 2: This is a whole new concept of individuals that just
29:30
Speaker 2: want to burn the whole place down. It doesn't work.
29:33
Speaker 1: Here to help us understand what the hell is going
29:35
Speaker 1: on on Capitol Hill is Daniela Diaz, who writes Politico's
29:38
Speaker 1: huddle newsletter. Daniela, welcome to the pod.
29:41
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
29:42
Speaker 1: First question, how much do you love your job right now?
29:45
Speaker 1: And are you planning on sleeping in the next 10 days?
29:48
Speaker 4: You know, these are the times that I wish I
29:51
Speaker 4: had chosen something else to cover. But we're here every year.
29:54
Speaker 4: If you, I'm sure you know better than everyone, it
29:57
Speaker 4: happens every year. This isn't too new for us. But
30:00
Speaker 4: there are times that I kind of wish I covered
30:02
Speaker 4: something like, you know, maybe a business beat. Maybe something
30:07
Speaker 4: more nine to five. And I don't think to answer
30:10
Speaker 4: your question, I don't think I'm going to sleep a
30:11
Speaker 4: lot these next couple of days, but we'll see. I mean,
30:13
Speaker 4: I've already told my family and friends that this is
30:15
Speaker 4: my priority. And we don't know, you know, that's on
30:20
Speaker 4: how long the government shutdown is going to happen. We
30:23
Speaker 4: should do maybe maybe an open pool or something because
30:25
Speaker 4: it looks like it's inevitable at this point.
30:27
Speaker 1: OK, so say you're someone who's just waking up to
30:31
Speaker 1: this news that there's chaos in Washington and the government
30:34
Speaker 1: may shut down and they're wondering what the hell is happening.
30:38
Speaker 1: What would you tell them?
30:39
Speaker 4: I would say right now Congress is divided in the
30:43
Speaker 4: sense of the Senate is Democratic-led, the House is Republican-led. McCarthy,
30:49
Speaker 4: when he became Speaker, set a rule that if one
30:53
Speaker 4: Republican can oust him as Speaker, and all McCarthy's ever
30:56
Speaker 4: wanted as Speaker of the House is to be Speaker
30:58
Speaker 4: of the House. As a result, he is now having
31:01
Speaker 4: to cater to some of the most conservative members of
31:05
Speaker 4: his conference on a deal that could fund the government
31:08
Speaker 4: of that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would never support
31:12
Speaker 4: and neither would President Joe Biden. And that is what
31:15
Speaker 4: we're witnessing right now happen real time as the government
31:19
Speaker 4: is inevitably likely, I say inevitably, that's what we've been saying,
31:24
Speaker 4: likely to shut down in less than two weeks.
31:28
Speaker 1: I want to start by taking a step back for
31:29
Speaker 1: people who haven't been following this lunacy. Back in June,
31:34
Speaker 1: President Biden and Speaker McCarthy ended the debt ceiling standoff
31:36
Speaker 1: with a deal on federal spending for the next two
31:38
Speaker 1: years that was designed to avoid a shutdown this fall.
31:44
Speaker 1: What happened?
31:45
Speaker 4: Well, you would think that that meant that this would
31:47
Speaker 4: have happened a lot more smoothly as these negotiations started
31:50
Speaker 4: in the House with House Republicans who apparently are not
31:54
Speaker 4: aware of what happened, you know, back during the GOP
31:57
Speaker 4: limit deal. And when I say some of those House Republicans,
31:59
Speaker 4: mainly House Freedom Caucus members who are refusing to support
32:03
Speaker 4: any sort of stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown.
32:06
Speaker 4: But it seems like we're back at square one. You know,
32:07
Speaker 4: a lot of us are having deja vu of just
32:09
Speaker 4: a couple of months ago. It feels like it's the
32:10
Speaker 4: same debate happening again and again. These House Republicans that
32:13
Speaker 4: want to bring down spending, they want to bring down
32:16
Speaker 4: government spending. And I think it's really important to note
32:18
Speaker 4: for the audience, regardless of whatever happens in the House,
32:22
Speaker 4: The Senate has to pass a bill to the Democratic majority.
32:26
Speaker 4: Whatever happens in the Senate is going to go back
32:28
Speaker 4: to the House. It's going to pass with Democratic votes
32:31
Speaker 4: and then land on President Joe Biden's desk for signature.
32:33
Speaker 4: So whatever is happening right now in this debate that
32:36
Speaker 4: we're seeing with these five, seven really conservative House Republicans
32:41
Speaker 4: to the right of McCarthy saying they're not going to
32:42
Speaker 4: support a stopgap bill, it doesn't matter. In the end,
32:45
Speaker 4: they're probably not going to support. whatever comes back anyway.
32:49
Speaker 4: This is really about McCarthy trying to keep his speakership
32:52
Speaker 4: dabble and bend to the needs of what these conservatives
32:55
Speaker 4: want so he doesn't get a motion to vacate when
32:57
Speaker 4: this all ends. And that's what we're witnessing right now.
33:01
Speaker 1: Well, see, that's one of my questions. What I can't
33:04
Speaker 1: figure out about these House Freedom Caucus members who are
33:08
Speaker 1: the holdouts right now is why not just let any
33:12
Speaker 1: bill go to the Senate and then start fighting now
33:16
Speaker 1: about what they're going to let McCarthy accept when a
33:20
Speaker 1: bill comes back from the Senate.
33:22
Speaker 4: I was speaking to a Republican who said, you know,
33:26
Speaker 4: it's the minority always votes no. The minority is going
33:30
Speaker 4: to vote no, whatever happens. So that is why McCarthy
33:33
Speaker 4: right now is trying to pass something along party lines.
33:36
Speaker 4: that he can get to the Senate. But really, the
33:38
Speaker 4: bigger picture is, it's as you noted, it doesn't matter.
33:41
Speaker 4: It's going to come back to the House anyway. But
33:42
Speaker 4: right now, McCarthy's still trying to make sure he doesn't
33:44
Speaker 4: get that threat of a motion to vacate. That's the
33:47
Speaker 4: debate we're witnessing at a minute scale here of him
33:51
Speaker 4: really bending, caving in to these House Republican needs. And
33:54
Speaker 4: he's still not winning.
33:56
Speaker 1: That's, it's not even working. As of this recording, I
34:00
Speaker 1: know that McCarthy is still trying to get the votes
34:04
Speaker 1: to pass a a continuing resolution, a temporary funding bill
34:08
Speaker 1: with only Republican votes. And they're also trying to pass
34:14
Speaker 1: a defense bill. And how is all this going for them?
34:17
Speaker 1: What's the latest?
34:18
Speaker 4: Well, if you think of this is the way we
34:20
Speaker 4: think of the defense bill here on Capitol Hill. It's
34:22
Speaker 4: kind of a preview to what we're going to witness
34:24
Speaker 4: whenever a CR comes through.
34:25
Speaker 1: Right.
34:26
Speaker 4: This is a bill, one of the 12 appropriations bills
34:29
Speaker 4: that these appropriators have all Republican have that are all chairman,
34:34
Speaker 4: you know, on this really influential committee have been working
34:37
Speaker 4: on for months with the top line spending numbers that
34:40
Speaker 4: were negotiated during that debt limit deal. And, it still
34:44
Speaker 4: doesn't have the support needed to get across the finish line.
34:47
Speaker 4: He cannot get enough Republicans to even support that. And
34:51
Speaker 4: a lot of these Republicans we're hearing from, you know,
34:53
Speaker 4: Dan Bishop saying, I need to know. He's one of
34:56
Speaker 4: the ones that voted no multiple times that we saw
34:59
Speaker 4: vote no during this procedural vote that just happened moments ago.
35:03
Speaker 4: He says, I need to know exactly when every appropriations
35:05
Speaker 4: bill is going to be voted on. I need to
35:07
Speaker 4: know that he's going to McCarthy is going to give
35:10
Speaker 4: us with a top line number. But in the end,
35:12
Speaker 4: it doesn't matter because McCarthy has been doing all of
35:14
Speaker 4: this and they're still voting no. And it's really interesting.
35:17
Speaker 4: Everyone has different opinions about what McCarthy should do, whether
35:21
Speaker 4: he should ignore these guys and start having a conversation
35:24
Speaker 4: with Jeffries. Maybe that's already happening and it's just not
35:26
Speaker 4: out there yet. Or if he should take this and
35:30
Speaker 4: I might get a little too nitty gritty here. So
35:33
Speaker 4: just bear with me. But there is a separate deal
35:35
Speaker 4: that's being negotiated right now by a group called the
35:37
Speaker 4: Problem Solvers Caucus. that would, yeah, sorry, I'm getting a
35:40
Speaker 4: little ahead. I don't, you know, that's great living and
35:43
Speaker 4: breathing for the past couple of days, but they both
35:47
Speaker 4: did an endorsed a deal late last night around 11
35:49
Speaker 4: PM that would, uh, deal with, uh, funding the government.
35:55
Speaker 4: And it's about more than about 60 members, 30, about
35:58
Speaker 4: 30 Republicans, 30 Democrats. And they think this is the
36:02
Speaker 4: way to do it. It's a bipartisan deal, but McCarthy
36:04
Speaker 4: has not answered questions on this issue at, And it's
36:08
Speaker 4: unclear whether this will get any sort of traction right now,
36:11
Speaker 4: considering McCarthy is still trying to get a stopgap bill passed,
36:16
Speaker 4: allegedly by Saturday. Nothing has changed yet in terms of
36:20
Speaker 4: vote timing at this moment. But it's a mess. I mean,
36:24
Speaker 4: it's chaos. And you talk to Republicans about this and
36:26
Speaker 4: they say it's dysfunction. You talk to Democrats about this
36:30
Speaker 4: and they say it's dysfunction. What's happening in the House
36:33
Speaker 4: right now is quite a mess.
36:36
Speaker 1: What do you know about what the holdouts want, the
36:40
Speaker 1: handful who are still voting no. From where I sit,
36:44
Speaker 1: it seems like they just want to politically damage Kevin
36:48
Speaker 1: McCarthy and maybe even oust him as Speaker, and that
36:52
Speaker 1: this is not necessarily about any specific funding or policy issues.
36:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, you nailed right on the nail on the head.
37:03
Speaker 4: It seems to be that there's five-ish Republicans... Most of
37:07
Speaker 4: them in the House Freedom Caucus that will vote no
37:10
Speaker 4: for ACR regardless of what it's in it, regardless of
37:13
Speaker 4: what it looks like. A lot of them say they
37:15
Speaker 4: want appropriations bills. The time has run out. That's not
37:17
Speaker 4: going to happen before September 30th to fund the government
37:20
Speaker 4: for the year. And, you know, something to know, and
37:23
Speaker 4: we've reported at Politico various times, is a lot of
37:25
Speaker 4: these guys are actually eyeing political futures in other roles.
37:30
Speaker 4: You know, Dan Bishop eyeing a attorney general run. I'm
37:33
Speaker 4: thinking of Matt Gaetz, who's floating a potential run as
37:36
Speaker 4: governor in Florida. These are people that have ambitions elsewhere.
37:42
Speaker 4: And that is a lot of the argument I'm hearing,
37:45
Speaker 4: even from Republicans, for why. And I want to be clear,
37:48
Speaker 4: Republicans that are aligned with McCarthy, who are speaking about this,
37:50
Speaker 4: McCarthy doesn't really talk about this with us. But let's
37:54
Speaker 4: say that this is just, they're not going to switch.
37:56
Speaker 4: This is not going to change. And there's no way
37:59
Speaker 4: to get them to yes. And this is going to be,
38:00
Speaker 4: you know, this is McCarthy's dilemma.
38:03
Speaker 1: So there's no way the government stays open unless Republicans
38:08
Speaker 1: in the House sign off on some kind of bipartisan measure, right?
38:11
Speaker 1: Like there's just, there's no world where a McCarthy House
38:16
Speaker 1: passes a bill that only has Republicans on it that
38:19
Speaker 1: gets signed by Joe Biden, right? So at some point,
38:22
Speaker 1: whether it's now or whether it's when the bill comes
38:25
Speaker 1: back from the Senate, And a shutdown lasts for, I
38:28
Speaker 1: don't know, 20 days, 30 days, four months. At some point,
38:32
Speaker 1: Kevin McCarthy is going to have to talk to Hakeem
38:34
Speaker 1: Jeffries and figure out how to get a bill out
38:38
Speaker 1: of the House that is bipartisan. So at that point, like,
38:42
Speaker 1: how threatened is McCarthy's job, right? Because, like, I could
38:46
Speaker 1: see Matt Gaetz filing a motion to vacate, but then
38:50
Speaker 1: what happens after that? Like, they... They're just going to
38:54
Speaker 1: keep voting and voting and voting until they get another speaker?
38:56
Speaker 1: What's the long-term play here?
39:00
Speaker 4: I mean, I think the long-term play is what we're
39:02
Speaker 4: witnessing happen moment by moment here by McCarthy himself. I
39:05
Speaker 4: don't know if he's really got a strategy beyond what's
39:09
Speaker 4: ahead of him even in the hour that's coming. He
39:13
Speaker 4: is currently trying to keep his gavel. That is why
39:16
Speaker 4: he hasn't turned the to Hakeem Jeffries yet. That is
39:20
Speaker 4: why he's not talking to McConnell or Schumer about what
39:24
Speaker 4: a deal could look like with the Senate and the House.
39:26
Speaker 4: That's why he's still trying to win over these Republicans
39:30
Speaker 4: like Matt Gates, who would threaten to motion to vacate him.
39:34
Speaker 4: So to oust him as Speaker, it only takes one
39:37
Speaker 4: to start that process. And so I think what we're
39:40
Speaker 4: witnessing is him trying to figure out what will work
39:43
Speaker 4: for him long term so that he can keep his gavel.
39:46
Speaker 4: But in the end, it's going to be threatened anyway
39:49
Speaker 4: if He goes, say, let's play a scenario. Say the
39:53
Speaker 4: House passes a Republican-led continuing resolution to fund the government
39:58
Speaker 4: for a month. It goes back to the Senate. The
40:00
Speaker 4: Senate adds Ukraine aid. The Senate adds all these other
40:03
Speaker 4: measures that they want, that they can get a majority on.
40:07
Speaker 4: It has to come back to the House. Then the
40:08
Speaker 4: House passes it with a simple majority with Democratic votes
40:15
Speaker 4: at this point, because that's what's going to end up
40:16
Speaker 4: happening with whatever happens in the Senate. McCarthy will be
40:20
Speaker 4: threatened regardless. So I think right now we're witnessing him
40:23
Speaker 4: try to figure out how to prevent that backlash that
40:27
Speaker 4: could happen in the future. And I think the way
40:29
Speaker 4: he can do that is by trying to pass a
40:31
Speaker 4: Republican-led stopgap measure that has everyone supportive, and then he
40:36
Speaker 4: can kind of throw up his hands and be like, well,
40:39
Speaker 4: now we have to follow the process, and now I
40:41
Speaker 4: can get Democratic votes to support this. We've seen this
40:44
Speaker 4: happen before, and it seems like that's what's going to
40:47
Speaker 4: happen again in Whether that'll work for him, though, that
40:51
Speaker 4: is the question.
40:53
Speaker 1: Is there a scenario where McCarthy makes a deal with
40:58
Speaker 1: Democrats to keep the government open to pass a continuing
41:04
Speaker 1: resolution or funding bill that is to the Democrats' liking,
41:07
Speaker 1: but in return, some Democrats say, we will protect you
41:12
Speaker 1: if there's a motion to vacate?
41:13
Speaker 4: Well, I don't see a scenario like that happening right now. Now,
41:18
Speaker 4: if there's a shutdown happening, maybe.
41:20
Speaker 1: Right, yeah.
41:21
Speaker 4: That could change the circumstances. I've talked to so many Democrats.
41:24
Speaker 4: They're really entertained by what's happening right now on the
41:28
Speaker 4: House side. They think this is politically, yes, yes. They
41:31
Speaker 4: think this is very politically good for Democrats ahead of 2024.
41:36
Speaker 4: They think it's a good move right now to kind
41:39
Speaker 4: of watch. And I'm putting in their words, I've spoke
41:41
Speaker 4: to dozens upon dozens of Democrats who just did as
41:44
Speaker 4: a lot of them were laughing about what was happening
41:46
Speaker 4: on the House floor just an hour ago. But they
41:49
Speaker 4: think it's funny to watch McCarthy flail because this is
41:54
Speaker 4: a future campaign ad. This is a moment for them
41:56
Speaker 4: to win back the House. They can show that they're
41:59
Speaker 4: the party of order under Democrats, and they can prove
42:03
Speaker 4: that they passed all this major legislation when they had
42:06
Speaker 4: all three, they had the House, the Senate, they had
42:10
Speaker 4: the presidency, they can show that they are efficient. And
42:13
Speaker 4: by watching McCarthy not even be able to get his
42:16
Speaker 4: party united on one thing, I think a lot of
42:19
Speaker 4: them are privately and some publicly, maybe not the ones
42:24
Speaker 4: in vulnerable seats, but really enjoying what they're witnessing with
42:28
Speaker 4: McCarthy having a really hard time keeping his conference in order.
42:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think it's, at least personally, I think
42:35
Speaker 1: it's mildly entertaining right now. But, um, If a shutdown
42:38
Speaker 1: happens and it drags on for a while, then, you know,
42:41
Speaker 1: you could see that you could see the politics changing
42:43
Speaker 1: after a while because a lot of folks who aren't
42:46
Speaker 1: following this closely in the country, which is most people,
42:49
Speaker 1: might just be like, why is why is Washington shut down?
42:52
Speaker 1: What's going on? They're all yelling at each other. Can't
42:54
Speaker 1: they figure something out? Which I'm guessing is what some
42:57
Speaker 1: Republicans are betting happens. Well, how is the Republican caucus
43:01
Speaker 1: reacting to or are they reacting to Donald Trump inserting
43:05
Speaker 1: himself into this whole process last night? by basically saying
43:09
Speaker 1: that unless Joe Biden agrees to sign a bill that
43:13
Speaker 1: would force the DOJ to drop all the Trump prosecutions,
43:17
Speaker 1: they should shut down the government.
43:18
Speaker 4: It's just echoing what we've already heard from these allies
43:21
Speaker 4: of Donald Trump here on Capitol Hill. I mean, Marjorie
43:24
Speaker 4: Taylor Greene's been saying that for months. So he's he's
43:28
Speaker 4: he's insinuating himself, but nothing really changes. It's not like
43:31
Speaker 4: more what we're witnessing is it's not like more members
43:34
Speaker 4: are going to come out against this deal. Because he
43:38
Speaker 4: stepped in. If you remember, he was the one saying
43:42
Speaker 4: just months ago that the nation should default on its debt.
43:44
Speaker 4: And that would be a smart move politically. And of course,
43:47
Speaker 4: a lot of Republicans don't agree with that privately. They
43:49
Speaker 4: know that that would be very damaging because they want
43:51
Speaker 4: to win their reelection in a year and a half.
43:53
Speaker 4: And you're right. A lot of folks back home don't
43:55
Speaker 4: really understand what's happening. They're like, why can't people just
43:58
Speaker 4: work together and prevent a government shutdown? Well, really, it's
44:00
Speaker 4: because Republicans versus Democrats. That's what we're watching here on
44:04
Speaker 4: Capitol Hill. And that's how it's always been, really partisan. Now, again,
44:09
Speaker 4: you brought up the idea of maybe some Democrats might
44:11
Speaker 4: help Republicans. Who knows? Maybe that'll happen later. Right now,
44:14
Speaker 4: that's not the case.
44:16
Speaker 1: Yeah. And the other difference here is usually Republicans at
44:19
Speaker 1: least try to say, oh, no, no, no, it's the
44:21
Speaker 1: Democrats' fault. Now it's like Republicans versus Republicans. And like
44:26
Speaker 1: I saw Mike Lawler, who's a Republican in a Biden district,
44:29
Speaker 1: go out there and say, like, these people are lunatics.
44:32
Speaker 1: What are they doing? And something about his own party
44:34
Speaker 1: and something. Yeah.
44:35
Speaker 4: And something to really keep in mind about these members
44:37
Speaker 4: that you're seeing speak out. You know, you mentioned Mike Lawler.
44:40
Speaker 4: There's also Don Bacon. There's Fitzpatrick. They're really vulnerable members
44:46
Speaker 4: of Congress that won the majority for Republicans in 2022.
44:51
Speaker 4: And that is why they really see this as important
44:54
Speaker 4: to keeping the House majority for Republicans. They are so
44:57
Speaker 4: confused at why these really and they say it as
45:00
Speaker 4: safe seat Republicans are are saying, we're not gonna support
45:04
Speaker 4: a stopgap bill when they're like, we won the majority
45:07
Speaker 4: for Republicans and we need to support this because our
45:10
Speaker 4: constituents back home expect results and they don't, they've elected
45:14
Speaker 4: me so that I could bring some sort of reason
45:17
Speaker 4: to Washington and now this is terrible. So that's why
45:19
Speaker 4: you see these members and we call them, you know,
45:22
Speaker 4: vulnerable Republicans, centrist Republicans in Biden districts because Biden won
45:26
Speaker 4: the districts that they, in 2020, the ones that they represent.
45:31
Speaker 4: that are throwing their hands up being like, we're trying
45:33
Speaker 4: to do something and it's not happening and we don't
45:35
Speaker 4: know what else to do. And a lot of those
45:37
Speaker 4: guys are the same ones that are working with Democrats
45:39
Speaker 4: in the Problem Solvers Caucus on this alternative idea. That
45:43
Speaker 4: puts a lot of pressure on Republican leadership in the
45:46
Speaker 4: House to move because say they can't do anything, then
45:50
Speaker 4: they do this other deal that could potentially get enough
45:52
Speaker 4: votes to go to the Senate. Well, McCarthy still faces
45:56
Speaker 4: the same issue of a motion to vacate because he
45:58
Speaker 4: didn't work fast enough to work. win over those five
46:01
Speaker 4: Republicans that will vote no for a funding deal.
46:05
Speaker 1: Daniela, thank you so much for covering every detail of
46:09
Speaker 1: this shit show so closely so the rest of us
46:11
Speaker 1: don't have to. Good luck over the next 10 days.
46:14
Speaker 1: And I hope you do get some sleep. And thanks
46:16
Speaker 1: for coming on the pod. Appreciate it.
46:17
Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you for having me. This is great.
46:32
Speaker 1: Okay, before we go, we have to talk about yet
46:36
Speaker 1: another example of politicians' vulgarity that is degrading the great
46:41
Speaker 1: institution of Congress. Last week, we covered Republican Senator John
46:45
Speaker 1: Kennedy's speech at a public hearing where he talked lube
46:48
Speaker 1: and strap-ons and sex acts and graphic detail. On Tuesday,
46:53
Speaker 1: we talked about Lauren Boebert and her date's premature ejection
46:56
Speaker 1: from Beetlejuice the musical because they were doing hand stuff.
47:01
Speaker 1: But today... Today, the shockingly disrespectful behavior comes from Democrats.
47:07
Speaker 1: Both sides, Dan, both sides. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
47:12
Speaker 1: has asked the Senate Sergeant at Arms to no longer
47:15
Speaker 1: enforce the dress code on the Senate floor, which means
47:19
Speaker 1: that Pennsylvania's John Fetterman has had the audacity to show
47:24
Speaker 1: up in shorts and a hoodie, setting off a crisis
47:26
Speaker 1: in our democracy.
47:27
Speaker 2: Americans want etiquette and manners, and they expect more in
47:30
Speaker 2: their elected leaders.
47:32
Speaker 1: I sat on a committee with John Fetterman and I've
47:34
Speaker 1: seen him in a suit once. It seems completely disrespectful.
47:37
Speaker 2: This guy looks like he's in a gang or he's
47:39
Speaker 2: working out somewhere.
47:41
Speaker 1: Hoodie and gym shorts convey no respect. You don't dress
47:45
Speaker 1: like a slob and expect to be respected. It's just
47:48
Speaker 1: another step. in the movement by the Democrats to, quote,
47:52
Speaker 1: transform America, to take us to a different place, and
47:55
Speaker 1: to take us to a place that is much less respectful.
47:58
Speaker 1: This is just a small part of the decline of
48:00
Speaker 1: a new America. They, the Democrats, they do not like
48:03
Speaker 1: this country the way it is. Never have. I think
48:06
Speaker 1: the whole thing is horrible.
48:07
Speaker 2: I think it's part of the deterioration of this country.
48:10
Speaker 2: Civilization now celebrates mediocrity. You're pandering to the lowest common denominator,
48:16
Speaker 2: and now existing is just an accomplishment.
48:18
Speaker 3: We need to be lifting up our standards in this country,
48:21
Speaker 3: not dumbing down our standards in this country.
48:24
Speaker 1: So I think the dudes should stick to the suits.
48:26
Speaker 1: This isn't a poker game or a strip club. I
48:29
Speaker 1: plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor.
48:33
Speaker 1: You know, this happened in the fall of the Roman Empire. Dan,
48:38
Speaker 1: I just want to read from a letter that was
48:40
Speaker 1: sent to Schumer in protest of the new rules. Quote,
48:43
Speaker 1: the Senate is a place of honor and tradition. The
48:47
Speaker 1: world watches us on that floor and we must protect
48:50
Speaker 1: the sanctity of that place at all costs. Signed by
48:55
Speaker 1: the same Senate Republicans whose current pick for president is
48:59
Speaker 1: a criminal defendant being charged with paying hush money to
49:02
Speaker 1: a porn star and sending a murderous mob to shit
49:04
Speaker 1: on their desks. But at the very least, Donald Trump
49:10
Speaker 1: was in a tie when he did it. So I
49:13
Speaker 1: guess we're good. Do you share their concerns about protecting
49:17
Speaker 1: the sanctity of the Senate floor?
49:19
Speaker 2: I have a couple thoughts. First, the lead-in that you
49:22
Speaker 2: wrote for this segment is the best writing you have
49:25
Speaker 2: done since Obama's 2012 acceptance speech, maybe the second inaugural.
49:31
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just, you.
49:33
Speaker 2: Still got it. I know you don't pick up the
49:34
Speaker 2: pen often, but it's still there. Second. I am embarrassed
49:42
Speaker 2: for everyone involved other than John Fetterman. I'm embarrassed for
49:47
Speaker 2: the senators. I'm embarrassed for the people on Capitol Hill.
49:50
Speaker 2: I'm really embarrassed for the Capitol Hill press corps who's
49:52
Speaker 2: covering this like it's the fucking debt ceiling. It is
49:57
Speaker 2: the Senate floor. It is not a hallowed ground. And
50:01
Speaker 2: it's not sacred. It is a place that Ted Cruz
50:03
Speaker 2: is allowed to roam freely, right? There's nothing sacred about it.
50:07
Speaker 2: This is one of the dumbest things in the history
50:09
Speaker 2: of dumb things. It is why people hate Congress. Talk
50:14
Speaker 2: about having... obnoxious self-importance emanating from your pores. The whole
50:19
Speaker 2: thing is so absurd beyond the fact that just from
50:23
Speaker 2: a point of practicality, DC is a swamp is a
50:27
Speaker 2: miserable place to wear a tie, which is a stupid
50:29
Speaker 2: thing to begin with. It'll hold it like wear a tie.
50:32
Speaker 2: Don't wear a tie. Don't care about what John Fetterman wears.
50:35
Speaker 2: It's so stupid. I'm embarrassed for everyone. And two people
50:38
Speaker 2: I'm really embarrassed for Joe Manchin and Dick Durbin, two
50:41
Speaker 2: Democrats who fell right into the trap of this self-important bullshit.
50:46
Speaker 2: Joe Manchin, I expect that. I expect Joe Manchin, Democrat,
50:50
Speaker 2: Cafe Milano to think that. But Dick Durbin, I'm embarrassed
50:54
Speaker 2: for you.
50:56
Speaker 1: You see some people who are like, well, but like,
50:59
Speaker 1: you know, in your workplace, if you have to wear
51:01
Speaker 1: a shirt and tie and someone doesn't wear that, isn't
51:05
Speaker 1: that a problem? It's like, well, yeah, if that's the
51:07
Speaker 1: workplace rules, the Democrats are in the majority in the Senate.
51:11
Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer is the majority leader. He decided that the
51:14
Speaker 1: rules are casual Friday every day if you want, or
51:17
Speaker 1: you can wear a suit and tie. If Mitch McConnell
51:22
Speaker 1: and Republicans take the Senate back and they want to
51:24
Speaker 1: institute a rule that you have to wear a shirt
51:25
Speaker 1: and tie, then people have to wear a shirt and tie.
51:27
Speaker 1: It's a fucking democracy. Tim Miller made this point. If
51:30
Speaker 1: you're upset that John Fetterman is wearing a hoodie and
51:33
Speaker 1: shorts on the Senate floor, then the voters of Pennsylvania
51:36
Speaker 1: can vote him out next time. No problem. It's a democracy.
51:39
Speaker 1: What the fuck are you all talking about? Go fucking
51:41
Speaker 1: keep the government open. You're nuts. You literally... this guy
51:45
Speaker 1: that's running for president that you're all supporting. He sent
51:48
Speaker 1: a mob to the Senate floor that you're trying to
51:51
Speaker 1: protect the, uh, you're trying to protect this, the sacred
51:54
Speaker 1: Senate floor. There was a mob that stormed the Capitol.
51:56
Speaker 1: And then you voted to acquit the guy who sent
51:59
Speaker 1: them there. And now you're going to vote for him
52:01
Speaker 1: for president.
52:02
Speaker 2: A lot of the mob was wearing hoodies. I've seen
52:05
Speaker 2: the footage.
52:07
Speaker 1: Oh, it is shocking. It is shocking. It's not shocking,
52:10
Speaker 1: but while we're.
52:11
Speaker 2: On the subject of dress codes every Thursday, uh, During
52:14
Speaker 2: the summer, a bunch of Republicans wear seersucker suits. They
52:18
Speaker 2: look like they're dressed up as Orville Redenbacher for Halloween,
52:21
Speaker 2: and they go to work.
52:22
Speaker 1: You know what?
52:23
Speaker 2: We should stop that. Chuck Schumer, take a stand.
52:25
Speaker 1: Fetterman has had some fantastic replies to this. He tweeted,
52:30
Speaker 1: I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the
52:32
Speaker 1: hog during a live musical, they'll make me a folk hero.
52:38
Speaker 1: I love that guy. And then he also tweeted, Or
52:40
Speaker 1: he also said, I guess, if those jagovs in the
52:43
Speaker 1: House stop trying to shut our government down and fully
52:45
Speaker 1: support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a
52:48
Speaker 1: suit on the Senate floor next week. Good for John Fetterman.
52:52
Speaker 2: And in a city with humidity that's usually around 90 degrees,
52:56
Speaker 2: that is no small sacrifice on John Fetterman's part.
52:59
Speaker 1: I will just say, too, it's also a sign that
53:01
Speaker 1: John Fetterman is far more in touch with what people
53:05
Speaker 1: care about. than most people in fucking Washington. Because I
53:12
Speaker 1: think most people believe that the way you show respect
53:16
Speaker 1: for the institution is with your behavior, with the way
53:20
Speaker 1: that you vote, with what you do to improve people's lives,
53:24
Speaker 1: not the fucking clothes you put on your body.
53:27
Speaker 4: Boo.
53:28
Speaker 1: Boo to the Republicans and boo to Dick Durbin and
53:34
Speaker 1: boo to Joe Manchin.
53:35
Speaker 2: I can't believe we booed Dick Durbin, but he earned
53:38
Speaker 2: it this time. And an otherwise exemplary record of public service.
53:41
Speaker 2: This was a bad moment.
53:42
Speaker 1: And Dick Durbin, no one's telling you you've got to
53:44
Speaker 1: wear T-shirts and shorts, man. You can still wear your
53:46
Speaker 1: suit and tie. That's fine. Susan Collins, if you want
53:49
Speaker 1: to wear a bikini, that's fine. That's on you. You
53:52
Speaker 1: can do that if you'd like. Probably people will make
53:55
Speaker 1: some comments. But you know what? People will make some
53:57
Speaker 1: comments about John Fetterman and he's still going to wear
53:58
Speaker 1: what he wants. Stop trying to like have one set
54:01
Speaker 1: of rules for this is a Republican thing, too. They
54:04
Speaker 1: want like one set of rules for them, which is
54:06
Speaker 1: basically no rules. Hand stuff at musicals, talking about strap
54:12
Speaker 1: on and lube. They can do whatever they want in
54:15
Speaker 1: their private lives. You know, Donald Trump's probably paying for abortions.
54:18
Speaker 4: Right.
54:19
Speaker 1: All this kind of stuff. No rules for them. But
54:22
Speaker 1: for everyone else, they want to get involved in your life.
54:24
Speaker 1: They want to have rules. They want to put politicians
54:27
Speaker 1: between doctors and women. They want to ban books in
54:29
Speaker 1: your classrooms. Everyone else has to follow the rules. Not
54:33
Speaker 1: this Republican Party under Donald Trump. You can do whatever
54:35
Speaker 1: the fuck you want. Yep.
54:37
Speaker 2: They want to strongly regulate the audience behavior at Beetlejuice musicals.
54:41
Speaker 1: That's part of the agenda. Anyway, I'm glad we got
54:46
Speaker 1: that off our chest, Dan.
54:47
Speaker 2: I do feel better. I feel lighter today after having
54:52
Speaker 2: done that, so that's good.
54:55
Speaker 4: All right.
54:55
Speaker 1: Thank you to Daniela Diaz for joining us and keeping
54:58
Speaker 1: us up to date on the other shit show on
55:00
Speaker 1: Capitol Hill that actually matters, whether the government stays open
55:03
Speaker 1: or not. I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend,
55:06
Speaker 1: and we will talk to you next week. Bye, everyone.
55:09
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